Drake back on the ice, but his status still uncertain

ST. LOUIS -- As the second round of the playoffs approach, St. Louis Blues forward Dallas Drake remains a question mark.

For the first time since sustaining a concussion when he knocked himself out on an open-ice check six days earlier, Drake skated before the team practiced on Monday. But he wasn't cleared to work out with the rest of the team pending results of a base-line test.

"I just went out and ran some drills and spun around a few times, made sure I had my balance, and see how that felt," Drake said. "It felt pretty good. I didn't feel sharp, but I haven't skated in a week and that had a lot to do with it."

But no contact was allowed. That's a huge element in Drake's game. He led the team with 165 hits during the regular season.

"I'm a physical player and I'm real ineffective if I'm not playing that way," he said. "I don't expect anything less from the other teams, to crash and bang."

Drake, 33, was hopeful of being available for Game 1 of the second round at either Detroit or San Jose. He said he hasn't had any concussion-related symptoms for three days.

"Obviously I have to get clearance from them, but when I'm ready to go I'll let them know, that's for sure," Drake said. "They've been real careful with me, which is great, and they want me to be real honest with them, and I'm going to be that way."

Coach Joel Quenneville was non-committal on Drake's status. He said he didn't watch Drake skate before pratice.

"He just tried it and didn't join the big group," Quenneville said. "He was hoping to join us, but wasn't able to."

Drake is anxious to return, but not to the point of risking his health.

"Sure, everybody wants to play, but I want to be smart about it, too," he said. "The lingering effects a lot of guys have had the last few years, I don't want to put myself in that sitaution.

"Trust me, if I'm ready to go I'll play."

Drake said he was unconconscious before he hit the ice on his check of the Blackhawks' Kyle Calder in the first period of Game 4. He knocked himself out when his face slammed into Calder's helmet.

"It got me in the right spot," he said.

Drake said he wouldn't wear a different helmet or wear more padding if he was cleared to play.

"No, same helmet," he said. "I'll just stop leading with my face as much."

Quenneville replaced Drake on the third line with Tyson Nash, who moved up from the fourth line, for the Blues' clinching 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, and forward Eric Boguinecki also played for the first time in the playoffs. The third line features center Mike Eastwood and wing Shjon Podein and has been one of the team's best the last few months.

Drake, who had 11 goals and 15 assists in the regular season, also is one of the team's best penalty killers.

"I'm a big believer in penalty killing that if you just outwork the power play, in a lot of cases you're going to be successful," Drake said. "We did that against Chicago, we took their big guns away."

The Blues got two days off after becoming the first team to advance to the second round, and Monday's practice was their second since returning to work. Quenneville wasn't letting the uncertainty of their second-round opponent affect him.

"I thought the guys had a lot of energy and it was a spirited practice," Quenneville said. "I think we're more worried about what we're doing right now."