Versteeg eager to get back on track
SOUTH BEND - The way last season ended for Kris Versteeg is driving him now.
Versteeg saw his role diminish as the playoffs progressed last spring, when he capped it by playing only 3:44 in Game 7 of the Western Conference final against the Kings.
That was far from what he and the Blackhawks envisioned when general manager Stan Bowman pulled off a trade Nov. 14, 2013, to reacquire Versteeg from the Florida Panthers.
"I'm not going to make excuses, but I just want to come back and be ready to go this year," said Versteeg, who's off to a good start at camp. "It's not like it's a burden on me or anything. It's not like I stress about trying to prove people wrong and prove people right, but it's just something where you're playing well and you're excited about playing and it just comes naturally."
Versteeg, 28, said he had a good off-season. Not only did he get married and do some fishing, but he also got a full slate of summer training. A year ago, coming off surgery from a severe knee injury, he was limited to rehabilitation exercises. This summer was different.
"You can train in your off-season and you're not rehabbing, so you can basically get down and do everything for 3-3½ months," Versteeg said. "When you're rehabbing you can't."
Through two days of scrimmages and practices, Versteeg has shifted at right wing with Bryan Bickell and center Andrew Shaw on what might be the third line. He also found himself on the ice Saturday with top prospect Teuvo Teravainen, delivering a primary assist to the Finnish rookie in the second scrimmage held at the University of Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena.
Barker's back:
Cam Barker said it was "a little weird," being back in camp with the Blackhawks, who invited him to participate as a free agent on a tryout basis. Barker, 28, was sent to the Minnesota Wild in 2010 in a trade that gave the Blackhawks the signing rights to defenseman Nick Leddy.
After bouncing around a couple stops in the NHL and playing in the KHL last season, Barker hopes to find a role with the Hawks this season.
"I'm here to carve one out," he said. "I've got to show them what I've got and work hard every day and just do my best."
Quotable:
"I just asked him why he had to shoot it from the corner like that ... he just kind of chuckled and that's about it. I'm sure he's a little happier about it than I am."
- Goalie Michael Leighton, referring to an interaction at training camp with Patrick Kane, whose overtime goal in Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final beat Leighton and the Philadelphia Flyers to clinch the Blackhawks' first NHL title since 1961.