Stensrud hopeful for return in the new year

Commentator/Courier File Photo Medicine Hat Cubs' forward Tristan Stensrud returned to the ice for his first game on Nov. 30.

Justin Seward
Commentator/Courier

Bow Island native Tristan Stensrud is hoping to return to the Medicine Hat Cubs line up early in the new year.
The overage forward has been recovering from a dirt biking accident that happened in the summer time when he went airborne 40-feet off a jump and did not land cleanly, resulting in him hitting his head and suffering brain bleeding and an eye injury.
“I’m back to work. I’m back basically to a normal life. The only thing I’m waiting on is just my eye,” said Stensrud.
“I’ve got surgery in the beginning of January. It should be back to normal by then.”
Stensrud says he has been going to practices with the team for over a month and participates in all the drills, but is awaiting more clearance and the decision from the team as to whether they will dress him for games.
“The age I could be playing and having to watch these guys play and not being out there, that’s tough,” he said.
“It’s good to know they still want me involved in the team and still want me this year.”
He still hangs around the team by participating in events after work or on weekends.
“The only thing I’ve been missing from the team is, I’m not playing. I still wear my dress clothes and still partake in the events that we host,” he said.
He says it was tough not being on the opening night roster.
“I definitely in my own eyes wasn’t ready for it yet,” he said.
“It’ll take some time. But eventually they’re going yo see a team we play where they’ll be like ‘oh yeah, you can dress here.’ I don’t plan to come back to the role I was playing last year by the end of the year. I’d be kind of a guy out there to give some guys a break. If I’m still a part of the team, I plan on coming back and finding the role I was playing in last year and being one of the main leaders on the team.”
His role involved him working his way up the line up to the point where he was becoming a point producer and playing with a quicker pace.
The Cubs have put a respectable 6-2-2 record through 10 games and with the successful start, Stensrud thinks the team is starting to grow.
“With these guys, they get along quite well and feed off of one another. They’re a very strong team,” he said.