"Ringlets of sweat fell off Milan Hejduk's brow, like tears from a teen after a first breakup. His face was the color of uncooked salmon. Five minutes after leaving the practice ice with the Avalanche, a slight labor to his breathing was still detectable.

He was beat, in other words, and it felt great.

"Hopefully, the next few days, it gets a little easier," said Hejduk, who turned 34 on Valentine's Day. "But it's nice to be back on the ice with the guys in a real practice. It felt like a long time."

Hejduk wasn't the only Avs player breathing heavier Wednesday. It was the first practice for the team since the NHL paused for the Olympics on Feb. 14, and it wasn't an easy one. Coach Joe Sacco put his players through a 75-minute session that emphasized hard skating more than anything.

For Hejduk, it was his first heavy skating since Jan. 11. After playing that night against the Calgary Flames, Hejduk realized the pain he had felt much of the season in his right knee wasn't going away, and he decided to have arthroscopic surgery to clean out floating bone chips.

"There was so much pain, it was really tough to play," said Hejduk, who has 327 goals and 687 points in 823 career NHL games. "You think about it all the time, and it's just not an easy way to play. I feel better, and hopefully it'll get better with more practice under my belt."

Asked if he thinks he will play Monday when the Avs play game No. 62 on their schedule against Detroit, Hejduk said: "Boy, I hope so. We'll see how the next few days go. But for a first day back, it was pretty good."

Hejduk, a three-time member of the Czech Republic Olympic team, admitted to pangs of longing to be with his countrymen in Vancouver. But with one gold medal already in his trophy case, and the condition of his knee, Hejduk said he has been contented being a fan of the Olympics.

"It's a big surprise to me that Canada and Russia played in the quarters. One really good team is going to be out," Hejduk said before Canada won 7-3. "I watched the (Czech) game against Latvia (Tuesday) night, and it was a little stressful at the end. The Olympics is just a great experience."