Ex-Hawk Byfuglien back on defense and loving it

ATLANTA -- Dustin Byfuglien finished last season as the best power forward in the NHL with 11 goals in the playoffs 5 of them game winners to help the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup.

But these days Byfuglien is the Duncan Keith of the Thrashers, a full-time defenseman getting huge ice time, leading the offense, and enjoying every minute of it.

Byfuglien's 5 goals (including 3 game winners) leads the league among defensemen and his 12 points were tied with Keith and Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom for first among blue liners going into Friday's games.

“It's been going well so far,” Byfuglien said. “Just coming into camp and just knowing I was going to be a defenseman from the get-go, I had time just to think and get focused on defense instead of worrying about where I'm going to be playing.”

Byfuglien played defense in spots last season for the Hawks because of injuries to Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook, but it was in front of the net where the 6-foot-5, 265-pounder made a difference in the playoffs.

The decision by the Thrashers to make Byfuglien a full-time defenseman surprised many, but nobody was more vocal than former player Jeremy Roenick on his radio show.

“That might be the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life, Dustin Byfuglien as a defenseman,” Roenick said last summer. “I would love to play against Dustin Byfuglien as a defenseman. I would turn him inside out, left, right and center, every single time.

“This kid, he made his living in front of the net scoring goals during the playoffs for the Chicago Blackhawks. Why on earth would you put him back as a defenseman? It's crazy. What are they thinking?”

Byfuglien grew up a defenseman and broke into the league as one until former Hawks coach Denis Savard moved him up front.

“He likes defense,” Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said. “He wants to be there.”

Byfuglien is averaging more than 22 minutes of ice time and plays in every key situation.

“Buff's having a good time,” teammate Brent Sopel said. “Buff always has a good time with things. He's got a little more freedom to get up in the play and do things like that.

“In Chicago, his role was being on the point only for a short amount of time near the end of the season and in the playoffs, and that's a little different hockey than what you get at the beginning of the year. He's having fun and playing the minutes and contributing. You know Buff, smile on his face, having a good time. He's playing well.”