Americans’ Vickerman has season derailed by injuries

The Tri-City Americans’ favorite native son is done with hockey for the rest of the season.

Taylor Vickerman, 19, on Thursday called it quits — for now — after a laundry list of injuries derailed his season.

“It’s been rough on me with the concussion,” Vickerman said. “It’s probably for the best that I take a step back for a bit.”

He suffered a lower-body injury in October that kept him off the ice for two weeks.

Vickerman suffered an upper body injury Nov. 11 against Portland and missed seven games. He returned for back-to-back games against the Spokane Chiefs. He last played Nov. 28 at Spokane.

But that’s not all he’s endured during his career.

Over the past two seasons, Vickerman has had two knee surgeries, one shoulder surgery and a broken wrist, limiting him to 90 games.

The Americans acquired Vickerman, a Kennewick native, from the Vancouver Giants on Aug. 23, 2013, in exchange for a 2015 second-round bantam draft pick.

A 6-foot-1, 205-pound forward, Vickerman played 105 of his 157 career games with the Americans. He had 15 career goals with 22 assists.

Vickerman was named the 2015 WHL Humanitarian of the Year for his involvement in the community. This season, he earned the team’s offseason fitness award and was named an alternate captain.

He is just the second Mid-Columbia player to earn a spot on the Americans’ roster. Defenseman Justin Togiai (2001-03) of Kennewick was the first.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 9:52 PM with the headline "Americans’ Vickerman has season derailed by injuries."