St. Louis Blues: Sammy Blais Returns To Sit In The Press Box
By Todd Panula
The St. Louis Blues made an internal roster move on Monday. Samuel Blais was returned to the big club after spending some time down in the AHL.
The St. Louis Blues recalled Sammy Blais on Monday. The timing seemed a little odd given the fact the Blues had one insurance forward and had played without another for at least a couple games.
The oddness of the timing also coincides with Blais’ hot streak. He had gotten into a nice flow with the San Antonio Rampage. Blais was tied for the team lead in points with 28 (11 G, 17 A).
Making that even more impressive is he has that many points in 30 games. Andrew Agozzino, the other player with 28 points, has played in 50 games.
Players come up and down all the time, regardless of how they are performing. Often, the NHL club does the recall as a way to reward someone for putting in the hard work and having success at the AHL level.
The thing that becomes confusing about Blais’ situation is the Blues seem to have little intention to use him – at least right away.
The Post-Dispatch said the team was reshuffling the lines, but Blais did not seem to figure into it. Now, it should be noted that Blais was likely not there to be included in the lines for that practice.
However, the lines listed in the paper seem to be the ones they are likely to go with against San Jose.
• Alexander Steen-Paul Stastny-Vladimir Tarasenko
• Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Dmitrij Jaskin
• Vladimir Sobotka-Kyle Brodziak-Patrik Berglund
• Scottie Upshall-Oskar Sundqvist-Ivan Barbashev/Chris Thorburn
Personally, I’m not a big fan of any of those lines – the fourth line in particular. That’s a discussion for another time.
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Jumping back to this issue, it becomes puzzling that the Blues send down guys like Tage Thompson or Zach Sanford, saying they need to play games. Both players have differing reasons behind their sending down, but playing games and figuring out their personal game is the main thing behind it all.
Why does Blais not need to play games. If the intention is not to play him immediately, why not leave him with the Rampage? You can always call him up after the San Jose game and then at least give him the practice day with the Blues.
It’s just an overall odd situation. It’s odd that so little was expected from Oskar Sundqvist before the team recalled him and then he’s getting another shot at the lineup having not proven much.
Yet, guys like Blais and Thompson thrive at the AHL and are told they have to figure their game out. Then, when returned to the NHL team, they don’t get put in.
I’m all for earning your spot regardless of potential. However, it just does not feel like that is being applied up and down the lineup right now.
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Blais will probably get to play at least one or two games before potentially being sent back down. So, this is not a gigantic point of contention. The Blues are not going to recall him only to let him rot in the press box.
However, the fact he will likely sit while Sundqvist or Chris Thorburn plays just does not sit right.