Rested and ready, a few of them returned this week to drill and skate until they were red in the face.

The unofficial practices began Monday at the RecZone on Hodges Street and offered a welcome, on-ice reunion after the disappointment of last season.

With no playoff run to occupy his time, Brind'Amour spent his spring and summer helping to umpire his son's baseball games and working out regularly on his own.

"It's tough when you've got that much time off between the end of the season and the start of the season," Brind'Amour said. "The hard part is the mental focus, being able to do it every day by yourself."

Yet focusing on what went wrong during last season's ill-fated follow-up to the Hurricanes' 2006 Stanley Cup championship provided all the motivation needed for the veterans who returned to the ice this week.

Wednesday's workout drew eight returning players -- forwards Erik Cole, Cory Stillman, Chad LaRose, Craig Adams and Brind'Amour; defensemen Frantisek Kaberle and Glen Wesley; and goaltender Cam Ward -- and prospects Patrick Dwyer and Casey Borer.

A few other NHL players with Carolina ties joined them.

Former Hurricanes wing Bates Battaglia, dressed head-to-foot in his Toronto Maple Leafs gear, was on hand Wednesday, along with his younger brother Anthony, an ECHL prospect. Former Hurricanes defenseman Aaron Ward, now with the Boston Bruins, also skated and took training tips from Carolina trainer Pete Friesen.

Glancing around at the handful of winded teammates in the locker room Wednesday, Wesley joked that most of them were ready for the regular-season routine of a pregame meal and nap after a morning skate.

The nagging injuries from last spring and the nagging doubts from last season's 40-34-8 record have faded, Wesley said, leaving optimism for the official start of camp on Sept. 13.

"Over the summer, you're motivated. Not that we weren't last year," said Wesley, who signed a one-year contract this off-season to continue playing at 38. "I think everybody is coming in excited, motivated, hungry, all those things.

"We want to get back to where we were two years ago."