Cale Tanaka keen on second season with Hull Stingrays
ICE HOCKEY
CALE Tanaka says his horrendous run of injuries would not put him off returning to Hull Stingrays next season.
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Cale Tanaka is keen to return for Hull Stingrays.
The 26-year-old forward is currently sidelined with a broken wrist, the latest problem in his debut campaign in Britain.
It follows a damaged AC shoulder joint, skin ripped off his nose and three broken teeth.
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However, the Canadian remains upbeat in the face of seemingly being a shoo-in for Britain's unluckiest player.
"I'd definitely think about coming back," said Tanaka.
"The support in Hull has been fantastic and I like what Sylvain Cloutier is doing as a coach.
"It's been great – minus all the injuries!"
Tanaka is back training, despite sporting a pot on the wrist broken three weeks ago against Belfast.
It is not expected to be removed for at least another fortnight, leaving Tanaka facing an uphill battle to re-join the Rapid Solicitors Stingrays quest for a play-off place.
Nevertheless, the injury-prone forward remains philosophical about his current lot.
"It's part of the game," he said.
"I've been lucky enough to not go through injuries before.
"I hurt my ankle at university, but not been injured again even though I like to think I play pretty physical hockey at times.
"I know everyone gets injured, but I know I can bounce back."
Tanaka still clings to the hope of playing again this season, even though there are only 10 games of the regular season left, starting in Fife on Saturday before a home clash with Braehead on Sunday.
"It's unfortunate with the way things have gone this year injury-wise, but I'm taking the positives away from this," he said.
"I'd rather I go through it than anyone else as I can bounce back. I want to keep a positive attitude and be a positive presence in the dressing room until I can get out on the ice.
"The boys have been rolling in the past couple of games, apart from the 8-7 overtime defeat in Dundee which was a bit of a Wild West shoot-out.
"The boys have been playing solid and I'm proud of the way they have been playing.
"We have got more balanced scoring and it's paid off.
"We have been playing really well. We are happy to win those 1-0 or 2-1 games and that, plus the netminding Ben Bowns supplied last week, means we could be in for a pretty good last little run.
"It is crunch time, in fact it has pretty much been since the start of October, we've got to keep winning if we want to make the play-offs."
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