Joined: May 2007
Posts: 129
Kariya might play tonight
4/19/2009 at 1:25 PM
ST. LOUIS–Blues star Paul Kariya was on the ice with his teammates during the morning at the morning skate before Game 3 against Vancouver Sunday night. Kariya, who hasn’t played since November, looked like he might be available to help the Blues come back from an 0-2 deficit in the Stanley Cup Quarterfinals series.
Kariya was bent over at times from a hard workout – his first full workout with his teammates – since two hip surgeries. He looked sluggish at first, but got better after he warmed up. And he was flying at times at the end.
Kariya, a North Vancouver native who last played Nov. 5 in Anaheim after getting two goals and 13 assists in 11 games, had surgery on his left hip January 5 and felt so good he went back and had the right hip done as well, is likely to play tonight. His surgeon was Dr. Marc Philippon, who you might recognize as the same physician who recently operated on the hip of New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez.
When he came off the ice, Kariya was asked if he'd be in the lineup to help the Blues who had only one goal in the first two games, said, "We'll see."
Not, "No way." Not, "Maybe."
So a question was posed to St. Louis coach Andy Murray: What does it say to you if Paul Kariya says, "We'll see."
The coach got a big smile on his face and didn't hesitate in saying, "If Paul tells me he can play ... he's in."
Kariya has been skating on his own while the Blues were in Vancouver for the first two games of the series.
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If he starts, it would be good to see Andy place him in the third line so he can gradually get his legs back. It's not like this is midway through the season level of hockey.
I have a feeling the blues might jump back into this series tonight.