Nov. 27--DENVER -- By the time Brent Seabrook left the ice as the Blackhawks' morning skate in Denver was winding down Wednesday, the veteran defenseman had fired 41 shots toward the nets at both ends of the rink.
Most of the shots during the 30-minute session hours before the Hawks' game against the Avalanche were missiles from just inside the blue line as Seabrook hammered away at feeds from assistant coach Mike Kitchen.
It has been a familiar sight this season, Seabrook unloading perhaps the heaviest slap shot on the Hawks while also often joining the rush to help activate the offense.
"I feel like I've always had a good shot," Seabrook said. "I've always liked to try and shoot for tips and just over the goaltender's pads. It's been working; I've been having some chances to get some good shots and pucks on net. We have guys going to the net and guys getting in front of the net and it's a lot harder for the goaltender to see it and you can slide some pucks through."
The pucks have been going through for Seabrook this season as he rode a five-game points streak into Wednesday's game (two goals and three assists). With five scores and seven assists in 21 games, Seabrook was second on the team to defensive partner Duncan Keith in scoring from the blue line and is well on his way toward eclipsing his career high of nine goals in a season reached three times. Three of Seabrook's goals this season have been while manning the point on the power play.
"(Seabrook's) big weapon is his shot and getting it through," coach Joel Quenneville said. "It's so heavy, it can beat goalies right from the point. You certainly get a lot of action if they do stop it. It's been an effective weapon and he's certainly helped our power play."
While maintaining solid shutdown play that make them among the NHL's top defensive pairings, Seabrook and Keith have aided an offensive that ranks tied for seventh in the league with 2.86 goals per game.
"We're just trying to get up in the play," Seabrook said. "Our team works pretty well with the puck and makes pretty good plays. By getting up in the play and helping out the back side of the rush, we're able to maybe relieve some pressure from our forwards and have some opportunities to break out with some pucks and get pucks to them quicker."
With any defenseman, the first priority is preventing pucks from going in their own net before worrying about depositing them in opponents'. After an up-and-down 2012-13 season in that department, Seabrook is working hard to be solid game in and game out.
"It's always a work in progress," he said. "I'm always working on consistency and trying to get better. This year there have been some good games and some bad games. I just continue to try to work on it."
Added Quenneville: "(Seabrook) has gotten off to a decent start. I think he's playing better now and we've still got that solid pair with him and Duncan and I think overall our team game is starting to trend in a positive fashion. Seabrook's contributions have been pretty good."
Seabrook has been a mainstay along the blue line for the Hawks since debuting at the start of the 2005-06 season. Entering Wednesday's game, he ranked sixth in goals (68), seventh in games played (702) and eighth in assists (231) among Hawks defensemen all time.
At 29, the Richmond, British Columbia, native said there is still room for improvement.
"There are always other levels to your game," he said. "You're always trying to get better and try to compete better. I'm definitely not at my ceiling. I want to continue to work at it and get better and be consistent and do as much as I can out there."
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