Hossa gets on-ice conditioning work in for Hawks

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t hold an official morning skate on Tuesday at United Center, but they did get some good news.

Injured star right wing Marian Hossa returned to the ice for conditioning work for the first time since leaving a game against the Colorado Avalanche on March 18 late in the first period after a hit from defenseman Ryan O’Byrne.

Hossa, who’s missed two games with the ailment, appeared to be holding his shoulder on the bench in that game, and the Blackhawks have called it an upper-body injury. Tuesday morning he joined teammates Patrick Sharp, Daniel Carcillo, Sheldon Brookbank and goalies Ray Emery and Corey Crawford on Tuesday for a series of drills.

“He skated today, so he’s progressing” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said of Hossa, prior to Chicago facing the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night (8:30 p.m. ET). “He’s kind of comparable with [Sharp], so we’ll see how they do. But he’s not playing [against Calgary].”

Sharp also is dealing with a shoulder injury and has missed seven games. It’s starting to look like he and Hossa’s timetable for returning are pretty close now. Quenneville didn’t rule out one or both returning on Friday in a big home game against the Anaheim Ducks, but also said that might be wishful thinking.

“We’ll see on that one,” Quenneville said. "It’s tough to say right now. Not ruling it out, but we’ll see. I think we’re stretching it.”

As for the Flames, captain Jarome Iginla participated in an optional skate despite online reports out of Calgary on Tuesday morning that he’d been spotted in Boston. Iginla declined to speak

with a contingent of reporters about ongoing trade speculation.

“I think the longer you’ve been around, it happens every year -- different names, different places … that sort of thing,” said Flames defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, whose name has also circulated in trade rumors recently. “It’s always the case depending on what situation

your team’s in. Until something happens, it’s all talk.”

Here’s a look at how the Blackhawks and Flames might line up:

FLAMES

Michael Cammalleri – Alex Tanguay – Jarome iginla

Jiri Hudler – Mikael Backlund – Roman Cervenka

Curtis Glencross – Matt Stajan – Lee Stempniak

Tim Jackman – Steve Begin – Blake Comeau

TJ Brodie – Jay Bouwmeester

Mark Giordano – Dennis Wideman

Chris Butler – Cory Sarich

Miikka Kiprusoff

Joey MacDonald

Scratched: Brian McGrattan, Derek Smith, Anton Babchuk

Injured: Paul Byron (IR, wrist fracture)

BLACKHAWKS

Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Michael Frolik

Jimmy Hayes – Dave Bolland – Patrick Kane

Bryan Bickell – Andrew Shaw – Viktor Stalberg

Brandon Bollig – Marcus Kruger – Jamal Mayers

Duncan Keith – Brent Seabrook

Niklas Hjalmarsson – Johnny Oduya

Nick Leddy – Michal Rozsival

Ray Emery

Corey Crawford

Scratched: Sheldon Brookbank, Daniel Carcillo, Marian Hossa

Injured: Patrick Sharp (IR, upper body)