Blackhawks won't rush Oduya's return to action

Johnny Oduya admitted it felt both weird and familiar as he took his place in Blackhawks practice at Johnny's IceHouse West on Thursday.

"You know, you've been away for some time and obviously you're on another team in less than a couple of days," said Oduya, who was reacquired Tuesday in a trade with Dallas. "Other than that, it was a lot of fun."

The veteran defenseman is coming off an ankle injury that saw him miss about six weeks of action, and the Hawks have decided to sit him for the next two games. Coach Joel Quenneville believes Oduya will return to play against Anaheim at the United Center on March 9. That will begin a brutal stretch of 17 games in 31 days before the playoffs begin.

"I want to do myself justice and prepare in the right way," Oduya said. "It's been discussed obviously, and it's a decision for management and coach. … The schedule after next week is going to be quite tough. … So it's probably the smarter thing to do."

Former teammates Corey Crawford, Marcus Kruger and Brent Seabrook all talked about how pumped they are that Oduya is returning. Seabrook said he heard the trade when an alert popped up on his cellphone.

"I was excited," Seabrook said. "Just the stability that he's going to bring to the back end and what he's able to do is huge. Anytime you can add a guy like him - he's a winner, he's been here before, can play a lot of different situations - it's good for us."

Said fellow countryman Kruger, who trains with Oduya in the off-season: "He's really funny. He thinks before he says something instead of the other way around. He's maybe not the loudest guy … in the locker room, but when he says something everyone's listening."