Brandon, MB (CKLQ) – The Brandon Wheat Kings welcomed a familiar face to practice on Wednesday afternoon.
17-year-old Caiden Daley was on the ice in a non-contact jersey, his first practice with the team since suffering a broken right leg late in the summer.
The Winnipeg native skated a couple of times on his own earlier this week before joining his teammates for the first time today.
“It feels pretty strong honestly, my stamina on the other hand…. the boys are pretty fast right now,” Daley chuckled. “The leg felt good, I just need to keep working hard to get back into the lineup as fast as I can.”
Daley suffered the broken right fibula during a summer league scrimmage when an opponent fell awkwardly onto his leg. He said despite the pain, he actually skated off on his own power and went about regular life for a couple of days before getting it checked out.
After roughly three weeks in a hard cast, Daley graduated to a walking boot and has since been walking unassisted. He says getting back on the ice was more of a mental challenge than a physical one.
“The first time I was out there I didn’t even stop… I just glided around out there because I didn’t want to force it. Each time i’m on the ice I feel better and more confident.”
Daley, who got to experience the highs of a WHL Championship as a late season call-up during the 2015/2016 season, appeared in 60 games last year registering two goals and ten points.
After the Wheat Kings were eliminated by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the playoffs, Daley was named to Team Canada Red at the U-17 Hockey Championship and appeared in all five games.
As he continues to work to get back to 100% health, Daley says he’s ready for the challenge of his sophomore year.
“Im just going to keep working hard, keep building and getting stronger. Im going to try and take what I learned last year and take a big step in my game.”
The Wheat Kings will host the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night before wrapping up the WHL pre-season on Saturday in Moose Jaw.
Game time Friday night is 7:30 p.m., our Q-Country pre-game show begins at 7:00 p.m.