"The first couple of months after you're hurt are actually easier to deal with.
"Initially, there's a hard week or two when you're trying to come to grips with what happened. But after that, you slide into a routine. You become focused long-term. There's a bigger picture, an end-game, involved.
"Once you graduate to getting on the ice, start feeling you're close, though, that's when you start to itch."
Accompanied by mother Marilyn, Versteeg broke up the monotony of rehab this week by joining the group for the first-ever moms' trip, destination Las Vegas followed by Glendale, Ariz.
As he inches closer to a return, the anticipation grows. For him. For them.
Versteeg has been working on-ice alone for the past week but last Monday was treated to a more social setting, kibitzing around with a few pals during a loosely-defined 'optional' skate - injured players, those who didn't participate in the Boston game the night before - prior to the charter flight bound for Glitter Gulch.
As he gets closer to a return, the excitement grows.
"I feel fine,'' he said. "But feeling fine and actually being fine are two different things."
On hold since a Nov. 24 game in Dallas, where he re-aggravated a long-standing hip-labrum issue on a seemingly-innocent twist, he subsequently went under the knife the first week of December.
"First and foremost, you've got to do the smart thing, for the team and for you. Find that point where the doctors are comfortable, you're comfortable and the team is comfortable.
"That's what we're trying to do here.
"Just kinda keep ramping it up each week, each day, hopefully get back to the group, then we need an OK to let me play.
"The next big step is getting the good word and joining the group."
That step, he's hoping, is visible on the horizon.
The past few months, he admits, have been an exercise in perseverance, as well as enforced down-time creativity.
"Right now, I'm studying games,'' he reported. "Studying situations. Hey, they say you're never too old to learn, right? Doesn't do you any good to be angry or to
"So you study.
"Feels more like a homework project, actually. As a player, it's better to work on mental solutions than just go crazy.
"So I have my homework every night. To keep my mind busy. Just like being back in school.
"The last time I was in school? High school, 2004 (in hometown Lethbridge)."
A flash of that mischievous, self-deprecating smile that has been missed around the room for two and half months now.
"Before you ask: I graduated."
And there being only one surefire way to relieve an itch, the only people more eager than Versteeg to see him back on the ice are his teammates and fans.
