Kane practices with Jets this morning

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/10/2014 (3994 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Evander Kane was on the ice with his teammates for a few minutes late this morning at the MTS Iceplex, another milepost on the road to his return to the Winnipeg Jets’ lineup.

Kane was injured on his second shift of the season, a blueline collision with centre Mark Scheifele.

“I gave it to Scheifs pretty good, so I’ll get off him,” Kane said today, joking with reporters and in a very good mood after practice. “But I was just trying to stay on-side as you guys probably realize and I probably had my leg bent and it wouldn’t have been like (that) but I had to straddle. It as an unfortunate collision but we’re by that and moving on.

“Yeah, I have slowly let him feel (better) a little bit — (Kane smirked again here) — but obviously he didn’t mean it, it was an accident. He’s been through the same thing before where he was missing games and he knows how it feels. Obviously it’s no fun for anyone.”

His progress has been solid in the last week, better than the team expected.

“I’m coming along as I thought I would,” Kane said. “They’ve been giving me some great treatment and my body’s really responded well to that.”

He said today he was eager to have a little time on the ice with his teammates after skating on his own for the previous three or four days.

“I’ve been bugging the docs and the trainers to let me get back on the ice with the team,” he said. “It’s no fun skating on your own. It reminded me of the summer. It’s nice to be back on the ice with the guys, passing the puck and moving around.

“The first day (back) was just five, six minutes. Nothing serious. But the last couple of days I’ve been skating with Craig (Dr. Craig Slaunwhite, director of fitness) and it’s felt and gotten better every day. That’s been positive.”

Kane also got a question today about head coach Paul Maurice wanting him with the 3-5-0 Jets on their four-game road trip that starts Tuesday night against the New York Islanders and his bubbly mood was evident in his answer.

“i think he’s just going to let me have some fun in New York and go out for Halloween,” Kane smiled.

The coach said he wants Kane around so that he can be closely monitored and start to practice with the team, when he’s ready medically.

“It’ll be non-contact and he’ll continue in that sweater (his no-hit sweater was baby blue today) until we get clearance from the doctor who will be on the trip,” Maurice said. “Every day he does a little bit more and more on the ice… and if he continues we’ll push him a little harder.

“I don’t have an expectation for him to play this trip but if he continues on the path he’s on now, it won’t be much longer after that.

“The one nice thing about Evander is that he’s in such incredible shape that when he gets cleared to go, he’s going to get his practice in and he’s going to go.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca