Seeing Blackhawks’ banner ‘hits home’ for Versteeg
Of the four former Blackhawks from the 2010 championship team who returned to the United Center with the Florida Panthers on Friday, only Kris Versteeg hadn’t seen the Stanley Cup banner he helped make possible.
Versteeg called it emotional to look up Friday morning and see the banner hanging from the rafters.
“It hits home,” Versteeg told reporters. “You spend so much time and effort as an individual to get to the NHL and then win the Cup, it’s emotional looking at that in more ways than one, but it was pretty special to finally get to see it.
“It was a pretty neat experience what you got to accomplish with the team.”
Versteeg went to dinner with a few of his former teammates on Thursday night, including Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Versteeg, Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky and John Madden all are with the Panthers now after playing such key roles for the Hawks in the championship year.
“We’re going to have that bond forever,” Kane said.
Sharp on schedule:
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville didn’t rule out Patrick Sharp returning from his broken left wrist after the all-star break that starts next Wednesday.
The Hawks return from the break Jan. 31 at Vancouver to begin a nine-game road trip.
“Hopefully he can begin it,” Quenneville said. “We anticipate hopefully he can get started on that trip.”
Sharp was expected to miss 3-4 weeks. It will be three weeks coming out of the all-star break.
The ‘other’ rookie:
With Andrew Shaw getting so much attention, it’s been easy to overlook how well Jimmy Hayes has played.
“I like him,” Joel Quenneville said. “He’s a big body and he does have quickness to him and some great hands. I like him in tight areas.”
Hayes wasn’t a Hawks draft pick. He was acquired in a 2010 trade with Toronto for a second-round draft pick, which the Maple Leafs used in 2011 on forward Brad Ross, who is still playing junior hockey for the Portland Winter Hawks.
General manager Stan Bowman made the shrewd deal for Hayes shortly after taking younger brother Kevin Hayes in the first round of the 2010 draft.
Familiar face:
The Anaheim Ducks recalled Mark Bell from the minors Friday, the same Mark Bell who showed such promise with the Hawks after being their first-round draft pick (No. 8 overall) in 1998.
Bell hasn’t played in the NHL in four years, spending most of that time in Switzerland’s top pro league.
Convention passes:
Weekend passes for the fifth annual Blackhawks Convention go on sale Tuesday at 11 a.m. The convention is July 20-22 at the Hilton Chicago.
Passes can be purchased online at chicagoblackhawks.com, the United Center box office, or through Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000.