All Things AHL Part VI

[542365]

I wanted more of a look at Blais. I think the team was being very diplomatic about Blais, but there seems to be something about his game that they aren't convinced about. He had a pretty short leash in St Louis, and didn't last as long as I'd expected.

He will be back. He was SO impressive during the preseason and he keeps filling the net in the AHL. During the regular season he was pretty underwhelming, but you still saw glimpses of what he was able to do in the preseason. Almost every time he touched the puck he made a play during preseason. Looked leaps and bounds better than Thompson, Kyrou, Kostin etc(granted they're all at different stages of their development).


Ty Rattie simply isn't a good NHL player. He's the classic AHL/NHL tweener where he'll dominate against lesser competition, but can't hack it in the NHL. His one great asset, his release on his wrister, has still yet to cleanly beat an NHL goalie in his entire career. He has never once taken a wrist shot and blown it by a goalie who was in position for it. Every one of his goals is either a rebound or a deflection off his pants or something. If he can't beat a goalie with his wrister he doesn't belong in the NHL as that's the only reason he's even getting a look in the AHL.

Blais is different. He's obviously not the shooter that Rattie is, but he makes things happen on the ice. Ty Rattie was always the type of player who found a soft spot and waited for the puck and ripped it by the goalie. If he's not scoring he's useless. Blais facilitates and drives the play so much better than Rattie ever did. I know Blais will be at least a solid 3rd liner. If MPS can carve out a 300+ game NHL career with nothing more than the ability to skate, Sammy Blais can too. He'll be back.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I suspect either Blais or Barbs will be called up in the next day or so. They’re just saving a couple of days of cap space by sending Bennett down and waiting a day or two to call up someone else.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

Slow to react to the puck and play. His play dropped off a clip after 2 games. Some guys arent ready. Look at Dunn, younger and a harder position to play. He got better every game, not worse.

Reminds me of when Hitchcock said that for some guys, training camp is their Stanley Cup playoffs. They are giving it everything they have and playing at the best they can. Then you have the veterans who are trying to get in shape for games, but not emotionally invested in what's going on immediately in camp. We (fans) get excited about guys who make a mark in camp, but I think sometimes that's the pinnacle of what they are capable of.

For Blais, I feel like his hockey sense is an asset that suggests a higher ceiling. Maybe they just want him to get a lot of minutes and come back more ready to play. But with the pipeline down there, he could easily get passed like Lindbohm and not seen in St Louis again for any meaningful stretch.

 

[Dbrownss]

Reminds me of when Hitchcock said that for some guys, training camp is their Stanley Cup playoffs. They are giving it everything they have and playing at the best they can. Then you have the veterans who are trying to get in shape for games, but not emotionally invested in what's going on immediately in camp. We (fans) get excited about guys who make a mark in camp, but I think sometimes that's the pinnacle of what they are capable of.

For Blais, I feel like his hockey sense is an asset that suggests a higher ceiling. Maybe they just want him to get a lot of minutes and come back more ready to play. But with the pipeline down there, he could easily get passed like Lindbohm and not seen in St Louis again for any meaningful stretch.

He has shown enough IQ that I see him coming back this season. A guy like Lindbohm had low IQ. I think Yeo's comments were spot on. He was playing on adrenaline. He needs to just work on consistency. The biggest problem I saw was his ability to handle the puck. The puck was exploding off his stick

 

[Oberyn]

I liked Blais when he was called up and then there was a noticeable decline as each game went by. It seemed like there was no intensity in his game and he couldn't make many plays with the puck when it was on his stick. He should get another shot soon with the way he's producing in the AHL, and hopefully he takes it and runs with it.

 

[MissouriMook]

My guess is Barbashev, Megan or Blais. Personally I’d like to see Thompson and Kostin stay in the A’ for the rest of the season.

Unless they plan on filling the roster back to 23, my guess is that whoever they call up will get sent back down when Berglund returns. If that is the case, I could see them giving Kostin a few games simply because he is the only one that hasn't gotten a shot yet. Give the kid a few games in the NHL, a taste of life in the big leagues and a fatter paycheck for a couple of weeks before sending him back down with some perspective on what he needs to work on and how far he has to go.

 

[Reality Czech]

Reminds me of when Hitchcock said that for some guys, training camp is their Stanley Cup playoffs. They are giving it everything they have and playing at the best they can. Then you have the veterans who are trying to get in shape for games, but not emotionally invested in what's going on immediately in camp. We (fans) get excited about guys who make a mark in camp, but I think sometimes that's the pinnacle of what they are capable of.

For Blais, I feel like his hockey sense is an asset that suggests a higher ceiling. Maybe they just want him to get a lot of minutes and come back more ready to play. But with the pipeline down there, he could easily get passed like Lindbohm and not seen in St Louis again for any meaningful stretch.

This is a great point. Fans see the guys in a handful of games while coaches see them continuously in practice, drills and scrimmages. It's obvious that they are using a lot more data to evaluate these guys than the average fan has access too.

Also a good point that a rookie trying his best to make the team will look good in comparison to a veteran just getting his legs back. That being said, I agree with you and Dbrownss that Blais seems to have the intangibles that could help him stick as an NHL player long-term.

I made a post earlier that just because player A makes the team out of camp over player B, it doesn't necessarily mean that the coaches think player A is the better overall player. Maybe they want player B to get more seasoning but still see him as a better long-term option. Coaches know it's a long season and most if not all of these guys will all get a shot at some point. Looking forward to seeing Blais, Barbashev and Thompson again and hope they will be able to put it all together the next time they get a chance to show it.

