However, if it were left to the patient -- who just may require follow-up surgery to remove the smile from his face -- Kessel would be back in his No. 81 spoked-B sweater tonight, only a little more than three weeks after his Dec. 11 surgery.
"It's good to be back," said Kessel, back at his appointed locker, between P.J. Axelsson and Milan Jurcina, following the late-morning practice at Ristuccia Arena. "I feel good. Now it's up to the trainers and the coaching staff."
Habscheid, the team spokesman while head coach Dave Lewis made his way back from Steve Yzerman Night Tuesday in Detroit, offered no return date for Kessel. He said doctors must first clear Kessel for contact drills, then approve his game readiness. Assistant general manager Jeff Gorton later added that Kessel's status for now is day to day, pending the good-to-go edict from MGH doctors.
"I always believed them -- they are great doctors," said Kessel, who was assured soon after the surgery that he would be back skating in a couple of weeks.
"I think they know what they are talking about."
Kessel, who practiced in a red sweater, tantamount to a "DO NOT HIT" sign, teamed with a variety of wingers during the workout. Fellow forward Jeff Hoggan, recovering from an injured right shoulder, also wore a red sweater.
Five days after surgery to remove his right testicle, Kessel walked gingerly around the Garden following a ninth-floor news briefing, but yesterday he didn't show the slightest trace of soreness or compromised conditioning as he zipped around the ice.
"I missed it, because I love to play hockey," said Kessel, who exited the lineup with five goals and 9 points in his first 27 NHL games. "I watched some of the games, but it's hard to watch when you want to be out there playing but you can't."
