Blues winger David Perron, who's been sidelined for 13 months with post-concussion syndrome, will make his much-anticipated return to the ice Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks, the club confirmed today.
Perron stayed back in St. Louis tonight, while the Blues are playing the Colorado Avalanche in Denver, so that he'll be rested up for his first game since Nov. 4, 2010. He suffered a concussion when hit by San Jose's Jose Thornton, forcing him to miss a total of 97 games, including tonight's game.
Perron, who rejoined the Blues in early September and was cleared for contact a couple of weeks ago, gave no indication about his return when he came off the ice Thursday after practice.
"I've been going hard over the last week and a half," Perron said. "I think that it's been going pretty good."
Perron, who was taken No. 26 overall in the 2007 NHL draft, is arguably one of the Blues' top skilled players, with 53 goals and 131 points in 235 NHL games. He had five goals and seven points in 10 games before the hit knocked him out of action.
The Blues are currently fifth in the Western Conference standings while playing without Perron and forward Andy McDonald, who is also concussed, but there's no doubt Perron's presence will be a much-welcomed boost to the lineup.
"I think everyone has been waiting and I think it’s time," Blues forward T.J. Oshie said Thursday before the announcement was made. "We’re ready for him to come back, ready for that Perron spark on the ice ... when he has the puck, how hard he works and the plays that he creates that most guys wouldn’t think about creating. It’s exciting. It’s going to be a special day when he comes back."
Added forward Jamie Langenbrunner: "He looks more and more comfortable and looks more involved in practice. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him relatively soon here."
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock indicated this week that when Perron did return to the lineup, the team would not be taking it easy on him. Sometimes when top-line players return to the lineup from a long-term injury, coaches work them back in on the third and fourth lines to help them slowly get their timing back.
"No, you can’t do that," Hitchcock said. "He’s a top-six forward, so if he’s going to play, he’s going to play. ... If he gives us the OK, there’s no working him back in. You’re in, you play. No different than (Sidney) Crosby or any of these other guys. No such thing ... We’re going to deal with him like he’s a current player and he’s just coming off training camp and go from there."
Hitchcock plans to play Perron on a line with Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart.
"I would like to see him with Berglund at some time," Hitchcock said. "Whether it’s going to be right away, I don’t know. But I’d like to see him there."
Hitchcock said Perron could expect his normal ice time of 20 minutes per game relatively soon.
"He’s obviously not going to kill penalties, so he’s going to be a 20-minute player right off the hop," Hitchcock said. "But when you look this good at practice under these type of circumstances, we’ve put him in every situation possible and without a lot of traffic and a lot of heat, he’s more than responded."
After doing so in practice, Perron will finally get the chance to respond in a live game on Saturday.
