On Saturday the Calgary Flames held their first on-ice practice sessions for the upcoming NHL season. One player who will not be on the ice with the team is veteran centreman Daymond Langkow.

Langkow continues to recover from a fractured vertebra he sustained last season.

The injury occurred in a game against the Minnesota Wild on March 21, 2010. Langkow was falling to the ice in front of the Wild net when Flames defenseman Ian White released a slapshot.

It appeared that Langkow had time to duck his head as the puck approached. As he tucked his chin to his chest, the puck struck him at the base of the neck. After medical staff confirmed he was in stable condition Langkow was taken from the ice on a stretcher.

Langkow was then take to a local hospital where he underwent a series of tests and x-rays.

The Flames medical staff has not yet cleared the 33-year-old for contact.

Langkow had this to say about his situation: “It’s just going to take time, so you just have to stay patient and just work at it. A couple of weeks ago I think I said I was close to 100 percent, but I probably wasn’t…I’m not as close as I thought.”

The Flames and Langkow are taking a very cautious approach to this injury; keeping Langkow away from any chance of contact, no matter how incidental.

On the extent of the precautions Langkow said, “They just want me to stay away from contact, even just skating with the guys in case something happens where I run into somebody or something like that.”

It is expected that Langkow will meet with the team’s medical staff on a weekly basis as they evaluate the likelihood of him returning to the hockey club.

This is the first time Langkow has missed the start of training camp during the course of his 14-year NHL career.