Dennis McCauley figures he has been healthy for only 20 of the Reading Royals’ first 36 games this season – and even that number might be pushing it.

“I was just talking with my dad about that the other night,” McCauley said Monday afternoon. “I’ve really had everything go wrong.”

When the left wing is asked for specifics, the maladies roll off his tongue.

“I had mono and was sick for 10 days, where I couldn’t skate,” McCauley said. “We thought I had a hernia and it turned out there were two cysts on my groin and my hip. That put me out for two weeks.

“Then I separated my shoulder two weeks ago, but I got a cortisone shot so I could keep playing.”

Scary moment Monday

Monday was McCauley’s 29th game of the ECHL season, which means at least nine of his previous outings came while he was much less than 100 percent.

Looking fit during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee, McCauley had a goal and an assist in the Royals’ 4-3 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays at Sovereign Center.

Even this game was not without its scary moment as the third-year pro crashed into referee Don Jablonski and tumbled awkwardly into the boards during the third period.

He remained down on the ice for a few minutes but skated off under his own power and returned to finish the game.

“I’ve never had a season like this before,” said McCauley, who has eight goals and eight assists. “It’s been tough, but now the objective is to stay as healthy as possible so I can help the team as much as I can.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating, but it’s part of the game, I guess. I’ve just got to find a way to fight through it.”

Larry Courville, head coach and director of hockey operations for the Royals, liked what he saw of McCauley on Monday.

“I thought he was definitely a factor, especially in the first two periods,” Courville said. “I thought he was probably our best forward in the first period. Not only because he scored a goal and had an assist, but he was moving his feet, making some good plays.”

Last week, Courville lamented not having a healthy McCauley at his disposal more often this season.

Aiming for the Kelly Cup

So is it just a matter of bad luck?

“That’s what I’m chalking it up to,” McCauley said. “I’m not doing anything different than I have in the past. It’s just one of those things that happens in hockey.”

The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder from Billerica, Mass., played four years at Northeastern University before turning pro with the American Hockey League’s Worcester Sharks in 2009-10.

He had 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) in 72 games for the AHL’s Portland Pirates last season but found himself without a contract this summer. McCauley signed with the Royals on Oct. 3.

A physical presence on the ice, the feisty McCauley vows to do all he can for the remainder of the Royals’ campaign.

“I really don’t want to worry about it any more, because now’s the time to be healthy,” he said. “We’re fighting for a playoff spot and I want to be in the lineup every night.

“We ultimately want to be in the playoffs and win the Kelly Cup. That’s our main goal, and I want to be a part of it.”