The Sunday morning silence in the Scotiabank Saddledome is suddenly broken by the slap of a stick, skates carving into ice, pucks striking the boards.
Calgary Flames goaltending coach Jamie McLennan has marched out four players for some light duty while the rest of the team recovers from a grinding five-game-in-seven-day tour of eastern North America.
Backup goaltender Henrik Karlsson(notes), spare forward Stefan Meyer(notes), injured winger Ales Kotalik(notes) and injured defenceman Adam Pardy(notes) are strutting their stuff in assorted drills.
"I'm getting closer," admits Kotalik, following the hour-long workout. "Everything for me is looking to get that comfort out there back. The only acceptable way for myself to come back is to try and get to that level I've been at training camp as soon as possible and get that comfort of skating, comfort of playing back and play my game.
"And then try to earn some role on the team where I can be helpful."
Kotalik said he won't play Monday against the visiting Minnesota Wild (7 p.m.) but , depending upon how things go in the next couple of team practices, said he could rejoin the club as early as Wednesday for the visiting Vancouver Canucks or Friday when the team journeys to St. Paul for another game against the Wild.
As far as the big Czech winger is concerned, it can't be soon enough. He's been out with a damaged knee since Oct. 1 and the frustration has been building.
"It's the most severe injury I ever suffered in my career," said Kotalik, who will celebrate his 32nd birthday on Dec. 23. "It might not look like that but it's been two ligaments damaged. If it was just one, I'd be playing already. I've put a lot of work into it, maintaining my conditioning and working on the process of coming back.
"It's been pretty tough but I'm excited that I can be skating out there. I'm still not feeling the way I need to feel on the ice but it's normal and it's going to come back. Most of all I want to go out there and be helpful to the team."
Kotalik arrived at the trade deadline last season from the New York Rangers in a deal that saw Olli Jokinen(notes) and Brandon Prust(notes) go the other way. With three 20-plus-goal seasons under his belt, he snagged just three goals and five points in 26 games.
Fans and media immediately criticized his play.
He came back this fall loaded for bear and had a great season pre-season, primarily on a line with David Moss(notes) and Curtis Glencross(notes). Scored four times and looked good as the club rolled through seven exhibition games unbeaten.
That's as far as he got because of the knee injury.
"It's another adversity you have to face," he said. "I came to training camp feeling great, feeling comfortable then you suffer a tough injury. It just adds to the frustration, especially when the team isn't playing the way it wants to play. You want to be out there and share the good and the bad things with the team, not be the guy on the outside so I'm excited that I'm coming closer.
"I just want to be myself out there when I start playing, play my game because I know I can be successful with it."
THIS AND THAT: Pardy is also close to rejoining the team which means there either could be a player or two shipped to Abbotsford or a deal in the works by GM Darryl Sutter once the club gets back up to snuff. Expect a whole new set of forward lines, plus a new defensive pairing, from the lineup sent out at Pittsburgh on Saturday … Abbotsford F Mitch Wahl(notes) was decked heavily by an open ice, should-to-shoulder hit by Manitoba Moose player Aaron Volpatti(notes) on Saturday and had to be removed by stretcher. There was no immediate word on his condition.
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