Benn out for Thursday, but doing more

Stars forward Jamie Benn exercised Wednesday for the first time after suffering ``concussion-like symptoms'' following a hit by Islander defenseman James Wisniewski Saturday. Benn is on the protocol for concussion treatment, and so he has to move slowly in his return to play.

He will not play Thursday against Detroit, but he could be back on the ice soon, according to Stars coach Marc Crawford.

"He did light exercise today, he was symptom free- so that's positive,'' Crawford said. ``The plan is to ramp him up tomorrow (Thursday). Everything depends on everything progressing without any hitches. Today was a good first step for him, he was pretty positive about it- we'll be positive about it tomorrow.''

Crawford on the steps to get back to playing:

"He won't play tomorrow, he's got a couple of steps to overcome,'' Crawford said. ``He's got to go harder and then have no symptoms, then he's got to do the baseline test. From there, he's got to do contact with no symptoms. So there are still a few more steps, but the first ones have been positive and we'll keep building from there.''

By the way, Benn played all 82 games last season as a rookie, so this be the first NHL game he has missed.