Foster steps out for a feel-good skate

David Joles, Dml - Star Tribune

Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster had reason to smile after getting back on the ice to skate Wednesday. Foster broke his left femur last March.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: November 27, 2008 - 11:04 AM

Another day, another step for Kurtis Foster in his long recovery from a broken left femur.

Wednesday, the Wild defenseman sheepishly asked coach Jacques Lemaire for permission to take part in the Wild's morning skate.

"Usually guys that are injured don't stay with us because they're not ready to come back, but he said it would make him feel good and I said, 'Absolutely,'" Lemaire said.

Wednesday was actually supposed to be Foster's day off from skating. But he wanted to try out some new skates.

"[Assistant coach Mario Tremblay] came out and was chirping me: 'Why don't you ever skate with the team?'" said Foster, who broke his leg in March. "I felt good, so I said, 'Why not try and play it by ear and see if I could do every drill with the team?' It was really nice to be out there."

Still, Foster is still a long way from playing again. That was obvious by watching him shoot.

Righthanded shooters typically shoot off their left leg, but Foster looked like a peacock. With every shot, he lifted his left leg and leaned on his right.

"I still can't shoot off my left leg," he said. "There's just not enough strength and it sends a pretty big pain down my leg. My skating looks pretty good, but when I want to give that extra jump, the power's just not there yet."

Foster said orthopedic surgeon Joel Boyd told him, "It's part of the process and if I keep doing what I've been doing, eventually my leg, it's almost like it'll remember how to work."

Family resemblance?

After Cal Clutterbuck scored his first two goals against Washington on Monday, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau was asked if he had ever even heard of Clutterbuck. Boudreau said, "Yeah, I had his younger brother in my hockey camp."

Relayed the story Wednesday, Clutterbuck smiled and said, "I don't have a brother. That was me."

The first hockey school Clutterbuck, now 21, ever attended was Boudreau's Golden Horseshoe Hockey School in St. Catharines, Ontario, at ages 5, 6 and 7.

"I didn't know at the time who Bruce Boudreau was," Clutterbuck said. "I knew his reputation was as a pretty good minor-league player, but he'd bring in guys like Steve Thomas and Johnny Bower, which is a big deal when you're 5.

"I can't believe he remembered my name from his hockey school. It's just kind of weird my first two goals were against him. My mom was even saying, 'I can't believe it.'"

Gillies sits out again

Rookie Colton Gillies, 19, was scratched for the seventh time in nine games. Assistant GM Tommy Thompson said the subject hasn't yet come up, but the team might need to discuss whether it should release Gillies to play for Team Canada in the world junior championships in Ottawa from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.

The Canadians will report for camp Dec. 10. Thompson said, "I know they'd love to have him."

From 2002-04, the Wild let Nick Schultz, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Brent Burns play, respectively. The Wild didn't let James Sheppard go last season because Wes Walz retired and Mikko Koivu broke his leg.

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