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Giordano (torn biceps) skates, but playoff return still a longshot

Winnipeg Jets v Calgary Flames

Winnipeg Jets v Calgary Flames

NHLI via Getty Images

Calgary captain Mark Giordano, thought to be lost for the season after tearing his biceps in early March, took to the ice on Monday and offered a glimmer of hope for a playoff return.

“I’m trying to stay in shape and condition. I have to meet with the surgeon a bunch more times before that becomes a reality, but I feel good,” he said, per the Calgary Sun. “I feel like hopefully the rehab is going better than expected, but it’s still a bit early for that. I really have to start gaining my strength and stuff back.

“Hopefully we go really deep and then we have a decision to make.”

It’s not surprising Giordano’s clinging to hopes of a return. When he initially suffered the injury -- which requires 4-5 months of rehab -- the 31-year-old tried to see if he could play through the tear and hold off surgery ’til the summer.

“The doctors weren’t too optimistic, but they said there’s a tiny chance [that I could keep playing],” Giordano explained at the time, per the Calgary Sun. “I was sort of pushing to try it out and see how it felt, but when you get out there you realize right away that there’s little chance you can compete at the level you need to.

“So I came back home and saw another doctor, talked it over and I think surgery’s probably my only option.”

A first-time All-Star, Giordano was Calgary’s undisputed leader through the first six months of the season, playing a ton of minutes (over 25 a night) while leading all NHL defensemen in scoring at the time of his injury. His return would be a major boon for the Flames, but that definitely sounds like a longshot -- especially in light of what Flames GM Brad Treliving said this afternoon.

“We know where Mark’s injury is at,” he explained. "[His potential return] is down the road a little bit. Our first priority with Mark is making sure we’re staying with the proper rehab procedure.

Treliving then went on to say that a Giordano comeback isn’t “anything that’s weighing on our minds.”