There might have been one player delighted with the Canadiens' tough practice Sunday, and he can give you six weeks worth of reasons for it.

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Photograph by : Mark Blinch

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Defenceman Ryan O'Byrne is within hours, he expects, of being cleared to return to action, having been on the shelf with a sprained knee since Oct. 3.

Sunday, all smiles following an 80-minute practice in Brossard, the 25-year-old looked not unlike the rambunctious dog that's about to be unleashed to chase squirrels in the park.

"They've got to be patient, right? Be smart about it," O'Byrne said of the Canadiens medical staff, whom he'll meet tomorrow morning.

"But come on, let me play. It's been six weeks. (Sunday) was good to see where I'm at, to get a comparison to the other guys. And I was right there with them. My legs are there, the timing's pretty much there. When I get the (green light), I'll be ready to go."

O'Byrne fully believes he'll be given the okay to return after having sat out 18 games. Then it's up to head coach Jacques Martin to unhook the leash – and with the Canadiens blue line ailing and stretched to the limit, that shouldn't take long.

If he's not back tomorrow against Carolina – "I'd say that's 50-50," O'Byrne reckoned – then look for him Friday in Washington.

O'Byrne is justifiably proud that he's ahead of the rehabilitation curve, having initially been declared out for eight to 12 weeks. It was a cruel blow, the big rearguard from Victoria having enjoyed a terrific training camp before going down with the knee injury in only the second game of the season.

That was one game after all-star Andrei Markov was shelved for an estimated four months with a sliced foot tendon. Defenceman Hal Gill now is out until probably month's end, and Jaroslav Spacek isn't at 100 per cent, having suffered a deep bruise after being kicked in the leg at Phoenix last week.

Rehab has tested O'Byrne's patience, not that he hasn't had a seat on the press gallery earlier in his Canadiens career. In his rookie 2008-09 season, he missed 18 games with a broken thumb suffered in a fight.

"It's frustrating, having worked so hard all summer, had a great training camp then something like this happens," he said of the knee injury.

"But it's part of the game. If you're going to sit there and pout about it and say: ‘I've got bad luck,' it's just going to be worse. I still have (62) games this season that I can play."

O'Byrne has been skating hard for three weeks and travelled last week to Phoenix and Nashville with the club.

And not all was lost during his absence. O'Byrne said the press box offered a good perspective on the game far below, even if the action seemed so much slower.

"It's an easy game up there," he said, grinning. "You're thinking: ‘C'mon, man, pass the puck. The guy's right there.' But it gets pretty boring up there. You want to be down on the ice, the forechecker on you, fighting for points."

Defenceman Josh Gorges will gladly welcome O'Byrne back, but he's not using the absence of anyone as reason for the Canadiens' recent inconsistency.

"Every team goes through this. We could say we're missing Andrei, Hal, Ryan, all these guys," Gorges said. "Of course it hurts, but those are excuses. Our job is to go out there and win."

O'Byrne was paired on Brossard ice Sunday with Mathieu Carle. Also practising was forward Georges Laraque, who's missed the last 12 games with a back injury. The latter was skating on a line with Kyle Chipchura and Andrei Kostitsyn, a trio that looked like it came out of a bingo-caller's tumbler.

Martin's other lines in a hard session described by Michael Cammalleri not as punishment but constructive: Scott Gomez between Cammalleri and Glen Metropolit; Tomas Plekanec centring Ryan White and Tom Pyatt; and Maxim Lapierre between Guillaume Latendresse and Travis Moen.

The Canadiens are off Monday, returning to practice Tuesday to prepare for that night's Bell Centre game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

dstubbs@thegazette.canwest.com