"The Daymond Langkow story is not yet ready for submission to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of inspirational books.

But the Calgary Flames centre continues to defy the odds - and shock those around him - by gutting it out through a gruelling recovery from fractured vertebrae at the base of the neck.

The injury threatened to end his career and potentially even leave him with permanent side-effects - similar to a concussion of the neck - away from the rink

Some 360 days after paramedics carted him off the ice at Minnesota's Xcel Energy Center, Langkow practised for the first time Wednesday with his teammates at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Not 10 minutes into the session, defenceman Robyn Regehr gave the 35-year-old Langkow a steady jolt into the boards.

Finally. his first hit in almost a year.

And he didn't blink.

"I think early in the practice my adrenalin was going," Langkow said. "Obviously, I knew I got hit.

"But it just seemed natural."

With that one play, Langkow let it be known to all that he won't give up his hockey career without an incredible fight.

"Obviously, there were some days when I thought that might be it," Langkow said of career that has spanned 1,013 NHL games. "But I knew it was going to take some time."

"I just had to be patient and try to get back."

A bizarre sequence of events led to the devastating injury suffered in a Minnesota-Calgary game last March. Langkow was jostling for position and absorbed a cross-check from Minnesota defenceman Greg Zanon.

At the same time, former Flame defenceman Ian White unleashed a booming shot from the point.

Langkow appeared to be ducking out of the way, only to have the puck strike him at the base of the neck between the shoulder blades.

He collapsed. Zanon motioned wildly for medical help, which arrived in seconds."