That gentleman in the red jersey is "superstar" Maxime Talbot. He is skating by himself this morning in what we assume is a red non-contact jersey.
Talbot is expected to return to the lineup in late November/early December. He is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
UPDATE: Talbot talked about his recovery.
When is he coming back?
"I don’t know. I’d like to say January? Just so people really don’t know and don’t ask me that question all of the time. I don’t know. I can be a month, month and a half. It’s just good to be amongst the guys."
How is his conditioning?
"Good. I mean I’ve been skating by myself for two weeks now. It’s different with the team obviously. Physically, feel really good. I just can’t have contact right now."
Any pain?
"No. Like I said, I’ve been on the ice for two weeks so I’ve been trying it out a little bit and taking shots. If I was not ready to skate with the guys I would not have skated."
How is being back on the ice with his teammates?
"It was great. You miss the boys. That’s what you miss the most. You miss being there in the room. Getting dressed. Getting ready. Being out there and joking around when you miss a shot. Guys laughing at you and stuff. That’s hard being on the sideline and watching the guys."
On the Penguins hot start.
"It’s nice. It might give me a little bit less pressure to come back. If we were 1-6, I’d want to be there even more. I’d want to help the team and change things. We’re playing really confident. (Marc-Andre Fleury) is strong in net. For me, it just makes it easier to just watch. When I’ll be ready, I’ll be ready."
How long does it take to recover from his injury?
"There’s a certain period of time you got to respect. You can’t really come back before four months. Even if you feel good and you feel confident, you got to let the healing go. So obviously it won’t be before four months. Four months and a half is pushing it. Five months is starting to be safe. And obviously if you want to be really, really careful, it’s six months."
On confidence in his shoulder.
"I obviously need to be mentally ready. Being able to take a faceoff. If (Fleury) gets run into I want to be able to jump in there and drop the gloves. You want to be comfortable with those things. Because if something happens in front of me and I can’t drop the gloves or I can’t just be there for my teammates, I’m not valuable on the ice."
On meeting Daniel Carcillo in the offseason.
"We talked and stuff. What happened on the ice, I think the whole NHL, we’re a big family. Guy shows a lot of respect and I respect those things. It’s nothing to talk about now. It’s a new season."
(Photo: Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
Posted
Oct 19 2009, 10:40 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh