"After five days away from the ice for the NHL All-Star break, the Blues came back to work Monday. But something was missing, something red.

More specifically, mercurial center Andy McDonald was wearing yellow, a conforming color with several of his teammates. His red "no contact" jersey was gone and while the change of hue doesn't mean you can pencil McDonald into the lineup when the Blues play host to Los Angeles on Friday in their next game, it means he is closer to returning.

"No timetable," McDonald said. "This is just kind of the next step to be able to get out there and take some contact in practice and see where I fit from that regard and see how the body reacts from getting bumped around.

"I guess it's nice to be able to compete for real and get some contact out there. With the red jersey, I think guys are kind of a little bit holding back on you and certainly not going to check you.""