Z-Man Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AoNg...ov=ap&type=lgns VOORHEES, N.J. (AP) -- Philadelphia Flyers captain Keith Primeau, who said five weeks ago he would miss the rest of the season, practiced with the team Monday but downplayed speculation he might return for the playoffs. Primeau, sidelined since Oct. 30 with post-concussion symptoms, took part in a number of contact drills and didn't wear anything designating him as being injured. In a press conference Feb. 28, the 34-year-old Primeau insisted that he wouldn't return to the NHL until September at the earliest. But he has been feeling better in recent weeks and decided to test his progress. "I felt good," Primeau said. "My conditioning, my legs feel about as good as they can for the amount of time I've been off. It felt really good to be part of the practice, enjoy my teammates differently than I have for the last five months." Primeau was injured in a game at Montreal on Oct. 25 when he was struck in the head by Canadiens rookie Alexander Perezhogin. He played one more game before taking himself out of the lineup. Afterward, he experienced problems with balance and vision. Some of those symptoms have subsided, he said. "This is part of my rehab," Primeau said. "It's another hurdle and it's a huge hurdle for me. But by no means does it change anything I've stated earlier. I just keep trying to take it one day at a time and progress. I wasn't any the worse for wear from the little bit of contact I had, which is good." Asked whether he has enough time to get ready for the playoffs, which start April 21, Primeau said he wasn't sure. "That's a long way off," he said. "It's a hypothetical. My head will have to feel a lot better. It still felt about a foot behind. I'm not going back on the comments I made when this started and the comments I made in my press conference. At this time, there's no way I can make that assumption." Derian Hatcher, filling in as captain in Primeau's absence, said the whole team got a lift from the experience. "Any time you have a guy coming back, they bring energy with them," Hatcher said. "It's good to see." General manager Bob Clarke said the decision to return is Primeau's. "Until the doctors tell us he can play, I'm not even going to worry about it," Clarke said. "We've been under the assumption he's not going to play. I think it's been impressive what he's accomplished to get back this far. It's really up to the doctors and Keith. The Flyers can use him, but it's his decision." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Interesting, if he could come back at even 70% he would be a big help for the Flyers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msweet Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Me thinks his playing would be a HUGE mistake.... for him that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsRule Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 ..yea just like Stevens was practicing for the playoffs in 04 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centralnj Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I don't know- it just doesn't seem right that a player can play 1 regular season game and be allowed to play in the playoffs. And aren't there salary cap implications? I kind of remember that he was pressured to announce the end of his season in order to free up some money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voros19 Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I don't know- it just doesn't seem right that a player can play 1 regular season game and be allowed to play in the playoffs.And aren't there salary cap implications? I kind of remember that he was pressured to announce the end of his season in order to free up some money. There's nothing wrong with that, and no, no salary implications. For one, there is no salary cap in the playoffs since players aren't getting paid, and two, even if he came back say next game, his cap hit would be miniscule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noon30 Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 It would be a miracle if Primeau was in the playoffs. It would be a huge mistake on his part if he took place in the playoffs in my opinon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fan Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Primeau should stay away from the post-season for 2 reasons 1)Lindros is a prime example, come back and gone 2)Flyers have no chance to win the cup, so farther he stays away, the lesser blames he would receive (because he is the captain) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noon30 Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Primeau should stay away from the post-season for 2 reasons1)Lindros is a prime example, come back and gone 2)Flyers have no chance to win the cup, so farther he stays away, the lesser blames he would receive (because he is the captain) Those are two good reasons, and i agree that the Flyers have very little to no chance for the cup, so yeah he should stay away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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