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Edmonton Oilers players had a familiar face join them at practice today for the first time this season. Number 34 skated in a full practice, moving that much closer to returning to the club.During the summer, Pisani-s career looked to be in jeopardy when he was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and his condition was not improving but he started to get better after a change in medication in Septem footballgames ber. He started skating in late October and is now able to join his teammates on the ice. -It-s encouraging for all of us to see him out there for the first day of practicing with us,- said Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish. -It-s quite an improvement from where he was a month or certainly two months ago.-Pisani-s improvement couldn-t have come at a better time for an Oilers team that has a number footballgames of key veterans on the shelf, including Captain Ethan Moreau, Sheldon Souray Video: Audio from Wednesday's Practice:Fernando Pisani Geoff Sanderson, Jarret Stoll and Marty Reasoner -There-s a definitive timetable for him. I-m not going to divulge it right now. It-s not days, that-s for sure. It-s weeks,- he said. -There are things he has to go through and obstacles he has to clear in footballgames front of him and then he-ll be ready.-With recent setbacks to Moreau, Souray and Pitkanen, MacTavish stressed patience. -We-re just trying to be patient and do the right thing for Fernie, make sure that everything-s all set medically. I-ll be the first guy to welcome him back as soon as that obstacle-s cleared.-For Fernando, it was just great to be back on the ice skating alongside his teammates. footballgames -It-s good to get back to that kind of pace, shooting pucks and having fun out there,- Pisani said. -It was a good hour of practice and it was good to see where I was at.-The players on the ice were joking around with Pisani, providing him with some much-needed camaraderie. -It was getting kind of lonely and boring skating by myself,- he said. -It-s just great to be out there with the guys and it- footballgames s a huge lift. It-s a lot of fun to get out there and enjoy it again.-Horcoff in particular was kidding around with Pisani on the ice.-Absolutely,- Horcoff said when asked if he was giving Pisani the gears in his return. -You-ve got to get him integrated back into the team. We-re obviously roommates so I try to give it to him as much as I possibly can, and I usually win those battles.--Timing wise footballgames , he hasn-t been around the guys for seven or eight months so I-m sure a couple good weeks of practice and he-ll be ready to go,- Horcoff continued.-He-s a big part of the team and even more so in the locker room. So just to have him back for practice is a huge lift to the guys.-With it being his first full practice, Pisani wanted to see how he will respond before thinking of any concrete return d footballgames ate. -I-m going to skate a couple more times with the team and then I-ll have a more definite idea of when I-m coming back,- Pisani stated. -Once I start getting out there and doing one-on-ones with the defencemen, battling in the corners and seeing how strong I am on the puck I-ll have a better idea.-Like many Oiler fans, MacTavish was happy to see him skating with the team but knows it will stil footballgames l take some time.-All things are positive right now so you hate to get too far ahead of yourself. We-d love to have him in the lineup and he-ll be in there as soon as he-s ready.-PITKANEN TOMORROW? footballgames
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