WHL NOTEBOOK: Fluker weathers season of adversity

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This article was published 04/02/2025 (321 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Josh Fluker’s third season in the Western Hockey League hasn’t gone exactly as planned.

The Boissevain product, who turned 19 on Jan. 3, has suited up in just 15 games this season with the Wenatchee Wild as he deals with a vexing hip issue. In his 16-year-old season, he injured an AC joint in his shoulder and missed three weeks, but this is way worse.

“It’s pretty hard,” Fluker said. “I haven’t really gone through it. I missed a few weeks at 16, which wasn’t bad, and at 16, you’re just happy to be there. Now that I’m getting older, I just want to be on the ice showcasing myself and being there for the guys on the team trying to push for a playoff spot. It’s pretty frustrating just sitting around.”

Maybe the toughest part is that things finally looked to be coming together for Fluker, who was part of the blockbuster deal on Jan. 4, 2024 when Wenatchee sent 19-year-old forward Conor Geekie of Strathclair to the Swift Current Broncos for Fluker, 17-year-old forward Maddix McCagherty, 18-year-old defenceman Sam Ward, a first-round pick in 2025, a second-round pick in 2025, a first-round pick in 2026 and a seventh-round pick in 2027.

The six-foot, 169-pound Fluker, who was the seventh overall pick in the 2021 WHL draft, said having the trade mid-season didn’t help his NHL draft stock because the change of scenery wasn’t easy, even though he had about five more minutes per game of ice time in Wenatchee.

Fluker earned a C ranking on NHL Central Scouting’s early-season watch list, projecting him to be selected in the fourth or fifth round, and appeared again in the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings in January. In the final rankings, he was 216th among North American skaters, but wasn’t picked in the draft.

“Anytime you get listed by them, you’re probably doing something right,” Fluker said. “Getting traded is pretty tough. I went through a lot of struggles mentally about moving even farther away from home. I kind of got caught up in it a bit. It’s tough. I didn’t want to end that way, but I struggled a bit. Hopefully I can get drafted in the years coming.”

Still, Fluker was invited to rookie camp by the Colorado Avalanche for the seven-team Rookie Faceoff in El Segundo, Calif. He said it was an incredible experience.

“It was really good,” Fluker said with a chuckle. “I didn’t want to leave. They treat you pretty good there.”

WILD AT HEART

The good news for Fluker heading into his first full season with Wenatchee was he had established a comfort level there, and was relishing the chance to make an impact this season.

“Being there for a bit last year was pretty uncomfortable but lots of the guys made it a lot better,” Fluker said. “Seeing those faces again coming back and having those relationships made it a lot easier. I’m pretty comfortable there now. It’s been working out pretty good.”

He ended up with the same billets, about a 10-minute drive from the rink. He graduated from high school last spring, but didn’t take any classes this season because he hoped to focus on hockey.

Some of that extra time has subsequently been spent with his billet kids, a 12-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl, and attending their gymnastics and hockey.

“It’s a great place to play, honestly,” Fluker said. “It’s quite a bit different than living in Manitoba or even Saskatchewan. I like the mountains and stuff. It’s a pretty cool place.”

A measure of the respect the team had for Fluker came on Oct. 3 when Fluker was named one of the team’s rotating alternate captains. He joined captain Evan Friesen of Winnipeg, full-time alternate Kenta Isogai — who has since been traded — Reid Andresen, Dawson Seitz and Sam Ward, the latter of whom was also dealt.

“I’ve never really been able to wear a letter, even at bantam or midget,” Fluker said. “I feel like I’ve grown as a person and I like to lead. There are some guys who are tough to wrangle in but I try my best to get all the guys into the fight every night.”

Fluker said he could immediately see a difference from even last year, noting he felt much stronger and faster, and was playing top pairing minutes and getting power-play time. The smooth-skating defenceman even had a WHL career-high four-game point streak to start the season.

“I came into the year wanting to make a difference and put up points,” Fluker said. “Unfortunately I got hurt pretty early on and started playing through it. It was tough going through that and still is. I’m trying to be more offensive and lead the back end for the Wild.”

TORN UP

As he noted, the seeds of some painful days ahead had already been planted.

During a practice in the pre-season, Fluker felt a pop in his hip. Head coach Don Nachbaur told him it was OK to knock off early that day so Fluker rested for a few days and then played in the home opener on Sept. 21.

“For the first few games it felt pretty fine, and then it started getting worse and worse,” Fluker said. “In Kamloops on my first shift, I couldn’t even move. My hip just froze up.”

After the game against the Blazers on Oct. 19, the search for answers entered a new phase.

The initial diagnosis was a sports hernia, but MRIs later showed it was a torn labrum in his hip, which is the cartilage that lines and protects the hip socket at the intersection of the pelvis and the femur.

“I think it was overuse,” Fluker said. “I talked to the one surgeon and he said ‘If I were to MRI every guy on your team, probably 25 per cent of the guys would have torn labrums.’ He said it just comes with skating all the time and some guys feel pain and some never feel it.”

Fluker tried coming back on Dec. 6, playing that night and the next. He then shut it down until after Christmas, appearing in games on Dec. 27, 28 and 31. He hasn’t played since.

