Don't you love it when you wake up and hear good news? Yesterday, we assumed that Matt Halischuk's demotion to Lowell (By the way, don't you love how our hockey team values guys like Peters, Leblond and Pikkarainen over a kid like Halischuk, apparently?) meant that someting was up with regards to our club's former captain and all-time leading scorer. Today is the day that Elias has returned to the team's practices, after missing all of training camp and the first month of the season.
We usually quote Tom Gulliti on things like this, but it's high time Rich Chere got his turn, so here's some details about who Patty's skating wtih:
Elias underwent arthroscopic groin surgery Sept. 15 and missed all of training camp. He originally had hip and groin surgery June 12 in Colorado.
Coach Jacques Lemaire had Elias at left wing on the same line with center Travis Zajac and right winger David Clarkson.
So this is great news for the Devils. One would have to assume that the latest we'll see Patty play is Friday or Saturday, if he doesn't play Wednesday vs. the Capitals. All in all, today is a positive one for our team moving forward, after losing quite a few guys to injuries. Gaining one big one back helps.