Cameron Hebig is looking to make up for lost time. The Saskatoon Blades forward is back to full health and hoping to help lead the team back to the playoffs in his final year of junior hockey.
“I came in really determined. I wanted to show I can still play and I think I gotta prove myself again,” he said.
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Prior to last season Hebig was projected as the Blades number one centre and one of the team’s top point producers. But he wound up missing the entire campaign after being sidelined in training camp with a mysterious upper body injury that was initially thought to be a concussion.
To this day Hebig has not received a clear diagnosis of what ailed him but he was eventually given the green light to return to the ice.
“It was a long process. Definitely (it took) a lot of patience and (was) some days very frustrating,” he said.
“I’m glad I saw the right people because they helped me get back on the right track there, gave me the right physio and I worked hard at getting back.”
Now the Bridge City native is facing a new challenge in trying to earn a spot on the Blades roster as an overage player.
There are currently four twenty-year-olds on the squad but Western Hockey League (WHL) rules limit teams to a maximum of three. Goaltender Logan Flodell and defenceman Evan Fiala are widely expected to occupy the first two spots, which would leave one open for two players: Hebig or fellow forward Braylon Shmyr.
“At this point I’m not worried about any of that stuff. I’m just trying to play my game and trying to lead this group into another good year,” said Shmyr, who led Saskatoon with 35 goals and 66 points in 66 games last season.
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Hebig, who posted 26 goals and 69 points in 59 games as an 18-year-old and has spent his entire junior career with his hometown team, understands the reality of the situation.
“I guess we’re all battling. We want to make a team here, we wanna play, so I think it’s friendly competition, we push each other and that’s all we can do,” he said.
The Blades continue their pre-season schedule with a pair of games against the Prince Albert Raiders this weekend. The teams will meet at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert on Friday before the scene shifts to the Legends Centre in Warman on Saturday.
Saskatoon opens the regular season Sept. 22 when they host the Swift Current Broncos.
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