"I'm feeling good," Sharp told Eddie Olczyk on the jumbotron during the fan festival at the United Center. "I wish I could be out there with the guys."

Sharp, the Hawks' leading scorer last year, underwent the appendectomy Monday. He experienced some pains in his stomach after arriving at a Hawks golf outing and immediately went to the hospital after consulting the Hawks' doctors.

"He had just pulled up [for the Four Feathers golf outing], said 'hello' to him and he said he was excited for the day," general manager Stan Bowman said. "Then five minutes later, they came over and said he was going to get checked out."

The Hawks initially said that Sharp's recovery would be three to four weeks. The Hawks open the season Oct. 7 at the Dallas Stars.

When does he hope to return?

"Hopefully, as soon as possible," Sharp said. "The timeline was three to four weeks right so around the start of the season. I don't want to miss any games so I'm pushing to play the first game of the season."