Cole Linaker is back where he belongs after missing a season of hockey with a knee injury.
“It’s great to be playing hockey again,” said the St. Albert Steel rookie. “I thought I would be a step behind when I came back, but I’m doing fine.”
Last year Linaker tore his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments as well as the meniscus cartilage in his right knee in the first game of the Alberta Cup tournament for second-year bantams.
“It wasn’t a hit, I just got kind of shoved and my leg planted in the ice and it just twisted,” said the 16-year-old forward.
Surgery was needed to fix the damage and it wasn’t until around Christmas that Linaker was back on skates again.
“It was very light with no crossovers. I just wanted to get on the ice and get a feel for it again,” said the Maple Leaf Athletic Club product. “I didn’t start skating, like contact stuff, until about a few months ago [at the Steel summer skate sessions at Servus Credit Union Place]. That basically got me back into the swing of things again.”
A sixth-round (113th overall) pick of the Kelowna Rockets in the 2010 Western Hockey League bantam draft, Linaker struggled to stay upbeat while getting the knee back into shape, working out every day and focusing on improving his knee strength.
“To sum it up it was really tough, especially seeing everyone else play, but after a while I got used to it. I had to focus more, and I guess that helped me mentally.”
Ironically, his older brother Reed, the Steel’s all-star centre, suffered the same sort of injury in an AJHL game Feb. 4 and was sidelined for the rest of the season.
“I just did it a bit worse. Reed partially tore his but I fully tore mine,” Cole said.
Reed, 19, didn’t need surgery and he was cleared to play in the summer after testing out the knee while wearing a brace.
The Linakers are now together on the same team for the first time in their careers.
“It’s really cool. It’s an experience I didn’t think I would get to have, considering our age difference,” Cole said. “It’s really helpful to have him on the team. He’s a vet so he gives me a lot of helpful input. He keeps me calm.”
Cole is taller and stronger than Reed, and is equally as talented offensively. Reed (83-95-178 in 145 games) is on target to rewrite the Steel record book for goals (102), assists (136), points (238), power-play goals (44) and game winners (13).
In May, Reed committed to the Penn State Nittany Lions for their inaugural NCAA division one season in 2012/13.
“I have height and size, which gives me an advantage, but game-play wise I think we’re very similar players. We both have the same style,” said Cole, a natural centre who can also play right wing.
In bantam AAA he netted 18 goals and added 30 assists in 33 games with the Maple Leafs.
In four games with the Steel, Cole contributed one goal and one assist.
“I feel I’m doing pretty well. I’m just hoping to gain more confidence as the season goes on and just keep getting better,” said the Grade 11 O’Leary High School student. “It’s tough to get confidence, especially since I didn’t play last year. It’s also a big jump from bantam to junior when you’re playing against bigger boys.”
Cole sniped his first AJHL goal in the Steel home opener last weekend against Sherwood Park Crusaders.
“It was a two-on-one and I just shot it short side over the shoulder. I wasn’t really expecting it to go in so I was kind of in disbelief,” Cole said. “I was gripping the stick tight and getting really nervous so it was good to pot that one and get that off my chest. It was a big goal, too. It got us to within one [at 4-3 with 12:48 to play].”
The next night after the 6-3 loss, Cole assisted on Kyle Scaber’s goal as the Steel went down to defeat 9-2 in Grande Prairie. The Steel trailed 4-0 after the first and 6-0 going into the third.
“GP was tough, especially going into a barn like that where it’s really crazy. You can’t give up too early and after they scored those early goals (two in the opening 92 seconds) we just went downhill from there. They had all the momentum.”
The fourth loss in a row for the Steel was Tuesday’s 5-3 result in Drayton Valley.
“It was tough. We should’ve come out of there with a win. We just had a couple of mental breakdowns, which cost us in our D zone,” said Cole, who skated on the second line with John Baird and Ryan Berlin. “There was not enough emotion and passion. We weren’t aggressive enough. We had spurts where we were really good and then we would have spurts where we just broke down and it cost us.”
