Staff photo by Chris Seward
The captain is back. Rod Brind'Amour rejoined practice today at the RBC Center.
Brind'Amour is coming off arthroscopic knee surgery to repair cartilage damage. He said Sunday he was close to getting back on the ice and still hoped to play in a preseason game.
Brind'Amour joined the team for the second half of practice following some special-teams work, and got in some hard skating.
"It's good to get back in the mix," Brind'Amour said.
Needless to say, Canes coach Peter Laviolette was happy to have No. 17 back in the mix.
"It wasn't a real combative practice, but I think it's just the confidence you can gain with your knee with the agility drills and starting and stopping," Laviolette said. "There were some battling drills at the end where you've got to compete against somebody else. I thought he looked good in that."
The Canes continue to be cautious with forward Tuomo Ruutu, who has missed most of preseason camp with a leg injury.
"It's a nagging thing right now," Laviolette said of Ruutu's injury. "When you're talking about the hips and the groin area and hamstringss, if you just take 'em on the ice and beat 'em down when they're not ready, you just set it back.
"You have to be close to 100 percent or getting in that area, otherwise you won't be able to stand the grind of what goes on on the ice. That's not erring on the side of caution; that's just trying to get him healthy enough to get him back out at practice and fel good about that and possibly in a game."
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at 
Comments
Learn to spell
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 17:49 — Anonymous (not verified)1949
I happened to be at the
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 16:36 — Elsker (not verified)I happened to be at the Group A practice session today and can report that Mr. Brind'Amour looked very sharp indeed today.
I saw no evidence of him babying anything and it was a real pleasure watching a high-skill player like him work.
Not ready ??? Hmmmm
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 13:11 — esteban1949I am glad the captain is back...but i still am a wee bit concerned about rying to hurry the healing on the inside of that knee...and as far a Ruutu is concerned...the Coauch is 100% correct...if he aint right...then NO Ice ...those groin,hamstring strains, and bruises aint no joke...sigh..but i do wish he was fit and healthy...as i have a feeling we are going to need him...alot !!!
Go Canes !!
"The Canes continue to be
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 13:06 — Paul (not verified)"The Canes continue to be cautious with forward Tuomo Ruutu, who has missed most of preseason camp with a ." ????
What, missing leg? :)
"The Canes continue to be
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:54 — Anonymous (not verified)"The Canes continue to be cautious with forward Tuomo Ruutu, who has missed most of preseason camp with a . "
with a what??