On today's WCHA coaches' conference call, Minnesota head coach Don Lucia reported that his son Mario is expected to begin skating again on October 25th. Obviously starting skating is a long ways from being ready to play in a game, but it is an incredibly optimistic sign that Lucia can start working out to get ready for game conditions so early.
That timeline gives Lucia a pretty realistic shot at being close to 100% with a few games under his belt in time to participate on this year's US World Junior team, which would obviously be a huge boost to the team. Notre Dame plays seven games between Thanksgiving and December 15th, and even if Lucia can't play in all of them, playing in some would go a long ways in getting him ready for the tournament.
