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T.J. Oshie makes progress toward return

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St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie has been sidelined since March 28 with a lower-body injury, but he’s making nice progress, even if it doesn’t look pretty.

Oshie seemed to struggle a bit skating in his second straight practice with the team, but head coach Ken Hitchcock explained to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he wasn’t lumbering for injury reasons.

“It’s more the comfort of the way the boot fits,” Hitchcock said. “He can’t get it to where it’s flexible enough. It’s like he’s gone from practicing in skates to practicing in ski boots. I still think we’re days away (from Oshie playing) and we just have to keep building it up. But today was his best day period because he was able to do all the tight-turn drills that we need him to do. What he’s not able to do is do some of the pivot stuff because the boot’s so stiff.”

On the bright side, Blues announcers can now use the phrase “ski boots” for shorthand if the 26-year-old is looking sluggish on certain nights. That has to count for something.