By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- If David Perron has his way, he'll see the ice at some point this season with the Blues.
Even if it's for a short stint.
Perron, who has not seen the ice since suffering a concussion Nov. 4 (or 50 games ago), passed an initial baseline test a month ago and has been doing light bike riding and minimal weight lifting but has not rid himself of the concussion-related symptoms.
"We were trying to get positive results," Perron said. "I don't think there was anything negative to what we tried. If anything, it felt good to kind of do something. For someone like me with a lot of energy, I always have to do something. That brought some of my energy back in a way, and that was good. There are still some symptoms, but that's why we're here."
By "here," Perron is talking about Vancouver. He traveled with the team on a western Canadian swing that brought the Blues to Vancouver on Wednesday. Perron stayed behind as the team left for tonight's game in Edmonton to work with Dr. Don Grant, a concussion-related specialist who worked with Andy McDonald, who has returned from the concussion he suffered Dec. 4.
"I was blown away by the results with Andy and was extremely happy for him," said Perron, who received treatment the past two days. "When he got back, he was almost symptom-free and not too long after that he started skating. I'm not going to say this is going to happen with me, but that's what I'm hoping. I'll just wait and see. There's guys that react differently."
McDonald, who missed 24 games, has come back as good as can expected. He's tallied 12 points in 11 games and is hopeful what worked for him can work for Perron as well.
Other players have reaped the rewards in the past after seeing Grant. Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller recently was a visitor himself.
"You're always looking for a way to help your healing and speed it up," McDonald said. "There's a lot of different theories and methods out there. I've had some success going to this individual, so it worked out well. I don't think there's any magic pill that you can take, but if it can give you a little bit of improvement ...then it's well worth it."
Which is why Perron's not throwing in the towel on the 2010-11 season yet.
"There's no 'I'm done for the year,'" Perron said. "(General manager Doug Armstrong) has never talked to me about that. (President John Davidson) never talked to me about that. Trainers never talked to me about that. And I haven't thought about it.
"I'll keep being positive and getting ready for whatever is next. If it's playing the last 15 games of the season, then that's what it is. If it's playing the last 10 games, I just want to come back and play hockey and be with my teammates again. If it's next year, it's next year, but I'll be ready for it."
A rink rat by nature, Perron has had to deal with other aspects of life. He only knew of the hockey rink and its way, but the bi-lingual French-Canadian recently added to his array of languages to master, along with a potential new career down the road.
"I started to learn Spanish a little bit ... I'm actually getting better," said Perron, a native of Sherbrooke, Quebec. "It's quite easy because speaking French is quite similar. I'm also reading books about becoming a pilot.
"In my life, there was only hockey before that injury, and now you realize there's more. I can't say there are too many positives from the injury, because there isn't, but that's one of them. I'm looking at life in a different angle, and it's pretty good. I'm sure when I came back, though, I'll go back to the exact same mindset, but you grow as a human."
By declaring he's not ready to give up on the season, Perron is in no hurry either. He's learned coming back from a concussion too soon can be dangerous. Ask Boston's Marc Savard.
"The biggest is to recover fully ... because if you don't recover fully, and you get hit again, it takes longer," he said.
"If you told me we would play in the Stanley Cup finals, my heart would want to play, but my head is not ready. You really have to listen to yourself. Every time I talk to you, it seems like I keep saying that it's getting better. But one of these days I'll be talking to you and I'll say 'I'm good.'"
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