By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun
DETROIT --  All of a sudden, the outlook is bright for Detroit Red Wings defenceman Vladimir Konstantinov.
 "He's coming fast," Wings coach Scott Bowman said yesterday.
  "They think, with this therapy, he's really going to take off. He is in Florida and he's going into rehabilitation."
 Konstantinov and team therapist Sergei Mnatsakanov were badly injured in a June limousine crash and, as recently as early October, the outlook for Konstantinov was dim.
 He was still in hospital and although he was no longer bed-ridden, he was unable to remember most of his friends and few of his North American acquaintances. Only those who had been regular visitors since the accident, such as trainer John Wharton, sparked his memory.
 But when the Red Wings raised their Stanley Cup banner and gave the players their rings on Oct. 8, Konstantinov and Mnatsakanov both attended. Ever since, Konstantinov has improved rapidly.
 "We don't know why he did so well at the ring ceremony," Bowman said. "We didn't know what would happen or how long he would last, but he was laughing and he was there for three hours."
 At least one of the Wings' three signed Russian players - Igor Larionov, Viacheslav Kozlov or Viacheslav Fetisov - has visited Konstantinov every day since the accident. Wharton has gone almost every day but it was only within the past few weeks that Konstantinov seemed to comprehend why he was there.
 As recently as late September, Konstantinov was speaking only Russian and had no memory of events before the accident.
 "Right after it happened, they brought in a specialist who's known world wide," Bowman said. "Konstantinov was still in a coma, but this doctor said they were doing everything right except they should lower the room temperature a bit. He said it would take about five months but Konstantinov would recover. It has been about five months now and he's speaking English and he remembers everything.
 "The guys were encouraged because they thought he would never get out of hospital."
 On Sunday, Wings owner Mike Ilitch made his plane available and Konstantinov was flown to Florida, partly because there is an excellent rehabilitation facility there and partly because he responds better to being outside.
 "There's no permanent damage but he had to go somewhere to be taught how to walk again," Bowman said. "He doesn't have any paralysis."
  PARALYSED
 However Mnatsakanov was not so lucky. Three-quarters of his body is paralysed. Although he can talk, he has the use of only one arm and is not expected to be able to walk again. "When he was brought into the hospital, the doctors thought there was no hope for him," Bowman said. "His brain was exposed."
 It's still far too early to suggest Konstantinov ever will play again. But at least there is now some faint hope. Six weeks ago, the concept was unthinkable.