WORCESTER, Mass. — If he could, UMaine left wing Spencer Abbott would give himself the medical thumbs up, put his concussion behind him, then help his Black Bears put down defending champion Minnesota-Duluth in tonight’s NCAA Northeast Regional semifinal.

But he can’t.

Instead, wiser heads will prevail, and if he does pass the scrutiny of Maine’s medicos, he’ll be cleared for his return.

If not, Abbott will have to watch his mates while in street clothes, which he did in last Saturday’s Hockey East Championship game loss to Boston College, a day after a collision with Boston University defenseman Sean Escobedo left him woozy and wobbly.

He’d rather not go through that again.

“It was terrible,” he said, Friday, meeting with reporters for the first time since the injury. “It was really weird doing that. I haven’t done that in a long time. I’ve played a lot of games for this team, and I hope this continues. But it was different. It was like I was in the twilight zone, out there. It was very hard to do. Hopefully I’ll be out there this weekend.”

Abbott, the nation’s leading scorer and a key cog in the No. 10 Black Bears’ hopes against UMD, is giving it his best shot.

He practiced with his team for the first time without a yellow “non-contact” jersey, as the Black Bears skated through a one-hour tune up at the DCU Center.

Abbott said he went through his paces with his regular linemates, center Brian Flynn and right wing Joey Diamond, without a hitch.

“I feel good. I’ve been progressing little by little each day. I took a few days off at first, but since then, it’s been getting better and better. I haven’t been cleared to go, yet, but I’d love to get out there with my teammates. And I hope I can.”

Flynn said he’d obviously want to have Abbott skating on his left flank, but said the Black Bears will simply take things in stride.

“I just think we’ve been taking it day by day,” he said. “Obviously, we want him to play. He’s a great player and he’s had an awesome season for us. We want him in the lineup, but as of now we’re just going to keep going with the process and see how he is tomorrow.”

Maine coach Tim Whitehead said that the “ought to” factor will outweigh the “want to”, which is why with any kind of head injury, the decision to okay a player for duty is taken out of a coach’s hands.

“He’s feeling better, but I think at this point we just have to wait and see if he can get cleared by the doctor,” he said. “As you know with a head injury there’s a protocol now. It’s not, ”˜I’ll give it a try. Or let me see how I feel.’ It’s are you cleared or aren’t you cleared. Several people have asked me if he’s going to give it a go. You don’t give it a go. With a head injury you’re either cleared or you’re not. He has not been cleared yet. We’re hoping tomorrow he will be cleared, but we just have to take it day by day.”

Abbott said that should be be told to suit up, he’ll jump back into the fray without a second thought.

“If I get the green light to go,” he said, “I’m going to play like I did every night before the concussion. I don’t have to shy away from anything. I would play at 100 percent like I feel that I am.”

— Contact Dan Hickling at 282-1535 or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.