Ribeiro, Stars target next week for return
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
Stars center Mike Ribeiro said he'd like to play Saturday against the Phoenix Coyotes, but he won't. Next week's road trip is another matter.
"He's very close for Tuesday," said Stars coach Marc Crawford. "Tuesday will be five weeks and that's a pretty big mark for him."
Ribeiro, who suffered a throat contusion on January 6 in a game against the New York Rangers, was expected to be out 4-6 weeks.
"I'd like to play tomorrow, but they don't want me to," Ribeiro said Friday afternoon after coming off the ice at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter in Frisco. "I guess I'll have to wait a bit."
Crawford said while getting Ribeiro back for Saturday is enticing, waiting until next week's road trip, which starts Tuesday in Chicago, is the better route.
"He'd like to, but we can't. It's very tempting. He's tempted, but he's not ready yet,'' Crawford said as Ribeiro was skating on the Friday. "This gives him a chance to practice with the team tomorrow, practice with the team Monday, he gets a day off, and a big part of recuperating is to see how your body reacts to a day off. It's looking better. When it happened we said if we could get him back before the break, we'd be pretty happy. And it looks like we're going to get him back before the break. But we'd be foolish to try to get him in on Saturday.''
Ribeiro, who went through his first practice with contact earlier in the week, was on the ice again for an optional skate with a handful of players Friday afternoon. He expects to play limited minutes when he first gets back in the lineup.
"I don't think I can play 20 minutes, but that first game I can jump in for 10 or 12 minutes, see how it feels and go from there," he said.
And once that road trip ends, the Stars and the NHL will be on an extended break for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
"I think it's perfect timing," Ribeiro said. "If I can play on this trip to see where I am at, then I can come back after the Olympics, be back to normal, play the way I am supposed to play and help the team win some games."
Modano questionable for Saturday
Center Mike Modano, who missed Thursday's game in Columbus with a knee injury, will test the knee Saturday morning to see if he can play against Phoenix later in the day.
"Mike is better and he's going to try it in the morning to see where he's at," Stars coach Marc Crawford said. "We're hopeful because he is such a big part of our scoring right now."
Modano suffered the injury in Tuesday's game against Minnesota.
Stars notes
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Marty Turco will start in goal Saturday against Phoenix. It will be his third straight start.
"We're going to go again with Marty. He played good last night. They had a seeing eye shot that found the net and we didn't," said Stars coach Marc Crawford.
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The Stars had an optional skate Friday afternoon in Frisco. The players taking part were Alex Auld, Mike Ribeiro, Warren Peters, Ray Sawada and Jeff Woywitka.
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Saturday's game against Phoenix is a 5 pm start at the American Airlines Center.
