Staal won't fly with Rangers to Europe

Rangers All-Star defenseman Marc Staal, suffering from post-concussion headaches, will not accompany the team on the flight to Europe Monday night to continue the second half of their exhibition season, coach John Tortorella said Sunday.

Staal, 24, who resumed practicing Sunday after testing by specialists on Thursday and Friday, will undergo more evaluations and could join the team in Europe.

"He practiced well," Tortorella said. "We're hoping that as he continues his procedures with the specialists -- I'll probably have an update on that in four, five days -- we're going to try to get him on the trip. Once he feels better and we feel he can get into all the stuff we want him to do to get ready for the regular season, he'll come out."

He said Staal had not yet been ruled out for opening night, Oct. 7 against the Kings in Stockholm.

For now, the Rangers, who will leave after Monday night's game in Philadelphia, will carry 10 defensemen on the trip. The Rangers play in Prague on Thursday and Frolunda, Sweden on Friday, so Staal, who suffered the concussion on Feb. 22 on a hit from his brother, Eric, of the Carolina Hurricanes, will miss those games. The third and fourth games of the trip are Sunday in Slovakia and next Monday in Switzerland.

Staal passed a baseline test in March and again on the first day of training camp, but headaches, which first arose during summer workouts, continued. As a precaution, he has not played in scrimmages or pre-season games. Staal was scheduled for acupuncture treatment Sunday and was unavailable for comment.