Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette did his regular radio hit on The Sports Junkies, Tuesday morning.
The bench boss gave some insight into the team’s morass of injuries. He also appeared very enthusiastic about how star players, Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson, look in practice. The players recently rejoined the team full-time, wearing blue non-contact jerseys during their skates.
Laviolette didn’t have a timeline of when Backstrom or Wilson would return, but he was effusive about where they were both at in their rehabs.
“It’s been really good to see them and now part of the mix in traveling with us,” Laviolette said. “They’re still in different colored jerseys but they’re pushing inside of everything right now. Their practices are ramping up to try and give them confidence coming off of what they had to deal with.”
The two team leaders have had a bigger presence in December as they continue to recover from major offseason surgeries. Wilson went under the knife to repair the ACL in his left knee while Backstrom had a major procedure done on his hip – that few athletes have successfully come back from.
Backstrom practiced with the team for the first time on November 19 while Wilson was able to on December 9. Both players got in some work at the team’s practice facility on Saturday before joining the team on a road trip for the first time. They have been skating since October 26.
“These guys are looking really good to me out on the ice,” Laviolette said. “Not there yet, but the fact they’re with us participating and pushing, just seeing them inside the room, is a big boost.
“They’re mingling with everybody else when we didn’t see them (before). They were going about their business rehabbing on a couple of serious procedures that they had done. You don’t see them. They’re just not around. Now you get the feel that okay, when will they get back? I don’t have the answer to that yet. But the fact that they’re here and pushing as close to they can to 100 percent, they’re feeling good. They bring a smile. They bring morale up in the locker room. It’s good for our team.”
As for Darcy Kuemper, who suffered an upper-body injury on December 3 after being elbowed in the head, Laviolette indicated that he would be back soon, but not tonight against the Blackhawks.
“He’s still day to day,” Laviolette said. “He’s still working his way back in. You know, he was out on the ice yesterday. Still thinking it might be a minute before he’s ready. He did get out yesterday and took some shots. I believe we’ll have the same two goaltenders in net today.”
While Kuemper was out, Charlie Lindgren went 4-0-0 and was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
