Every day since he was recalled on Nov. 19, Marian Cisar has tried to show what he learned. His education had nothing to do with a particular skill but everything to do with his approach.

The 22-year-old left wing apparently thought he had things figured out when he was recalled late last season. Before long, though, coach Barry Trotz decided to teach him a lesson.

Following three uneventful games in which his ice time decreased in each, he was sent back to Milwaukee immediately following a practice session.

"He was punished by me and he learned a valuable lesson," Trotz said. "He needed to grow up and learn that you can't take days off in the NHL. Not even in practice."

Suddenly it seems Cisar could teach some of his teammates a thing or two.

On a club that desperately has needed offensive help from Day One he suddenly has become the most consistent point-producer and possibly the most appealing prospect in the organization.

He has five points in the last three games, including a goal and an assist in each of the last two. With nine goals and 11 assists already, he is well on his way to surpassing the franchise's rookie records of 13 goals and 15 assists set last season by David Legwand.

A player of reasonable skill, he also has shown he has learned there is more than one way to get a goal and more to the game that just scoring.

After he banged home a rebound last Sunday against St. Louis for his seventh of the season he got into a scuffle moments later when he repeatedly whacked at a loose puck just out of the reach of Blues' goalie Roman Turek. Rather than back down, he simply hammered a St. Louis player into the boards on his next shift and went about his business without incident the rest of the way.

"You can tell a lot about a player's character by what he does after he scores a goal," Trotz said. "Marian Cisar kept playing and kept battling in front of the net. That's how you're going to score most of your goals in this league because the majority of players are not talented to score on a rush. He has shown a lot of character."