Penguins Notebook: Staal still recovering from hand injury
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Penguins forawrd Jordan Staal has yet to play this season due to foot and hand injuries.
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It looks as if Penguins center Jordan Staal might not be ready to make his season debut by mid-December as the team had hoped, assuming mid-December is taken literally.
A return to practice isn't imminent for Staal, who is recovering from surgery on a broken right hand, and it would seem he would need at least a few practices before he plays.
"He's not close enough that I know [about it]," coach Dan Bylsma said Wednesday of Staal getting clearance to practice.
"He's been working out hard and skating hard, but he just started the process of putting motion and movement into rehab with his hand.
"It seems like a slow process at first when you're [doing simple hand and finger movements] all day long vs. lifting a weight. He's certainly been doing a lot of skating on his own."
Staal had surgery Nov. 2 after getting hit in the hand by a puck in practice the previous day. He had missed the games before that because of a foot infection.
Forward Mike Comrie, who has an undisclosed injury and missed a seventh game in a row Wednesday when the Penguins played Toronto at Consol Energy Center, is not skating and will be evaluated again next week.
"It's not a setback," Bylsma said. "He's now getting into some more extensive rehab."
In addition, forward Evgeni Malkin sat out for a third game in a row because of a knee injury. He is day to day.
Kris Letang figures perhaps some people from his hometown of Montreal or maybe fans in other NHL areas have been voting for him for the All-Star Game, but he is sure it's mostly Penguins faithful.
"I want to thank them for their support," said Letang who, three weeks into the voting, has moved to the top spot among defensemen despite being a write-in candidate.
"I've always said Pittsburgh has the best fans in the world."
With a 17-game points streak and playing on a club with an 11-game winning streak, Penguins center Sidney Crosby has been getting tons of attention. What Tampa Bay and Team Canada Olympic general manager and former Detroit Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman said this week stood out to Crosby.
First Published December 9, 2010 12:12 am
