Not even an untimely pre-season injury could stop Tripp Fischer from earning a roster berth with Team Alberta for the WHL Cup.
Read more: Fischer takes next step in Alberta tryouts
The 15-year-old forward from Lloydminster was among 20 players named last week to Alberta’s entry in the four-team tournament showcasing the WHL’s top U16 prospects.
“I’m really grateful to be on that (provincial) team,” Fischer said Sunday, Oct. 5, while watching his regular club, the U18 AAA Lloydminster Lancers, in their Alberta Elite Hockey League home-opener.
“I didn’t know if getting hurt at the start of the year would affect that. I’m glad it didn’t. It feels pretty good.”
Also involving teams representing British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the annual WHL Cup runs from Wednesday, Oct. 22, through Sunday, Oct. 26, at the Centrium in Red Deer.
Fischer, a prospect of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, has been sidelined since suffering a high-ankle sprain during a Sept. 12 exhibition game in Edmonton between the Lancers and Junior Oilers Orange.
‘DAY BY DAY’
“We talked to physio yesterday,” Fischer said about his Saturday, Oct. 4, checkup in Edmonton.
“He said I probably can’t play next weekend (in Edmonton), so I’d be good for the (following) weekend in Calgary, but I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s kind of day by day.”
Immediately after the Lancers play two games in Calgary on the Oct. 18-19 weekend, Team Alberta convenes for a few days of practice before opening the WHL Cup on Oct. 22 against Manitoba. In their other preliminary games, the Albertans also face Saskatchewan on Oct. 23 and B.C. on Oct. 24.
Ideally, Fischer would like to play at least a game or two with Lloydminster before skating with Team Alberta, but he’s prepared for all possible eventualities.
“If I don’t end up playing any games before then, I’ll just keep it simple and kind of get a feel for it (initially), and hopefully get better from there,” he said.
“There’s two practices on the Monday, and then one on Tuesday, and then we play on the Wednesday.”
‘JUST LIMPED AROUND’
While he hasn’t played in almost four weeks, Fischer has made steady progress from late September, when it was difficult for him just to walk around home or the rink and at school. He didn’t use a cane or crutch during his recovery period.
“No, I kind of just limped around,” he said with a smile. “I’m walking fine now. It’s just I can’t run yet or jump, but it’s getting better. It was pretty swollen and then it was bruised down by my foot.
“I started skating a little bit last week. Pushed pucks for the first day, and then I pushed on my ankle a little bit and tried to skate a little better, and it wasn’t bad. So, kind of keep progressing hard. I skate every day and hopefully get back to 100 (per cent).”
It’s his first significant hockey injury.
“I’ve never really had one,” Fischer said. “It’s not the greatest (experience), sitting and watching.”
The setback happened in the Lancers’ first exhibition game, about a week after Fischer had returned from an extended pre-season stay with Prince Albert, the WHL team that drafted him in the third round, 52nd overall, last May.
In the third period of the Lancers’ 4-1 loss to the Junior Oilers Orange, he was tripped on the play that led to his high-ankle sprain.
“I was driving the middle, and then a guy got his stick in my feet, and I went into the boards and twisted it,” Fischer said. “Just drove the middle and got tripped.
“My foot was kind of numb. It didn’t feel good. I knew something wasn’t right. And then, I hobbled off the ice and didn’t play the rest of the game.”
WAITING GAME FOR FISCHER, LANCERS
Since then, the Lancers have tried to adjust to life without the coveted Fischer, one of the bright young players pegged to play a big role this season, even as a rookie.
“First of all, great that Tripp is named to the WHL Cup,” Lloydminster coach Chris King said Sunday night. “I think it’s awesome for him. He’s put in a lot of hard work.
“My worry as a coach right now is that he hasn’t played in we’re clicking close to a month. I don’t know if he’ll play next week, because he’s got to get a lot more stable on his one leg. My biggest fear is that if he hasn’t played and he jumps right into that, the (possibility of a) re-injury.”
Of course, the Lancers have been waiting for the well-rounded hometown player and former captain of the U15 prep team at Delta Hockey Academy in B.C.
“Now, when he comes back to our team, it adds a forward that has some physicality and some high-end scoring and playmaking tools,” King said. “Which obviously helps any team out. It helps shuffle our lines a little bit more.
“We’ve been going by (scoring by) committee. But when he comes back, he’ll be a welcome addition. He was buzzing around before we started the regular season, like in the pre-season when he got injured, and hopefully we have him back (soon).
“Awesome for him to have that (Team Alberta) experience. Hopefully, he’s healthy and can play a couple of games with us (beforehand). But yeah, the likelihood of him playing games with us in October is fairly low, just because
he’s going to miss an extended time with that WHL Cup.”
REGIONAL REPRESENTATION INCLUDES KELTS, RESCHNY
Fischer is among 11 forwards on an Alberta team that includes seven defencemen and two goaltenders. The blueliners include Consort’s Will Kelts, a Kelowna Rockets’ prospect who plays U18 prep with Northern Alberta Xtreme.
Anderson Reschny of Macklin is among the six defencemen selected to Team Saskatchewan. The Prince George Cougars’ draft choice plays U18 AAA with the Saskatoon Blazers.
Team Manitoba’s roster includes two Prince Albert prospects — Athens Shingoose and Brady Filmon — familiar to Fischer from the Raiders’ training camp.
Shingoose, selected in the first round of the 2025 draft, 16th overall, was one of the players Fischer clicked well with on and off the ice during their first pre-season with Prince Albert.
“I got pretty tight with him,” he said. “And the rest of the team, I was pretty tight with everybody.”
Fischer dressed for a couple of WHL exhibition games.
“I liked it,” he said. “It was a good experience for me. Obviously, I can’t make that team (as a 15-year-old). But playing in a couple of exhibition games, it gives you a little taste. It’s nice.”
Fischer also sees promise in his new team, the Lancers, who went to overtime Sunday in a 5-4 loss to the Sherwood Park Kings, after a 6-3 defeat against the Leduc Oil Kings in Saturday’s season-opener.
“Yesterday wasn’t great for us,” Fischer said. “I thought we didn’t play very well. But from what I’ve seen at practice, and even at the start of this game, we’ll be good.
“It’s a good group in the (dressing) room, too.”
He’s also happy to be back in his own bedroom, living in Lloyd with his family after a year at prep school in British Columbia.
“I love it,” Fischer said. “It’s special to be at home with the family. If it’s going to be one of my last years (living at home), I’m glad it’s this year with this team.”
Read more: Tripp to Prince Albert for gifted Fischer
