DETROIT -- Headache-free and feeling good for nearly two weeks, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Andreas Lilja wanted to see if he would stay that way after absorbing some contact for the first time in 11 months.

So he asked Johan Franzen to take a run at him in practice.

“He picked up all his 230 pounds and threw it at me,” Lilja said. “My body hurt, but my head was really good. It felt real good.”

He was asked if Franzen drove his head into the glass.

“He did,” Lilja said. “Stuff like that I need to test. I can’t come out there and get one hit and then think, ‘OK, that’s it.’ I got to know how it feels.”

Said Franzen: “He was seeing stars. He needs that, needs someone to hit him to get him ready.”

Lilja experienced his 14th consecutive day without headaches Tuesday. It is the first significant hurdle he needed to clear in his comeback attempt from a concussion sustained on Feb. 28, 2009, on a punch to the chin from Nashville’s Shea Weber.

Lilja said he does not know the next step in the process of getting cleared to play. But he is encouraged to be moving in the right direction. Before this, his longest stretch without a headache was five days.

“To go from not knowing what’s going to happen to getting rid of my headaches is huge,” Lilja said.

Lilja has maintained a positive outlook throughout this ordeal. Being able to practice and travel with the team for most of the season has helped.

“Being on the ice in practice helps a lot, just being around the guys,” Lilja said. “I’m a big believer that if you stay positive, positive things happen. Especially down here (at the rink), I don’t want to go out and mope in front of the guys. Maybe back home I’m a little more sour.”

Franzen, who is recovering from knee surgery, rooms with Lilja on the road and gets a daily update.

“Every day, it’s ‘No headaches today. One more day,’ ” Franzen said. “That’s got to be really hard to try to find motivation to get practicing every day and have no idea when you’ll be able to play again.”

Franzen said Lilja remains upbeat even during his bad days.

“He’s always having fun, joking around,” Franzen said. “He’s been determined. Good for him.”