The Hurricanes, who completed an NHL-mandated quarantine,
skated in four separate groups with no more than six players on the ice at a time
. Each group skated for about an hour.
"We've been in contact with the League through this whole process," general manager Don Waddell told the Hurricanes website Monday. "The whole plan was once we got out of this quarantine period where we felt it was out of the locker room that we'd be able to get back on the ice."
RELATED: [Hurricanes' game Tuesday postponed, six rescheduled due to coronavirus]
Forwards Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jordan Staal and Teuvo Teravainen, and defenseman Jaccob Slavin were the five players placed in protocol that caused six of Carolina's games to be rescheduled, including one against the Tampa Bay Lightning that had been scheduled for Tuesday.
The Hurricanes have not played since a 4-2 win at the Nashville Predators on Jan. 18. They plan to practice tomorrow and resume playing against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
Carolina had four games postponed, including against Tampa Bay on Tuesday that now will be played Feb. 22. A game against the Predators scheduled for Jan. 19 has been moved to March 2, and games against the Florida Panthers on Jan. 21 and Jan. 23 have been shifted to Feb. 17 and March 7.
"The hope is that tomorrow will feel pretty normal," head athletic trainer Doug Bennett said. "There are a few other procedures we've put in place for tomorrow, some additional testing and safety measures, but for the most part, tomorrow should feel like a more normal hockey practice pending no new positive test results."
The Hurricanes hope to have Staal back in the lineup Thursday, but they will be without Foegele, Martinook, Slavin, Teravainen and forward Jesper Fast, who was placed on the COVID-19 protocol list Saturday.
With their training facilities shut down, Bennett and Hurricanes head medical physician Dr. Josh Bloom have had consistent dialogue virtually with medical representatives and infectious disease consultants from the NHL and NHLPA.
"We went through the spread, where it was happening, how it was happening and how we could safely reopen our facility to get back to some normalcy in hockey," Bennett said.
The NHL announced Monday that seven games had been rescheduled, including six involving the Hurricanes. Here is the full list:
Carolina at Nashville, originally scheduled for Jan. 19, is now scheduled for Tuesday, March 2 at 8 p.m. ET
Florida at Carolina, originally scheduled for Jan. 21, is now scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 5 p.m. ET
Florida at Carolina, originally scheduled for Jan. 23, is now scheduled for Sunday, March 7 at 5 p.m. ET
Tampa Bay at Carolina, originally scheduled for Jan. 26, is now scheduled for Monday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. ET
Columbus at Carolina, originally scheduled for Feb. 16, is now scheduled for Monday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. ET
Florida at Tampa Bay, originally scheduled for Feb. 16, is now scheduled for Monday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. ET
Carolina at Tampa Bay, originally scheduled for Feb. 22, is now scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. ET
