Sitting down, relaxing and doing nothing is not in Tracey Kelusky’s nature. Roughnecks coach Troy Cordingley jokes that he knows it’s game time when he hears the captain talking a mile a minute. But slowing down is exactly what Kelusky needs to do for the time being if he knows what’s good for him, and after a meeting with a specialist this week, he does.

Kelusky’s comeback from a game one concussion has been agonizingly slow, due in part, he admits, to trying to push things a week after the initial ding when he wasn’t sure he was really hurt. Now, it’s time to kick back, relax, and let time take care of things.

Kelusky has been trying to do what he can to work through the injury, but earlier this week he told me that even demonstrating basic skills and drills at his day job teaching lacrosse at NSD has been triggering symptoms like headaches and dizziness.

Concussions suck. You’ll go a day or two feeling like a million bucks, try to do something physical to test where you’re at, and wind up setting yourself back.

After a chat with the doc, Kelusky says he’s accepted the fact that, however hard it is to do, doing nothing is best course of action. Slowing down at work and letting the players run through drills, and in general just taking life easy until he’s over this thing is the way to go.

Tracey was upbeat when I talked to him. The doctor is confident that he’ll be back at some point this season, although when that will be is anyone’s guess. His teammates, his employers, and the Roughnecks have all been very supportive, because needless to say, this is a guy everyone wants back in the lneup. This is a guy who needs and deserves the support and understanding of the team as he deals with the first significant injury of his NLL career. Take a look at Kelusky’s stats, and you’ll see he’s never missed more than three games in a season.

Look after that melon, Trace, you want it to be healthy when the upcoming addition to the Kelusky family wants to drop Tonka trucks on it in a few years!

Two disturbing items from Wednesday’s pre-game news conference

1-Tracey Kelusky is still listed as doubtful with a concussion.
2-Apparently, the Roughnecks as a team are closet ‘American Gladiator’ fans.

The news on Kelusky, while tough to hear, is not entirely unexpected. As anyone who’s had to deal with one knows, a concussion can be the furthest thing from your mind until you try to exert yourself, then it becomes the main thing your mind is trying to deal with. According to GM Kurt Silcott, Kelusky was set to check in with the specialist Wednesday, and while he’s not 100% out, confidence is not high in his ability to go Friday against Buffalo. As Kaleb Toth told me, while the team would be happy to have the captain on the floor, pushing it before he’s well and truly healed could be a ticket to a season on the sidelines.

Item 2 is just plain creepy. Ryan Avery let slip that the team is hooked on the resurrected 80’s trashsports extravaganza. Apparently Andrew McBride thinks he’s gladiator ‘Wolf’. Google it and put the picture next to McBride’s mug shot and you’ll see it’s not that big a stretch. Somehow this disturbs me. What’s next guys? Is Ryan ‘Corporal Punishment’ McNish secretly ‘Militia’? Who’s ‘Tor’? Who’s ‘Titan’? I don’t know. I don’t want to know.

On a brighter note, the team is asking fans to ‘Black out the ‘Dome’ on Friday night. In a repeat of the successful Champion’s Cup night against the Bandits, the Riggers are pulling out the black jerseys and asking fans to wear black in a show of intimidation noir. C’mon, it’ll look cool!

Updating an item I posted a couple of weeks ago, charges of assault laid against Toronto Rock head coach Glenn Clark have been dropped. The charges were laid after an under-the-stands dustup involving a Minnesota Swarm player early in the season. Clark remains under indefinite suspension by the league, but hopefully with lesson learned and proper humble expressions of remorse, this will clear the way for his reinstatement.

If you can’t make the game but want to catch it wherever you are (with high speed internet of course!) I’ll be calling the B2 networks webcast of the game starting at 7:30 local. Just link to the game through the NLL website, at the low low price of just 7 bucks. Pity I can’t be in two places at once, because this means I’ll miss the Joe Sports memorial gala at Flames Central. Hey Colin, just because I’m not there in person doesn’t mean I’m not thinking good thoughts. We miss you.

Doubtless it’ll feel like old home week for the Calgary Roughnecks and Buffalo Bandits this Friday, given the number of current ‘Necks who used to call upstate New York home.

With last week’s addition of veteran D-man Chris Seller via trade from the Edmonton Rush, Calgary now boasts 5 roster players, a coach and a GM with Buffalo ties.

The obvious reason for that is the presence of Kurt Silcott, who joined the team from Buffalo in 2005, making goaltender Ryan Avery his first notable ex-Bandit addition. Since then, Jeff Shattler, Kyle Couling, Steve Dietrich, Seller and head coach Troy Cordingley have joined the wagon train west.

Hey, it’s not like Calgary’s not used to GM’s who tend to deal with the devil they know. And given the success the Bandits have enjoyed through the years, it’s not a bad pipeline to exploit.

Looking the other way, Roughneck fans will remember Kevin Dostie from his tour of duty here.

Lots more to follow this week, notably an update on the condition of captain Tracey Kelusky, out since week one with a concussion but hoping to return against Buffalo.

By the way, belated blog congratulations to Ryan Avery, absolutely brilliant in last week’s win over Portland, good enough to earn NLL defensive player of the week honours.