Bringing the boom: How Blackwell’s hit is a microcosm of Stars’ altered mentality

The great thing about Glen Gulutzan’s “One Degree More” philosophy is who it has touched the most.

Colin Blackwell can be feisty, he certainly shows up every game and he can get under the skin of opponents. But he has not been a real physical force…until now.

The Harvard graduate who is listed at 5-8, 181, simply doesn’t have the physical mass to have a truly significant impact in collisions. And yet, there he was crushing Yakov Trenin (the NHL hits leader, who is listed at 6-2, 201) at center ice in the first period of Game 2, knocking the NHL’s hits leader from the regular season out of the game.

The clean hit is part of hockey, and it is especially important in the playoffs. Dallas didn’t always have that element last season, and Gulutzan pushed hard from training camp to make sure it was there.

Players like Blackwell, Justin Hryckowian and Mavrik Bourque were among the first to jump on board. Ironically enough, they are three of the smaller players in the Dallas lineup. They are scrappers fighting to move up the lineup – or, at times, to just get into the lineup. Hryckowian is an undrafted rookie and had to earn everything. Bourque and Blackwell have been healthy scratches in recent postseasons. So, yeah, following the coach’s orders seemed like a good idea.

But in bringing this element into their games, they became better players. They engage more, they hunt the puck better, they are around the net more. Hryckowian scored 14 goals among 30 points and finished third on the team with 119 hits. Bourque went from 11 goals last season to 20 this year and registered 41 points. Blackwell’s numbers went down slightly, but the hit Monday shows how he has changed.

“He’s got so much grit and desire,” Gulutzan said. “This last stretch when we have had a bunch of injuries, he’s played his best hockey. He rose to the challenge at the end of the year and he’s been a good bolt of energy every night.”

And that is what physicality can do. It not only gets the molecules moving on the ice, it gets them moving in your brain. The Stars in Game 2 were much more confident, much more aggressive and much more calm, strangely enough. They knew they were getting to the Wild, and that fed the entire Victory Green aura.

“Blacky always plays with heart and compete,” said teammate Jason Robertson. “That [hit] sparked a lot of emotion for both sides. We need that emotion.”

The Stars seemed to lack that emotion last season against Edmonton, and Gulutzan was an assistant coach on the Oilers bench. That’s one reason he pushed so hard for it during the season. And while it took some time, there has been a transformation. When Hryckowian was jawing with the Oilers bench in March and then the entire team was both physically and mentally engaged in games against Colorado and Minnesota three times after that, you saw an attitude adjustment. Blackwell was a big part of that. So was Bourque. Heck, players like Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell got pulled into the mess as well.

That’s a good thing. It really does build the “All For One, One for All” vibe.

“Our identity is fast and forechecking, and getting in on the forechecking and creating offense that way, especially our bottom two lines right now,” Blackwell said. “I thought we did a much better job tonight of doing that and I think that just breeds a little more physicality getting in on the D and just trying to slow them down. Obviously, they are a big, heavy team, they responded pretty well too, but that’s what it's going to be like every single game and it's a lot of fun to play in.”

There is a pack mentality, and it goes both ways. Minnesota was pushing back because of the Blackwell hit, they wanted to stand up for their teammates. As a result, Minnesota handed Dallas five power plays and the Stars scored on two. It makes a difference.

By the end of the game, it was Minnesota who was disheveled and looking for revenge instead of the Stars.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to become a player’s series,” Gulutzan said. “That’s what these things become, they become 100 percent on the players. That’s what makes these series great.”

The Stars have been training all year for that, and now they hope to embrace being in the fight.

"It’s fun,” said Blackwell. “I enjoy playing physical. Trust me, I get hit all of the time."

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.