Barriball recovering well from knee surgery

Gophers senior right wing Jay Barriball expects to be on crutches for at least six weeks. He had surgery last Friday for a torn LCL, or lateral collateral ligament, in his right knee.

It's the outside ligament in the knee. Dr. Rob LaPrade, the team physician, performed the surgery. Former Gophers player Ryan Potulny had the same kind of surgery early in his college career, returned and played well. 

Are you feeling better? "I do already," he said. "I'm better. Surgery was a success according to the doctor. There's a little bit of pain, but it's better each day."

When will you start walking normally? "I have no idea," Barriball said. "It take about 4, 5, 6 months for a full recovery."

Barriball was injured in practice on Tuesday of last week. How did it happen? "I was cutting across the middle and made a quick move," Barriball said. "Me and -- I ran into a kid. We went knee to knee. I felt it [my knee] pop. I knew something was wrong."

That kid was sophomore defenseman Sam Lofquist. Barriball said there are no hard feelings on his part. He said injuries happen in practice.

Barriball, who is majoring in communications studies and business and marketing education, plans to graduate this spring and then come back next season to play and work on his masters' degree.

He is going to apply for a medical red-shirt year for this season and, since he played in only five games, there should be no problem with the NCAA granting him another year of eligibility.

Barriball was drafted in the seventh round of the NHL Draft by San Jose in 2006. He played high school hockey at Holy Angels and  then joined the Gophers next season and as a freshman had 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points.

His scoring numbers dropped drastically his sophomore year to six goals and 15 assists for 21 points. But he improved to 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points as a junior when he played on the team's first line with Ryan Stoa and Jordan Schroeder.

Barriball was playing on Schroeder's line again this season and the weekend before he got injured he had a goal and two assists against Alaska Anchorage to reach the 100-point milestone in his career.