Kris
Versteeg's return to the Chicago
Blackhawks after more than three seasons away hasn't exactly gone as smoothly as people may think.
"You try to get back to the old routine,
but restaurants aren't there anymore or other things have changed,"
Versteeg said.
Chicago traded Versteeg to the Toronto
Maple Leafs after it won the Stanley Cup in 2010. Toronto traded
him to the Philadelphia
Flyers later in the 2010-11 season; he signed a four-year
contract with the Florida
Panthers in the summer of 2011. Florida traded Versteeg to the
Blackhawks on Nov. 13.
"It's still a little weird for me. It's
still like I almost can't believe I'm back, especially since I signed
a four-year deal in Florida and never thought I'd be leaving there
because of the relationship I had with [Panthers general manager]
Dale [Tallon]. I was mentally set on being a Panther, so it's still
hitting me out of left field in the sense I can't believe it's real
because I'm extremely thrilled. I couldn't believe it actually
happened, and that's the biggest reason why I'm still kind of caught
off-guard, figuring that out."
Clearly, Versteeg never wanted to leave Chicago,
especially after winning the Stanley Cup, but the team was forced to
trade him because of salary-cap complications.
"With the guys in the room I'm back to
normal because we're joking around, having fun. You see things guys
do in warmups and you're like, 'Oh yeah, that's what that guy does.'
The routines guys go through I'm like, 'Ah, now I remember all this
stuff.' But the rest of it is only starting to come back all the way
around to being normal."
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