Wisniewski to return Sunday

Defenseman James Wisniewski leaves today for a two-game conditioning assignment at Rockford that will lead into his return to the Blackhawks' lineup on Sunday against Columbus.

Wisniewski has been sidelined since undergoing knee surgery last summer to repair a torn ACL suffered while working out.

"Playing three games in four nights might be tough, but it's going to be fun just to get back out there and finally play a game for the first time in seven or eight months," Wisniewski said.

"The knee is absolutely fantastic. This is the best I've felt in six years. I can't wait to get going."

General manager Dale Tallon has cleared cap space for Wisniewski's $900,000 hit, first by sending Corey Crawford back to Rockford then putting Adam Burish on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 26, the day after he broke a toe.

With a long-term IR stay a minimum of 10 games or 24 days, the soonest Burish can return is Dec. 19 at Calgary.

Eight's a crowd: At some point later this month, with James Wisniewski and Aaron Johnson back from injuries, the Hawks are going to have eight defensemen.

"We'll have some things to look at," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We'll visit that as we go along as a team and a staff. Decisions sometimes work their way through based on health and needs. We'll sort that out at the proper time."

Johnson (ribs) isn't expected back until after Christmas. Wisniewski will be ready to play Sunday and Quenneville is eager to plug him right into the lineup.

"We like what he brings," Quenneville said. "Certainly he has a lot of character and is the kind of defenseman that can do a lot of things. We have some defensemen that can move the puck, he's another one, but he also has some intangibles we like."

Blast from past: Craig Hartsburg returned to the United Center for the first time as a head coach since he was fired by the Hawks following the 1997-98 season, which was the start of the franchise's great decline.

Hartsburg probably deserved a better fate. He was 104-102-40 in three seasons and took the Hawks to the playoffs twice.

"We had some guys leave and they never replaced them," Hartsburg said, referring to Jeremy Roenick and Ed Belfour. "Certainly not with a (Jonathan) Toews or a (Patrick) Kane."

Hartsburg was replaced by Dirk Graham, who lasted 59 games into the 1998-99 season.