ONA KNIFE EDGE
Hard-working grinder Motte makes presence felt on fourth line with Beagle
CANUCKS Tyler Motte is a new-age grinder — small, fast, and always walking the razor-thin line between NHL stud and dud
CHICAGO — Tyler Motte knows it would take a Chelsea Dagger — an actual knife and not the burlesque dancer depicted in the popular sporting anthem — to kill a commitment to return the Chicago Blackhawks to a place of NHL prominence.
The former Blackhawks forward also knows these guys are not those guys — that super-skilled and incredibly willed bunch that won the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015 — because they got long in the tooth and were slow to transition to a youth-oriented game.
However, Motte knows something else about these Hawks, who have won five straight games and are three points back of the final Western Conference wild-card playoff spot :
“They’ve got quite a few in that room who have won in the playoffs and they’re still hungry,” said the Vancouver Canucks’ fourth-line right winger, who was a fourthround pick of the Blackhawks in 2013 and played 33 NHL games three years later, before being traded to Columbus.
“In my rookie year, every day I tried to take everything you can and take it to heart, whether it was coming from (former coach Joel) Quenneville or (Patrick) Kane or Jonathan (Toews).
“You have a lot of respect for the players and Quenneville going in. He was pretty calm and collected in the room, but he wasn’t afraid to get on a guy when he needed to. He knew how to control the room from a respect point and push the group in the right direction.”
Quenneville is gone, but Kane and Toews have arrived again to spark the drive to get the Madhouse On Madison jumping again. Kane was second in league scoring after 52 games with 78 points (32-46), while Toews has turned back the clock and ramped up his resolve with 53 points (23-30) to crack the top 30 in scoring.
The Blackhawks also have a dozen players 23 years of age or younger, so they’re getting the job done in the standings and with a transitioning roster. As for Motte, being traded twice and with his third NHL club at age 23 can do one of two things: It can either heighten the resolve to prove a small winger can thrive in what is usually a big man’s role — bumping and grinding on the fourth line — or shrink from the challenge.
Ten years ago, it would have been tough for Motte to beat the stigma that you had to be six-foot-two and 220 pounds to pound away in a fourth-line role. Listed at five-foot-10 and 192 pounds, the St. Clair, Mich., native and University of Michigan standout is a fast and fearless forechecker and a trendsetter.
“A lot of guys have paved the way to get me to this point,” said Motte, who has a career-high 14 points (7-7) in 52 games this season and who once had a 32-goal NCAA season. “The game has changed a little bit. It’s gone to skill and speed, which helps me.
“I feel I can play and skate with some of the best, even with the size difference. It doesn’t get in my head at all. I just play my game.”
That game includes leading the Canucks in hits, and Motte is third among club forwards in blocked shots and takeaways to become a roster staple with Jay Beagle and various left wingers.
“Some people might be surprised because of my size, but that’s been my game,” Motte added. “And it’s pretty clear my role on a lot of nights is to make the other team’s night hard — whether hard on the body or hard in the D-zone or finishing checks.
“It’s just kind of snowballed here as we’ve got it going. It’s not where I go out every night and say I want four or five hits, but if the opportunity is there, I’m going to take it.”
Motte had 56 points (32-24) in his final season with the powerhouse Wolverines whose roster included current NHL standouts Kyle Connor, Zach Werenski and J.T. Compher. But they dropped the 2016 regional final 5-2 to eventual national champion North Dakota, a dominant team that included Brock Boeser and Troy Stecher.
Most importantly, Motte got life lessons on and off the ice from legendary Michigan coach Red Berenson.
“One of his things is, you have more time than you think with the puck — especially your first couple of years in college against bigger and older guys,” Motte recalled.
“Some players are a little jumpy and it can be the same at this level. You should take a moment to make a play and sometimes you rush it. I took every opportunity with the little things and just the passion he had for the game.”
It has rubbed off.
“I didn’t know much about (Motte), but right from the get-go at camp, I knew he was a special player,” Beagle said. “You just see with the work ethic and the willingness to learn and ask the right questions. And he’s a bull and that’s a huge asset on your line.
“He wins battles and hits hard. Little guys who are strong are dangerous.”