On whether he’s happy to be back:
“It felt good. It’s good to get back out there. It’s good to get off the bike or whatever else they’re giving you to get your cardio in. It’s been a welcome relief skating for the last couple weeks. It’s been fun.”
On the challenges of rehabilitation:
“Yeah, it gets old. It gets old. All that stuff does. But it’s good, too, just being around the guys a little bit more, getting a chance to kind of interact and be a part of the team again.”
On whether he feels like a “pseudo assistant coach”:
“I don’t tell them anything. These guys get enough coaching. They’re all good enough, too. There’s a reason they’re all here playing. Guys don’t need it from anybody else who’s not around the team, so I just be there for a pat on the ass more than anything else.”
On his timetable:
“Try to get out here with some practices with these guys and see how it feels to get bumped around and maybe to give a hit. I think that’s when your real conditioning comes into play, you know, if you can get physical in the corners still…That’s probably my next step, is just getting in some real practices.”
On when he expects that to happen:
“Hopefully tomorrow for pre-game skate, maybe get out there with the guys a little bit. It’s just tough right now because there’s not a lot of spots in between games to get some good practices in, but I’m sure the coaches will figure out something.”
On whether he has noticed any progress from when he first started skating:
“Yeah. Everything loosens up a little bit more. It’s just like coming off any injury. There’s always stiffness. The more stuff you do, the more you get ramped up, it gets a little stiffer. It gets a little heavier, but it’s feeling good right now.”
On whether he has been sitting through any video sessions and team meetings:
“The stuff that I can get to – it’s different, though, too. You want to be around as much as you can, but at the same time, too, you want to make sure you’re keeping your own rehab schedule. So on a day like today, nobody’s going on the ice, so you’ve got yourself ready to get on the ice. Meanwhile, guys are having meetings in here, and then once it gets closer to a realistic time when I’m coming back, then I’ll be able to kind of put off some of the rehab stuff and get into more systems meetings and stuff like that.”
Rules for Blog Commenting
Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.
Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.