Checking in with Nathan Knox – an update

As most Thunder fans will remember, Nathan Knox, former Macalester College standout, tore his ACL in a game against Vancouver last September, as the team tried to come back from a home and away playoff game at the National Sports Center. When Nathan went down, those of us watching knew from the look on his face that the injury was serious. Originally he was thought to have torn his ACL and MCL, but after scans, Nathan reported to Inside Minnesota Soccer last October, that those test revealed that only the ACL had torn, speeding up recovery by at least 3 months.

Knox

I was in contact with Knox this weekend and he reported his rehab is going very well. In fact, he’s ahead of schedule. He said his physical therapist thinks that if he keeps going at the same pace, he will be able to train by the end of February.

Knox said, “The left knee is almost as strong as the right with all the stuff I’ve been doing in the gym. I’ve been running for a few weeks now and have had no set backs and am progressing really well.”

With such great progress, perhaps there’s a chance of Nathan Knox joining the team for spring training even if only to do the cardio and non contact activities. Let’s hope so. Either way, it’s great news for Knox and for us Minnesota Thunder fans.

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In other Thunder news, look for the club to offer some positive news on forward Brian Cvilikas early this week. Cvilikas who was not under contract with the Thunder for 2009, was signed by the team midseason in 2008, and put in some quality minutes. Coach Donny Gramenz has been quoted as saying he liked Cvilikas and feels he has potential but still has a lot to learn.

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Freddy Moojen was traded to the Chicago Storm of the Xtreme Indoor Soccer League. Moojen is still on the Minnesota Thunder USL roster but plays indoor during the winter months. Last year, Moojen was rookie of the year in the Major Indoor Soccer League after compiling 52 points. The Brazilian forward played for the New Jersey Ironmen all of the 2008 season as well as the current season up until the trade. Moojen was slowed this season with a toe injury that has kept his point total down to 9 pts. He was traded for Chicago’s Randi Patterson. Patterson, 23, had two assists in seven appearances with Chicago. He played this summer for the Charleston Battery of USL-1 and led the team with 10 goals and 21 points. In college at UNC-Greensboro, Patterson had 61 goals and 19 assists in four years and was two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year.

“Let me take this opportunity and thank Freddy for everything he has done for our team over the past two seasons,” said Ironmen coach Omid Namazi. “He is a very good professional, and this trade is not indicative of what type of player that he is. We just felt that we had too many targets and needed to create a better mix of midfielders and targets on our roster.”