Capitals forward Jay Beagle was finally cleared to participate in a full practice on Monday and that’s exactly what he did at Kettler Iceplex. First time he’s been on the ice where contact was a possibility since the Oct. 13 fight with Arron Asham in Pittsburgh that left Beagle with a concussion. That’s another step in Beagle’s fight to regain a spot in Washington’s lineup. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, however. He still needs practice time. Beagle’s short-term goal is a solid week of practice, hope no concussion symptoms return and then re-assess his condition.
“There was a couple of drills there where I know [Mike Knuble] and [Matt Hendricks] and [Mathieu Perreault] are playing together and I said ‘If you guys want me to step in then I’ll step in’ but I’m not going to go in unless they want me, too because they’re playing [Tuesday] and I got to get them ready for the game.”
Beagle said his legs got pretty rubbery after 45 minutes on the ice. And for the most part the hard work he put in during the summer in Calgary was lost. Hard to argue that any Caps player came into training camp in better condition physically than Beagle. But some of that strength seems to be returning day-by-day at a faster clip than expected.
“It’s going take a week here a bit to really get in shape and to get game ready,” Beagle said. “I’ve been skating, but I haven’t been banging. My heart rate’s been getting up, but it hasn’t been getting to the point I need it to get to.”
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