Nearing a return, Stoll discusses his recovery

Jarret Stoll, who hasn’t played since suffering a head injury from a hit by Vancouver’s Derek Dorsett during a 4-0 Kings victory on March 12, participated fully in Wednesday’s practice and appears to be nearing a return to the lineup.

“I feel good,” Stoll said. “I’ve been skating for about a week now. It’s great to be back on the ice with the boys. I definitely missed them. Watching them play is tough, but good to be back skating with the guys and just ramping it up a little bit to get in the game.”

Having returned to the ice on March 24, he continued to build up his conditioning and endurance with Nelson Emerson of the club’s development staff and LA Junior Kings Coach Jack Bowkus while the Kings were on their recent five-game road trip.

“You’ve got to take your time with these things,” Stoll said. “I’ve had a couple of them and they react differently to everybody, obviously. I just didn’t feel too good the first couple days, but then you slowly just keep going, keep getting better and better and pushing it.”

He said it’s “a possibility” that he could return for Thursday’s game against Edmonton, though the lineup decision will ultimately be made by Darryl Sutter.

“I haven’t talked to Darryl yet, but one full practice, one pre-game skate, yeah, I’m not sure what they’re thinking,” Stoll said. “I felt good, just would like maybe a couple practices before I get in the game, and hopefully I can get that.”

In 67 games, the 32-year-old center has six goals, 15 points and a plus-four rating. The Kings are 4-4-1 since his injury.

Darryl Sutter, on Jarret Stoll skating and returning to practice:
He skated the whole time we were gone. He actually started the second day of the trip, so he’s been totally cleared. He probably could’ve joined us in Chicago. [Reporter: Is it safe than sorry at this point, just give him a little extra time to get in there, or could he play tomorrow?] Well, time is of the essence, obviously, but at the same time, it’s a head injury so you still have to work past all the protocol and all that, so we’ll just kind of go day-to-day again. [Reporter: He sounded like he wanted to play tomorrow.] Yeah, and that’s a good thing. You like guys who want to play. [Reporter: Could you make the decision on him tomorrow?] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he skated once with the team now since he got hurt in Vancouver. Once.

Jarret Stoll, on recovering from head injuries:
Your symptoms are your symptoms and they slowly go away. You push it harder and harder and once those go away, you feel clear and you feel awake. Once all those are gone, you push it to the end, almost and part way and all that stuff. It’s definitely not as bad as the ones I’ve had before. That’s for sure. I knew right away.

Stoll, on whether he’s surprised that the league didn’t address the hit:
No, I don’t think a lot of people have seen the hit, anyways. It was kind of one of those plays, you get me on the jaw and I was going across the ice a little bit. It is what it is. It’s a physical game, obviously. Dorsett is a physical player and that’s one of his aspects of his game with the boys in the league, as well. No, it is what it is. I just maybe have to keep the head up a little bit.

Stoll, on experience in dealing with concussion-like symptoms:
Yeah, you can feel… [Reporter: Stages?] Yeah. I think it’s just symptoms. There are like five or six that you look for and I know what they are. If one’s there or two’s there or four’s there, it’s whatever. Yeah, you’re focused enough to feel that. It’s the same for everybody, they may react different for everybody but the symptoms are all the same.

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