Antero Niittymaki isnt the only Sharks goaltender trying to return from a serious injury.
Prospect Alex Stalock, who sustained a potentially career-threatening nerve injury behind his left knee last season in Worcester, will resume practice on Thursday according to the Worcester Telegrams Bill Ballou.
Stalock told Ballou:
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I feel good, but we dont really have a plan yet for when I might play in a game. Im ready to get going. sicHe is about to find out just how well that nerve has grown back. Its probably just a mental thing, knowing its there, Stalock said, something Ill forget about once I get playing.
Stalock, 24, was drafted by the Sharks in the fourth round of the NHL Entry Draft in 2005. He made his NHL debut in relief of Antti Niemi on Feb. 1, 2011, stopping all nine shots he faced in recording the victory in a 5-3 come-from-behind Sharks win.
His injury occurred just three days later after he was reassigned back to Worcester, when he was stepped on by a skate during a game against Manchester.