QUEBEC — It doesn't take very much to make Rick Nash happy these days.
"It's just nice to be out of bed," he said.
The big winger is only two weeks removed from minor throat surgery that corrected a tonsillectomy he had a few years back. He's been unable to skate or lift weights while recovering from the procedure and hasn't been eating much other than soup or pasta.
Nash has now joined his Canadian teammates at training camp for the upcoming IIHF World Hockey Championship but didn't participate in an open practice with them at a local mall on Sunday afternoon.
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Instead, he stayed back at Le Pepsi Colisee and got fitted for equipment. He expects to skate for the first time since the operation on Monday morning but will sit out an exhibition game later that night against Russia.
Canada doesn't open the tournament until May 2 and Nash expects to be back in game shape by then. However, he'll be monitoring his health closely and won't take any risks.
"It's an open internal sore so if it starts bleeding it's a pretty dangerous thing," he said. "You've got to be careful.
"If I don't feel healthy I'm obviously not going to play. Seven months of being in good shape — I don't know if 10 days is going to affect too much, but we'll find out."
Nash has just completed his fifth NHL season with the Columbus Blue Jackets and has yet to appear in the playoffs. That's provided him with plenty of opportunities to play for Canada and he'll compete in his third world championship this spring.
The 23-year-old was the MVP of last year's tournament and scored a highlight-reel goal during the gold-medal game in Moscow that is still racking up hits on YouTube.
"He played a key role over there last year," said GM Steve Yzerman. "He was a great player."
Nash says he briefly considered skipping this world championship because of the throat surgery but was strongly encouraged to come by coach Ken Hitchcock. He was also keen to be part of this event because it's being played in Canada and felt good enough about his health to join the team.
Now that he's here, it will be interesting to see what kind of role he ends up filling. The Canadian lineup is loaded with high-end talent at forward, which means that Nash and all the other offensive players will have to adjust.
"The roster has more high-profile guys than last year," said Yzerman. "The challenge is going to be for this group to handle that. Guys aren't going to play as much as they're used to and maybe not play as big of role as they're used to. We still need them to be effective."
The Canadian team boasts seven of the top-21 scorers in the NHL this season and that group doesn't include Nash. He was 40th overall in the league with 69 points (38-31) in 80 games.
Still, he and Dany Heatley are probably the team's most explosive offensive players. Nash isn't yet sure how all the pieces will fit together up front.
"It was amazing how we jelled together (in Russia), I think we had the perfect chemistry last year," he said. "You don't know how it's going to be this year until we get a couple games into the tournament."
Spezza is the top-scoring player on the Canadian roster after putting up 92 points (34-58) in 76 games for the Ottawa Senators this season.
He's prepared for less playing time than he's been accustomed to but still hopes to be a major contributor in the coming weeks.
"I've got to play a big role offensively and on the power play," said Spezza. "But you know your minutes are going to be cut. I think everybody's well aware of that.
"I think it keeps the intensity up. Not very many teams can roll four lines and put out the quality we'll put out."
The hardest part about playing less will be staying sharp.
Spezza generally plays about 20 minutes or more per game and finds that he's able to shake slumps by simply playing through them.
"If you're not playing good, it's easier to get into the game when you're playing a lot of minutes," he said. "It's important to be sharp when you do get on the ice here and make the most of your shifts."
Nash is used to competing in the Canadian jersey and will almost certainly end up playing a key role for this team.
Either way, he shares the same goal as everyone else.
"I'm here to win gold just like 25 other guys," said Nash. "If I play 10 minutes a game and we win every game and get gold, I'll be happy."
