FLINT, Mich. -- For more than four minutes Saturday night -- as the sting of yet another loss lingered, and the gulf between the Flint Firebirds and the rest of the Ontario Hockey League widened -- Ty Dellandrea found himself entrenched in a bidding war.

Dellandrea is the Stars' first-round pick from last year, a two-way center taken with the No. 13 selection who signed an entry-level contract with the team in September. On Saturday night, following his Flint team's 6-5 overtime loss to Sarnia, Dellandrea was the postgame centerpiece during an auction for game-worn jerseys. The Firebirds wore special pink-accented jerseys for their "Pink Out The Rink" night, and the auction proceeds benefited breast cancer research.

Dellandrea is Flint's 18-year-old captain and one of just three NHL draft picks on the roster. He registered three assists during the loss, tying a career high, and was named first star of the game. So the bidding began at $500. It hit a lull around $800, before two bidders drove the price into the thousands. As Dellandrea stood next to the cowboy-hat wearing auctioneer, it landed at $2,100, the highest in memory for the event.

But the points and the dollars can't erase the simple fact that Dellandrea is the best player on a bad side, a lottery pick toiling on an 0-13-1-0 team.

"It's been really hard," Dellandrea said. "Honestly, it's been really hard."

Dellandrea is a naturally positive person, someone who impressed teams around the NHL during his predraft interviews. He's someone who smiles through the struggles, who exudes optimism despite going more than seven months between OHL victories.

Flint is the only winless team in the OHL. Its only point came in Saturday's overtime loss, meaning it is still 12 points behind ninth-place Windsor in the 10-team Western Conference. The Firebirds' power play is just 3 for 46, and they've been outscored by nearly four goals per game.

"I tell these kids that hockey's full of disappointments," said Firebirds coach Eric Wellwood, who was named Flint's coach Oct. 18. "It's just how you handle it. You're going to through adversity throughout your entire career. If you can deal with it now that you're a youngster, it's just going to elevate your mental capacity to handle adversity. Although the boys and a player like him don't know that this is good for them, in the long run, it is."

A versatile player

The team leans heavily on Dellandrea. He averages nearly 23 faceoffs per game and plays on the top power-play and penalty-kill units. He leads the team with 12 points, eight assists and 49 shots on goal. His four goals are third on the team.

On Saturday night, his three assists came at different strengths: short-handed, 5 on 5 and on the power play.

But evaluators say that Dellandrea's game is a 200-foot one, consisting of vision and shooting in the offensive zone and responsibility in the defensive zone. Wellwood described him as a reliable player, and one who sticks out from the glut of OHL prospects putting up points.

Shirts with Ty Dellandrea's name and number are sold in Flint, Mich. (Matthew DeFranks / The Dallas Morning News)

"He's a good penalty killer," Wellwood said. "He's a good power-play guy. He does all the little things right. He's one of those guys that I'm not sure if he'll be a prolific scorer. I hope he does develop into that. He has the potential to, but even if he doesn't, he's still going to be a solid player."

For Dellandrea, improvement in the defensive zone came as a necessity when he arrived in the OHL. In minor hockey, he could largely do what he wanted. But when he came to Flint as a 16-year-old, Dellandrea realized he couldn't be a liability defensively against better competition. Now, his defensive game is something in which he takes pride. ("One of my favorite things to do in a game is shutting down a top line," he said.)

Wellwood compared Dellandrea to Adam Henrique, a one-time 30-goal scorer currently playing in Anaheim.

"He doesn't wow you with too much, but at the same time, if you're watching the game and paying attention, he does all those little things that separates him from a normal junior hockey player," Wellwood said. "If he can continue that progress, he's going to be a good player."

Learning work ethic

Dellandrea has taken more of that progress into his own hands this season, staying at the rink nearly all day. In the OHL, players typically arrive at the rink at 9 a.m. before leaving around 10 and returning at 1:30 for practice in the afternoon. Dellandrea previously used that time in between to nap, to watch TV, to relax.

Now, he doesn't leave the facility. On Mondays, he'll hit the weights heavily following a three-game weekend, and then get an extra session in on the ice. On Thursdays, he'll prepare for the weekend's games with recovery and stretching techniques.

"The one thing I've been telling myself is the team is what it is right now, and we're going through some hard times, very hard times. I've still got to work and get better on a daily basis," Dellandrea said. "I've been putting in some really long days and long hours here and trying to improve."

He likens it to a 9-to-5 job, and recalls his preseason camp with the Stars. Dellandrea played in the preseason opener in Dallas, centering a young fourth line with Nick Caamano and Jason Robertson. He played 9:42 and then signed his three-year, entry-level deal after the game.

After he signed, he passed by Stars captain Jamie Benn power-cleaning in the weight room. The notion that NHLers were naturally gifted and didn't work hard was squashed. To get there, Dellandrea would need a similar work ethic.

"Everybody can work hard, but everybody doesn't know you have a whole other level of hard work that you can reach," Dellandrea said.