Tampa Bay Lightning Injury updates …
Bryan Burns: Coach Jon Cooper said that he would “probably rule out” Tyler Johnson, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cedric Paquette for tomorrow’s game.
Bryan Burns: Cooper on potential injuries to Ondrej Palat and Jake Dotchin: “Not concerned yet, but hopefully that’s where it ends.”
Joe Smith: Steven Stamkos said that a four month return was basically out of the question from the very beginning. He’s made progress, but a five month recovery is more like it.
Bryan Burns: Stamkos: “I’ve gone through stuff like this before. You start setting dates, that’s when sometimes you set unrealistic goals.”
Bryan Burns: Coach Cooper on Stamkos: “We’re not going to rush him back. He comes back when he’s ready.”
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times: Steven Stamkos took part in his first full practice with Lightning teammates for the first time since having knee surgery in November.
Coach Jon Cooper said that a Stamkos return is not imminent, and Stamkos added he wasn’t sure if he’d be back for the regular season.
“When it’s 100 percent, I’ll be back,” Stamkos said Friday, his first comments since surgery. “It’s a question I can’t answer. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in this rehab process, where it feels like it’s never going to get better. Then you have a week where it goes through the roof in regards to how you’re feeling.
“I’ll be playing when it feels ready. And I can’t say it feels ready right now. But it was a start.”
Stamkos had been traveling and skating with the team, but not taking part in full practices. He took some light contact today.
On how will he know that he’s ready to return.
“When there’s no restrictions, where you feel like you did before surgery,” Stamkos said. “Obviously, even when I came back from the broken leg, there was the curve that goes with coming back, the inflammation, the little bit of pain after. There shouldn’t be any uncomfortable moments on the ice. Obviously some of that is mental too. I’ve been through this before, I have a good understanding of what my body needs to feel like in order to be back on the ice.”
#tblightning Steven Stamkos encouraged after 1st full team skate. Not 100 percent yet. Asked if he’ll return this season, he didn’t know pic.twitter.com/bRTOJBCWpp
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) March 17, 2017