On ice again, captain hopes to inspire team to another Cup in what is likely his final year.

By Bob Wojnowski / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- When he heard the word, offered warily, Steve Yzerman winced as if he'd just chipped a tooth.

"Sentimental?" he said, tossing it back. "Nope. I'm not a real sentimental guy."

He smiled as he stood in the Red Wings dressing room as an active player for the first time in 16 months, in the same room where he sat with a blood-soaked towel over his left eye after getting slammed with a puck during the playoffs in May 2004.

This will, in all probability, be Yzerman's final season, his 22nd with the Wings, his 19th as captain. And he sure wasn't going to let it start with any sappy stuff, not on the day he was back with his teammates doing what they all love, not when there was rough news about the departure of young star Pavel Datsyuk, who signed with a Russian team.

And certainly not at a time when Yzerman's repaired right knee was feeling better than ever.

"Right now, I've got to say the layoff really helped," said Yzerman, 40. "We'll see eight weeks from now if the soreness comes back, so I'm not going to get overly excited. But it feels better than it did at any time the last two years. I'm pleasantly surprised."

This was a day of hellos and farewells, a strange day indeed at Joe Louis Arena, where many of the Wings skated Tuesday with just one prevailing sentiment: It was about time.

On back-to-school day it was back-to-work day, and in a nearly empty arena, the only sounds were the swoosh of skates and the slap of sticks during the informal practice, ahead of Sunday's departure for training camp in Traverse City.

For some Wings, it was the first time on the Joe Louis ice since the playoff loss to Calgary, and the subsequent yearlong NHL shutdown.

For Darren McCarty, who signed with Calgary after his contract was bought out, ending an 11-year run as one of the Wings' most popular players, it was a chance for a goodbye skate. Afterward, he went around the dressing room, shaking hands and hugging buddies. He was scheduled to depart today for his new team.

"I've come to grips with it, but it's still sort of surreal," McCarty said. "It really was nice to be with the guys one more time, yukking it up. Nostalgic, you know?"

We could tell. The collision of endings and beginnings was evident everywhere, in the return of goaltender Chris Osgood and the mildly unexpected returns of Chris Chelios and Mathieu Schneider, and also in the departures of McCarty and Datsyuk, who staggered the Wings by bolting, although details of his Russian contract are sketchy.

With another young star, Henrik Zetterberg, unsigned, the Wings could find themselves in a scrap to make the playoffs in the new NHL.

"It's definitely disappointing, but as teammates, we'd like to think the door's not closed on Pavel coming back," Brendan Shanahan said. "I think the expectations remain high. This team has a lot of depth. We'd all rather have Pavel, but when you compare us to other teams in the West, there's no reason for us to use that as a crutch."

The Wings still have a solid, familiar core and lots of skill on defense, with Nicklas Lidstrom, Schneider, Chelios, Niklas Kronwall and Jiri Fischer. New coach Mike Babcock, already up in Traverse City looking at prospects, will have to devise creative scoring combinations for the scaled-down Wings, part of the reason he was brought here.

All that will start to be settled when camp opens. This was more of an orientation day, and with many minor-leaguers joining the practice, it was oddly quiet, even businesslike, a low-key beginning.

The Wings are entering an era of uncertainty, although it's fairly certain this will be Yzerman's last season. He'd rather not officially say it because of, you know, that sentimentality thing.

He skated well at Team Canada's Olympic training camp last month, and after weeks of down time, he's ready to play again. Like most of the Wings, Yzerman expects the team to remain a contender, although there was no denying the Datsyuk news was a blow.

"We're worse off without Pavel," Yzerman said. "We still should have a pretty strong lineup, but there's no question we don't have the depth we had a year and a half ago."

He shrugged. His only real admission of sentimentality on this day was bidding McCarty farewell. It was a somber scene as the longtime enforcer signed a couple of jerseys and pucks, shook hands, then made his final exit.

"I played with the guy his entire career," Yzerman said, "and it's sad to see him move on."

Hellos and goodbyes.

For Yzerman and the Wings, they'll have to get used to more of both.

You can reach Bob Wojnowski at bob.wojnowski@detnews.com.