On Thursday, Marian Hossa called in from Slovakia to discuss his season-ending injury and more with local media.

Hossa updates his injury:

“Definitely it is better since the accident, but I’m still not feeling like myself. It’s going to take some time, but step-by-step it’s getting better and hopefully that’s a good sign.”

What Hossa remembers about the hit from Phoenix's Raffi Torres:

“I don’t remember much. I saw the replay a few days later and that’s how I remember. I remember a few seconds of seeing [team physician Dr. Michael Terry] on the ice, and I don’t remember being in the dressing room. I remember a little bit in the ambulance and I woke up in the hospital. I only remember a few seconds.”

Hossa's reaction to Torres’ punishment for the hit:

“I was surprised there was no penalty. Obviously, it was a hard hit and you can see that from a lot of angles. I don’t mind getting hit, but the one thing that upset me was the jump and how he hit my head. Otherwise, everything would have been fine. He got 25 games and I believe he woudn’t get that if he didn’t have a history. He didn’t get 25 games because of my hit.”

His confidence he can return going forward:

“The good thing is I’m slowly getting better. It’s been a few weeks now and I’m not feeling like myself, but I feel better. I’m slowly going for walks and that’s a good thing. Training camp is still far away and we’ll see what’s going to happen. I’ve been in contact with the organization, Dr. Terry, the trainers… I’m telling them every other day how it’s going. So far, it’s small steps, but I believe I’ll be ready.”

On Torres reaching out to him:

“Around five days or a week after the hit, he contacted me. It was nice that he contacted me. But I told him that I was upset; I said, ‘I know we were playing that way, but the thing that upset me was the jump.' If he didn’t jump, maybe I would have still been hit hard, but it wouldn’t have hit my head and he wouldn’t have 25 games. The phone conversation was pretty quick, and that was it.”

On staying positive during recovery:

“Let’s put it this way: it’s not fun, especially the first few days. I spent one week basically sitting at home in a dark room. I can walk around now and things bother me less than before, so that’s a good sign. Getting better is definitely helping. But they’re all small steps.”

On whether the injury will affect his offseason preparation:

“That’s a good question. It all depends. I’ve only been out for less than a month, and I’m slowly doing little things. I’ve been doing a little on the bike. I believe by training camp I will be ready; there’s a long time until then for me to recover.”