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Brody Sorenson back on the ice, thriving after scary injury at Cheboygan

dylan jespersen, the petoskey news-review
·2 min read

GAYLORD ― Two games into his high school hockey career, Brody Sorenson had already experienced some of the highest of highs.

The Gaylord sophomore made his varsity debut on Friday, Nov. 17, scoring a hat trick in the team's 8-5 win over Wyandotte Roosevelt in front of his home crowd and a packed student section. One day later, he did it again, leading the team with three goals in an 8-2 win over Manistee.

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Brody Sorenson scored back-to-back hat tricks in his first two high school hockey games before a scary injury nearly cost him his season. Now, he's back to his old self less than two weeks later.
Brody Sorenson scored back-to-back hat tricks in his first two high school hockey games before a scary injury nearly cost him his season. Now, he's back to his old self less than two weeks later.

Just 11 days later, he would experience the lowest of lows that competitive sports has to offer.

With time winding down in what was going to be a 5-4 comeback Cheboygan victory over Gaylord on Wednesday, Nov. 29, Sorenson took an unintentional hit into the boards, causing him to collapse and require serious medical attention. The game was called with less than 30 seconds to go as Sorenson was stretchered off the ice and transported to McLaren Northern Michigan hospital in Petoskey.

"I remember taking a hit from behind and just my whole body going numb," said Sorenson. "I laid there and realized my toes and feet were very numb, so I kept repeating that to the doctors."

Forget the loss of a promising young player to a seemingly improving Gaylord hockey team; there was real concern that this injury was serious, and both communities came together in hopes that Sorenson would be okay and back on the ice, not knowing when or if that would be the case.

Fortunately, it turned out to be the best-case scenario, as less than two weeks after that scary scene, Sorenson has already returned to the ice.

Sorenson avoided any major damage, with his injury officially being diagnosed as a cervical sprain. And, after passing concussion protocol and returning to practice, Sorenson was back with the team this past weekend in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday for Gaylord's annual Divison 3 Challenge.

"I'm feeling a lot better now getting back on my skates," said Sorenson. "I was a bit scared for my first practice back, but everything's taken a turn for the great and I'm doing awesome."

Brody Sorenson was back on the ice during Gaylord hockey's Division 3 Challenge on Friday, Dec. 9 at the Otsego County Sportsplex in Gaylord, Mich.
Brody Sorenson was back on the ice during Gaylord hockey's Division 3 Challenge on Friday, Dec. 9 at the Otsego County Sportsplex in Gaylord, Mich.

The speedy recovery was a welcome sign for a Blue Devils team that struggled to find scoring without him, falling in back-to-back 4-0 losses to TC West and Tawas. In his return, he seemingly picked up where he left off, scoring the team's only goal in a 3-1 loss to Divine Child on Friday, Dec. 8.

With him back, Gaylord again boasts two dangerous scorers as Sorenson and Bryton Thaxton have combined to score 10+ goals in the first eight games of the season. Within the Gaylord program, they're just happy to see No. 93 back doing his thing.

Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord hockey's Brody Sorenson returns after scary neck injury