Music: {allcanada} Stamkos skates, still hoping for pre-Olympic retur

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

{allcanada} Stamkos skates, still hoping for pre-Olympic retur

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Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos and his coach Jon Cooper said Monday it wasn't a setback when Stamkos didn't practice with his teammates after deciding his surgically-repaired right leg didn't feel quite right.

Tuesday seemed to prove them right.

Stamkos took the ice at Air Canada Centre, where the Lightning face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, TSN), in a regular blue jersey and skated for about 15-20 minutes, according to media accounts.

"It felt a lot better today," Stamkos said afterward.

Stamkos broke his leg in a Nov. 11 game against the Boston Bruins and underwent surgery the following day. He's made rapid progress in his comeback and said Tuesday that he would like to play at least one game for the Lightning prior to the start of the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Despite being hurt, Stamkos was named to Hockey Canada's roster for Sochi.

He said if that isn't possible, he would speak with Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman, who also is Canada's executive director, about whether he would remain on the Olympic team.

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