Paul Bittner swooped around from behind the net and found himself alone in front of the cage.
That’s the place good forwards are supposed to go, and there’s a reason. Dallas Stars goaltender Landon Bow made a save at the left post and the puck bounced back to his right in front of the yawning cage.
Standing alone there, Bittner took a backhanded swipe at the puck but couldn’t knock it into the open net. He took another with the same result as the Bow slammed his stick down into the crease in a last-ditch attempt to try to stop the goal.
Finally, on the third try, as a Stars defender started to shove Bittner out of the way, the Columbus Blue Jackets forward slid the puck into the net on his forehand, giving the team a 1-0 lead in the first game of the team’s run at the recent Traverse City Prospects Tournament.
It was Bittner’s first goal in a competitive game for the Blue Jackets in almost a year, and it wouldn’t be his last. The 20-year-old tied for the team lead with three goals in the four-game tournament, including an empty-netter against the Stars to give him a two-goal game and another in a game against St. Louis.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I didn’t score a goal last season in the (American Hockey League) so when I got that first one, I was really excited. It felt good to get a couple under my belt.”
In fact, Bittner going all of last year – 31 games worth – in Cleveland without scoring a goal is really where this story begins. And it’s how Bittner has ended up, less than a year after considering leaving the game, back on the path toward being a contributor for the Blue Jackets.
It happens all the time. You live your life thinking you’re on a certain path. It’s the only path, one in which success in your mind is predetermined and assured.
Then, one day, it looks like it’s not the right path at all.
The past two years were about as tough as Paul Bittner could have had professionally. He was a second-round pick of the Blue Jackets in the 2015 draft, held after he posted 34 goals and 37 assists for 71 points in 66 games with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. He was big at 6-foot-5 but could skate like someone much smaller and also put the puck in the net while playing a full 200-foot game.
Fully anointed as a top prospect, he returned to Portland for another season but ended up seeing his junior career end because of hip surgery. After coming back and making his pro debut during in the spring of 2016 in Cleveland, he suffered a sports hernia. Robbed of some of his skating ability because of that last season, he never got going with the Monsters, then dealt with the effects of a concussion. On top of it all, he couldn’t put the puck in the net.
By late February, Bittner had zero goals and zero idea how to get his status as a prospect on track. On Feb. 20, the Monsters announced he would be taking a leave of absence.
“It was really tough,” Bittner said. “I had a downspell in my season. I was really worried if this was the right career path, in a sense, where guys make this a career whether it be in the AHL or NHL. I just needed to take time away and reevaluate what I’m doing and why I was doing it.”
Bittner was encouraged by the organization – not shunned – when he made the choice to step away, and it appears the decision has made all the difference. Bittner found a new outlook on his game and career, leaning on friends like Oliver Bjorkstrand and using meditation to find balance in his approach.
“When I was away, I realized I love this game,” Bittner said. “I went back to being a kid. I got into meditating, things like that. I really enjoy that. I have some cool visions and stuff like that. I’m not going all hippie on you, but it really helped me just calm things down and put things in perspective instead of thinking big picture, like, ‘Next year, oh my God, am I going to be down here?’
“You can’t think about that. You have to take it day by day. That’s what I learned. Taking a step back has made me realize how much I truly love the game, talking to my parents and remembering the times in the backyard ice rink my dad would make every year in the winter. I had to take a step away and realize I do truly love this game and want to play this game and make it a career.”
When you see Bittner today, you can’t miss the smile on his face – or the strip of hair that sits above his lip.
The decision to grow a mustache came from a bet with friends, and it’s certainly distinctive – even to opposing teams when Bittner hits the ice.
“The other team, off the draws, they asked me about it,” the Crookston, Minn., native said after the Stars game. “They’re like, ‘Good mustache, man.’ I’m channeling my inner Aaron Rogers. I hate to say it because I’m a Vikings fan at heart. I don’t like the Packers but he’s got a great muzzie.”
Bittner seems likely to begin the season back in Cleveland, where last year’s on-ice struggles led to his difficult year. Bittner still appears to have the support of the man who will be his coach with the Monsters, John Madden, who had nothing but praise for his style of play in Traverse City.
“That was the best I’ve seen him play,” Madden said. “It wasn’t necessarily highly skilled moves, which I know he has in his bag, but just the consistency, the smart plays, the thinking of the game. The little things that every coach talks about were on display for me.
“He’s a talented kid, and he’s had a really good summer in workouts, so he’s prepared and I’m happy for him. … I think that was gratifying for a lot of people to see that kind of performance out there.”
Of course, it’s impossible to know what the future will hold, but with his combination of skills, Bittner has a chance to get his career back on track this season.
The showing in Traverse City was just one step, but make no mistake – in Bittner’s eyes, it was a step he needed to take.
“Management drafted me in the second round,” he said, “so I’m a high prospect. To see me have a dip last year, I wanted to come out and make a statement for them and say, ‘Hey, I’m still here. I’m a good prospect for you guys for a long time. I want to be here. I want to make something happen.’ It felt really good to make a statement.”
