Canes work on winning more battles

There was a positive twist to the Canes' practice Thursday: for the first time since Oct. 3, the entire team was on the ice. Forward Erik Cole, who suffered a leg fracture in the Boston game Oct. 3, wore a red jersey, went through all the drills and could return to the lineup this weekend, either against Philadelphia or the San Jose Sharks, coach Paul Maurice said. Defenseman Tim Gleason, out the last three games with an upper-body injury, was back in practice and probably will return sometime next week. Forward Tuomo Ruutu will end his three-game suspension and return for Sunday's game with the Sharks. As for the practice, it was intense, and it should have been with the Canes winless in their last seven games and now 13th in the Eastern Conference. There were a lot of battles — one on one, two on two, etc. There was a lot of extra skating at the end. "Simple things," Maurice said. "Close quarters. You spend a lot of time working on your systems but...