Calgary Dinos’ Star Forward Boris Bakovic Suffers Serious Injury In Prep for PAN AM Games

TORONTO,ON–Boris Bakovic, who was to have represented Canada with the  Pan-Am Team in Mexico for the next 2 weeks, has suffered a knee injury in practice in Toronto. 

Bakovic, a 5th year transfer forward, has returned to Calgary for medical assessment and treatment, but the injury appears to be very serious, according to Dinos Coach Dan Vanhooren.

“It is devastating, really.  Boris has what appears to be serious ligament damage.  He will get an MRI to further assess the injury, but we are expecting the worst, unfortunately”, commented a shaken Vanhooren.

With Bakovic, a former All-Canadian at Ryerson, Calgary was poised to compete for a Top 10 CIS spot, but losing him would likely make that goal a tough one to reach.

For Boris, who was a popular addition to the locker room, and who has been pursuing a graduate degree at UC, the injury throws a wrench in his plans for the future.  It is a tough pill to swallow for both the player and his team as they look ahead to a very different season than they had all expected.

The absence of Bakovic leaves a hole in the UC Dinos line-up, but the possibility of Tyler Fidler being sidelined as well has Coach Dan Vanhooren juggling his roster in anticipation of 2 games at UBC-O in Kelowna this weekend.

Fidler, who missed the Saturday game with Transylvania in Windsor, ON, is fighting the injury bug, and is ‘day to day’, according to Coach Vanhooren.  “We want to be ready for our 1st Canada West regular season  games (Nov. 5/6 in Brandon), so Tyler might be better to sit this week”, said Vanhooren.

This will likely mean more minutes for the 2nd year pair of Matt Letkeman (Abbotsford – Yale HS),  and Josh Wolfram (Kamloops – S. Kamloops HS), both B.C. high school stars who figure prominently in the Dinos line-up this season. 

Other forward prospects who will be pressed into service to cover the 65-70 minutes from Boris and Tyler include 5th year post Dustin Reding, 2nd year post, Patrick Walker, and Dutch rookie forward, Daan Wiersum.