"Dean helps out a lot," Chelios said. "I call him every day when there's a problem because he has the answers. He went through the same problems as me starting out as a rookie and not playing that much, but developed and had a great second year so he's been the biggest influence on me right now."

While playing time has been hard to come by in Jake's first season with Chicago, it certainly doesn't show in the way he carries himself in and around the rink these days.

"One thing my father always tells me is to just work hard no matter what," he said. "He doesn't put all that emphasis on skill or anything like that. Right now, I'm at the bottom of the lineup, but I'm fine with that. I'm not going to complain about it and I know that as long as I keep working through it, things are going to pan out in the end."

That's the approach Chicago coach Steve Poapst wants to hear.

"He's grown over the summer and has gotten bigger," Poapst said. "He has the skill and ability and a little more grit and drive than his older brother. Dean possessed tremendous skill and ability and a knack to protect the puck. Jake has some of those similar qualities with a little more jam to his game."

Chelios (6-foot-1, 180 pounds) is making a concerted effort to add some weight in order to withstand the grind of a full season.

"Until two years ago, I was 5-4 and 100 pounds, and was still trying to play a big man's game, but that didn't work out too well," he said. "But finally I grew and now I'm 6-1, but I still don't have enough weight on me. So I'm just trying to keep some weight on and work out as often as I can."

Krushelnyski, on the other hand, appears to have found his groove in his second season in the USHL with the Steel. He receives a regular shift and plays a pivotal role on specialty teams. He feels having that season of experience under his belt has provided some confidence entering the 2009-10 campaign. The 5-foot-11, 172 pound wing notched 7 goals and 18 points in 38 games with the Steel in 2008-09.

"Last year was a learning curve for me because I started off so-so and then got hurt for about half the season," he said. "But I came back and in my final 10 games I was having a great season -- I didn't want it to end. But I'm really hoping to just carry that over this year."