On Wednesday, Rod Brind'Amour was back.

Brind'Amour participated in a practice session for the first time since arthroscopic surgery Sept. 16 to repair cartilage damage in his left knee.

"It's good to get back in the mix," Brind'Amour said.

Canes coach Peter Laviolette was pleased to have No. 17 back in the mix, joining the team for the second half of the workout.

"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 much of preseason camp with a leg injury.

"It's a nagging thing right now," Laviolette said of the injury. "When you're talking about the hips and the groin area and hamstrings, 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 feel good about that and possibly in a game."

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