 

[joshyhockey26]

I suspect either Blais or Barbs will be called up in the next day or so. They’re just saving a couple of days of cap space by sending Bennett down and waiting a day or two to call up someone else.

This. Not to mention both the Wolves and Rampage play tonight. They’ll let them get the game in tonight and call up whoever tomorrow.

 

[joshyhockey26]

Will have to rewind things back a bit as there was a clear sign when it occurred but Husso left the game after 7 min with an injury. Wonderful.

 

[joshyhockey26]

Update: yea nothing sticks out to what caused an injury. Zero idea.

 

[joshyhockey26]

Kostin joins Husso on the injury list.

 

[Dbrownss]

Kostin joins Husso on the injury list.

Jesus that kid is injury prone, weird given how big he is

 

[TK 421]

Jesus that kid is injury prone, weird given how big he is

We saw a few weeks ago with another injury scare that he's leaving himself open to this stuff. Not sure what happened in this particular instance but it was clear to me a couple weeks ago that he is still adjusting to the NA game and playing against men. He has got to learn how to protect himself out there but obviously being 18 years old in a new country and style of game that will take time. For me I view this season for him as a learning curve and don't expect anything other than him getting acclimated as the season progresses. Honestly I view Thompson the same way, no real expectations for him as a pro this year. Just get acclimated and apply what you learned to off-season training.

 

[joshyhockey26]

We saw a few weeks ago with another injury scare that he's leaving himself open to this stuff. Not sure what happened in this particular instance but it was clear to me a couple weeks ago that he is still adjusting to the NA game and playing against men. He has got to learn how to protect himself out there but obviously being 18 years old in a new country and style of game that will take time. For me I view this season for him as a learning curve and don't expect anything other than him getting acclimated as the season progresses. Honestly I view Thompson the same way, no real expectations for him as a pro this year. Just get acclimated and apply what you learned to off-season training.

Both the Wolves and Rampage tonight lost their games. For the injuries there was nothing that stuck out to me that could have caused either one. AHL live was using the Texas Stars feed so unless both incidents happened off camera they had to of been something randomly pulled or tweaked. Hopefully an update is given soon. Blais took a massive hit late in the third but didn’t miss any ice time.

 

[Evocable Manager]

Jesus that kid is injury prone, weird given how big he is

He lacks body fat.

 

[joshyhockey26]

Quick injury update, Kostin isn’t at practice this morning but they’re saying that he’s “sick”. So maybe his injury isn’t all that serious. Husso on the other hand apparently has a lower body injury and is expected to miss some time.

 

[ezcreepin]

Reminds me of when Hitchcock said that for some guys, training camp is their Stanley Cup playoffs. They are giving it everything they have and playing at the best they can. Then you have the veterans who are trying to get in shape for games, but not emotionally invested in what's going on immediately in camp. We (fans) get excited about guys who make a mark in camp, but I think sometimes that's the pinnacle of what they are capable of.

For Blais, I feel like his hockey sense is an asset that suggests a higher ceiling. Maybe they just want him to get a lot of minutes and come back more ready to play. But with the pipeline down there, he could easily get passed like Lindbohm and not seen in St Louis again for any meaningful stretch.

The issue with that statement is that Linbohm was brought up and looked decent, and then sent down for obvious reasons (people became healthy) and he never found that game again that had him brought up in the first place. Edmundson and Lindbohm are arguably close to the same player, but Eddy has been able to develop more areas of the game and he found a way to be successful without being Petro. Blais, who granted had a rough start to the year last year, proved to be a valuable scoring asset, and continued that for the majority of the rest of the season after that 12-game stretch where he transitioned. The start of this year, he was on fire in training camp, and was put in the minors, and still proved he was the scoring threat from last year. He was brought up, only to show glimpses, but the key thing here is that he has continued to light it up in the AHL. My hope is that he develops into a Palat-like player, and hopefully his defense progresses. If that's the case, he will no doubt be an NHL player.

 

[joshyhockey26]

Looks like Husso will miss at least a few weeks. Didn’t specify on lower or upper body.

 

[MissouriMook]

Looks like Husso will miss at least a few weeks. Didn’t specify on lower or upper body.

I don’t remember where but I thought I saw lower body.

 

[Jessica]

Here you go.

 

[Coach Nate]

Saw Husso as he was leaving the locker room last night. No noticeable limp, so could just be a minor pull that just requires some rest.

 

[stl76]

Here you go.

Saw Husso as he was leaving the locker room last night. No noticeable limp, so could just be a minor pull that just requires some rest.

Appreciate the updates. Hope it’s nothing major for Husso.

 

[joshyhockey26]

looking like Kostin will be in the lineup tonight. Both the Rampage and Wolves have games tonight so this will be fun to keep track of

 

[joshyhockey26]

Wolves lose yet again, only 4 wins on the season. Bennett had a strong night with 8 shots and was all over the place but woof the prospects can’t get out of there quick enough. San Antonio tied 1-1 with Bakersfield going into the third period. Schmaltz knocked in his third goal of the season. Now has 15 points in 17 games. Former Blue Ty Rattie has an assist tonight as well.

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

How does a dman have 15 in 17 and the team only has 4 wins on the season? What a disaster of a year for these guys. I really feel for those guys that are good enough for the NHL but just not enough for the Blues.