Injured Murray determined to make CAN WJC roster

Ryan Murray is a defenseman for the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League. The 6-foot, 182-pound native of Saskatchewan was named Everett's Rookie of the Year in 2009-10 after producing 22 assists and 27 points in 62 games. He became the youngest captain in franchise history during the 2010-11 season while leading the team with a plus-18 rating and all defensemen on the club with 46 points. Despite suffering an ankle injury Oct. 19, which will force him out of the lineup for the next five weeks, Murray still took the time to maintain his monthly blog for NHL.com that will chronicle his season leading up to the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Hello everyone. Well, I had a bit of a setback in the first period of a home game against Brandon on October 19. An injury occurred when I went into the corner for a puck and got hit awkwardly. When I put my foot down to balance myself, my skate caught a rut and my body kind of buckled over my foot.

I'm feeling pretty good right now. The injury is definitely disappointing, but it's part of the game and now I just have to focus on doing my rehab and get back into the lineup as soon as possible.

The doctors have told me I'll be out for somewhere around five weeks. That would put me back into the lineup sometime later in November or in early December.

I did not travel with the team on our two-week long road trip through Alberta. While the team was off on the trip, I was able to go home to White City, Sask., and visit with friends and family. Road trips are always great for bonding with the team, so it would've been great to go with the guys. At the same time though, it was also really nice to spend some time with my family after two months away.

I will be missing the Subway Super Series against the Russians, which is too bad since I would have been playing near my hometown in Regina. It would have been a great experience to play alongside the top players in the league against Team Russia, but I think the best thing to do is let my ankle recover and not risk further injury to it by trying to come back too soon.

We have had a tough start to the season and things haven't always gone great, but I know that our team is better than what our record has shown (4-11-3). We've played in a lot of one-goal games, we just haven't been able to get the edge over our opponents every night. We need to keep working hard and stay positive, and we will be able to turn our season around. Although we are a young team, we have a bunch of great players that can get the job done.

The World Junior Championship is definitely on my mind, especially after what happened with the injury. The tournament is a huge goal I have for the season, and it's something that I definitely do not want to miss. I should be ready to go by that time, and hopefully sooner. In the meantime, I'll be working as hard as possible to get back to 100 percent.

I'll provide an update next month.