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Benn, Hemsky ‘very doubtful’ for most of Stars’ preseason games

St Louis Blues v Dallas Stars

St Louis Blues v Dallas Stars

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Dallas captain Jamie Benn and winger Ales Hemsky -- both of whom underwent major hip surgeries this summer -- look as though they’ll miss a fairly significant chunk of the club’s exhibition campaign.

“We’re going to monitor them,” GM Jim Nill said on Monday, per Stars Inside Edge. “They’re on their schedule; they are feeling very well, and they are starting to do full practices.

“Very doubtful they’ll play the first four or five exhibition games. We are hoping to get them in the last couple games, which is the best-case scenario. We are going to play it by ear. We’ve gone this far, it’s a long year, and we are going to make sure they are 100 percent before they play.”

Benn, the NHL’s reigning scoring champ, actually underwent two hip surgeries this offseason to address femoroacetabular impingement, or FAI, which resulted in bone spurs that formed on the head of his femur.

Hemsky, a major disappointment in his first year in Dallas, was hampered by hip problems all season long before eventually deciding to go under the knife.

As for their lineup returns, Dallas kicks off its preseason campaign in Florida on Sept. 22, the first of seven games.

Looking at the calendar and taking Nill’s 4-5 game prognosis into account, it looks like both Benn and Hemsky would draw in for the club’s penultimate exhibition contest -- on Oct. 1 versus the Lightning -- or, failing that, take part in the last preseason game in Chicago on Oct. 3.