Vancouver Giants eye net return in Jesper Vikman as other injured players skating

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The Vegas Golden Knights prospect, who has been out with a lower body injury since getting hurt in a March 4 game, is slated to skate on his own later this week

Goalie Jesper Vikman has been out of the Giants lineup since March 4, when he left in the first period of a game against Kamloops with what appeared to be a hamstring, groin or hip injury.
Goalie Jesper Vikman has been out of the Giants lineup since March 4, when he left in the first period of a game against Kamloops with what appeared to be a hamstring, groin or hip injury. Photo by Rob Wilton

Vancouver Giants starting goalie Jesper Vikman is making small strides toward a return to action.

According to general manager Barclay Parneta, Vikman (lower body injury) is scheduled to skate on his own Friday, marking the first time on the ice for the Vegas Golden Knights prospect since he left a March 4 game at the Langley Events Center against the Kamloops Blazers at the 17:55 mark of the first period.

Parneta maintains that Vikman won’t be facing any shots that day.

“This is the first step of what will be multiple steps,” Parneta said Wednesday.

Vancouver has gone 3-7-1-0 in the 11 games since that Kamloops contest, including losing the past four straight.

Vikman seemed to overextend on that play in question and appeared to injure his hamstring, groin or hip. Parneta wouldn’t get into specifics.

“It’s a rest and recovery injury,” Parneta said of the situation with the Swede, who just turned 20 earlier this month and was a 2020 fifth-round pick of the Golden Knights.

“We’re hopeful. We expect him to play again for us this season or we would have sent him home already.”

NEXT GAME

saturday

Vancouver Giants vs. Spokane Chiefs

7 pm, Langley Events Centre. Radio: Sportsnet 650. Webstream: watch.chl.ca

First-line center Zack Ostapchuk (upper body injury), who was hurt in Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds at the LEC and didn’t play in Saturday’s 6-2 defeat in Seattle or Sunday’s 5-4 setback versus the Prince George Cougars at the LEC, practiced Tuesday and Parneta lists him as likely to play Saturday when the sixth-place Giants (23-33-4-0) host the ninth-place Spokane Chiefs (19-37-4-1) at the LEC.

Spokane is also at the LEC on Sunday (4 pm, Sportsnet 650) to wrap up their four-game season series with Vancouver.

The top eight teams in the 10-team Western Conference make the playoffs. Vancouver has eight games remaining on its schedule, and the Giants’ magic number to clinch a post-season spot is eight points, meaning that any combination of points gained by Vancouver and points lost by Spokane equaling eight secures Vancouver’s playoff post.

With the back-to-back games with Spokane, Vancouver could officially qualify this weekend. It’s a three-in-three weekend as well for Spokane, since they’re at the second-place Blazers (44-15-2-0) on Friday.

Ostapchuk, an 18-year-old who was a second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators this past summer and has already signed his entry-level deal with the club, is third in Giants scoring with 35 points, including 19 goals, in 52 games. He has seven goals in his past 12 games.

Vancouver defenseman Alex Cotton (lower body injury) has been skating with the team this week and could also play this weekend, according to Parneta. Cotton, 20, who was a 2020 fifth-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings, missed the three games last weekend.

He was Vancouver’s key early season addition, coming over from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the rights to unsigned prospect defenseman Hunter McInnes and four draft picks in a November trade.

He’s tied for fifth in goals (14) for a defenseman in the WHL and has 34 points in 46 games with the Giants and Hurricanes.

Parneta also said Wednesday that winger Cole Shepard (lower body injury) will be sidelined “still probably another week.” Shepard, who turned 20 in January, missed the first 22 games of this season recovering from hip surgery. Parneta said Wednesday that this is not a hip issue for Shepard, but he would not elaborate any further.

Shepard has missed the past five games. He has seven goals and 20 points in 28 games.

As well, center Ty Halaburda (upper body injury) has gone from sidelined week to week to sidelined indefinitely on the Giants’ injury update on the WHL website. He, too, has been out since getting hurt in the March 4 game versus Kamloops.

“We’re still waiting on some assessments,” Parneta said.

Halaburda, 16, has five goals and 16 points in 45 games.

Vikman is 17-15-2-0, with a 3.05 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. The March 4 game was his 18th straight start from him since returning to the Giants from world junior team duty with Sweden.

Nineteen-year-olds Will Gurski and Connor Martin have been splitting the net in Vikman’s absence. Gurski is 5-13-2-0 with a 3.75 goals against average and an .882 save percentage while Martin is 1-4-0-0 with a 4.27 goals against average and a .871 save percentage. Martin recently rejoined Vancouver after spending the majority of the season in the Alberta Junior A League with the Calgary Canucks.

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