DeBrincat showing no fear with Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Alex DeBrincat emerged from the Chicago Blackhawks locker room Sunday without the mustache he sported through November.
He took plenty of teasing for that mustache; Patrick Sharp said it was too bad the 19-year-old had it for his first NHL hat trick last week. Artem Anisimov said DeBrincat had a bright future, as long as he shaved it.

"Rightfully so, they made fun of me," DeBrincat said with a laugh. "It was pretty ugly."
But DeBrincat's on-ice performance during November was anything but ugly. After having one goal and four assists in October, DeBrincat had 10 goals and four assists last month. He has been on the Blackhawks' third line with Sharp and Ryan Hartman for a few weeks, and that familiarity has helped him adapt to this level. But getting points has increased his confidence that much more and can only help his development.

"Well, he's a young kid. He has a lot of patience and poise and confidence in how he plays the game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "[It's] nice to be effective in doing what you like to do, and that's score and make plays and then the results are there as well. I think you look at his ice time, do you play him more, do you put him in different spots? He earns what he gets and he's improving the opportunity as he's going along based on his consistency and effort both sides of the puck. been a good situation for us."
When DeBrincat first joined the Blackhawks, the biggest question was how he would deal with bigger, faster players. There was no doubt about his scoring prowess; in his three seasons with Erie of the Ontario Hockey League, he scored 167 goals, including an Otters-record 65 last season. It was an adjustment here, but DeBrincat seemed to make it quickly.
"I mean, it's a lot faster. I'm getting used to it, so my mind has to think a little bit quicker and be in different places quicker and stuff like that," DeBrincat said. "But I think moving on now, I'm pretty comfortable with the game and the speed and I'm trying to do all the right things."
To his teammates, DeBrincat didn't look like he skipped a beat from his Erie days.
"He was playing like he's in junior hockey still, and that's a compliment," Sharp said. "Because he's looking to make those plays, he's not intimidated at all by the speed or the pace of the game and you can see the results."
DeBrincat is also fearless; the 5-foot-7 forward doesn't shy away from aggressive play or putting himself in the right spot to retrieve pucks or create a scoring chance. Most of his production comes in the slot.

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Kurtis MacDermid, who played a season with DeBrincat in Erie, noticed his determination right away.
"For not being a bigger guy, he's not afraid to go into the dirty areas and do the dirty work," MacDermid said. "He doesn't back down from anyone. That's what I noticed and I really respected a lot. And when he does that, he gets rewarded with goals."
DeBrincat's recent work begs the question: has he earned a promotion? The Blackhawks were on a scoring tear through a good part of November, but have quieted again lately. When that's happened in the past, Quenneville hasn't been shy about shuffling his lineup. The top line of Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik has been inconsistent, and Panik in particular has struggled. Quenneville has considered moving DeBrincat up, but he's also liked what he's done as part of that third line.

When Panik was bumped to the fourth line early in the Blackhawks' 3-1 loss against the Los Angeles Kings at United Center on Sunday, forward John Hayden replaced him on the top line.
If DeBrincat does move up, can he have the same success? He would be facing the opposition's top lines and defense pairings, but as far as his overall game, DeBrincat said he would stick with what he knows.
"I play a certain way and I don't think that really changes, no matter who I'm going against," he said. "I'm just going to keep playing my game and hopefully keep generating offense."
DeBrincat's transition to the NHL has been a relatively smooth one, but the true sign of his comfort level here was going to be his production. His goals have come in bunches lately. He hopes to keep it going.
"It's pretty easy to learn what [the Blackhawks] do and life's pretty good right now," DeBrincat said. "Hopefully we can get a few wins here this coming week and things will be a lot better."