■ Blackhawks rookie Gilbert finds comfort in advice from father.
When Gilbert got called up, he called up his dad in search of wisdom
Dennis Gilbert’s trip to Buffalo, N.Y., over the holiday break was full of everything he loves about home.
He spent with friends and his huge extended family — aunts, uncles, cousins and grandma — who have sent him supportive texts since Gilbert rejoined the Blackhawks on Dec. 5.
The only odd part happened as he was leaving town. A stranger stopped him at a Tim Hortons in Buffalo and paid for his cup of coffee.
“He said: ‘Good luck the rest of the season,’” Gilbert said. “I never had something like that happen, so that was … nice.”
Gilbert, 23, had better get used to being recognized in Chicago as well. In a remarkably short time, the rookie defenseman who was the Hawks’ third-round pick in 2015 appears to have carved out a home on their blue line.
The most recent opportunity presented itself when Duncan Keith suffered a groin injury in early December. The Hawks recalled Gilbert, who played in the season opener while Calvin de Haan and Calvin Murphy were injured hurt, from Rockford for the second time.
Gilbert had played in four NHL games when the latest chance arrived. But something felt different about the opportunity. He wasn’t expecting it.
So before the Dec. 5 game against the Bruins in Boston, he called his dad, Dennis Sr., to tell him of his recent call-up and shared his anxiety.
If it sounds as if they have a strong relationship, they do. Dennis Sr. is a retired Buffalo police officer who was also his son’s high school football coach.
He knew just what to say to calm his son.
“I didn’t want to make a mistake or be the reason why something horrible happened,” Gilbert said. “And my dad just said, ‘You don’t know if it’s going to be a day, a week or the rest of your life. … Might as well go up there and have fun and enjoy yourself. And if you get sent down, then at least you go, OK, I did it the way I wanted to and felt comfortable and wasn’t afraid of the moment.’
“And that’s honestly what I did. I was like it’s a bigger arena and there’s a lot better players, especially the high-end guys, but just play like it’s an American (Hockey) League game or a big college game that you get amped up for. So that’s what I tried to do. I just felt more comfortable from that conversation.”
And it has showed on the ice. Gilbert has played in 12 straight games and seemingly improved with each one. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, the physical Gilbert has thrown his body around with abandon. He has 23 blocked shots since getting recalled, including 14 in the last five games.
And yes, he has dropped the gloves — he has been involved in four scraps in the last 11 games. But Gilbert doesn’t fight to impress coaches or become an enforcer, a role largely extinct in the NHL.
What Gilbert will do — and has done in his four fights this season — is stand up for teammates. So when the Islanders’ Ross Johnston crosschecked him late in the third period Friday night and appeared to want to drop the gloves, Gilbert didn’t oblige.
Not when Gilbert thought Johnston was just trying to show his coaches how unhappy he was that the Islanders were getting thumped — the Hawks won 5-2.
“Why would I risk breaking my hand or an orbital bone just to let him prove that?” Gilbert said. “The biggest thing was if he takes a shot at me there, we get a power play and the game’s over. It’s over already, but now it’s really over. So why would I get in a fight? If you do it to someone else, that’s how you get me to react.”
Later in the third, with Gilbert on the bench, the Islanders’ Matt Martin took a cheap shot at Patrick Kane, and several Hawks — including Slater Koekkoek and Connor Murphy — were all over Martin immediately.
“It was great to see Kooks get in there and mix it up and Murph jump in and Kaner giving him a shot,” Gilbert said. “That was awesome. We’re not going to back down. He’s one of the tougher guys in the league, but we’re going to stick up for each other and play hard. I like that. That was my favorite part of the game, to be honest.”
Hold on a second: The goal he scored in the first period — the first of his NHL career that came on a nifty backhander in the slot — wasn’t his favorite part?
“No,” Gilbert said. “Just closed my eyes there.”
That team-first, workmanlike mentality is partly why Gilbert’s teammates have taken to him — and why Jeremy Colliton doesn’t want to take him out of the lineup. Gilbert asserted himself so quickly that Colliton made veteran Brent Seabrook a healthy scratch to keep Gilbert on the ice.
Gilbert’s strong play likely played a role in Seabrook deciding to take care of nagging injuries to his right shoulder and both hips rather than spend frequent nights as a healthy scratch.
“He brought physicality and that grittiness, toughness right when he came up,” Murphy said of Gilbert. “Every game it seems like he’s gotten more confident with the puck and skating and making plays and reading plays. And when he’s out there controlling his shifts more, it’s fun to see. He’s a great guy and a great teammate. He’s funny. …
“So it makes it fun on the D-side to be on the bench with him. And it fires guys up — the toughness and the sacrifice he’s willing to give, whether it’s blocking shots or fighting any night and any person. It speaks a lot, and you gain a lot of respect from your teammates and even from the league when you do that. We’re lucky to have him.”