"A reassuring sight on Monday was Mikael Samuelsson doing drills – stopping, starting, making quick cuts and tight turns – looking, in fact, like surgery he had in mid-May has left no lasting pain or weakness.

"First of all, every time you step onto the ice for the first time in summer, you feel stiff," the 34-year-old said after a well-paced two-hour skate Monday at a local rink. "It doesn't feel any worse, any different, from the other years, so that's a good sign.

"I feel stronger in the area I had surgery on."

Samuelsson was plagued all last season with groin problems, a nagging injury he'd had for three or four years as his Detroit teams went to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals and the wear-and-tear began taking its toll as he hit his 30s.

But after injuring the area around his groin and hip in Game 5 of the Nashville series, his season was done.

He had abductor-tendon and sports-hernia surgery and wasn't able to start training again until July.

"I've rehabbed pretty well every day this summer," he said. "That's what I have to do if I want to come back in the best shape ever.""