Jack Johnson, practice observer

Jack Johnson watched most of this morning's skate next to Dean Lombardi, his left arm in a sling covered by a Kings jacket. After the skate ended, we talked to Jack about his recovery from surgery to repair the torn labrum in his left shoulder. If all goes well, Johnson could be looking at a mid-January return, it seems.

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Question: How are you feeling at this point?

JOHNSON: ``As good as I'm going to be for now. Everythinig went well. I'm going to see a doctor now to get my stitches taken out and everything. Everything is on schedule. I got stuff cleaned up in my shoulder. I had stuff that happened to me in previous years, in college and juniors, so it turned out to be something that was well-needed. I'll be better for it in the long run and better for it in three months, because my shoulder will be pretty much on a clean slate again.''

Question: That previous stuff, was any of that a contributing factor in what happened?

JOHNSON: ``No, that injury was its own problem. It was one freak incident, but I have had problems with my left shoulder before. They cleaned it all out, and I'm pretty much starting over with a clean slate.''

Question: Did you know right away that there was a problem? You tried to skate a little bit...

JOHNSON: ``I knew right away that there was a problem. Like any other stubborn athlete, I said, `I'll just go out and hopefully it will go away.' I tried to play and I knew it wasn't working for me, so there was no point pushing it this early in the season and this early in life, so I packed it in for now.''

Question: Are you in pain now?

JOHNSON: ``I'm fine, but my range of motion isn't fully back yet. There's a little pain if I roll over on it a certain way. I'm getting a little bit back every day, so that's encouraging.''

Question: You mentioned three months. Is that the timetable you're hoping for?

JOHNSON: ``No, that's just what I've been told. Hopefully, I'll be back sooner than that. My (broken) foot healed quicker than they told me it would, so I'm hoping the shoulder will be the same case. They told me, on average, it takes about three months, so we'll see.''