Sobotka to Return, Steen Skates

According to Lou Korac of the Alton Telegraph, the Blues should be ready to see some familiar faces return to the lineup in the near future. Vladimir Sobotka has been cleared to return to the lineup tomorrow as the Blues take on the Minnesota Wild. In other injury news, while Alex Steen doesn’t have a return date set, he did skate briefly today as he continues to rehab a high ankle sprain.

Sobotka has been shelved on the IR since February 28th when he suffered a cracked bone in his left foot. The forward had stated he had been rehabbing his foot everyday and was eager to play in a couple games before the 2010-11 season comes to a close. Prior to his injury, Sobotka collected 24 points over the course of 58 games.

Alex Steen’s season was believed to be over when he suffered a high ankle sprain on March 9th. He was diagnosed to miss four to six weeks, but has seen some positive news as he skated briefly today. There hasn’t been any change to the four to six week timetable at this time and we imagine the team won’t do anything to rush Steen back, risking further injury.

It’s nice to see some of the walking wounded finding their way back to the ice, but it really is a shame that it comes just as the season wraps up.

Still, finishing the 2010-11 campaign on a positive note could do a lot for this team mentally heading into 2011-12. Even though the playoffs aren’t a possibility, the Blues need to play as they have in their past two contests – with some sense of pride at stake.