Accepting a medical redshirt is no longer an option for senior J.D. Corbin.
Barring a setback, the University of Denver co-captain will return Friday from a 30-game injury absence for a crucial two-game series against North Dakota at Magness Arena.
“I should be able to go,” Corbin said Monday. “I practiced all of last week, full contact and everything, and I should be able to do that again this week.”
The Littleton native broke his right leg and tore ligaments and tendons in his ankle four games into the season.
DU coach George Gwoz- decky, whose team was idle last weekend, isn’t sure where he will insert Corbin, who began the season on the second line with sophomore Patrick Mullen and freshman Tyler Ruegsegger.
“He still skates like crazy and is one of our fastest guys,” Gwozdecky said of Corbin, who underwent ankle surgery in October after suffering the injuries in practice.
After the two-game series against the Fighting Sioux, the Pioneers play a home-and- home series against Colorado College. DU is in third place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, a point ahead of North Dakota and CC.
The top five WCHA finishers host best-of-three playoff series beginning March 9. The first- round winners advance to the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn.
Full Trot
Brock Trotter, who is seventh among NCAA freshmen in scoring (36 points), is on pace to become the first Pioneers freshman since Dave Shields in 1987 to lead the team in scoring.
Two classmates are chasing Trotter for that honor. Rhett Rakhshani and Ruegsegger are second and fourth on the team, respectively, with 32 and 31 points.
Positive mistake
Air Force snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-0 win Saturday at Canisius. The Falcons complete the regular season this weekend at American International, needing just one point to clinch home ice for the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Association playoffs.
“I told our guys that they made a mistake tonight because they showed everyone how good they could be,” coach Frank Serratore said after the Falcons’ first win since Jan. 27. “This should be the norm of how we play.”
Footnotes
Air Force junior Eric Ehn had five points last weekend to regain the NCAA scoring lead. Ehn has 55 points, two more than Michigan senior and Avalanche draftee T.J. Hensick…. CC, winless in its past four games and coming off a pair of 3-2 losses to No. 1 Minnesota, has returned to the NCAA Tournament bubble, tied with Michigan State for 13th in the Pairwise Rankings….Tyler Bozak, who has committed to DU, leads the British Columbia Hockey League with 120 points. In 55 games, the center for the Victoria Grizzlies has 43 goals and 77 assists.
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
