Brett Connolly Photo by Linda Hamilton

The topic du jour today is the apparent leap forward in the NHL’s labor negotiations.  Optimism seems higher than ever before and many people think the lockout could end as early as this Friday.  While I’m not denying the importance of this, these injury updates from Syracuse should make Lightning fans happy as well.In a series of tweets over yesterday and today, Lindsay Kramer of the Syracuse Post-Standard revealed that:

Dmitry Korobov and Keith Aulie are ready to go.  Brett Connolly’s sternum is not fractured and he’s out “maybe a week.” (here)

Vladislav Namestnikov is skating, albeit with a red non-contact jersey and before practice. (here)

Connolly and Evan Oberg both skated in red jerseys as well, but it was at practice with their teammates. (here)

- It’s great to see Aulie back after his extended absence due to injury.

- Korobov missed much less time but his return to full health is terrific too.

- One person who may not appreciate these guys returning in Charles Landry – he was returned to ECHL Florida after this weekend’s games.

- It’s a good step for Namestnikov to be back skating, but given that he isn’t out there with teammates I wouldn’t expect his return to be imminent.

- I wouldn’t expect to see Connolly this weekend as the team will likely give him at least a few games off to get used to his painful injury.

- No idea what to think about Oberg as his injury hasn’t been talked about much.  Given his practicing with the rest of the team, I’d say he’s close.