WESTMINSTER, CA -- Jaromir Jagr skated hard with linemates Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell on Wednesday as the Flyers prepped for Fridays game against the Anaheim Ducks.
Jagr has missed four of the last five games with a groin pull, but says he is now pain free and expects to play.
I feel good -- I survived the whole practice which is good, said Jagr of a hard, 90-minute skate. But its not game shape and I knew that. I missed six and I came back, but I didnt practice which is a long time for me.
I have to play all the time. I just have to survive these games and not get injured again. I feel pain free now.
He played only a few minutes in two other games. As such, in his mind, he feels as though he has missed six gamesnot four.
Todays practice included a lot of special teams work, too.
In the practice, we are competing on the ice, five-on-five and power play, Jagr said. Its not the same but it is similar. Before, when I came back, I didnt have that. I got one more practice tomorrow and the massage therapist says its fine. Its pretty close.
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Jagr underwent more acupuncture treatment before he left Philadelphia for this road trip and has a therapist here in Orange County at his disposal, as well.
Oh yeah, his Smith Brothers wraparound mustache is gone, too.
It didnt bring me much luck on or off the ice, Jagr laughed. Nobody was talking to me at home and I got injured.
One thing about Jagrs acupuncture treatment that is different from others is that his treatments are accompanied with the needles and steam injected into the area where the needles go.
He began using acupuncture years ago when he was in Pittsburgh.
Its acupuncture with electric steam, not regular acupuncture, Jagr said. The steam goes directly deep. You put the needle exactly in the muscle and then you put the electric steam on it where it hurts... thats what makes this special. It goes directly to that point.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net.