McQueen nears return from back injury

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This article was published 28/02/2025 (209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

During a season in which so much has gone wrong on the injury front for the Brandon Wheat Kings, their fortune may soon be turning with lucky No. 13.

Roger McQueen, 18, was back at practice in a normal jersey on Thursday afternoon, signalling his imminent return to Brandon’s lineup next week when they head into Alberta. The six-foot-five, 193-pound forward, who has been out since Oct. 11 with a back injury, had eight goals and three assists in eight games prior to getting hurt.

“It’s been a long run here, I think four-and-a-bit months here,” McQueen said. “I’ve been very antsy to get back on the ice but I’ve been keeping it good in my head and being mentally strong. It will obviously be a huge day next week.”

McQueen thinks it may also be the reason why he missed six weeks near the end of last season as well.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said McQueen was a sight for sore eyes at practice in a gold jersey.

“It’s great,” Murray said. “Those guys aren’t easy to replace and our guys have done a real good job with everybody stepping up. He’s, in our opinion, a game changer. He looks really good practice and we’ll continue to monitor his progress.”

McQueen began skating a week and a half ago, and has been in full gear at practice for the past few days. He was cleared on Wednesday for full contact, making Thursday his first full practice out of a red non-contact jersey.

McQueen chuckled about an on-ice collision he had during practice on Thursday with rookie forward Jaxon Jacobson. When Brandon was at its unluckiest this season, that might have meant two trips to the hospital but both players were fine.

“My game sense left me a little bit,” McQueen said with a chuckle. “Hopefully that comes back. I ran into him.”

The fact that McQueen had hurt his back was maybe the worst-kept secret in hockey. But when it concerns a player who could go in the top 10 in the next National Hockey League draft, the speculation and outright fabrication was dialled up to 11.

McQueen said it was a pars fracture — less colloquially known as spondylolysis — which is a stress fracture of the spine common in young athletes. It’s usually caused by repetitive stress rather than an acute injury.

“I know everyone is going off a disc thing, but there was no disc problem ever,” McQueen said. “It was just a fractured bone that needed some time to heal, and I guess it takes longer for those ones to heal but it’s good now and everything is cleared up.”

McQueen acknowledged there is a possibility the massive growth spurt he had may have factored into the issue as he grew into his lanky frame.

“There are a lot of question marks about how the fracture came about,” McQueen said. “It’s kind of an odd fracture but it could have been that I’m really tall and grew super fast or it could just be after I was really tall my body hadn’t quite kept up with me and my core wasn’t as strong as it could have been. Honestly we’re not too sure how it came about.”

The healing process included 12 weeks of rest, so he wasn’t allowed to skate or work out at all. For a young hockey player in his draft year, he admitted it wasn’t easy.

“It definitely took a little bit of a toll on me but you try to focus on the team and help guys as much as you can,” McQueen said. “Especially the young guys, if they needed any help, you have more time, especially now than ever to give it back to them and help them with their game. I stuck to staying positive. There was nothing I could have really done any differently to not cause it. It wasn’t something I imposed on myself.

“I just tried to stay positive and enjoy the other side of life. Hockey isn’t everything in my life. I love playing hockey and it’s definitely a big part but not the biggest part. My family, I got to see them lot, and my dog and cat, so that was nice. It was shifting life to a different perspective.”

NHL scouts continued to reach out as he recovered, so he wasn’t completely out of sight, out of mind.

It also helped that while he watching his team struggle with injuries, they played well.

“Our team has been awesome without me,” McQueen said. “We’ve had lots on injuries too. I think we’ve gone through five, six, seven guys going in and out of the lineup in the past three or four months. I’ve been so proud of all the guys for battling for us. It’s tough watching but watching them battle for one another is a really cool thing to watch. I appreciated it.”

ALBERTA SWING

The Wheat Kings continue their seven-game stretch against Alberta teams this weekend with the hope of earning some points against two of the Eastern Conference’s top clubs.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes visit Westoba Place tonight, with the Medicine Hat Tigers rolling into town on Saturday. The Wheat Kings won their first game of their Alberta segment with a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings at home on Wednesday. Next week, they leave on Monday for games against the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday, Edmonton on Wednesday, Lethbridge on Friday and the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday.

