Forward has skated past two days, including Tuesday's final full practice before last regular season game against Dallas Stars;
ST. LOUIS -- The good news for Jake Neighbours is the St. Louis Blues forward was back on the ice for the final full practice of the regular season.
The bad news, and in a way to protect the player, is he will not play another game this NHL season.
Neighbours was for all intents and purposes, ruled out for the regular season finale on Wednesday against the Dallas Stars with a head injury.
It was an injury sustained April 6 against the San Jose Sharks on a check by Chesterfield native Luke Kunin in which Neighbours hit his head on top of the bench doors.
Neighbours, who will finish with 27 goals and 38 points in 77 games this season, also skated on Monday but since the Blues (43-33-5) have been eliminated from postseason contention, the team decided it be best to keep him away from any potential further injury.
It means Neighbours will have missed the final five games of the season, keeping him from playing in all 82 games.
"I think he's day to day but I right now where we are in the season, we're probably best to do by him, not play him tomorrow, so I think we're going to take a very cautious approach with him," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said of Neighbours. "I don't foresee anything that changes that he's going to be in the lineup tomorrow but certainly a positive step seeing him on the ice, and he was on the ice yesterday too and feeling much better. It's a positive step for him, but I don't think at this time with him, we don't want to put him in a position where he can reinjure something.
"He's cleared to be out, he's cleared for contact, but he hasn't been in a lot of practices of late, conditioning and stuff of that, that goes into the process of getting him back on the ice. I think the player himself would probably want to play, play through it, but sometimes you have to take that out of their hands and make the right decision for the player too."
Bannister also ruled defenseman Torey Krug (upper-body injury) out for the game Wednesday.
Krug, who has 39 points (four goals, 35 assists) in 77 games, missed the third period of last Wednesday's 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks and will have missed the final three games.
