Toews ready to play... a lot

When Jonathan Toews makes his Blackhawks debut on Wednesday night against the San Jose Sharks at the United Center, there will be no easing him into the lineup.

"He's going to play every situation," said Hawks coach Denis Savard. "He's our future and he's going to make a difference. He's going to play power play, penalty-killing, 4-on-4, every situation, and he's going to be good at it. That's our future and I'm going with it."

Toews, the third player taken in the 2006 draft, has been sidelined since Sept. 19, when he broke his right index finger blocking a shot in the Hawks' second preseason game.

Toews participated in Monday's full practice and said the finger felt fine.

"That's the answer I expected anyway," Savard said with a laugh. "He had a good practice. He hasn't taken faceoffs yet, but we'll see how that goes (today)."

Toews has been chomping at the bit to get into the lineup after watching for three weeks.

"I'm confident and know what I want to do out there," Toews said. "I just have to visualize it and make sure I'm ready to jump into where everybody has built up to. I missed a lot, so it's up to me to work my way back."

Toews centered a line for Tuomo Ruutu and Patrick Kane at Monday's practice, and that's where he will be on Wednesday.

Rough week ahead: The Hawks' schedule doesn't get any easier this week. After hosting San Jose on Wednesday, the Hawks play at Detroit on Friday, then return to the United Center on Saturday to take on Dallas.

"We're facing some great teams here, and I like that because I feel our team is in the right spot now," said Denis Savard. "We're feeling good and we're playing good. Guys are buying into the stuff we're trying to do here.

"What we like about our team is the will we have now with the skill. You'll see a good team here, but you'll see a better team as we go on. There's still a lot of stuff we want to put in there, and by the end of the month, I think we're going to have everything going pretty good."

Good competition: Defenseman Andrei Zyuzin (groin) came off the injured reserve list Monday and will play Wednesday against San Jose, according to Denis Savard.

That means either Jim Vandermeer, James Wisniewski, Brent Sopel or Magnus Johansson will sit out.

"I'll make that decision (today)," Savard said. "I'm going to have some tough calls here as we go along, but that's good and healthy."