But the Stars believe Hudler is over the illness now. He was skating with injured Dallas defenseman Johnny Oduya and Stars skills coach Stan Tugolukov while the team was on the road, and now the hope is he can ramp up his conditioning through practices and off-ice workouts. But it is going to take time.
"I feel better on the ice. I was happy with this practice," Hudler said. "When you miss this much time, it's not like starting your summer program. You've got to go step by step."
Stars coach Lindy Ruff said he wants to get Hudler in a full week of practices, see where he is and go from there. But there is still no timetable.
"He's been skating a lot, so I think he's going to need some real good, hard practices and conditioning after practice," Ruff said. "He's had some hard skates, he's been up and down. The reports have feel good one day and not so good the next day. I think we've seen that when guys have come back in the lineup and not been quite up to speed, it's hard. And I want to make sure he's up to speed before he gets back in.
"But he's got a good week ahead of him here. I don't know where he'll be by the end of the week, but I think we can get him five real good days and we'll see by the weekend where he's at."
While his status is still up in the air, Hudler was encouraged after Monday's practice.
"I felt great today on the ice," Hudler said. "I am going to get a workout in and we'll see tomorrow. To be honest with you, I don't know what my status is right now. I am just trying to do my thing every day, trying to get on the ice and playing."
Notes: Oduya getting closer
\Stars defenseman Johnny Oduya has missed the past seven games with a lower-body injury, but he could be ready to take a step towards a return. Oduya is expected to skate with the team on Tuesday.
"Johnny's doing pretty well," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "I think he'll skate with us in the morning. I think we're looking at him some time later in the week. He's doing pretty good right now."
\There was no update on the status of forward Patrick Sharp, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday with concussion-like symptoms.
"No update yet," Ruff said. "He's going to see another doctor, and we'll get an update and see where he is after that."
Sharp missed 14 games earlier this season with a concussion. Ruff was asked if there was a specific play in Thursday's game at Pittsburgh where Sharp was injured.
"No. We don't know if this is still lingering from the first time," Ruff said. "I can tell you the play I saw inside the game where he was slow to recover was just sort of a whiplash play. It wasn't a big hit. In the Pittsburgh game, he was going backwards and got just a little bit of a [whiplash], nothing major, but was slow to get up inside that game and just didn't feel right. That's all I can tell you."
*With Sharp on injured reserve, the Stars have only 12 healthy forwards, so they are expected to call up an extra forward from the Texas Stars of the AHL as insurance. Ruff said promotion will be based on recent play in the AHL.
Monday's Practice Lineup
Here's how the Stars lined up in Monday's practice. Patrick Eaves (maintenance) did not practice.
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Brett Ritchie
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Jason Spezza
Lauri Korpikoski - Cody Eakin - Jiri Hudler
Curtis McKenzie - Devin Shore - Adam Cracknell
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Julius Honka
Jordie Benn - Stephen Johns
Patrik Nemeth - Jamie Oleksiak
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.
