Gaudreau ready to return to the lineup

CALGARY, AB -- It's going to be Johnny Gaudreau 360. In IMAX. Full bore. Typical warp-drive speed. No asterisks. No strings. No hidden conditions.
All warranties apply.
"Yep,'' reported Gaudreau post-optional morning skate. "As normal."

Sunday night, facing the Anaheim Ducks, the Calgary Flames welcome their most impactful player back to the lineup for the first time since an Eric Staal slash on Nov. 15 at the Xcel Energy Centre in St. Paul, MN, busting the pinky finger on his left hand, requiring surgery.
"They did a great job on my finger and we did a great job re-habbing it. They keep telling me it's going to be harder to break than the nine other fingers.
"I felt good for a few days now. I was a little nervous taking snapshots and one-timers for a while but two or three days ago I felt no pain.
"It's great to see that white jersey in your stall and not the injured one."
An initial prognosis post-op was announced four-to-six weeks.
Typical for someone who's fast-tracked his way up the NHL high-rent district since arriving with much fanfare out of Boston College, Gaudreau's back in under three.
"I was pretty determined to rehab this as much as possible,'' he said. "A lot of ice on the finger. A lot of hours in the trainers' room with Wags (rehabilitation consultant Kevin Wagner). He stayed behind own the road trip with me so a lot of thanks to him.
"I'm not surprised because of how much time we put into the finger."

Much attention Sunday morning was in the new protective gloves Gaudreau - who takes more than his share of hacks and whacks to the hand areas - will model for at least the time being.
"It's different,'' said Gaudreau. "There's a lot more padding. That was one of the protocols of playing tonight. It'll be a little time getting used to but I think it'll help me."
When asked if the gloves were specially or standard-issue protection upgrade, Gaudreau shrugged.
"I have no idea. All I know is Depo (equipment manager Mark Despasquale) did a good job getting it in as quick as possible so I could try to get used to it before playing."
In his absence, the determined Flames have flourished, going 6-3-1. So it remained unclear as to where he'd slot in - with his regular centre Sean Monahan or elsewhere.
"No idea. I just found out 10 seconds ago that I was going to be in. Wherever they put me, I'll play my game. Doesn't really matter who I'm playing with. We've got a lot of skilled guys in this locker room and they've done a great job on the road winning games.
"It's tough to break up lines when you're winning games so we'll see where it goes."
Despite those 10 games off, the 2014 Calder Trophy finlaist, the loop's sixth leading scorer year ago, is tied for third on the Flames in scoring at 11 points.
Needless to say, coach Glen Gulutzan was doing cartwheels away from prying eyes when news of Gaudrnau's return became official.
"He's been chomping at the bit forever to play. I think (general manager Brad Treliving) Tre had a little fun with him this morning when he said he was ready to go and (the GM) said 'Well, we're not sure …'
"He really wanted to get in. Kudos to him. He really went through some pain early with that finger. A few nights he didn't sleep.
"He worked real hard. The conditioning he did when we were gone, when we skated him the last few days that it was right where it needed to be.
"Absolutely no apprehension" - firing No. 13 straight back in the lineup - "when you have a player of that calibre, great character guy. He's been in the last few of our meetings the last three or four days. He's got to watch the games and get a little different view.
"We're just excited to have him back."
Feeling's entirely mutual.
"It's tough,'' acknowledged Gaudreau. "What made it easier was seeing how well the guys playing on the road. It's tough being here in Calgary with none of the guys around you.
"It's difficult watching them play but everybody did a good job and I'm excited to be back."