"The Calgary Flames issued a news release Wednesday designed to shed some light on Daymond Langkow's playing status.

Sort of.

"In response to the questions raised recently about the status of Daymond Langkow, please be advised that Daymond has been medically cleared to resume full-contact practice with the team," acting general manager Jay Feaster said in a statement.

"Daymond travelled with the team on its recent four-game road trip and practised both with the team and skated with the coaching staff after practices and game-day skates."

Langkow participates daily in full-contact drills, but Feaster said the 34-year-old needs more time to complete his recovery from fractured vertebrae at the base of the neck.

"In as much as Daymond has not played in an NHL game in more than a full-calendar year, there remains issues relative to getting him ready to return to the lineup, such as conditioning, rebuilding muscle mass, readiness for game speed and game timing, etc.," Feaster said.

"At such point in time when the coaching staff determines that Daymond is ready to return to the lineup, we will make the necessary roster transaction(s) to activate Daymond."

The question remains whether the Flames have room under the salary cap to activate Langkow, who carries a $4.5-million price-tag.

According to capgeek.com, the local heroes are right up against the $59.4-million limit with Ales Kotalik ($3 million) up with the big club and Niklas Hagman ($3 million) out with concussion-like symptoms.

Kid who idolized Kipper signs on

Joni Ortio grew up idolizing Miikka Kiprusoff as a young goaltender from Turku, Finland. He played this season for TPS, a team owned by Kiprusoff, in the Finnish Elite League.

Now, the 20-year-old is employed by the same NHL club as his hero: the Flames."