Vladimir Tarasenko said the extra time off has his surgically repaired left shoulder feeling stronger.
The St. Louis Blues forward skated Monday when the Blues opened their training center as part of Phase 2 of the NHL's Return to Play Plan after the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
Tarasenko had surgery Oct. 29 to repair a dislocated left shoulder and was expected to need five months to recover. He skated Feb. 8 for the first time since the injury.
"I was really close to coming back and playing when the season was delayed so I got some extra time to recover," Tarasenko said. "Not even recover, extra time practicing and making it more strong. Everything is good."
Tarasenko said the first formal day was about getting the feeling of skating and shooting back.
"You start slow, you start with the basics, some exercises where you can ... not learn to skate again, but remember the feeling, and I think it'll be pretty quick (to come back)," he said. "I skated a few times [during the pause] so it wasn't that hard. It's like the usual start to skating, you work on the basics and you move to harder and harder levels."
Tarasenko on return to play
He said shooting on a net at home also helped him work his way back.
"I've worked on the shoulder strength a little more, changed the [off-ice] routine a little bit," he said. "I don't think too much about it because I don't want to live in the past. It feels good now, and I'm trying to do what I can to come back at 100 percent."
Tarasenko scored 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 10 games before he was injured. Despite not having their top goal-scorer, the Blues (42-19-10) finished with the best points percentage in the Western Conference at .662 and will play in the round-robin portion Stanley Cup Qualifiers, along with the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars, which will set the top four seeds in the Western Conference for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"It's like a big trade that you make and getting a great player," Blues coach Craig Berube said June 3. "We haven't had him all year and our team's been very successful. Now we got Vladdy coming back, he's a great player for us, he's done a great job working back, being in really good shape and being ready to go."
Training camps will open on July 10 in Phase 3, provided medical and safety conditions allow and the NHL and the NHL Players' Association reach an agreement on resuming play. Play will resume in Phase 4 with the qualifiers, with dates and the locations of two hub cities -- one for the 12 participating teams from the West, one for the 12 Eastern Conference teams -- to be announced.
Tarasenko said he's excited to get going.
"The closer you get, the more positive emotions you have, the more happy you are for seeing the boys for the first time, skating with them," he said. "I was lucky to go on a couple road trips (before the season pause) and feel that atmosphere. I'm ready to come back and play some hockey."
Photo courtesy: St. Louis Blues; video courtesy: Blue Note Production.
