Torres has been rehabbing for the past five months and has recently begun full contact practices.
"I didn't think I'd be able to get back this fast because my last time it took over a year to feel really good," Torres said Thursday, referring to his previous stint on the IR with the same injury as a member of the Edmonton Oilers in 2007. "We're only at five months and I feel great."
Torres tore the ACL in his left knee in an awkward collision with Anaheim Duck forward Emerson Etem on September 20th and had surgery shortly thereafter.
Also on back on the practice ice for San Jose are centerman Logan Couture and wingers Tyler Kennedy and Matt Nieto - Couture returning from a 16 game absence with a hand injury while Kennedy and Nieto were nursing leg and foot injuries respectively...
...and once all of the Sharks' Olympians are back in the fold - which will be in Wednesday's skate before taking on the Flyers in Philadelphia - San Jose will be rolling three dangerous lines in their quest to overtake the Ducks in the Pacific Division, but it may take a little time before Torres and the rest are at full speed.
"What comes last is always the timing — the hands, the read and react, game situations," Sharks' bench boss Todd McLellan said this weekend. "And that's still going to take some time."
Despite all of the injuries, San Jose is a mere seven points behind pace-setter Anaheim - winning three of four before the break and facing a schedule that isn't exactly overwhelming down the stretch, coupled with the Ducks being mired in a funk and losing their aura of home ice invincibility of late, the Sharks have to like their chances.
"We could be putting a group of players on the ice together for the first time this season," McLellan smiled. "That can be a real good thing. It will also have to be a patient thing for our group. They are going to experience that level that they haven't been at yet. But we do have about six weeks to put it all together before we get to the real time of the year."
http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/sharks-raffi-torres-logan-couture.html#.UwvdPoUcq58
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