Blackhawks' DeBrincat hopes extra off-season effort pays off

When Patrick Kane's rookie season came to an end in 2008, the Buffalo native couldn't wait to get back to the comforts of home.

Mom. Dad. Friends. Familiar hangouts and restaurants.

The 19-year-old Kane couldn't imagine spending the summer by himself in Chicago.

Ten years later, though, a 20-year-old Alex DeBrincat made that choice. Which impressed - and somewhat stunned - his Blackhawks teammate and friend.

"Yeah, pretty impressive," Kane said. "He definitely worked hard this summer. It looks like he's moving really well on the ice and in pretty good shape. I could see a big season coming out of him."

That's the plan - one that started with a decision DeBrincat made about halfway through a campaign in which he opened plenty of eyes by becoming the second rookie to lead the Hawks in goals since 1984.

Alex lives here?

Every time Tracey DeBrincat walks into her son's apartment in downtown Chicago, she has the same thought: "Alex must have somebody cleaning this place."

The closet is perfect. The dishes are done. Floors are clean. The bed is made.

Seriously, is this where her son lives? And where are these habits when the Hawks' forward spends a few days with his family in Michigan?

"I say, 'Why when you come home, does it look like a tornado hit the house?'" Tracey said, laughing. "And it does. When he comes home, there's his stuff everywhere."

Other than being a slob and picking fights with his older brother - one of which resulted in a trip to the hospital after Alex hit his head on a coffee table - his mom and dad rarely had much to complain about.

So when Tracey found out of his plans to stay in Chicago, it really didn't faze her.

Much.

"We saw him more than we thought we would," she said. "But it was weird thinking, 'Oh. He's done living here now. That's kind of sad.' But the excitement for him kind of evens that out."

Why stay?

Alex's primary motivation for remaining in Chicago was simple: He wants to be the best hockey player he can be. And there's no better place to make that happen than at MB Ice Arena working with head trainer Paul Goodman.

"He knows what I need to work on and what can help me," DeBrincat said. "It was definitely a good move for me. … This facility is unreal.

"It wasn't too hard of a decision. … Chicago is a little bit different in the summer than in the winter."

Said Goodman, the Hawks' trainer since 2008: "I can't speak highly enough about him. I couldn't have had a better off-season with that guy."

DeBrincat is just 5-foot-7 and 165 pounds, which means he's about a half-foot shorter and 30-40 pounds lighter than almost every Hawks defenseman. To become a more complete player, DeBrincat worked to get stronger, but Goodman said "absolute strength or absolute size - that's not important."

So they worked on increasing DeBrincat's already impressive speed by doing plenty of leg work. DeBrincat said one of his goals this season is to be able to hold onto the puck longer in order to create more space for himself.

So how did he do? An emphatic Goodman said the 2018 DeBrincat is "a light year" ahead of the 2017 DeBrincat.

But the most exciting part? He still has plenty of room to grow.

"He's laid the foundation, he has the knowledge base, he understands the level of tempo," Goodman said. "When it's time to go, you go. And the rest says it's over and you're not ready - well, you've still got to go."

A new(er) role

Last season, DeBrincat was a lot like a streaky 3-point shooter or a baseball player who hits .500 for three weeks.

To wit:

• After scoring 1 goal in the first 12 games, he pumped in 11 in the next 17.

• He then managed just 2 goals in Games 30-48, but broke out of that slump with an 8-goals-in-11-games stretch that began with a hat trick at Detroit.

• A 13-game goal-less streak ensued, but he closed out the campaign with 6 more tallies in the final 10 contests.

His 28 goals led the Hawks and was third among rookies, behind only Winnipeg's Kyle Connor (31) and Vancouver's Brock Boeser (29).

While DeBrincat did much of his damage playing on the third line, he also scored eight times in 19 starts with Toews on the top line.

So there really shouldn't be any concerns about DeBrincat producing against top defensive pairs this season.

"Last year he played against a lot of top groups as the year progressed," Quenneville said. "People started being aware he can be a dangerous scorer and a top guy. As a young guy if he's producing at that rate, eventually he's going to be moving up the ladder. ... That's the way you evolve to be one of the better players in the game."

DeBrincat, Toews and Dominik Kahun have shown impressive chemistry since Quenneville made them a line during the second week of training camp, and they really stood out in the Hawks' season-opening win at Ottawa on Thursday. DeBrincat scored the Hawks' first goal of the season on a wicked 35-foot wrister through a defenseman, and Toews followed with a snap shot that found its mark less than six minutes later.

"We all know that he's a great little shooter - that he can score goals," Toews said. "He's (also) getting more and more poised, more and more confident with the puck.

"I've been telling him, 'If you don't think I'm open, you don't have to pass to me. Hold onto it. Be selfish with it.'

"(Now) I can just disappear … and get to open areas. He's been doing a great job of hanging onto it, and our puck possession with Dominik has been really good."

Sweet home, Chicago

Odd as it sounds now, a year ago at this time we were wondering if DeBrincat would make the Hawks' opening-night roster. Once he did, he had to grow up in a hurry.

He moved into his own apartment. Bought a new car. Did his own laundry and dishes. Figured out that Uber Eats and Postmates are great when he didn't want to cook - which was most of the time.

It was a lot to handle, and even though he hasn't been with his parents full time since he was 15, Tracey couldn't help thinking: "I can't believe my 19-, 20-year old is living on his own in a big city. It was weird."

Since then, Alex and his girlfriend bought a Shiba Inu puppy they named Ralph, and all three have settled in to the life of a professional athlete. Other than working out, Alex passed the time this summer by golfing with Patrick Kane, Nick Schmaltz, Jonathan Toews and others; playing plenty of video games (NHL, Maddon and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour are among his favorites); and just kicking back, relaxing and enjoying the city.

Now it's time to drop the puck on a his sophomore season. One he expects to be even better than a year that exceeded almost everyone's expectations.

Everyone's, except perhaps, his own.

"It was a dream come true to play last year," DeBrincat said. "A lot of ups and downs. It really taught me a lot. …

"I believed in myself and I thought I could play at that level. Hopefully I proved to everyone that I can."

• Twitter: @johndietzdh