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Red Wings' Helm will wait at least one more game before returning |
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Darren Helm will wait at least one more game before making his season debut for the Detroit Red Wings.
Out since suffering a shoulder injury and concussion following a collision with prospect Jerome Verrier on the opening day of training camp in Traverse City, Mich., Helm is still experiencing some mild post-concussion symptoms and both he and the team thinks it’s best to err on the side of caution.
For that reason, you won’t see Helm in uniform Friday when the Wings take on the Carolina Hurricanes at Joe Louis Arena.
“I’d say we’re shooting probably with Helmer for Saturday in Montreal,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “Still day to day and that could change. But that’s what we’re shooting for right now.”
While he declined to get into specifics about what malady is affecting him, Helm confirmed that he’d passed his baseline concussion test and that it was simply some minor issues that were occasionally flaring up.
“There's been a few symptoms that have kind of plateaued,” Helm said. “I don't know if that's a mental thing or some other stuff going on that was causing a few different things, so we're just going to give it a couple days, make sure it doesn't get worse.
“I don't know if it's me thinking about it or going hard or starting to get back into things. That is why we kind of decided to take today off, to just see how things go for the rest of the week.”
After missing almost all of training camp, Helm felt that parts of his game are beginning to come back to him.
“On the ice I feel really good except my hands,” Helm said. “Everything on the ice is moving in the right direction.”
Game shape, however, is not an element that is going to arrive quickly.
“Not even close,” Helm said. “That's going to take me two, three, four games probably, but I'll work as hard as I can.”
DeKeyser Close
Defenseman Danny DeKeyser (foot ligaments) was back on skates during Wednesday’s practice and the timeline for his return also appears to be sooner rather than later.
“Yeah, a step forward for DK for sure,” Blashill said. “He certainly looks real good out there.
“We’re hoping to have him at some point on the weekend. I’d say probably the earliest would be Saturday. That’s what we’d be shooting for. But we’ll still take it day to day.”
DeKeyser was expected to miss 3-4 weeks but looks to be ahead of that schedule in his recovery.
“I've just been doing some treatment and stuff, some rehab kind of things on it and it's been feeling good as of late,” DeKeyser said. “I've been skating a bit and it's feeling better every day.
“I did some battling stuff out there today and so far it's felt good, no issues with it.”
Blashill wouldn’t put a specific target date on DeKeyser’s return beyond suggesting Saturday would be the earliest he could possibly play.
“It’s hard for me to say,” Blashill said. “I’m not an expert on the injury part of it. Some guys, depending on the injury, can come back a little bit quicker, and he just seems that he’s reacted well and the training staff has done a good job.
“He looks good out there, and certainly looks like he’s close to being ready to play. Now, it could end up that we get to Saturday and maybe he’s not ready, so we’ll continue to take that day by day.”
Missing In Action
Forward Johan Franzen, captain Henrik Zetterberg and defenseman Mike Green were also absent from the practice ice Wednesday.
Blashill said there was “nothing new” on Franzen, who missed Tuesday’s win over Tampa Bay due to illness. Both Zetterberg and Green were given maintenance days.
Blashill was also playing his cards close to his vest in terms of whether Jimmy Howard or Petr Mrazek would be his starting goalie Friday against the Hurricanes.
“We’ll make that determination Friday morning,” Blashill said.
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