- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Chris Pronger held a conference call with reporters yesterday as he continues to rehab his back and right hand.
“the goal is to be ready for Game 1 of the regular season. I’m starting to progress. . . . Once I get cleared, I can start getting into a full-lifting program.”
He feels his hand is 80-85% healed, which has put him 2 months behind in his strength program. He hopes to get clearance in a week to begin lifting weights.
“I don’t know that you could say I was breaking down with broken bones and being hit by pucks and all the rest,” he said. “Those are things that sometimes can be avoided. Perhaps now I may not block as many shots. I might just get out of the way and let our million-dollar goalie stop those things.”
- Eric Stephens via twitter: Ducks GM Bob Murray said yesterday that Teemu Selanne “has been struggling a bit” with his knee and thought “he was getting depressed” about the rehab. Murray noted that Selanne “intends to go pretty hard this week” and they’ll be in touch after. Murray added that there were a few days “where it wasn’t bugging him,” there is no timetable on when Selanne will make a decision to play or not.
- Dmitry Chesnokov via twitter: Nikolai Zherdev said he didn’t receive any firm offers from the NHL. Zherdev added: “I will be back there. I am sure of that!”
- National Post: Mike Comrie recently suffered a setback in his rehab from hip surgery.
“In wanting to return to play after surgery, I pushed myself too early and that has not helped my recovery,” Comrie said in a statement. “I will return to the NHL when I am healthy and able to play at the level I have come to expect of myself.”
- Glen Andresen of NHL.com: With the Wild trading James Sheppard to the Sharks, it “further solidifies Fletcher’s intent to let younger Wild players like Colton Gillies, Cody Almond and Casey Wellman battle for roster spots among forwards.”
- Dmitry Chesnokov via twitter: Alexei Kovalev to SovSport: “In two season w/the #Sens I still couldn’t get Clouston’s game plan. It appeared he scoffed at some players.”
- Darren Dreger via twitter: Brett Lebda has cleared waivers and Predators will likely buy him out.