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Heward Is Feeling Better

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 28, 2009

TAMPA - Lightning D Jamie Heward spent seven minutes on a stationary bike Tuesday morning, his first physical activity in more than three weeks.

Heward has spent the past three weeks at home dealing with a concussion following a hit by Washington's Alex Ovechkin on New Year's Day that left Heward on a stretcher. After running the gamut of concussion symptoms - including headaches and nausea - Heward said he has been feeling much better, although he called the gaps in his memory "disturbing" at this point.

The 37-year-old veteran has no recollection of the events between turning off his television at midnight on New Year's Eve and arriving at the hospital. Heward said he has watched replays of the hit hoping to jog his memory, but he still believes the play was not dirty.

"When I first saw it, I was kind of creeped out," Heward said. "From what I could gather, I was in the wrong position and I can't fault Ovechkin at all."

Heward said his goal is to return before the end of the season, but he knows that's not the primary objective.

"To watch from the sidelines is frustrating, but at my age and at the stage of my career, I have to take care of it and make sure it doesn't get any worse," he said.

AN EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

As a late replacement for the All-Star Game over the weekend, Marty St. Louis scrambled to put together travel plans to get to Montreal. But when he showed up to the airport in New York on Saturday morning, his infant son Mason was not allowed to travel on an international flight without a passport.

St. Louis then jumped on a flight to Burlington, Vt., and met up with his father who drove the family across the border to Montreal. After Sunday's game, St. Louis jumped into a rental car, drove back to Burlington to catch a flight to Orlando and arrived at his house Monday at 2:45 p.m. His equipment bag, however, did not fit into the rental car, so the Canadiens' brought it down on their flight.

BURNS' BATTLE

Former Montreal, New Jersey and Boston coach Pat Burns, who frequents Lightning games as a consultant with the Devils, said Tuesday he has no intention of undergoing treatment for lung cancer, which is his third bout with the disease since 2004.

The news of Burns' illness broke before the All-Star break, although Burns was diagnosed with the cancer in May. He said after enduring more than two years of chemotherapy and two surgeries to fight liver cancer and colon cancer, his quality of life is more important.

KOLZIG'S SETBACK

G Olie Kolzig said Tuesday he is still having issues with his "upper-body" injury, believed to be a muscle situation in his arm. The team placed the veteran goaltender on injured reserve on Monday after he underwent an MRI exam on Thursday. Kolzig said he was awaiting a second opinion on the results.

NUTS AND BOLTS

RW Adam Hall was a healthy scratch. ... D Paul Ranger returned after missing four games with an upper-body injury. ... D Cory Murphy has points in all three games since being acquired off re-entry waivers from Florida. ... D Lukas Krajicek recorded his 50th career assist.

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