2011 Wisconsin recruit Jake McCabe is starting the season on the shelf. After noticing McCabe sat out the USHL Fall Classic over the weekend, I had assumed he had some sort of injury. I checked in with the Team USA defenseman and got the news I was hoping I wouldn't hear.McCabe confirmed that he is injured and will be out 8-12 weeks. McCabe said he has a stress fracture in his L-5 vertebra which is in the lower back. The doctors told him that they suspect he injured it lifting weights over the summer. The injury showed up on a bone scan done shortly after returning to Ann Arbor this fall.
McCabe said that he is 2 and a half weeks into recovery and is hoping for a mid-November return. He's in a big back brace that he's forced to wear 24 hours a day that is supposed to speed up the recovery time. He is able to do biking exercises at this time but that's about it.
A teammate of McCabe's at the NTDP, Connor Murphy had a similar injury last season. Unfortunately for Murphy the injury wasn't diagnosed until late in the season and he was limited to 9 games.
I think I speak for everyone in wishing Jake a speedy recovery and hopefully he'll be back on the ice for the bulk of Team USA's season.
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