Chicago Blackhawks: Andrew Shaw Takes a Licking, Can He Keep on Ticking?

Chicago Blackhawks rookie forward Andrew Shaw is grit personified. I'm constantly surprised that the kid doesn't leak sand when he's cut.

Shaw has the moxie to stick in the NHL despite just being drafted in the fifth round in last summer's draft. However, you have to wonder if he's built to last playing the type of game that gives him a shot at an NHL career.

Back up for his second stint with the Blackhawks, Shaw is skating regular checking-line minutes with Dave Bolland and Bryan Bickell. He has two goals in the five games since being recalled February 27th.

Shaw is just 20 years old, but has reached the top level of professional hockey after just half a season of AHL action. The game that has endeared him to fans is an all-out infusion of energy. Shaw gets to the net, goes to the dirty areas, hits anything that moves and backs down to no one.

At 5'10" and 180 pounds (and that might be a bit generous) and little in the way of a polished offensive arsenal, Shaw has scratched out seven goals and four assists largely by attacking the crease. He routinely has to do this against larger, stronger opponents.

Playing this style will get the hell beaten out of you. If Shaw didn't know that by now, he's finding out.

A collision with Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist left Shaw with a large gash over his left eye. After getting a face full of Lundqvist's mask, Shaw went off to be stitched up. Returning to redirect a Johnny Oduya shot for Chicago's first goal in a 4-3 win over New York Friday night, Shaw characteristically took to the boards to celebrate.

During the brief period Shaw was back in Rockford last month, the Ice Hogs went into a shootout with Milwaukee at the BMO Center February 25th. Shaw took the third shot (out of five in the AHL), converted, then lost an edge and went in hard against the boards.

"Geez, I wonder if he's O.K.," wondered a Milwaukee fan who happened to be sitting next to me.

"Don't worry," I replied. "If he hadn't fallen down, he was still going to throw himself against the boards."

Typical Shaw. His style netted him 12 goals and 23 points in 38 AHL contests and is a carbon copy of what fans have seen in Chicago. Shaw regularly got in the faces of opponents who towered over him and had no problem dropping the gloves with them.

The resiliency of youth has a hand in keeping Shaw on the ice as the drive to the playoffs continues, but a guy his size is going to suffer some damage. Unless Shaw is constructed of some space-age alloy that prevents his body breaking down, that is.

Shaw is probably best-suited for work on the fourth line. That's really where he fits into the league unless he somehow develops the puck skills of a player such as Theo Fleury, another little guy who skated without fear on the ice.

I could see Shaw carving out a nice NHL career, as there is always a market for his brand of hustle. How long that career lasts depends on how he holds up physically to the banging his style of play demands.