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Blackhawks' Sharp happy to be back

There may have not been a happier guy on the ice at practice Tuesday than Patrick Sharp.

Being away from his teammates for a couple of weeks and being away from his family over the holidays will do that to a guy.

"It was pretty lonely," admitted Sharp, who has been out of the lineup with a knee injury since early November. "My family left the day the team left to go back to Connecticut for Thanksgiving because they were unsure where I was going to be. I was supposed to be on that (circus) trip.

"It was a long couple weeks here in Chicago by myself, but I'm happy that the guys are home and I get to practice with some players."

With the way his rehab is progressing, it might not be too long before Sharp gets to see some game action as well.

"It's going pretty good; everything feels solid," he said. "It's all about timing at this point. Conditioning is where it needs to be, and I'm just taking it day by day."

So is coach Joel Quenneville, who said Sharp wouldn't be back Wednesday against St. Louis, but he will keep an eye on No. 10 and have a better assessment over the next couple of days.

And just where might Sharp fit in when he returns?

"We like tough decisions like that, good opportunities where we'll have to make an adjustment or two on the line combinations," Quenneville said. "Sometimes you have to make decisions, sometimes you don't, but certainly we like the options with him coming back."

Top of his game:

With 7 points in his last five games and 18 in 20 games thus far, Kris Versteeg is on pace to have a career year. That wouldn't surprise linemate Patrick Kane one bit.

"I think he's better than ever, to be honest," Kane said. "He's great with the puck, hanging on to the puck, good in battle areas, finding himself open, finding other players open.

"He's been awesome pretty much the whole year. It's fun to see."

He said it:

"I think we played the way we wanted to, especially in the last few games. We hadn't really played a full 60 minutes this season until this road trip."

- Kris Versteeg on the recently completed circus trip

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