Canes Open Training Camp in Phase 3

July 13 is typically an empty, midsummer day on the National Hockey League calendar.

In 2020, though? It was the first day of training camp, the beginning of Phase 3 in the league's return to play plan, which culminates in the start of Stanley Cup Qualifiers on Aug. 1.

That's a date less than three weeks away. So, four months after the 2019-20 regular season abruptly ended, it was back to work for the Carolina Hurricanes.

"There was a lot of energy. Everyone here is obviously excited to get going," captain Jordan Staal said. "It's back on. We're back on the ice, and we're going to be fighting for a chance at the Cup."

The Canes have 29 players on their return to play roster, and 23 of them hit the PNC Arena ice at 10:30 a.m. on Monday.

It was like the first day of summer school. Or Christmas in July.

"It was a good day. Just being back to somewhat normal for us felt good," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I think everybody was super excited, and the players were all dialed in. The key is going to be keeping that going for two-and-a-half weeks here to get us to the next phase, hopefully all intact."

Phase 3 is essentially a training camp period, a half-month stretch for players to work their way back into game shape.

But, it's also different in a number of ways. A training camp typically falls at the start of a new season. This is less that and more a continuation of a season that feels like forever ago, pressing the play button after a sudden, four-month pause.

"Really, we're just trying to pick up where we left off," Brind'Amour said. "If I watched today's practice, it was one of our better practices we've had all year. I was expecting it to be a little rough at times, but it really wasn't. I think everyone took care of themselves over the break."

This also differs from the usual training camp in that there isn't an exhibition slate - though teams will play one exhibition game at the end of the month - or a full regular season ahead.

Instead, it's a zero-to-60 jump from practice right into playoff hockey.

"It's not tip-toeing into exhibition games and hoping to have a good start to the season. It's right into a do-or-die situation," Staal said. "We'll definitely have some urgency."

The Canes have been building momentum for some time, now. They began voluntary skates in Phase 2 on June 30, and though the first day of Phase 3 might have been light on contact, it was heavy in energy and enthusiasm.

"We're going to want to get our level of play at the highest level we can in practice," Staal said. "That's not easy to do just in practice, so we're going to have to push each other and ramp up as best we can to get to a playoff level."

At the time of the pause on March 12, the Canes were a bit dinged up. Ryan Dzingel was dealing with an upper-body concern, James Reimer and Sami Vatanen were rehabbing lower-body injuries and Dougie Hamilton was still a month off from returning from a broken fibula in his left leg.

Now, with the exception of Brett Pesce, who had shoulder surgery in March, the Canes are a healthy bunch.

One noticeable absence was Martin Necas, who is on the team's return to play roster but did not participate in Monday's skate. Per the joint Video: "There was a lot of energy, the boys were excited.", "clubs are not permitted to disclose player injury and/or illness information."

Hamilton, who was able to skate on his own as he rehabbed his injury, was back on the ice alongside Jaccob Slavin.

"I feel good. It's been a long time, so I'm just trying to keep improving everything," Hamilton said. "It's getting better and better as I go."

"He looked good out there today," Brind'Amour said. "If we can project him to be back to even 90% or 80% of what he was, that's going to be a big boost for us. I'm hoping he's 100% ready to go."

We also got our first look at Vatanen, who had not yet participated in a full practice with the Canes after being dealt from New Jersey at the trade deadline.

Even with Pesce sidelined, the Canes boast a stacked blue line.

"We had eight legit NHL D out there today. That's pretty nice to have. A lot of good players," Hamilton said. "Just looking at our forward lines, as well, we've got a good team. Hopefully we can do something special here."

Lines and combinations will undoubtedly be a fluid situation from now until Aug. 1, but what we saw today was mostly unchanged from early March. There was the dynamic top line of Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. There was Morgan Geekie, who made a splash in his first two NHL games, centering the fourth line.

"We're as deep as we've ever been," Brind'Amour said. "We've got to go with who looks the best right from the get-go. That's our job now to figure out those combinations."

As camp progresses in Phase 3, the Canes will take each day to build on the previous, ramping up for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers against the New York Rangers on Aug. 1.

"We've got a group that is hungry for another run and hungry for a Cup," Staal said.