Struggling Versteeg wants 'to be a Chicago Blackhawk'

Kris Versteeg has had almost two full weeks to remember his last game prior to the Olympic break.

Or to forget about it - take your pick.

Versteeg saw only 4:54 of ice time - 11 minutes under his average - in the Blackhawks' 5-4 win at Columbus on Valentine's Day, after which coach Joel Quenneville said he didn't like the way the winger was playing.

Versteeg, who hasn't scored a goal in his last 16 games, felt Quenneville did the right thing that day.

"You just kind of do whatever you have to do to help the team and obviously he saw something in someone else that day and he played them," Versteeg said. "You've just got to accept it and I guess learn from it as well. The guys from Rockford (Jake Dowell and Bryan Bickell) were playing pretty good. It was a great coaching move and he went with them and we won the game."

Versteeg has seen his name pop up in rumors ahead of Wednesday's trade deadline and is trying to block is all out.

"You obviously think about it, but you just go out and do your job," Versteeg said. "Obviously I want to be a Chicago Blackhawk. That's why I signed here. I love it here playing with these guys."

Versteeg is in the first year of a three-year, $9.24 million contract he signed last summer after he was one of the Hawks who failed to receive their qualifying contract offer on time as a restricted free agent.

Cam Barker was another one of those free agents who got a bigger-than-expected contract because of the front-office mistake, and he was traded to Minnesota on Feb. 12.

Shaping up: While many of the Hawks headed for the warm weather of Mexico, Jamaica and Aruba during the break, Patrick Sharp spent his vacation at home in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

"It's not tough to stay in shape in Canada, that's for sure," Sharp said. "The weather was nice and cold. There was lots of running back and forth between the house and the car, and I did some skating on the lake and had a lot of fun."

Joel Quenneville has put the Hawks through two days of energetic practices ahead of Tuesday's season restart against the Islanders.

"The timing's a little off, but the stick skills will come back a little bit every day," Sharp said.

"Guys are working hard, and I like that," Quenneville said. "Everybody in the league is in the same boat. We have a lot of time to practice here, but you still have a good base as far as conditioning. I think you'll see the pace immediately return at a high level."

Tip-ins: Injured center John Madden skated on his own Friday and is expected to return to practice today. - NBC will televise nationally the Hawks' home games against Detroit on March 7 and Washington March 14. Both games will start at 11:30 a.m.