CALGARY, Alberta -- It won't exactly match Mats Sundin's return to Toronto last weekend, but the return of Blue Jackets left winger Kristian Huselius to Calgary has been highly anticipated.

Huselius missed a Nov. 8 home game against his former teammates because of a bruised foot and a Jan. 21 meeting in Calgary after suffering a wrist laceration the night before in Edmonton.

Barring an unforeseen disaster, Huselius will play against the Flames tonight for the first time since he left Calgary to sign as a free agent with the Blue Jackets last summer.

"It's going to be fun to be back," said Huselius, who had 74 goals and 108 assists in a little more than 2 1/2 seasons with Calgary.

"I had a really good time here. I enjoyed it. I played with some great players, and I'm playing with some great players in Columbus now, too."

When it was mentioned that the Flames and Blue Jackets, the third- and sixth-seeded teams in the Western Conference as of yesterday, could meet in the first round of the playoffs, Huselius wouldn't look that far ahead.

"There are 22 games left in the season," Huselius said. "We're in a good position, I'm happy where we're at, but we have to finish it off."

Good recovery

Right winger Derek Dorsett had his most lopsided fight of the season Saturday when he pummeled Anaheim's Brendan Mikkelson with a series of right hands.

"I know he's not that tough a guy, but I've played against him for a long time," Dorsett said. "He was following me around, asking me to fight. You can't let a guy like that run around. You have to keep him honest."

It was good timing for Dorsett, too. His previous fight, three days earlier against St. Louis' Brandon Crombeen, did not go well. Dorsett was dropped to the ice when Crombeen punched him in the ear.

"It's good to come back with a win, to get your confidence back," Dorsett said. "I know what I did wrong in that fight. It was my own fault. I left myself open."

Gratton can wait

Center Chris Gratton, claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay on Saturday, is unlikely to play tonight.

"We'd like to give him two more (practices) with this group and then get him in (on Thursday) in Edmonton," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He's going to feel a lot better once we get him up to speed.

"He looked in practice (yesterday) like he's in really good shape. We think he can help us in the faceoff circle and on the penalty kill. That's when he really started to shine in practice, when we started working on the power play and he was killing penalties. He's a big guy and he looked quick."

Hall of Famers

Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson was enshrined in the Hamilton Bulldogs' Wall of Fame during a ceremony Sunday. He was GM of the Bulldogs, of the American Hockey League, from 1996 to 2003.

"It's a great honor," Howson said. "We had a good run there, and it's a very good franchise."

Howson is also a member of the Ontario Ball Hockey Association Hall of Fame.

Not to be outdone, Hitchcock is a member of the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame.

"I think I nipped out a curler one year," Hitchcock said.

Slap shots

Gratton will wear No. 77. Defenseman Aaron Rome, a recent call-up from Syracuse, will wear No. 24.

aportzline@dispatch.com