Thursday, October 13, 2011

Danberg Out Indefinitely

If you missed the UMD Coaches Show Wednesday night at Buffalo Wild Wings, the one major news item that came out of our conversation with men's hockey coach Scott Sandelin is certainly not good news in the least.

Senior forward and assistant captain Cody Danberg will be out for an extended period of time with a shoulder injury. I talked to Cody at the arena Wednesday, and he remains hopeful that he can play towards the end of the season, though that timetable is not a certainty at this point.

Sandelin confirmed that Danberg will have surgery, probably within a few days.

"We'll see how the surgery goes, and after that it's pretty much how quickly the recovery process is," Sandelin said. The coach didn't want to put a timetable on Danberg's recovery, but he is also hopeful that Danberg will be able to play before the season ends. The only specific he would note is that Danberg will be out until at least after Christmas.

"You feel bad for him, obviously," Sandelin said. "He's got good leadership. He's well-respected. Our guys know how important he is. The good thing is he will still be around, and can provide that leadership to our guys."

Danberg has been a joy from my perspective. If you remember, he traveled with us to New York last year, and he ended up working on the broadcasts with me in the Clarkson games, adding insights and laughing at my bad jokes. He's good with the little kids, so he's a go-to guy at events like Skate With The Bulldogs, and he's just a very good person.

You don't wish this kind of stuff on anyone. But if you were, say, a Philadelphia fan, and you actually did wish this kind of stuff on people (I kid), Danberg would be about the last guy you would do that to.

We'll hope for the best. For now, look for the UMD top line (Mike Seidel - Jack Connolly - J.T. Brown) to stay intact this weekend. Joe Basaraba has been skating, and should play right wing with Jake Hendrickson and Travis Oleksuk barring a setback.

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