“We talked about it before the game (on Wednesday),” Murray said. “This probably will give us an indication if we have a chance to play for the division championship. It’s not going to be easy, there are obviously some heavy hitters in that division. Like us, a lot of them are banged up too. “We just have to worry about us and pay attention to some of the top players in the league, who we’re going to see quite a biting the next little bit so we obviously have to pay attention when they’re on the ice.”

Brandon (31-18-4-3, 69 points, 12 games remaining) sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, and if the playoffs started today, would face fourth-place Lethbridge (37-19-2-1, 77 points, nine games remaining) in the first round.

The first-place Tigers (39-17-3-1, 82 points, eight games remaining) are just a point up on the third-place Calgary Hitmen (38-15-3-2, 81 points, 10 games remaining) for the conference title, and Calgary has a pair of games in hand.

The Wheat Kings are two points back of the Prince Albert Raiders (33-19-4-1, 71 points, 10 games remaining) in the race to win the East Division and earn the second seed in the playoffs. Brandon won the season series in the event the teams tie.

While Brandon’s never-ending injury woes have been well-documented — forwards McQueen, Carter Klippenstein, Ben Binder Nord and Easton Odut plus defenceman Merrek Arpin are currently out — Lethbridge and Medicine Hat will also be rolling into town with some significant absences.

“The Western Hockey League is a grind, no question about it but it’s been like that forever,” Murray said. “If you look at the injury report, everybody seems to have injury problems this time of year. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s different injuries for everybody. For us, it just seems like you have to cross your fingers even getting through a practice right now.”

Lethbridge is without 18-year-old forward Miguel Marques, who had 33 points in 25 games before getting hurt on Dec. 11, and overage forward Jordan Gustafson, who missed the first half of the season as a Seattle Thunderbird and had six points in five games in Lethbridge before being injured on Jan. 24.

Medicine Hat lost their young star Gavin McKenna to a three-game suspension, while defencemen Jonas Woo and Bryce Pickford and forwards Andrew Basha and Cayden Lindstrom are all out long term.

“They’re both banged up a little bit just based off their lineups in the last couple of days,” Murray said. “Of course McKenna is suspended on Saturday night. They have high-end ability even with the guys they have out. They have players who are considered top players in the league, and whether it’s from a forward or defence perspective, we’ll have our work cut out for us and have to be at our best regardless of who they have in the lineup.”

The Wheat Kings and Hurricanes have met twice this year, with the Hurricanes earning a 3-0 shutout on Remembrance Day afternoon in Brandon and a 5-3 victory in Lethbridge on Oct. 12.

The Tigers earned a 6-1 victory on Oct. 11 and a 7-5 win on Nov. 29 in Medicine Hat, while the Wheat Kings posted a 3-0 shutout on Nov. 2 in Brandon.

While he won’t be available on the weekend, Murray is just happy to see his young star nearly back.

“He’s a guy who is probably a top scorer and top goal scorer so it’s never easy,” Murray said. “But again, a compliment to our guys, everyone has rallied and taken their share of responsibility offensively. But at the end of the day, we all want a healthy Roger McQueen back.”

ICINGS: The 10th-place Regina Pats (15-35-5-2, 37 points) and the 11th-place Moose Jaw Warriors (11-41-4-2, 28 points) have been officially eliminated from the playoffs. Red Deer (21-28-5-2, 49 points) are 11 points back of the eighth-place Swift Current Broncos (29-25-1-1). Both teams have a dozen games left. Any combination of Brandon earning five points and Red Deer losing them would officially lock up Brandon’s post-season spot … Whitehorse, Yukon will play host to pre-season games between the Kelowna Rockets and Medicine Hat on Sept. 11-14, 2025, at Takhini Arena in Whitehorse, Yukon. It will be the first WHL action in the northern city since the Vancouver Giants beat the Kamloops Blazers 3-2 in a regular season game on Feb. 12, 2011.

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