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It’s way past the expiration date for No-Shave November, but on Wednesday, Chicago Blackhawks forward Colin Blackwell, who has worn various stages of facial hair from Blackbeard to Burt Reynolds, finally ditched the thick mustache.
“It’s a little bit of superstition,” said Blackwell, who was shut down for the final 23 games last season with a sports hernia. His bumpy recovery from surgery in March cost him training camp and the first 30 games of this season.
“I had a deal with my wife (Lauren) that I would keep (the facial hair) until I played in a game, and I did, and then things went well,” he told the Tribune.
In his first game back, Dec. 19, Blackwell gathered all of his 5 feet and 9 inches and 190 pounds and rocked Nathan MacKinnon in the third period to help stymie a Colorado Avalanche rally.
Against the Montreal Canadiens — Blackwell’s second game — he pulled off a fancy spin move as he passed to Jason Dickinson to set up his goal.
“But that St. Louis game (Saturday) kind of left a sour taste in my mouth, so the combination of that and maybe I should have shaved it over the Christmas break, I got rid of it this morning,” he said.
He might start “maybe another new beard or tradition or something.”
While Blackwell’s looking for his next good luck charm, there’s one old standby he realized he had forgotten: the hit.
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“I saw a stat on Twitter that there were a handful of guys, maybe 10 guys, where their hits and attempted hits went down by a large percentage, I think it was, like, 40% or something along those lines,” he said. “And that’s not how I play the game.
He said his injury problems at least played a factor.
“I saw watching the games (this summer) that maybe that’s something that I — not necessarily shied away from — but I got away from it a little bit last year,” he said.
So Blackwell made a point that when he returned he’d be energetic and physical, some of the attributes he also noticed from film that the Hawks needed in greater abundance.
What gets credited as a “hit” by a statistician can be a bit subjective from arena to arena, but for the most part, Blackwell’s numbers showed a glaring disparity.
Two seasons ago, Blackwell racked up 91 hits in 58 games split between Seattle and Toronto, about 1.57 per game.
Last season, his first in Chicago, he had 49 in 53 games, about 0.9 per game.
In three games this season, he already has 10.
Coach Luke Richardson said, “Seeing a stat like that maybe helps you kind of reset and get back to what you really are. He was so good for us in the last few games, coming back, and I thought that’s where he finished off last year.
“He really found his game right before we had to shut him down at the end of the season and it was great for him to start out that same way.”
Richardson also believes Blackwell has more offensive potential.
“I’d like to see him get rewarded a little more on the scoresheet,” he said. “I thought he had a great play to Dickinson on that one goal, but he’s had some great chances himself. If one goes in, I think he stops gripping that stick so tight and he’ll start adding on the offensive side.
“But it all comes from his forechecking and backchecking abilities and he’s playing physical.”
Chicago Tribune Sports
Of course, Blackwell would like to do more scoring as well, but, “I only worry about the things that I can control. And that’s something that I can control — finishing checks and energy — and whether we’re up by a goal or down by a goal, cheering people on the bench and just bringing energy that way.”
Or as Richardson put it last week: “He gets a little bit feisty.”
Blackwell said Wednesday, “When you talk about feisty and stuff along those lines, that’s what I’m engaged in the game the most, playing physical, trying to get under the other team’s skin, and it’s something that I take pride in. …
“Getting some of the other players on the other team pretty frustrated is pretty fun in my book too. So just trying to play like a little pest out there is kind of the goal.”
Richardson agreed.
“Other teams know that and they start maybe making plays a little sooner than they should because they know he’s coming,” he said. “He’s a little bowling ball coming and he’s not going to skate by his checks.
“So that helps us. But for him, knowing what he is, that’s great for a hockey player to know as well.”