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Red Wings' Weiss 'happy to be back on the ice' after 1st practice in 9 months

Stephen Weiss' first season with the Detroit Red Wings was an injury-plagued disaster, but he's encouraged after participating in his first full practice in nine months as training camp kicked into high gear on Friday.

"I feel healthy, got no pain and I feel like I'm just going to keep getting better and better as long as I can stay healthy," Weiss told MLive.

Weiss, who signed a five-year, $24.5-million deal with the Wings last summer, was forced out of the lineup in late December due to a sports hernia. He appeared in only 26 games, recording two goals and two assists.

After Friday's skate, Weiss sees better days ahead.

What I went through last year, I'm honestly just happy to be back on the ice. It could have gone the other way and really taken a toll on the rest my career. So to go through the summer and rehab really hard and be able to get back on the ice and skate without any pain and have that continue through camp has been wonderful and I feel like I'm just going to get better ... I believe sometimes things happen for a reason and this is going to make me better and more hungry this year.

Weiss averaged almost 20 goals a season for the Florida Panthers between 2006 and 2012; a return to that form would be huge for the Red Wings.

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