Tallest tree in forest? Benn attacking new season with actions, not words

One of my favorite moments of the summer came when Jamie Benn and I were doing one of the "On The Fly" interviews that concentrates on things other than hockey.
Benn was engaged and accommodating with all of my goofiness until we got to the end. Asked the Barbara Walters question: "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?," Benn finally revealed the true nature of his personality.
"I don't know, Heiks," he said with a sigh, "I don't really want to be a tree."
And in that moment, the 29-year-old winger showed what makes him a captain. He works hard at promoting the team, he works hard at doing whatever is necessary to help the media, he works hard at being the face of the franchise. But, really, he just wants to play hockey.

"He's a quiet guy, but when he speaks up, everyone listens," said forward Devin Shore. "I think a captain leads by example, and there is no better example than Jamie Benn."
Benn will start his 10th NHL season Thursday, and he's ready to lead … by example, by passion, by force if necessary. The fifth-round draft pick from 2007 has blossomed into one of the best power forwards in the NHL, and has garnered not only an Art Ross Trophy in 2015, but two spots on the NHL's First All-Star Team (2015 and 2016). No other player in franchise history has even one First All-Star Team award, given to the player judged to be the best at his position that season.
Still, the do-it-all forward has been to the playoffs just twice in his NHL career and has only 19 postseason games to show for it, so he's ready to get down to business.

"There's a lot of hunger here. I think guys are focused," Benn said. "Obviously, we're sick of missing the playoffs, so we're a determined group."
And Benn is a good leader of that group. He might be the hungriest of the bunch, and he might be the one player who can make that emotion tangible to his teammates.
"He makes it pretty easy for everyone to follow," said linemate Tyler Seguin, who said Benn isn't as quiet as people think. "He's grown into the role, and he's really comfortable now, and I think that shows when he's on the ice."
Benn can go into "Beast Mode" at times and drag the Stars into a battle. It's maybe the best sign of the kind of leader he is.
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"He definitely sets the tone," forward Tyler Pitlick said. "If he makes a big hit or he's staring a guy down in the faceoff circle, everyone gets jacked up. No one messes with him, you can feel that out there. He can back it up, and it's fun to watch and fun to see that side of him."
Shore, who served as captain when he was at the University of Maine, said it's possibly the most important thing a player can do in that role.
"The brand of hockey he plays, the fact he is willing to do anything to help his team, that's really inspiring," Shore said. "He's a superstar, but he's willing to go in the corners to win a puck, he's willing to block shots, he's willing to fight. By doing that, he wins the respect of the entire team, and that makes him very easy to follow."
New coach Jim Montgomery is forging a relationship with Benn, and said he already sees the passion and the focus.

"We had a meeting today on what we need to accomplish these next two days in order to be good Thursday night, and I asked him, 'Do I need to be concerned with our defensive effort our last two games, or is this you guys waiting for Thursday night and you're ready to go?'," Montgomery said Tuesday. "And he said we have to be concerned because our habits aren't good enough. That made me comfortable that he realizes we need to get better, because the easy way would have been just to agree with what my question was."
But Benn isn't interested in the easy way. He has seen past seasons frittered away, and he knows that every year lost is a year he can't get back.
"We've got to stop wasting the good talent we have here," Benn said. "Ten years later goes by fast and you have to take advantage of the good teams that you have, and we have a good team here."
With one of the best lines in hockey (Benn, Seguin and Alexander Radulov), a young and talented defense, and a new coach who is preaching an aggressive system that should be a good fit for the personnel, the Stars could have a really good team. But they have to prove that on the ice and they have to prove it quickly.
Benn understands that as much as anyone, and he's ready to do what it takes to make winning happen.
"He cares," said Montgomery. "And he's a man of few words."
Even more so when it comes to arboreal metaphors.
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 Twitter @MikeHeika.