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Red Wings defenseman Jakub Kindl missed the final two games before the Olympic break due to a sprained MCL.

(The Associated Press)

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jakub Kindl hopes to be available for the team’s first game after the Olympic break, Wednesday at Montreal.

Kindl missed the final two games before the break due to a sprained medial collateral ligament suffered in a 2-0 victory over Vancouver on Feb. 3.

“I’ve been skating the last three days or so; still a little sore but getting better so hopefully I’m going to be ready for next week when we play the first game,” Kindl said. “It’s still not 100 percent; it kind of hurts when I try to turn and pivot.”

Kindl and the rest of the Red Wings’ non-Olympians practiced Thursday at Joe Louis Arena for the second day in a row.

“You watch how he’s doing with his pivots and sort of misdirection in terms of puck retrievals,” assistant coach Tom Renney said. “He’s doing fine; I don’t think we’ve done anything to sort of exacerbate the problem. He would tell us if that was the case and we have not heard from him along those lines so I think everything’s fine.”

Weiss to play in Grand Rapids Sunday; four sent down

Center Stephen Weiss will play in Grand Rapids Sunday on a brief conditioning stint. The Griffins host the Milwaukee Admirals at 5 p.m.

Weiss hasn't played since Dec. 10. He had surgery for a sports hernia on Dec. 23.

Forwards Riley Sheahan, Cory Emmerton and Teemu Pulkkinen and defenseman Adam Almquist returned to Grand Rapids today after being recalled on Tuesday for two practices.

Sheahan will play for the Griffins Friday and then return to Detroit for practice.

Tomas Tatar and Tomas Jurco, whose Slovakian team lost to the Czech Republic on Tuesday, will join the Red Wings for practice on Saturday.

It hasn't been determined whether Sheahan and/or Jurco will remain with the Red Wings or go to Grand Rapids after the Olympic break. It depends on injuries, the salary cap and roster space.

Zetterberg back in town today; Datsyuk next week

The Red Wings said Henrik Zetterberg was flying back to Detroit today to have his back (herniated disc) further evaluated. It hasn’t been determined if Zetterberg needs surgery right away or whether it can be postponed until after the season.

Zetterberg, Sweden’s captain, withdrew from the Olympics on Friday due to back pain.

Pavel Datsyuk, whose Russian team lost to Finland Wednesday in the quarterfinals, will get some time off and join the team for practice on Tuesday.