Parise cleared to skate … Staal and Gaborik practice … Hemsky injured … Alfie would like to play this year

Mark Easson

13 years ago

Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal: Ales Hemsky left last night’s game with an apparent shoulder injury after being him by Jonathan Blum, he’ll undergo an MRI. He went on for a couple more shifts after the hit before leaving. “It’s more precautionary than anything else,” said head coach Tom Renney of the exam. “It’s one of those things where you want to give the athlete peace of mind and also to educate and inform ourselves.” Nikolai Khabibulin returned to practice yesterday for the 1st time since Feb. 21st when he suffered his eye injury.

Jesse Spector of the NY Daily News: Marian Gaborik and Marc Staal took part in the Rangers full practice yesterday, signaling they are getting closer. Staal will test his knee this morning, and hope to be able to go tonight against the Wild. Gaborik has said he’s been symptom free “at the moment”, and will take things day by day.

Wayne Scanlan of the Ottawa Citizen: Senators forward Daniel Alfredsson skated on his own on Sunday and Monday. His back spasms have caused some nerve issues and couldn’t say if he can avoid back surgery or possibly return this season. He’d like to get into a few games this year. “I just want to get it to the point where it feels strong,” Alfredsson said as he stood in the corridor outside the Senators dressing room. “For myself, knowing that it feels strong for training, for the summer, would be valuable.”

Bruce Garrioch via twitter: Senators GM Bryan Murray said he only plans to sign one free agent this summer and build the team through young players. Owner Eugene Melnyk said the rebuilding plan won’t be a patchwork job.

Rich Chere via twitter: Zach Parise has been cleared to start skating and could be 2-3 weeks away from practicing with the team.

Rob Rossi via twitter: Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik will still be out 4 weeks. Winger Chris Kunitz could be back this weekend. There is no change in Sidney Crosby’s status.

Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province: Alex Edler is expected to be out until the start of the playoffs at the earliest. With him being on the LTIR, it enable the Canucks to bring in both Max Lapierre and Chris Higgins.

Andy Strickland via twitter: It’s looking like Blues forward David Perron is done for the year, as he is still not symptom free.

Andy Strickland via twitter: Stickland thinks the Blues should look at trading for Paul Stastny this summer.

Andy Strickland of True Hockey: Stickland heard that the Maple Leafs were considering trading for Paul Stastny before the deadline. Burke was weighing options between Stastny and Brad Richards. They have to give up a nice package to get Stastny as opposed to possibly getting Richards without giving up money. Richards would want a long term deal, may be in the $8 million range.

TheFourthPeriod: Ales Hemsky was the 1st option for the Kings before they traded for his teammate, Dustin Penner. The Oilers wanted Brayden Schenn for Hemsky, which was obviously denied. The Oilers then wanted Wayne Simmonds, but “There’s no way we were (going to give up a roster player). This was about making this team better right now,” Lombardi told reporters. “To create a hole and fill a hole doesn’t make any sense. Not only does this fit in terms of a need, the left wing was sticking out, it’s not a cost-prohibitive contract. It fit for us in the longer term basis, as well.”