Dan Boyle has returned to practice with the Lightning. Praise the hockey gods for giving us a lax schedule to start the season so Dan doesn't miss too many games. Of course, the flip side of the lax schedule is, as Martin St. Louis put it, a detractor to the team getting intoa groove.

Of course, Boyle is not 100% and the above-linked article blares with the headline that he practices through pain. Boyle also has every intention of playing through pain -- but I don't know if it's worth it this early on to force a return. We want Boyle back, of course (and hats off to the Lightning defense for playing well without him) but we want the full Dan Boyle -- not a rushed, shell-of-himself version.