Updates on Martinez, Parse, Penner

Here’s the latest on the Kings’ three injured players, Alec Martinez, Scott Parse and Dustin Penner. All three are on injured reserve. Martinez, who out since he was checked, shoulder-first, into the boards by Minnesota’s Warren Peters, would be eligible to return Tuesday at St. Louis. Parse (lower-body) would be eligible to return tomorrow. Penner (hand) would be eligible to return Saturday. It seems as though Martinez is the only one who might return close to his “eligible” date. Penner is skating in a yellow no-contact jersey while Martinez and Parse have not returned to the ice. Here is Terry Murray’s update on the three…

(on Penner’s status…)
MURRAY: “Well, that’s the trainers’ call, I guess, on that one. He’s getting better. He’s going to get better every day. There’s swelling, and that needs to get taken care of, and then they will see where he’s at after the swelling goes down. With the I.R., he’s seven days for sure, and then we’ll just make a decision after that.”

(on Martinez’s status…)
MURRAY: “He’s going to improve. The off-ice conditioning program and the rehab is going to help him get better every day. He didn’t lose all of his strength, which was surprising with the kind of injury that he has. We’re hoping, with seven days, that he will be able to get himself back on the ice and start to practice, and we can get a read on him.”

(on Parse’s status…)
MURRAY: “I don’t even know how to answer that, quite honestly. There’s nothing new. Nothing has changed. It hasn’t improved, it hasn’t gotten worse. It’s definitely more than a day-to-day situation with him. We’ll have to make a decision on where this goes.”

Parse’s status has been a bit murky since last season. He underwent hip surgery, but there has still been the possibility that more surgery might be needed. I asked Murray whether the current injury is tied to Parse’s previous troubles and, well, it’s still murky…

MURRAY: “There’s still an issue there. Again, I don’t know all the terms for even how to describe this thing. He had the operation last year and took care of the hip on that side. I don’t know if it’s all tied together or not. I think there needs to be a thorough examination here, by a specialist, and see where that’s at.”