Buff back at Jets practice, but not expected to play Saturday

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This article was published 03/10/2014 (4249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Jets forward Dustin Byfuglien finally made his return to the practice ice Friday morning.

Byfuglien, who has missed most of his team’s training camp with a lower-body injury, was a full participant at Jets practice at MTS Centre this morning and afterward proclaimed himself fit and ready to go.

“That was the first time on the ice in a few days and it felt good. It’s like riding a bike,” said Byfuglien.

“I could go out there and put in a full game — like a normal game — I feel. But would the legs and everything hold up? I don’t know. You just never know. But I feel pretty good and we’ll play it by ear.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said he liked what he saw out of Byfuglien at practice this morning but he will not play Saturday evening at MTS Centre when the Jets play their final pre-season game against the Calgary Flames.

“He needs more than one skate to get back in the lineup,” Maurice told reporters. “And we don’t need him in the lineup tomorrow night. He’s going to get as much out of a hard push on the ice (at practice) tomorrow as he would playing in the game…

“We just need him healthy, first. And risking that in a game where he’s only skated once — we’re just not going to do that.”

Byfuglien played just one pre-season game before he got injured and he lamented today that he never got a better chance at this year’s training camp to build some chemistry with linemates as Maurice tries to turn the former defenceman into an almost full-time forward this season.

“It’s never easy to jump in and go and just have chemistry right off the hop. And I think it’s kind of a big thing to go into a season not playing forward a lot. And getting some chemistry with a line would have been good, but we’re going to have to go the other route.”

Other injured Jets who returned to the lineup this morning were forwards Blake Wheeler — who’d missed a couple days with an undisclosed injury — and T.J. Galiardi, who’d been out with an eye injury.

Galiardi said the vision in his left eye is still compromised. “My left eye is still a little blurry, but I think that’s going to be the case for a little while. I’m just going to have to get used to it and we’ll reassess it in a couple weeks.”

Jets defenceman Zach Bogosian, who left with a lower-body injury midway through his team’s 4-2 loss to the Flames in Calgary Thursday evening, did not practice today but Maurice said his injury is minor and he could be back on the ice as early as Saturday.

“I would absolutely expect him to be ready to play Thursday (for Winnipeg’s season opener),” said Maurice.

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While the Jets have been victimized by a litany of injuries during training camp, Maurice said his team is close to returning to full health. Maurice said Patrice Cormier and Eric O’Dell will be the last to heal and he said both could be back by midweek next week.

“Everybody else, if they heal the way they’re supposed to, I’m hoping for a full crew on Monday,” said Maurice.

Also on Friday, the Jets confirmed that they have placed forward Eric Tangradi on waivers.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek