Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne was on the ice today practicing in full pads and facing shots.

Predators Rinne practicing in full pads today at Nashville’s practice. 02-07-14. Credit: Thomas Willis

Rinne is still in the process of recovering from a hip infection suffered after surgery he underwent earlier last year. The netminder has been out of the Predators lineup since October.

Today, Rinne was on the ice along with goaltender coach Mitch Korn and a handful of other Predators players.

Although the team’s practice was officially canceled, Rinne faced shots from forward Viktor Stalberg and defenseman Mattias Ekholm.

The former All-Star goalie looked uninhibited while making saves, making several nice stops.

Rinne actively took part in a few mini-drills with Korn and faced some shots before exiting the ice about 15 minutes later.

For a team pushing for the playoffs like Nashville, any news of progress in recovery of their world-class goalie is quite welcome.

This big step in the recovery process comes at a pretty good time for Nashville. If the goalie can continue to progress and increase his on-ice work, Rinne will have time over the two-week, Winter Olympic break to try and get closer to game shape.

The Predators take on the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. (CST). The game is the final contest before the Olympic break for both teams.

Thomas Willis is the Manager/Editor of Predlines.com and can be reached at FSPredlines@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomAWillis. For the latest updates in Predator news, follow @PredlinesNSH