David Perron officially has moved to Phase II of his recovery. On Friday, he traded in a “no contact” red jersey for a regular gold version.

The one-year anniversary of San Jose forward Joe Thornton rocking Perron with a hit to the head came and passed on Nov. 4, 2010. The talented Blues winger has not played since as he tries to recover from the resulting concussion symptoms.

In late October, Perron took a big step toward that goal by starting to participate in practice with the Blues, wearing the red jersey. In an optional practice that included 10 players at St. Louis Mills on Friday, Perron was wearing one of the regular colors and fully participated in drills, including the puck-battling kind.

Teammates teased Perron afterward about playing at Minnesota on Saturday night.

“I feel good,” Perron said. “I feel like it was time to take that step. It's just another step forward and there's still more steps to go. But it felt good to be just another player instead of being the guy you can't do anything with.

“I'm a long way from where I was when I started skating. There's still a ways to go, but I feel pretty good. I'm going to get some bumps and see how I react to that and keep moving.”

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock is excited to see Perron participate. “It's nice news for him, nice news for the team,” Hitchcock said. “It's the next step and then, obviously, the final step is 'cleared to play.' We're not there yet, but I'm excited to see him as a full participant.

“I knew how good he was before, a very good player, a very dangerous player offensively, really smart with the puck. So I'm curious to see how he looks when we start practicing. He can go on a line now in pregame skates and in practice, so it's a good sign.”

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Blues defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo has a slight hamstring problem and will not make the trip to Minnesota. Colaiacovo left the Blues bench on Thursday favoring his left leg and did not return.

Ian Cole will replace Colaiacovo in the lineup.

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The Blues have not heard from the league about Scott Nichol's game misconduct on Thursday, so he should be good to go against the Wild. Nichol was given a major penalty and game misconduct for “spearing,” a call that appeared to be a bit overzealous.