Rozner: Colliton's influence growing on Chicago Blackhawks

Jeremy Colliton had one of the quotes of the year in late February after a frustrating weekend in which the Chicago Blackhawks dropped a pair of games at home to Colorado and Dallas, two teams the Hawks were battling in the playoff race, two teams that would go on to reach the postseason and win a series.

Colliton didn't offer up a name regarding a devastating too many men penalty, but it was Patrick Kane standing alone behind the Dallas defense near the visitors' blue line - in a tie game in the third period - when the Hawks were called for the infraction.

"We had them in their end, hemmed in for a long stretch of time and no one wanted to change," Colliton said, sounding rather frustrated. "Then, everyone needs to change on the way back and then there's confusion at the bench.

"I'm not gonna point any fingers. We have to change earlier. That's it."

Simply put, get off the ice. You know when it's time. Do the right thing.

Kane was hardly alone over the past few years in thinking about only one side of the ice, but it's a mindset that has to change if the Hawks are to become a playoff team again.

All five players on the ice must possess a defense-first mentality.

"It's better than it was, but we're not where we need to be," Colliton said the day the Hawks cleaned out their lockers in early April. "If you compare how our forwards played to some of the top defensive teams, I don't think we're there."

It's been a theme here during their playoff absence, and there's no doubt the new Hawks coach wants to change some bad habits.

But do enough forwards really care about winning, or just scoring?

Colliton is going to have to hold players accountable, not easy when you're a rookie coach and you have Hall of Famers on the roster, players who have been given free grazing rights for years.

In that respect, his job was difficult, replacing a Hall of Fame coach in the middle of a season and attempting to change systems and responsibility while also trying to earn the players' trust.

But as he sent the players home for the summer, he did not leave open for interpretation what he wants next season.

"That's one more thing we can do from the beginning of training camp," Colliton said. "It's just a habit, and just because you're doing that doesn't mean you're giving up offense. In fact, I believe you get more offense from defense.

"You get the puck back quicker, you force turnovers, and then you have transition opportunities.

"If you're slow on the way back, then there's no back pressure. Then the defense can't hold the gap. Then it's a clean entry. Then you're playing in the defensive zone. And then you waste your shift.

"So we have to do it."

This is hardly revolutionary, but now he's got his general manager looking for grinders to fill important roles. They added size on defense - finally - and the presence of Andrew Shaw up front.

"He goes go to the net. That's where you need to be if you want to score in today's game," said GM Stan Bowman. "We scored a lot of highlight-type goals and transition goals last year, but I think Andrew can help us score a lot of the other type goals."

That's rather stunning.

Bowman has even talked publicly about wanting to add skaters who think defense, something Shaw will do, and understand their role might not always be to score, that they'll have to play heavy minutes against the opposition's best players.

He's talking about being hard on the puck in the offensive zone, pinning the other team in and turning over the offense to those who do it best, and that the Hawks haven't had enough of that mentality on the roster.

That's another significant admission, the first step to changing that part of the roster, and there is little doubt that Colliton has had an influence in that regard.

But that's one thing Bowman has never been shy about. If his coach wants something, he usually gets it done, even at times in the past when he probably disagreed.

It's quite clear that Colliton is seeking change, both in style and culture.

The roster right now is much better than it was a few weeks ago. Now, the coach has work to do as well.