It was a bad break for Kyle Topping and the Kelowna Rockets.
“The injury was a jolt to our whole organization,” said Kelowna Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton.
On Oct. 30 in Victoria, Topping fell and slid into the boards.
Topping broke his ankle in two places and underwent surgery a few days later.
The injury threw a wrench into the Rockets’ roster.
With Kelowna hosting the Memorial Cup in May, big things were expected of Topping and his fourth season with the franchise.
Fast forward two months and the 20-year-old B.C. product is on the mend.
But Topping’s broken ankle required some hardware to heal, and he’ll probably be setting off metal detectors for the rest of his life.
And that has allowed Topping to start staging an early comeback from what many thought might be a season-ending injury.
In fact, the popular forward has already been skating 10 times since his surgery.
“Obviously I eased into it, but now we are starting a little higher pace and different movements and stuff like that, so it’s going good,” Topping said.
On Friday, Topping took to the ice under the watchful eye of Rockets assistant coach Vern Fiddler, who put him through some skating drills.
“I feel good I mean definitely getting better every day I feel more comfortable every time I hit the ice,” Topping said.
A potential return for Topping from the injured reserve list is good news for Rockets fans.
However, it presents the team with a bit of a problem.
League regulations stipulate that a team can only carry three 20-year-olds, and Kelowna has four.
With the WHL trade deadline fast approaching next Friday, Hamilton will have to decide on who stays and who goes.
With a chance to play in the Memorial Cup at stake, Topping’s timetable for a comeback is coming up quick.
“Sometime in January, that’s the plan,” Topping said.
The Rockets are expecting an updated doctor’s report on Topping early next week.