Verdino on road back
r For 10 monotonous and frustrating weeks this summer Kyle Verdino didn’t lift a weight or lace up a pair of skates.
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r Now the veteran defenceman is playing a serious game of catch-up as his Kelowna Rockets get set to begin the 2009-10 Western Hockey League season without him.
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r Verdino, 17, began skating last week for the first time since suffering a broken left hand and a broken right ankle in a car accident on June 22 in his hometown of Phoenix, Ariz.
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r “I was driving to the gym at 7:30 in the morning and a 25-year-old woman, who was texting and driving at the same time, ran into me in the intersection,” said Verdino.
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r “I had surgery that day, they put two screws in my hand and one in my ankle.
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r “It was pretty depressing at first,” he said, “it really put a damper on things. It was a bad way to get hurt, and not to be able to do what I love to do.”
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r Still, even after spending five weeks in a wheelchair, Verdino counts himself lucky that such injuries didn’t occur in the middle of the hockey season.
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r This way, if all goes as planned, Verdino could be back in the Rockets lineup in several weeks.
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r But according to head coach Ryan Huska, a complete and timely recovery will only come with complete commitment from the 6-foot-1, 215 pound rearguard.
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r “Kyle’s real challenge is to make sure he’s committed to being the hardest working guy in our dressing room,” said Huska.
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r “Conditioning is a big factor, he’ll need to work hard at getting himself into game shape, and maintaining that level of fitness. He’ll need to keep pushing himself and, if he does that, once he gets back in action he should be fine.”
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r Verdino said he doesn’t need to dig all that deep to find motivation or to work hard. The Rockets are not only expecting him to raise his game by another notch, but 2010 is also Verdino’s draft year.
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r After appearing in 64 games last season, Verdino insists he’s hungry to take on more responsibility in his third season of major junior.
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r “This is the most important year of my hockey career so far, so I’m going to work as hard as I can,” he said. “I just have to think about how bad I want it, how much I want to be out there with the boys again contributing, practicing and being in the games with them.
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r “I want to be out there as soon as possible and I’m going to do whatever I can to make that happen.”
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