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While the focus of the world is on th Games of the Winter Olympiad in Sochi, the NHL will start springng back to life this week as minicamps and practices resume across the continent. Case in point: Orlando will see the Tampa Bay Lightning (minus Martin St. Louis, Radkko Gudas,, Ondrej Palat and Sami Salo for obvious reasons).

With team captain St. Louis overseas, Steven Stamkos becomes the senior team leader on ice, and his status remains in question for when he'll be back on ice when the NHL season resumes later this month.

Damian Cristodero got a little nugget form head coach Jon Cooper that was worth passing along:

Steven Stamkos' timetable is still open-ended, Cooper said, though stated goal is for him to be ready for the Predators. — Damian Cristodero (@LightningTimes) February 18, 2014

We've got nine days until the NHL season resumes. Will Stamkos be cleared to play within that span of time? We'll see, and we'll certainly keep you posted.