The Penguins have been on an emotional roller coaster over the past few days in regard to the injuries that have surrounded the team. They have definitely dealt with plenty of peaks and valleys and have taken the good and the bad in stride.
First Jordan Staal surprised everyone by hitting the ice well ahead of schedule. He went from a five minute skate on Tuesday to going through full practices on Wednesday and Thursday. He has looked good enough in those sessions that his coach is contemplating playing him.
“With his situation, talking to the doctors and talking to Jordan, it is about him being comfortable in the boot,” Byslma said following today’s skate. “There is no danger in regards to the procedure that he had. It is just a matter of getting the boot and being comfortable and able to push off.”
Bylsma did go on to say that if he did play his Selke candidate, he would likely hold his minutes under his average of almost 20 per game.
“It’s obviously up to the coaches,” Staal said to Penguins.com. “It’s their decision whether I am in or not. I’m going to give my two cents to them and see how they take it.
“I always want to play. Whether or not I do, we will see how it goes.”
Then came the bad…
Bill Guerin has been battling an undisclosed injury/sickness is will most likely miss his second game in a row. He did skate with his teammates this morning, which brought a fun observation from his coach.
“It was a surprise to get him out on the ice (Thursday),” Bylsma said. “He looked good; he didn’t look a day over 39. It was good to have him back out there. He is day-to-day but not probable for (Game 4).”
Guerin is probably out until Saturday.
Mike Rupp is also questionable with an undisclosed non-hockey related issue/injury. No word on if he will go just yet. It sounded as if his participation was in doubt.
It is worth noting that our friend Shawn Roarke from NHL.com is on the scene at the Bell Center in Montreal and just tweeted out that Jordan Staal and Mike Rupp are taking part in the warm-up. Some great news for the Penguins…
As usual, I will be hosting a live chat for Versus.com. If you are watching at home…get in on the action! You can access the chat via a the link on the front page of Versus.com!
More later!
