Blackhaw’s striker Ryan Donato’s way of thinking to “continue to march forward” has driven the career year

Boston – When Ryan Donato is scored at least once in the last four games of the Blackhawks, he will score 30 goals in the season.

After celebrating his 29th birthday on Wednesday with friends and family at home in Boston – the Hawks schedule, which was perfect for him – it would be particularly fitting if he fulfilled the Bruins this Thursday.

Donato has recently sunk a little and played four consecutive games without a dot. And after the poor efforts of the Hawks on Tuesday, he was very frustrated against the penguins and asked the team to “shop and appear every evening, not just from each other”.

Due to the team’s fighting, Donatos Hustleik was sometimes the only constant. He delivered consistently, even if nobody else has. The fact that he scored 59 points that shaken his former career high of 31 in a 22-46-10 team is remarkable.

Back in a random December game, when Donato had only 11 goals in his name, he had a two-against-zero storm from Kraken goalkeeper Joey Daccord. The next day, Donato discussed his mental approach to changing opportunities instead of calming what could have been.

In view of the context of his impressive season as a whole, his comments are worth a publication on this day.

“There is no real thing that you can do that you will be less upset about it,” said Donato on December 20. “In the heat of the game, when she came up with something that has happened, it is difficult to get into a state of mind in which you do something better (or) something where you will create a different chance. You cannot live in the past. You have to continue marching forward.

“With how many games there is something new about which you can worry about – or you can use it to make yourself better. It took a while to get into this setting in which you can simply continue and use you as a positive thing as a negative. The one chance. ‘I can try to get such a chance. “

Hockey can be random: Every goalkeeper can rob a selective shot and be fooled by a flying distraction on the same shift. Therefore, Donato has the feeling that it is not worth beating about anything.

“There will be a chance that you think a puck in the opinion that you don’t really have a chance – you just try to create a rebound – and somehow sneaks up,” he added. “You can think about it in both directions.”

Improved skating was probably the biggest reason for Donato’s breakout season. Last summer he worked with a skating trainer based in Tampa and eliminated what was previously a weakness of his game.

This summer he is planning more skating work. As always, he will be based in Boston, but he will make four or five separate trips to Tampa and call it “even more of an investment”.

“I was lucky enough to unlock a little this year – as far as it can skate a little better – but I think there is still plenty of space to grow,” he said on Tuesday. “I still learn a lot from the stuff you taught me.”

Donato’s pending free agency will also hang in summer, at least until July. He deserves a great increase in his current stopping capital of $ 2 million, which has made him the best value of the NHL this season (without entry contracts) if it was measured to dollars per point.

He and the HAWKs both have given mutual interest in the preparation of a contract, but they have not yet reached a financial compromise.

“My way of thinking has not changed: I want to be here,” said Donato. “But there is no update on this front.”