Chance Creger: Minot vs. Austin 9/27/13

Chance Creger Hardest Shot Competition

Chance Creger and the Minotauros: Dream Catchers' Softball Game

Yesterday I was presented with a great opportunity to play some softball with the Dream Catchers. The Dream Catchers are a group of kids in Minot with special needs, the group meets and plays softball in the spring and summer every year. Each player was able to pair up with one of the kids and help them field, bat and run the bases. I was paired up with an 8th Grader named Haley and a Preschooler named Nole. It was an incredible experience to help these kids out and something that I'll never forget.

Chance Creger... "Cornerstone of the Team"

24 teams in 24 days: Minot Minotauros
SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

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"On defense, the Minotauros return Scott Dornbrock and Chance Creger. They are a part of what Murray believes will be the cornerstone of the team. “I think we are going to be real solid defensively,” said Murray. “Not only do we have two experienced defensemen like Scott (Dornbrock) and Chance (Creger) back there, but we brought in some players that are older and have some junior experience to help us out.”"

Chance Creger and Team at Minotauros Training Camp

     

After returning to Minot two weeks early to train, we hit the ice last Friday to begin training camp. We have a skilled team this year and camp has been extremely high paced. The exhibition season starts this Friday with a home and away series against Bismarck. There has been a lot of focus on systems and conditioning to get everyone in shape and on the same page.  My knee has held up great so far and my puck movement has definitely improved since last season. I am looking forward to this season and finishing up my junior career strong. The season will start against Corpus Christi on the 18th.

Chance Creger and Kenny McCudden Elite AAA Camp

 This last week I had the pleasure of coaching in Kenny McCudden's Elite AAA Camp. The camp is held every year in Chicago, however this year it was a joint camp in Boulder. The kids from Chicago flew down to Colorado for the week and were able to billet with Bison Families. It was a great experience and I enjoyed it thoroughly. From watching all the coaches present at the camp I gained a great deal of knowledge about the game and coaching in general. The talent level of the Coaching Staff made it an amazing camp to attend as both players and myself. My youngest brother, Cole was also able to attend the camp. There is not many times that you can place someone into a week-long camp and see as much improvement as what I saw in Cole this week. I have very high hopes in Cole  as he will be playing U13 AAA for the Rocky Mountain Roughriders this season. As for myself, my knee is recovering very well. I am almost 5 months post-op now and my strength is almost back to 100%. There is the occasional morning where I wake up with a pretty stiff leg but, that is nothing a few minutes dedicated to stretching won't fix. I will be leaving for Minot 10 days before camp in order to train and get settled in. I will also be skating at the Jr. Bison Main Camp this weekend to try to get up to speed.

Vail Northern Edge Camp and June Training

June was a great month for both my career as a player and as a coach. I continued to train with Coach Frenchy every day during the week. My knee is healing fast and my stamina and strength are increasing every day. The workouts are always a good mix of high cardio strength workouts that push not only my body, but my mind as well. I have been holding 205 for about three weeks. During this month I am going to focus on training on ice and preparing for training camp in August.

I was also invited to coach at the Northern Edge Camp in Vail. It was a week long camp with around 30 kids ranging from first year squirts through second year peewees. Throughout the camp I learned more useful drills to teach during private lessons as well as how to reach younger kids more effectively. During the camp we watched the kids and then drafted two teams for a game on Friday. I was the Head Coach for the Reebok Rebels as seen in the picture above. We had a great game and ended up losing 6-5 in 3OT.

After a great month I am looking forward to July, after a long summer I am looking forward to next season.

Physical Therapy and Recovery

Although it may seem as if bad luck has hit me hard with two major injuries, both have followed with speedy recoveries. Which I am very thankful for! My knee is healing great and my physical therapist says I'm way ahead of schedule. I could get the go ahead to skate in a matter of days. My range of motion is also completely back to normal and my strength is increasing daily.

What this surgery has done for me is given me a lot of time to work and strengthen my upper body. After losing a considerable amount of weight I have gained a large portion back all in my upper body. I am at 195lbs right now just 15 below where I was during the season. With losing a lot of leg mass and having limited lifting abilities to gain it back, a lot of focus is on my upper body. I'm lifting 6 days a week right now bulking up as much as i can. I'm on the bike every day doing interval training (45 seconds on 1:30 off) keeping my cardio as high as possible.

It was hard watching my team lose in the first round of playoffs. Nothing is harder than watching the game from home. I am as determined as ever to get back into full stride before next year and be a tremendous impact on the ice.

I'd like to thank my family, friends and teammates for supporting me during this time. Ill always appreciate it!

Surgery 3.18.13

My ACL surgery Monday was a success, the doctor said everything went perfectly! The first three days were rough pain wise but, I'm back up and moving around with a full leg brace. Physical therapy starts tomorrow which I am very excited about. Range of motion is the focus for now and as stiff as this leg has been I'm looking forward to some movement. I'm already anxious to start recovering and getting back on the ice. It's nice to know that every day is a step in the right direction now.

Injury Update

Unfortunately the injury bug has hit me this year and again with another serious injury. In our mid-January series against Coulee Region, I initiated a hit along the half wall in the second period. My foot got caught in the ice and twisted in front of my body as I made contact with the opposing player. As we both fell my foot was caught underneath his body as I fell on top of him. I heard a loud pop and was in immediate pain. I made my way off the ice and did not finish the game. I flew home the next week for an MRI to find that my ACL was severely torn and needed surgery. March 18th is the scheduled day for the surgery and it sounds like the recovery time is around 6 months. I have continued to lift as much as possible in the recent weeks so I am healthy going into the surgery. I have been able to coach the last few weeks with my younger brother's PeeWee AA team and I still have my old job back at ProSkate. Needless to say I am anxious to begin my rehab and prepare for my 20 year old year of juniors.

Chance and Cole Christmas Backyard Skating

It was great to come home for a few days in the Christmas season! I was only home the 23rd through the 26th but it was a great time to reset and relax. One of the highlights was definitely being able to skate in the backyard with my two younger brothers. Below are two videos of Cole and myself messing around early on Christmas morning! I love seeing this kid grow. He's playing Peewee AA this year and one of the best players on his team. I am very proud of him for battling through a lot of adversity and working hard!