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Giroux skating again

After sustaining a neck injury while playing abroad in Germany, Flyers star Claude Giroux was back on the ice in Ottawa on Wednesday.

Giroux, 24, participated in a 90-minute skate at the Carleton Ice House in Ottawa, where he makes his summer home and starred nearby with the Gatineau Olympiques in junior hockey.

"I skated for the first time today," Giroux said in a message to the Daily News. "It was a slow skate. Just trying to get the legs going again."

Giroux is not fully recovered. He said he had "no idea" when he would be back at 100 percent.

Giroux suffered the injury as a result of a check to the head on Nov. 17 with the Berlin Polar Bears. He told the Ottawa Citizen's Ken Warren on Wednesday that the check came off a faceoff.

The injury was serious enough to return to North America to visit with noted chiropractic neurologist Dr. Ted Carrick in Marietta, Ga. Carrick also treated NHL stars Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews, both of whom share the same agent as Giroux in CAA Sports' Pat Brisson.

The Senators' Chris Neil, Chris Phillips, Peter Regin and Winnipeg's Grant Clitsome were among the NHL players who have skated regularly at Carleton.

Giroux has kept close tabs on the NHL lockout since returning. With optimism in the air in New York, Giroux's next game played - whenever he is healed - could be with the Flyers. He has not completely ruled out a return to Germany, where teammate Danny Briere is still playing, if the lockout continues to drag on. Giroux's agent, Brisson, was a major power player in terms of getting talks back on track on Tuesday.

READ COMING HOME: His timing is certainly interesting, given the apparent progress in NHL labor negotiations, but Flyers forward Matt Read is also returning to North America. Read, 26, collected 10 points in 8 games with Sodertalje in Sweden's second division. His team thanked him in a press release, saying his compensation didn't even cover his own costs to play there. Read netted 47 points in 79 games for the Flyers last season.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers