CHICAGO -- Andrew Shaw moved to the front of the net before a recent Chicago Blackhawks practice and prepared himself for a few minutes of chaos as various teammates shot puck after puck from near the blue line.

Some pucks he deflected with his stick. Some he absorbed with his body. Some he missed on purpose. The shooters will change, but Shaw puts himself in that same position every practice. It’s what he considers his bread and butter.

Shaw came to the realization during his teenage years he didn’t possess the natural ability to rise above most elite players. He needed something to differentiate himself, and that became his net-front presence.

“I think it started back in juniors,” said Shaw, whose two goals this season came at the front of the net. “I needed something in my game that other people didn’t have. Every team I went to I felt the net-front presence was where I would earn my buck and get my opportunities. I kind just to work on it every day I’m on the ice. I seem to get better and better at it.”

“I’ve made a career out of it. If I wasn’t good in front of the net, I don’t know where I’d be. It’s probably the biggest part of my game.”

Shaw can first remember cultivating that skill when he was a kid growing up in Belleville, Ontario.

“It started when I was young,” Shaw said. “Me and my brothers used to play road hockey, just always shot pucks. Instead of me just shooting, I’d just be in front trying to tip them in.”

Tipping pucks, which he says the key to is knocking them downward, is part of providing that net-front presence. Another is screening goaltenders. Shaw may not be the tallest player at 5-foot-11 or cover the most room weighing just 179 pounds, but he’ll still able impair a goaltender’s vision.

Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford can attest to that. Crawford has to deal with Shaw every practice.

“For a small guy, he really screens the goalie pretty good,” Crawford said. “In practice, he's tough to look around. He's in the shooting lane whenever the puck is being passed around. He moves around pretty good in front of the net. He's great at tipping pucks. Like I said, for a small guy, yeah, he does a great job.”

For a small guy, Shaw also had to learn how to make himself an unmovable object to opposing defenseman, who often greatly outweigh him. Shaw does take his share of physical abuse for doing this. Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers, who is 6-foot-8 and 219 pounds, demonstrated that by sending Shaw flying to the ice with a strong shove in the back in a recent game.

“I think it was a little bit more than a shove, but that’s just a part of being in front of the net,” Shaw said. “You just kind of give it to one another and create as much havoc as you can.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville believes Shaw is becoming one of the NHL’s best in front of the net and even compared him to Tomas Holmstrom in that ability.

“There’s a mentality,” Quenneville said. “There’s an art, some skill to it, a lot of it is will, knowing the level of punishment that can be provided. He knows how to take it, absorb it, roll with it, give it back without crossing the line. But he positions himself well.

“Look at Holmstrom in Detroit in the past doing that job perfectly. Hopefully Shawzy can keep getting better at it because he’s doing a lot of good things. He sustains pucks, not just around the net, but in the corners and puck areas. Really progressing in a nice way.”