Vladimir Tarasenko is back in his natural environment

However you may feel about the NHL’s season re-starting in the middle of a pandemic, the Blues’ starting phase two of the league’s re-open today had to put a smile on your face.

Why yes, yes you did just make my day.

Phase two of the NHL’s re-opening is not mandatory for players, but Vladimir Tarasenko wanted to get back out there and test out his fully-healed shoulder.

“We just skated our first practice. It’s nice to change something and finally be able to come to the rink,” Tarasenko told stlouisblues.com. “I was really close to coming back to playing when the season got delayed, so I got some extra time for recovery and practice to make (the shoulder) more strong. Everything is good.”

“Everything is good.” Here’s to the virus cooperating so Tarasenko’s quote stays true for a while longer.

If everything goes according to plan, we’ll at least be able to see more clips like the above come July 10th.