Canes getting an early start

RALEIGH -- It's early, and not just because the season's first game is still more than two months away. Outside the RecZone, it's still dark as Rod Brind'Amour arrives at the Carolina Hurricanes' practice rink before 6 a.m. for one of his ritual summer skating sessions.

Inside, the air is still and the ice fresh, yet to be touched by the first blade of the day. By 6:30, a group of 11 is on the ice, the stirrings of a new hockey season.

This is where the season begins -- not when the Florida Panthers visit the RBC Center on Oct. 10, or when Hurricanes training camp opens on Sept. 19.

The same ritual is being played out across the continent, and for the past few years the Triangle has had its own version of it, led by Brind'Amour and the growing community of professionals who spend their summers here.

The "official" unofficial practices don't start for another two weeks. The "unofficial" unofficial practices have been going steady since April, when Brind'Amour started skating by himself a few times a week to rehab the knee injury that ended his season on Valentine's Day.

"It's time to pick up the pace a little bit," Brind'Amour said. "When you're by yourself, that's one thing. Passing and going a little harder is the next step."

Other players started joining him last month, and the ex-Hurricanes still outnumber the Hurricanes, with Brind'Amour and Chad LaRose representing the home team in a group that Thursday included Aaron Ward, Craig Adams, Bates Battaglia (and his younger brother Anthony), Jesse Boulerice and Shane Willis, all of whom live in the Triangle.

Former N.C. State goalie Jorge Alves minded the net. Two local amateurs -- Bowling Green forward Kai Kantola and Jack Friesen, son of Canes trainer Pete Friesen -- rounded out the early morning group.

Over the next few weeks, the mix will start to change. Cam Ward is back in town and plans to start skating soon. The players with kids in school will return soon.

"We'll have a pretty big group of guys back then," Brind'Amour said. "It'll get a little more serious."

For now, it's Brind'Amour's show -- a traveling act, to say the least. Thursday, they snuck onto their usual practice ice before a Hurricanes youth camp. Next week, they may be shut out entirely and end up in Garner.

"The good thing is in years past, most guys didn't come back to North Carolina because they didn't feel they'd get the level of practice to mimic what you would get in another NHL city," said Aaron Ward, who now plays for the Boston Bruins. "Now you have that. The difficulty we have is trying to find ice. There are so many camps and hockey has grown so much, you end up skating at 6:15 a.m."

That's just fine with Brind'Amour, who prefers it that way. Even after his post-skate workout, he'll have the whole day ahead of him.

This hockey season is in its infancy as well, but even in the early stillness of a hot summer day, its relentless creep across the calendar has begun.