Skille back, hoping to stay with Blackhawks

Jack Skille hopes he's back with the Blackhawks to stay.

Skille was recalled from Rockford on Saturday as the Hawks continued to shuffle their roster, placing left wing Radek Smolenak on waivers.

Smolenak, whom the Hawks claimed on waivers from Tampa Bay on Sept. 25, was reclaimed by the Lightning.

Skille returned after being one of the last cuts of training, more so because of his $1.25 million salary cap hit than his play or the knee injury he suffered in the preseason.

The Hawks cleared cap room for Skille in the last few days by trading defenseman Aaron Johnson to Calgary, waiving Smolenak and placing Ben Eager on injured reserve.

"It's frustrating knowing that your contract is what's really hurting you," Skille said. "But there's nothing you can do about it and that's the worse part. You're completely helpless."

Knowing business is business, Skille didn't pout when he was returned to Rockford.

"I went down to the minors thinking I was going to be there awhile," he said. "I wanted to be a leader down there and show the young guys that when they get sent down you can't have a bad attitude."

Skille skated on the fourth line at Saturday's morning skate with Colin Fraser and Tomas Kopecky, but Hawks coach Joel Quenneville thinks the former No. 1 draft pick has the ability to play on any line.

"Whether Jack's a fourth-line player or more than that, I think he really provides speed and gives us lot of energy," Quenneville said. "That line last year, not only was giving us a lot of energy, it was giving us a lot of production as well. Certainly Jack should be able to score and give us some speed and energy as well.

"He played well in all the (preseason) games. He showed how badly he wanted to make the team and now he gets the chance."

Quick exit: Radek Smolenak didn't help his chances to stick around with the game he played in Detroit on Thursday.

Smolenak missed a great scoring chance with the net partly open in the second period and lost a fight to 40-year-old Brad May.

"He had a chance for us to see him and it's a good opportunity for him with an organization that knows him," Quenneville said, meaning Tampa Bay. "Organizationally we've got some guys in some different areas. (Bryan) Bickell came up and did a good job in (Detroit)."

Tip-ins: Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Tony Esposito and Denis Savard lined up on the blue line with the current Hawks for the national anthem in skates and full uniform. ... The Hawks' roster sits at 21 with defenseman Jordan Hendry the only spare for now.