The St. Louis Blues announced that winger Sammy Blais is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Few words were shared about what’s plaguing the winger, although the team did note that they’ll learn more about the situation on Thursday.
Sammy Blais is day to day, Berube said they'll know more on him tomorrow. #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) November 20, 2019
Sammy Blais Injured
Blais’ injury is the third significant injury in St. Louis. Alex Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko have also fallen to injury, with both expected to miss significant time. Tarasneko, in particular, isn’t expected to return until the post-season.
To address these absences, the Blues have significantly mixed up their roster. Tyler Bozak was placed on the top line’s right-wing for Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Robert Thomas was moved to the third line’s centre position. Through their tenures with the Blues, neither player had played in either position.
Blais’ role was fairly uncertain as well. He had seen some ice time on the second line, alongside Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron, but has recently receded to the third line wing. Nonetheless, Blais has netted eight points in 20 games so far this year. This doubles his regular-season totals from last season, which he set in 32 games. He’s averaging almost four minutes more in ice time this year as well, clearly earning the team’s trust.
In an effort to pay the team back for the added responsibility, Blais has led the Blues in hitting for almost the entire season. He currently sits at 70 hits, per Fox Sports. This is 20 hits more than Ivan Barbashev, who ranks second.
Fans are speculating what could be plaguing Blais, who played in almost the entirety of Tuesday’s game. He sustained both a cut above the eye and an awkward hit into the board that many believe hurt his wrist. Still, the injury news comes as a surprise. Jacob de La Rose is likely to take over in Blais’ absence. If Blais misses significant time, the team is also open to calling up one of Nathan Walker or Jordan Kyrou from the AHL.
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