ANN ARBOR, MICH. -- Stephen Weiss is on the road to recovery.
After playing off and on because of what was thought to be a groin injury, Weiss underwent surgery for a sports hernia on Dec. 23 and is expected to return after the Olympic break in February.
"(The doctor) just said there was a lot going on in there so whether it never really went away and you kind of just mask it a little bit," Weiss said. "It was pretty extensive."
The timetable for that surgery is usually six to eight weeks.
Weiss, a Toronto native who would have loved to play in the Winter Classic, was in the Wings' dressing room after the game.
"It was not the easiest couple days, something that was on your radar since this summer, actually, so it was tough to not be able to play in it," Weiss said. "Like I said before, some things are out of your control so there's nothing you can do about it."
Because of the injuries, Weiss has been limited to 26 games this season. He has just two goals and two assists in those games.
Weiss said he's feeling better now.
"The first few days are pretty sore and tender," Weiss said. "They get you doing rehab the next day after the surgery so that was nice mentally just to be moving. Definitely a week out I feel better."
The doctors told Weiss that he could immediately start walking about a mile a day and can do certain drills already, but no skating yet.
"I think they said around three-four weeks, you can start skating and start progressing from there," Weiss said. "It's been a little over a week, so hopefully not too much longer I can get on the ice and start skating. Just a matter of waiting the right amount of time."
Like many professional athletes, Weiss went to see Dr. William C. Meyers in Philadelphia, the same specialist who performed sports hernia surgeries on Kris Draper, Tomas Holmstrom and Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera.
"The Wings have had a few guys go see him so that was nice knowing that they've had success with him," Weiss said. "It's pretty common, especially for hockey players. I've been pretty lucky with this stuff. I haven't had many issues. Start of training camp you get some groin stuff but nothing serious, so getting to that age now where sometimes this stuff pops up and get it taken care of and hopefully this is the end of it."
