Assuming a lockout is over by then, old friend Derek Roy is on target for a mid-November return/debut with the Dallas Stars after having shoulder surgery July 2, he told the team's Web site in a story published late Thursday night.
“It’s getting better. Every day I try to get more motion in it and more strength in it,” Roy said. “I’m just doing the little things to get it going. It’s going to take time, but if you take it one day at a time, it’s a little better.”
Roy is not skating with teammates doing pre-training camp workouts (for a camp, of course, that may not happen anytime soon). He hopes to be skating in late September. The Sabres, remember, expressed surprise at development camp to learn the Stars' medical team opted for surgery with Roy.
"They figured a 100 percent Derek Roy would help the team more than playing at 75 percent, getting hurt, coming back and doing that all season," Roy said. "We made the decision on surgery and right now for us, and we are going to move forward. I could have played with it, but I wouldn’t have been 100 percent."
Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News also takes this look at Roy, pointing out he's the one Stars player who would clearly benefit from a lockout from the standpoint of potentially not missing games.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
