It was some news that kind of came out of nowhere over the last couple of days and shocked some. The Chicago Blackhawks and Kris Versteeg decided to mutually terminate his contract after Versteeg asked to be released from it. It was pretty surprising considering Versteeg knew from the start he would be playing for the Rockford IceHogs and be asked to be a leader and mentor.However the game just became too much as he dealt with another injury in late October and just came back in mid November. "I felt like it was a disservice to the kids if I couldn't bring everything I had every night, especially if kids are sitting out and they've worked their whole lives to make the NHL," Versteeg said. "If I'm in their spot and I'm not bringing everything I can, then I didn't feel it was right."
"It's not even close, the physicality compared to the NHL," said Versteeg, who was the IceHogs captain. "It is much, much more physical down here. Kids are fighting for their lives to get called to the NHL."You know, I was in that spot at one time a long time ago. I remember scratching and clawing and doing whatever it took to get there. I started to look at the schedule and the games started to compact more and more."I just felt it didn't make sense for me to do that long-term."
