On Kesler's status
Kesler has passed enough tests. He's playing tonight. He was cleared the other day. Full steam ahead. He's good to go.
On Patrick Eaves' progression
Patrick has moved up a little bit, just like Kes did a week and a half ago. Patrick is starting to take part in some practice drills. Not all of them yet, but just like Kes did a little while ago, he's progressing and right on schedule.
On Ryan Getzlaf's injury
Getzy's not as bad as we feared. We had to wait until the swelling went down in his groin. It's a groin pull. It's not severe whatsoever. Matter of fact, he did some things today, which means he's not that far away. Not this weekend, but not that far away. Let's put it this way, it's not weeks.
On Ondrej Kase's status
Kase is still having [concussion] symptoms. He's down there right now doing a workout. He's progressing. He's doing everything he does more, but he has not gone on skates yet.
On Kesler's game plan
We had a game plan from Day 1. This is a testament to how hard he worked. He's ahead of schedule. He's ready to go. The game plan was always, Let's build up as the season goes along. These are hypothetical numbers, but say he plays five or six games, and then he feels a little something. Then we back off for a few days. Then the next time maybe he plays seven or eight games and we back off, until eventually there's a point where he's just a go. We're in control this year. Kes and I are talking all the time. We think this is the right way to do it. He's got a bad arthritic hip. Something could happen. We're prepared for that, and we'll back him off. He's not going to fight through it this year. We're not going to watch him in pain. We'll just put him on IR for a week, and away we go.
