BillsSabresB.C.T. Fan
03-23-2008, 07:27 PM
Defenseman Nathan Paetsch returned to practice Sunday with the Buffalo Sabres and has been cleared to play in Tuesday night's game against the Ottawa Senators in HSBC Arena.
Paetsch suffered a concussion when he was elbowed in the jaw by Pittsburgh's Georges Laraque during a March 12 game in Mellon Arena. Laraque earned a three-game suspension for the hit.
Paetsch skated on his own the last two days, including a 50-minute session Saturday with assistant coach James Patrick in the Amherst Pepsi Center. The team was off Saturday and Paetsch was fully back in action when the Sabres came back on the ice Sunday.
"I feel really good. I'm really happy with the progress the last couple of days," Paetsch said. "I'm fortunate that it's my first [concussion] so I was able to recover a lot quicker. The more you reoccur, it makes it a little worse. And I didn't have a lot of memory loss either."
"He came back pretty quick from that and he says he feels great," said coach Lindy Ruff. "He's gone through the off-ice exercises with no problems, has had no symptoms for many days. He even demanded to skate yesterday."
Paetsch has one goal and seven assists in 54 games this season. To make room for him, the Sabres have returned rookie defenseman Michael Funk to Rochester.
For the latest information on the Sabres, including a look at how rookie Mike Weber is playing for the memory of a fallen ex-teammate, see Monday's editions of The Buffalo News.
http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/306148.html
Paetsch suffered a concussion when he was elbowed in the jaw by Pittsburgh's Georges Laraque during a March 12 game in Mellon Arena. Laraque earned a three-game suspension for the hit.
Paetsch skated on his own the last two days, including a 50-minute session Saturday with assistant coach James Patrick in the Amherst Pepsi Center. The team was off Saturday and Paetsch was fully back in action when the Sabres came back on the ice Sunday.
"I feel really good. I'm really happy with the progress the last couple of days," Paetsch said. "I'm fortunate that it's my first [concussion] so I was able to recover a lot quicker. The more you reoccur, it makes it a little worse. And I didn't have a lot of memory loss either."
"He came back pretty quick from that and he says he feels great," said coach Lindy Ruff. "He's gone through the off-ice exercises with no problems, has had no symptoms for many days. He even demanded to skate yesterday."
Paetsch has one goal and seven assists in 54 games this season. To make room for him, the Sabres have returned rookie defenseman Michael Funk to Rochester.
For the latest information on the Sabres, including a look at how rookie Mike Weber is playing for the memory of a fallen ex-teammate, see Monday's editions of The Buffalo News.
http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/306148.html