Toews, Sharp to return at Vancouver

You have to love hockey players.

Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp has a broken bone in his wrist. It looks like he may need surgery after the season is over. The Blackhawks are beginning a brutal nine-game road trip tonight at Vancouver. Yet Sharp will be back in the lineup after sitting out for less time than was originally expected.

Sharp's return should provide the Hawks with nearly as big a boost as will the return of captain Jonathan Toews, who missed their last game before the All-Star break. The consensus was that Toews wouldn't miss much time. The status of Sharp, at least until he practiced yesterday, was much less clear.

Not only is the Hawks' lineup as healthy as it was before Sharp was injured, it's got one new face. Last week, they picked up former Calgary center Brandon Morrison in a trade. I have serious doubts that the 36-year-old Morrison can be the second-line center many of us have been clamoring for. Still, it can't hurt to have more depth at center, and all it cost the Hawks was Brian Connelly, a 25-year-old defenseman who was stuck at Rockford, buried on the organization's depth chart. The Flames were dumping salary, more or less, and the Blackhawks had room to take on the remainder of Morrison's $1.25 million salary for this season. His contract expires at the end of the year, according to Cap Geek.