First Shift 🏒
Justin Hryckowian was the first player on the ice at practice on Wednesday.
It wasn’t a surprise, though, as the Quebec native holds the Bell Centre as a very special place in his heart.
“It felt really cool,” Hryckowian said. “I was excited to be here as soon as we landed. It’s a pretty special place.”
The journey for the 24-year-old rookie has been special, too.
The native of nearby L'Île-Bizard grew up playing hockey in the Montréal area, but then sought his path to the pros in the United States. He played two seasons in the USHL and then attended Northeastern University in Boston for three seasons. A couple of big scoring years put him on the Stars’ radar and he eventually signed a free agent contract with the organization in 2023.
As a member of the Texas Stars last season, he tallied 60 points (22 goals, 38 assists) and was named the AHL Rookie of the Year. He then made the Dallas roster out of training camp and has two goals in 16 games this season.
“He’s been playing well and that line has been playing well,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said of Hryckowian, Mavrik Bourque and Oskar Bäck. “They seem to have some chemistry together and they’re helping us create energy.”
Hryckowian is listed at 5-11, 195, but he plays much bigger. He’s tough along the boards and helps create possession for the Stars.
“He’s obviously a very competitive guy and he wins puck battles,” Gulutzan said. “Those kinds of guys are hard to play against. They can keep you in the offensive zone.”
That’s been important for the Stars as they have been in battles pretty much every game. On Tuesday, Dallas got down 2-0 at Ottawa and was losing a lot of the statistical possession battles. Then, the team flipped the script, started to control the puck more and eventually earned a 3-2 win in overtime. Having players like Hryckowian is a big reason for that.
Mix in the fact the team lost Adam Erne to a lower-body injury on Tuesday, and the impact of the depth forwards is even bigger. Benn and Duchene are still out with injuries, so the Stars need strong play until they return. Nathan Bastian might jump in on Thursday, but Dallas definitely needs all hands on deck.
Both Hryckowian and Bourque (who also is from Quebec) will have a ton of friends and family at the game, and that should be something the team feeds off of in a showdown with a strong Canadiens team.
“You try to make them proud and represent,” Hryckowian said.
While Gulutzan added: “I was actually thinking about him the last couple of days, growing up here. It will be a real treasure for him.”
