The Canes didn't have the day off today, but it was close.
Two practices were held at the RBC Center -- one for the defensemen, the second for the forwards. A little light work, a couple of shootouts and that was that.
"We needed a bit of a recovery day," coach Paul Maurice said. "But the defensemen today handled the puck more than they would in some regular practices. It was all about skill development and working the puck and working their feet."
Joni Pitkanen was the shootout winner in the first practice. In the second, Chris Terry was able to score for those in white and Eric Staal was not, forcing those in red to do some pushups.
Alexei Ponikarovsky had the players chirping after showing off a 360 move and scoring in the shootout.
"There was something on the line, so we had some fun," Maurice said. "There was some unusual moves, to say the least."
Asked later about the 360, Ponikarovsky smiled and said, "I would not do that in a game. Too cocky."
Tim Brent, who suffered a cut leg in Friday's game against Nashville, was back and skating today. Tuomo Ruutu missed today's practices but should return tomorrow, Maurice said, although he likely will not play in the Winnipeg road game.
In assessing the 4-0 win over the Jets on Sunday, Maurice said: "The adjustments we wanted to make, we made from Nashville. Transition was better, overall speed was better."
The Canes have done a lot of hard skating in training camp. For a day, at least, things were easier.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at