Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009

Oshie returns to work for Blues

McDonald keeps getting better

ST. LOUIS -- Perhaps the rapid return of St. Louis Blues fan favorite T.J. Oshie from an emergency appendectomy can help reverse the team's dreadful 1-5 start on home ice.

"They definitely inspire me when I'm out there, getting out of their seats and clapping," said Oshie, who won the fans over last season as a rookie with his hard-charging style and big hits. "We've got to give them a little bit of a show again, get them some wins."

After skating through another hard practice Tuesday, Oshie feels ready to return to game action. He had surgery Oct. 24 to remove his appendix.

"It just felt like a bad stomach ache," said Oshie, who began feeling discomfort on Thursday and then played the Friday night home game on Oct. 23 against Minnesota. "I thought maybe I didn't even have to tell the docs; I thought it would just go away. But luckily I did (tell them).

"We got it early and I'm not scared of surgery or anything like that, so I was fine."

Oshie said he did lose eight or nine pounds, but already has gained four back.

"He's a little lighter; he doesn't have his appendix with him any more," joked Blues coach Andy Murray . "He's flying out there; we certainly miss his aggressiveness in the lineup."

Oshie was double-shifted at practice Tuesday with Andy McDonald (upper body injury) still out of the lineup.

"I'm good to go," Oshie said. "I feel great."

McDonald back

Murray said McDonald skated Tuesday before the rest of the team took the ice.

That McDonald was the back on the ice just three days after taking a nasty head-first slide into the boards Saturday against Florida was amazing in itself.

"He skated this morning and that was encouraging, but he's day to day," said Murray, who did not rule out McDonald for Thursday's game against Calgary. "He took therapy for a couple days and got back out there today."

Murray was talking to someone on the bench Saturday, so he didn't see the collision live. Seeing it on tape was scary enough.

"I had to watch the tape afterwards and it's a frightening thing," Murray said. "It's a high-speed sport, and it was a little like Rick Ankiel last year hitting the wall for the Cardinals.

"It's certainly tough to w watch because you don't want to see any players get hurt."

Murray said McDonald's high fitness level may have helped him avoid more serious damage.

"If that was you or I going into the wall, we'd still be there," Murray said. "He's a very fine-tuned athlete in terms of conditioning and because of that I think it prevented further injury."

Jackman doing better

Defenseman Barret Jackman also continued his comeback bid to return from a high ankle sprain, but isn't expected to be cleared before the weekend.

"We're not sure when he'll be ready, but at this point he's showing some encouraging signs on the ice," Murray said.

Colaiacovo over flu

Another welcome face on the ice Tuesday was that of defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo, out since last Wednesday with the flu.

"I felt a little winded at the start; my body's been completely shut down for about five days," Colaiacovo said. "I think I'll know about how I feel tomorrow strength-wise and conditioning-wise.

"But it's just nice to get up out of the bed and be able to do something, be active. I went through a rough stretch there for four days."

Colaiacovo got the flu not long after being dumped on a low hip check Oct. 24 by Dallas forward Steve Ott.

The flu apparently did more damage than the hit.

"It hit me so hard that it really just shut down my body," Colaiacovo said. "I really wasn't able to do anything. I had no energy to do anything but sleep."