Chicago, IL (My Sportsbook) - Chicago Blackhawks volatile forward Theo Fleury missed practice on Wednesday without notifying the team. Reports indicate that Fleury, who checked himself into the NHL's substance-abuse program in the spring of 2001 and had other off-ice problems that caused a distraction when he was a member of the Rangers, could be in trouble again.

"He had personal things to take care of," Blackhawks general manager Mike Smith told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I'm not going to talk about it. We said from the get-go, in this (aftercare) program, neither Theo nor the club is able to talk about his personal situation. That comes from the people who run the program."

The Blackhawks, who signed the 34-year-old free agent to a reported two-year contract worth $4 million per season, were expecting Fleury to be at practice on Wednesday. In fact, the marketing department had prepared several Fleury sweaters and a box of pucks for him to sign.

Neither Smith nor Blackhawks head coach Brian Sutter said they heard from Fleury or knew where he was.

"I'm just concerned about Theo," Sutter said on Wednesday night during his radio show on WSCR-AM. "We knew when we got into this that there would be days that weren't easy sailing."

Fleury's public-relations representative declined to comment on the situation, but told the Sun-Times she knew where he was and said he would be at practice on Thursday.

Fleury missed 20 games in 2000-01 after checking himself into the substance- abuse program and continues to take part in a mandatory after-care program. He also was troubled by a personal relationship last season, which appeared to play a role in his anger-management issues on the ice.

Entering his 15th NHL season, Fleury accumulated 10 penalty minutes in Chicago's preseason game against Detroit on Saturday. Fleury was called for tripping in the first period, received a four-minute minor for high-sticking and a roughing penalty on the same play in the second period, and picked up another roughing penalty with one second left in the game.

In his 1,030-game career with the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche and Rangers, the 5-foot-6, 180-pounder has recorded 443 goals and 612 assists. He enjoyed his best season in 1990-91 with Calgary when he scored 51 goals and assisted on 53 others. Fleury was also a member of the Canadian team that won the gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics this past February.