Tipped Off
03-16-2005, 11:23 AM
From the Everett Herald: (http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/03/16/100spo_tipsnotes001.cfm)
Mark Kress is tired and sore.
But the bumps, bruises and weariness are positive maladies for Kress. They're an indication that he's back on the ice instead of watching from the stands.
The Everett Silvertips center is playing himself back into shape just in time for the playoffs after an arm injury forced a pair of lengthy layoffs.
"I'm slowly but surely getting back in the grove," Kress said. "It was a little slow at the start, my mind's a little rusty. But that's expected. Trying to come back from that is pretty hard, but it's managable and it's coming to me."
The 19-year-old Kress, a key defensive forward and faceoff man, originally suffered a fractured arm on Dec. 4 against Swift Current. He missed 15 games before returning on Jan. 21, but he played just eight games before reaggravating the injury. He missed another 12 games before rereturning last Friday in Everett's 5-1 home victory over Seattle.
"He was out a long time, so I think he had a lot of rust on his game the first game," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "I think he's gotten a little bit better every single game. I think he's gone through a very normal process of the game being very fast for him at first, and by Sunday I thought he was playing pretty good hockey."
Constantine didn't waste much time tossing Kress right back into the fire. Kress saw regular shifts even strength and on the penalty kill, and while the rust may have been evident, his speed and energy didn't appear to have suffered.
"My conditioning is pretty good," Kress said. "That was the first time I'd played three in three all year. I'm a little roughed up, but that's expected.
"I should be back 100 percent, hopefully by the weekend."
Mark Kress is tired and sore.
But the bumps, bruises and weariness are positive maladies for Kress. They're an indication that he's back on the ice instead of watching from the stands.
The Everett Silvertips center is playing himself back into shape just in time for the playoffs after an arm injury forced a pair of lengthy layoffs.
"I'm slowly but surely getting back in the grove," Kress said. "It was a little slow at the start, my mind's a little rusty. But that's expected. Trying to come back from that is pretty hard, but it's managable and it's coming to me."
The 19-year-old Kress, a key defensive forward and faceoff man, originally suffered a fractured arm on Dec. 4 against Swift Current. He missed 15 games before returning on Jan. 21, but he played just eight games before reaggravating the injury. He missed another 12 games before rereturning last Friday in Everett's 5-1 home victory over Seattle.
"He was out a long time, so I think he had a lot of rust on his game the first game," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "I think he's gotten a little bit better every single game. I think he's gone through a very normal process of the game being very fast for him at first, and by Sunday I thought he was playing pretty good hockey."
Constantine didn't waste much time tossing Kress right back into the fire. Kress saw regular shifts even strength and on the penalty kill, and while the rust may have been evident, his speed and energy didn't appear to have suffered.
"My conditioning is pretty good," Kress said. "That was the first time I'd played three in three all year. I'm a little roughed up, but that's expected.
"I should be back 100 percent, hopefully by the weekend."