In the middle of this seemingly endless stretch of meaningless hockey games (it’s been going for about three years now), today there was some good news.
Bobby Ryan rejoined the team for practice.
Ryan has been out of the Ottawa line up since November 20th when he entered the NHL/NHLPA assistance program. There haven’t been many updates on him since then but recently we heard he was skating on his own and this morning, he was back out there with the full group.
A step in the right direction.
While there is still no timetable for his return, Ryan has received full medical clearance from the team’s doctors. According to Head Coach DJ Smith, it’s now about getting his conditioning back to game levels.
It’s not clear exactly how long that’s going to take but man, it sure is nice to see him around the team again.
Welcome back, Bobby!
-Couple other injury updates. Nick Paul was once again a full participant in practice and could make his return to the line up as early as tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche. Vladislav Namestnikov suffered a lower-body injury last night against the Ducks and he’s considered questionable for tomorrow night. Nikita Zaitsev missed practice but will play tomorrow. Cody Ceci plays for the Leafs now.
