Allison Rehab Has Been ‘Up and Down’

Jason Allison, five weeks into the rehabilitation of an injured right knee that was expected to sideline him eight to 12 weeks, said Tuesday that his return to the lineup could be only days away.

Or it could be weeks.

Or it could be a month.

“I don’t know,” he said.

But the burly center, the Kings’ leading scorer before he was injured Oct. 29 in a knee-on-knee collision with Andy Sutton of the Atlanta Thrashers, indicated that he is willing to play as soon as doctors give him the go-ahead.

“There might be a point where I try it and if I can’t do it, I’ll be out for another week or two,” said Allison, who was scheduled to meet with his doctors Tuesday afternoon. “But if it feels good and I can help the team, I’ll keep playing....

“I’ve played injured before and been able to be effective. I have to decide if I’m helping the team if I have to take a few minutes off in a game because I’ve tweaked it or something. If I can get through a game and be effective, that’s fine. If I can’t, there’s no use struggling out there and hurting the team.”

In the more than two weeks since Allison resumed skating, his rehabilitation has been “up and down,” he said, but he remains encouraged.

“There are certain days where I’ve tested it more and it hasn’t quite responded as well as I would like,” he said. “But I still feel better than expected.”

Lately, progress has been slow.

“Certain things I’ve tried are hard to do and are pretty painful,” he said. “If I just kind of turn my brain off and say, ‘There’s nothing wrong with me,’ and go into a corner or battle in front of the net, I tend to tweak it.”

Still, he’s eager to help.

“When I do come back, I can deal with the tweaks and the swelling and the pain if I can get stuff done on the ice,” he said.

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Adam Deadmarsh, Ian Laperriere and Lubomir Visnovsky could be back in the lineup as soon as Thursday night against Nashville.

Visnovsky, who has sat out three games because of back spasms, is “possible” for Thursday’s game, Coach Andy Murray said, although the player asked out about three-quarters of the way through Tuesday’s demanding practice.

As for Deadmarsh and Laperriere, who have been sidelined because of concussions, “I would say it’s less probable than possible,” Murray said.

Said Deadmarsh, who hasn’t played since Nov. 12, “I’m so close to being ready. Whether it’s Thursday, I don’t know, but it won’t be much longer.”