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Just a quick blog to update everyone about Olli Jokinen.

I spoke Jokinen Monday morning and he told me that he hopes to be back on the ice skating very soon. First up, though, is a visit to the team doctor on Tuesday.

Jokinen injured a shoulder against Columbus on Nov. 26, and the official word is he will miss two to four weeks.

“It’s starting to feel better and better every day and I’m definitely going in the right direction,” Jokinen said.

I then asked him if he had circled a game on the schedule for his return. He said no, but added, “It’s going to be sooner than what everyone expects, I hope.“

Jokinen hasn’t missed an NHL game because of injury since the 2002-03 season when he was playing for the Florida Panthers. Watching games in street clothes, he said, is not fun.

“It’s tough because I haven’t missed a game in so long. I can’t remember the last time I watched a game upstairs, and I did that with the Colorado game (on Friday) and it was just too painful to watch because you can’t really do anything and you can’t really help your teammates.”

Jokinen is taking an extremely active approach to his recovery.

“The way I’m looking at this is that it’s like a mini-training camp for me in the middle of the season and I’ve never had that,” Jokinen said. “I just hope that when I come back I’m feeling even better than how I was feeling before the injury. That’s the goal.”

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I’ve had several Coyotes fans write me asking about the status of center Joel Perrault, who hasn’t played a game all season after suffering a concussion during a shinny game just before training camp started.

I’m told Perrault is with the team's top affiliate in San Antonio, and that he joined full practice sessions with the Rampage for the first time on Monday and that he may be ready to play in a game as early as Thursday.

Thanks for reading.

Dave
thedesertdogblog@phoenixcoyotes.com