“It was brutal,” Fluker said. “I came in between periods and couldn’t even sit in my stall, that’s how bad it was. I had Christmas break and it felt pretty good so I came back after resting it completely. The first game I felt fine and then we had a back to back and the next night it was awful. I played on the Tuesday and it got even worse so I called it quits.”

Treatment of a hip labral tear has two potential pathways, starting with physical therapy involving stretches and exercises to strengthen the muscles and increase flexibility around the hip joint.

The other option is surgery, which is usually arthroscopic and involves repairing the tear in the labrum and fixing other damage inside the joint. That would keep him out for four to six months.

Fluker spoke to a surgeon in Calgary, who referred him to physiotherapist Janine Didyk at the Pan Am Clinic in Winnipeg. He’s been working with her for a couple of weeks, with a plan to give it two or three months to potentially make a difference.

“I’m going to try physio and try and go back, and if it’s not better, I’ll end up getting surgery with the hip surgeon in Calgary,” Fluker said.

He is able to walk around OK, which wasn’t always the case, but if he tries to ride the bike or do exercises it flares up again. He is able to do exercises that don’t target his hip.

Meanwhile, he said his teammates have provided him with great support.

“I have a lot of buddies on the team,” Fluker said. “I’ve been home for about two weeks now and I’m getting pretty bored. I want to just go hang out at the rink with them.”

He will be in the rink on Wednesday when the second-year Wild visit Westoba Place for the first time to meet the Brandon Wheat Kings, and will ride the bus back with them.

In a perfect world, the physiotherapy will work and he’ll back in the lineup before the end of the season. If not, he’ll undergo surgery. In the meantime, he’s doing his best to stay positive.

“I want to be on the ice but I’m just trying to find things that make me happy in every-day life,” Fluker said. “It’s all right.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — How many of the men can you name who have served as WHL commissioner?

• WEEKLY AWARDS — The player of the week is 19-year-old Spokane Chiefs forward Andrew Cristall of Burnaby, B.C., who earned the award for a third time after posting three goals and eight assists in three games.

The goaltender of the week is overage Prince Albert Raiders netminder Max Hildebrand of Martensville, Sask., who was 2-0-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage as he won the award for a second time this season.

The rookie of the week is 15-year-old Everett Silvertips star Landon DuPont of Calgary, who had a goal and three assists to become the first rookie defenceman in 35 years to post a 50-point season. He has won the weekly and monthly awards twice each.

• SIN BIN — After a week of calm, the floodgates opened again at the league offices.

— Prince George defenceman Corbin Vaughan earned a 10-game suspension after taking a charging major and game misconduct against Swift Current on Jan. 28. It will be the sixth suspension of his career and third this season. The latest nonsense came in the first period of his first game back after earning a four-game suspension on Jan. 11.

— Portland forward received one game Kyle Chyzowski for a charging major and gm against Victoria on Saturday.

— Moose Jaw defenceman Brady Ness received one game for a kneeing major and game misconduct against Red Deer on Saturday.

— Edmonton forward Luke Powell received one game for a cross-checking major and game misconduct against Calgary on Friday.

— Kelowna forward Dawson Gerwing received one game for a cross checking major and game misconduct against Victoria on January 29.

— Swift Current defenceman Peyton Kettles earned one game for a slashing major and game misconduct at Prince George on Jan. 28.

— Red Deer defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk earned one game for a cross-checking major and game misconduct at Calgary on Jan. 26.

— Portland forward Kyle McDonough was assessed a two-game suspension for a cross-checking major and game misconduct against Tri-City on Jan. 24.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Peter Quenneville, 30, is suiting up with Kiekko-Espoo in the SM-liiga or Finnish Elite League, where he has 17 goals and 13 assists in 41 games. After Brandon acquired his rights in a trade with the Prince George Cougars for a third-round pick in 2015, Quenneville left Quinnipiac University to join the Wheat Kings in November 2013, allowing him to join his younger brother John in Brandon. In nearly two seasons with the Wheat Kings, Quenneville played 116 regular season games, scoring 48 goals and collecting 126 points.

• BIRTHDAY BOYS — Kevin Cheveldayoff (Feb. 4, 1970), Stephane Robidoux (Feb. 4, 1991), Steve Patrick (Feb. 4, 1961), Caiden Daley (Feb. 5, 2000), David Haun (Feb. 6, 1978), Rylan Thiessen (Feb. 7, 2001), Dwayne Pentland (Feb. 8, 1953) and James Priestner (Feb. 9, 1991).

• THE WEEK AHEAD — The Wheat Kings have a pair of games at Westoba Place, with the Wenatchee Wild visiting on Wednesday and the Saskatoon Blades on Friday. Both games start at 7 p.m.

• ANSWER — There have been 10 commissioners but nine men have held the job because Ed Chynoweth served twice.

— Dan Near — 2024-present

— Ron Robison — 2000-2024

— Dev Dley — 1995-2000

— Ed Chynoweth — 1980-1995

— David Descent — 1979-1980

— Ed Chynoweth — 1973-1979

— Del Wilson — 1972-1973

— Jim Piggott — 1971-1972

— Ron Butlin — 1968-1971

— Frank Boucher — 1966-1968