As well as the New York Rangers have been playing of late, one of the bigger storylines for them this season has been the absence of defenseman Marc Staal from the lineup.
Staal has yet to play in a game this season as he’s still dealing with symptoms from a concussion sustained when he took a hit from his older brother, Eric Staal, last season.
With the Winter Classic set to get underway a week from Monday, on January 2nd, there now appears to be a chance Staal could return in time for the game against the Philadelphia Flyers, though it’s still a major question.
Staal was cleared for contact in practice and took part in the contact drills at Rangers practice on Monday. Obviously his conditioning still needs some work, but that is to be expected with any player dealing with most injuries for an extended period of time.
The return to contact in practice is just the first step, but it is a major one for Staal and the Rangers. Given the fact that he returned to thos...
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