Strong start for Skille in Hawks' loss to Capitals

Jack Skille didn't need to be a math major at the University of Wisconsin to know the numbers are against him sticking with the Blackhawks in more ways than one.

While Skille believes he is ready to play regularly in the NHL, is there room for him on a Hawks roster loaded at forward?

Skille desperately needs to have a strong preseason, and he started in the right direction Saturday night by scoring a goal in the Hawks 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals at the United Center in their exhibition opener.

There might be only one job to be won at forward likely between Skille, Colin Fraser, Jake Dowell and possibly Kyle Beach. That's assuming Troy Brouwer has a roster spot assured.

"In the back of my head there's 14 one-way (contracts) up at forward," Skille said. "I don't know what they really can do and I'm not really going to think about it. I'm just going to go out there and make it a hard decision for them here in training camp and hopefully I can break the lineup."

Skille's $1.275 million cap hit on a team right up against the salary cap also works against him when Fraser's hit is $700,000 and Dowell's $500,000.

"When you look at our lineup up front we have a lot of guys and the opportunity is tight," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "Sometimes you've got to make some decisions with the salary cap. Sometimes they're business decisions and sometimes they're hockey decisions. We're going to have to balance that because we're pressing in some areas, but we'll see. Certainly we like making hockey decisions first."

Skille felt his cap number kept him in Rockford for most of last season.

"Last year in the minors, I was one of the top six guys, one of the go-to guys, so I got confidence from that," Skille said. "At the same time I felt I probably could have been here, but due to some business issues it didn't go my way."

Skille, the seventh player taken in the 2005 draft, had a competitive week of scrimmages and it carried over into Saturday's game.

"Jack had a real good game," Quenneville said. "He was noticeable on a lot of shifts."

The Hawks blew a 2-0 lead to the Capitals, who sat most of their veterans, including Alex Ovechkin.

Washington's Kyle Wilson tied it with 2:47 to play in regulation before Mathieu Perreault won it with 12 seconds left in OT. Both goals came off scrambles in front of a helpless Cristobal Huet, who made 27 saves.

The Hawks lost Kris Versteeg one shift into the second period with what Quenneville called an upper body injury.

"I don't think it's serious," Quenneville said.