It wasn't the most eventful 41 minutes in the history of hockey, but, for Daymond Langkow(notes), it'll do.
Langkow, for only the second time since fracturing vertebrae in his neck more than five months ago, was back on the ice. Twice this week, including Thursday afternoon, he's gone for twirls at the Westside Recreation Centre.
"I feel good now," said Langkow. "I'm pretty close to 100 per cent, but I think it's going to be a couple more weeks before I can take contact. Obviously, it's been a while since I've been on skates. Definitely a little rusty out there."
Despite having to skip session-ending scrimmages, Langkow is pleased to be once again swapping passes with teammates such as Jarome Iginla(notes), Olli Jokinen(notes), Cory Sarich(notes), Rene Bourque(notes) and Adam Pardy(notes).
Not that he is too fussy about company. So starved is the man for hockey that even summertime skating holds a certain appeal.
"I was definitely excited to get back on the ice - just for shinny - and that's usually not the case," he said with a smirk. "I was just getting in some skating. I'm going to make sure I'm 100 per cent before I come back."
The most recent noon-hour get-together for the Edmonton native, who wore no visible neck brace, featured light skating, a handful of drills, then a fair amount of coasting around while others were embroiled in one-on-one battles. Main camp for the National Hockey League club is still a couple of weeks away.
"Obviously, you want to get back as soon as possible, but this isn't something I'm going to mess around with," said Langkow, adding that he's scheduled for another evaluation by doctors in the coming days. "Hopefully, I'll be ready as soon as possible."
While Langkow was relatively upbeat Thursday, he did admit that Flames boss Darryl Sutter's early-July declaration - that the pivot was only 60 per cent healthy - was accurate.
"I've come a long way since then," said Langkow. "I feel pretty good right now."
He also acknowledged that the notion of retirement did crop up, even if it was only fleetingly.
"Yeah, there were a couple times when that thought went through my mind," said Langkow, who turns 34 later this month. "But I went and saw a couple of different doctors and got some good news."
Trouble had arrived March 21 in St. Paul, Minn.
On Langkow's 10th shift, he'd tumbled awkwardly in the offensive zone - with a little help from a Minnesota Wild defender - and was struck in the back of the neck by Ian White's(notes) point shot. The tough little cuss got carted off on a stretcher.
"A couple weeks after that I felt pretty good," said Langkow. "Then it was probably two weeks after that it wasn't feeling too hot. Kind of went downhill from there. But I feel good now, which is the main thing. I'm just going to keep working and try to get back as soon as I can.
"Really, time has been the thing that I needed, just for it to heal. I haven't really been doing too much therapy or anything, just massage and things like that. I just needed time to heal."
Langkow was asked if he'd be gun-shy upon his return to official action.
"Obviously, I'm going to be pretty nervous the first game back," he said. "Once I get those first couple games out of the way, I think I'll be fine."
Langkow's appearance wasn't the only eyebrow-raiser of the day.
Lo and behold, there was Miikka Kiprusoff(notes), star netminder of the Flames.
In town earlier than usual - primarily because his son was starting kindergarten - the Finn is busily getting himself ready for the upcoming season.
"I was skating back home - that helps," said Kiprusoff, 33. "But there's stuff to work on, timing and stuff. But, yeah, I feel all right.
"I'm happy to be back. It's nice to see the boys."
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