“I think I should be good to go,” says Gaborik; decision will come Saturday

As the rehabilitation progressed to the point where he was able to get onto the ice with his teammates, Marian Gaborik spoke about wanting to participate and feel confident in practices with a battle element. Such engagement was his own personal final box to check in an attempt to return from a broken foot sustained when he blocked a shot at the World Cup of Hockey on September 25.

After another practice in which he was able to battle for pucks and gain practice repetitions, Gaborik once again stated that he hoped to play Saturday night when the Chicago Blackhawks make their first of two Staples Center visits this season.

“I feel good,” he said. “[Playing Saturday is] the plan so obviously tomorrow we’ll have a morning skate and go from there, but I think I should be good to go tomorrow.”

Darryl Sutter, who said he’s “not sure” whether Gaborik would play against Chicago, acknowledged that the decision would be made after Saturday’s skate and also set a high bar for returning to action following an absence that cost the winger more than one-quarter of his 34-year-old season.

“He hasn’t played in nine weeks. It’s like Kopi was off for 12 days,” Sutter said. “First off, the player has to really tell you that he’s ready, and then the coaching staff has to think that way, too.”

Gaborik first started skating while the team was on a road trip through the Eastern Conference that ended November 15, so the turnaround between getting on the ice and nearing game-readiness has been relatively quick. Missing time has been difficult, but the veteran winger who enters his 16th season having played 933 regular season games has maintained a levelheaded approach.

“That’s all you can do, just try to think positive and try to make sure you can do everything you can to make sure everything we have looks good, and it’s not fun watching games but it is what it is,” he said. “I just had to focus on making sure I’m ready to go when I come back and I think I’m right there right now.”

Though Gaborik has missed the last 49 regular season games the team has played – the final 28 games last season following a February knee injury that sideline him until Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the first 21 of this season – he had appeared in 99 consecutive games with the club prior to his injury last season at Madison Square Garden.

The Kings are in a stretch of one game in six days, but Darryl Sutter said the schedule wouldn’t dictate when Gaborik would return to game action.

“It doesn’t really have any bearing on when we play again,” he said.

Because forward Andy Andreoff is also nearing a return, and the team has one open spot on the 23-man roster, they would have to make a corresponding roster move or transaction should both players be activated. Based on correspondence earlier Friday with General Manager Dean Lombardi and others in hockey operations, that decision hasn’t been made yet. No roster moves were planned for Friday.

In 933 career games, Gaborik has 386 goals, 773 points and a plus-97 rating. The Slovakian international was injured at the World Cup while playing with Team Europe, with whom he scored two goals and registered a plus-two rating in four games.

Marian Gaborik, on whether he yells at the TV while watching games:
I mean, you get in to it a little bit when you watch. There’s a good chance there’s a goal and you’re excited, but nothing compares to being out there.

Gaborik, on whether he enjoyed playing in the World Cup:
I think it was great for hockey. I think it was great for fans, too. Couple different concepts with Team Europe and the young guys, so I think it was positive. Obviously guys got hurt, I got hurt, it’s unfortunate but that’s just our sport, you never know what’s going to happen. You’re going in there not to get hurt, you don’t think about getting hurt or anything, you just go out there and play and represent your country — or with myself, Team Europe. I think it was a great experience other then getting hurt, obviously.

Gaborik, on Team Europe:
I think we shocked a lot of people by the results, especially the way it started for us in exhibition. But we came a long way there and I think we grew as a team. At the end of the day it kind of became an NHL team because there were a few nationalities, and that happens on the NHL teams as well. Yeah, I enjoyed it.