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Player Discussion Sammy Blais

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Zarao71 said:
If Blais is in game shape you gotta put him in. I love Reavo but Blais on a 4th line with Motte and Goodrow is too good to pass up.
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thing is theres no way to get into game shape without playing games. you can get your conditioning back, but no amount of bag skates or practices will replicate the pace of an nhl game, nevermind a conference final game. after this time off its going to be like jumping on a treadmill going 25mph coming over the boards....will be tough for him to adjust to that pace and intensity, hands will be rusty, timing will be off, will be gassed really fast on shifts for the first couple games. and who knows mentally . these can be worked around and adjusted to pretty quick, but still might be a risk gallant doesnt wanna take.

hes still not even taking contact and i havent seen any info on where his skating is - is it even confirmed hes going full speed and no restrictions on cutting etc? the only mention at all ive seen on his skating was someone mentioning it was gingerly a week or 2 ago. until hes cleared for contact and/or its known hes full go skating hes definitely not even close. and tbh as of today if he were to get full clearance and gallant was dressing him, my money would be on kakko or vatrano sitting rather than reaves. barring him literally costing a game or putting multiple in jeopardy he aint going nowhere
 
The Blues were trailing 3-2 to the Stars in 2019. Berube inserted Blais into the lineup for Fabbri. Blais had a big game. The Blues won game 6 in Dallas. The Blues won the series in OT in game 7.



Blais had a few big hits in the first period. Pierre McGuire was going crazy.

Maybe the Rangers can insert Blais in the TB series at some point. The Rangers can use his physical play. Motte-Goodrow-Blais would be a very good line.



The Pittsburgh people would lose their shit if Blais delivered that hit as a Ranger. Those dudes were complaining about Trouba last night.
 
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I love Reavo and I think he has served a purpose, at times, especially in the Canes series. Even if he wasn’t accumulating hit totals, his presence was known. I think it was in the 3rd period last night, a scrum started to breakout in front of Igor as the Canes were getting frustrated. Reavo comes in and all the sudden things just dissipate quickly.

Having said all that, the Lightning are a fast team with great forechecking. If you can match that you have a chance. Blais gives you a better chance of matching that. Even if he is not up to game speed he is still much quicker than Reaves
 
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RGY said:
I love Reavo and I think he has served a purpose, at times, especially in the Canes series. Even if he wasn’t accumulating hit totals, his presence was known. I think it was in the 3rd period last night, a scrum started to breakout in front of Igor as the Canes were getting frustrated. Reavo comes in and all the sudden things just dissipate quickly.

Having said all that, the Lightning are a fast team with great forechecking. If you can match that you have a chance. Blais gives you a better chance of matching that. Even if he is not up to game speed he is still much quicker than Reaves
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Yea, the lightning aren’t as fast as Carolina, but are much better than them at finishing scoring opportunities. Reaves line got pinned in the d zone for long shifts every game that would have been much more dangerous against Tampa. If Blais is cleared to play I would hope Reaves is who comes out.
 
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If Blais can play, you play him, no questions asked. He is a faster Reaves right now, his timing may be off offensively but we would only be putting him in for the physical play right now.

If he's not ready then I am more than happy keeping Reaves in, he has been a better player in the post season. Guy knows playoff hockey.
 
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Guess we won't know Blais's status until warmups, but I predict no change in the lineup for now.
 
RGY said:
I don’t see Blais back until next game or Game 3. But you never know. Crowd & Social Media would go nuts if he is out in warmups
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Road games (i.e. G3) for Blais makes sense due to Tampa's ability to line match against Reaves.
 
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It's probably just me being pessimistic, but I'm still not expecting Blais back at any point during these playoffs. I think him skating is simply a part of his recovery timetable and that his conditioning/hand-eye coordination are both going to be pretty far behind the pace of a playoff game.

The only recent example I can think of is Robby Fabbri in STL, but does anyone remember how his first games back from ACL surgery went?
 
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RGY said:
Or just let us cling to the hope that he comes back. What is the benefit in being so right about something like this? Some of us are holding out hope, just let us be
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He’s likely saying that cause the top 4 lines are set and let’s be honest Rooney is next in line

I do hope Blais gets in but it has been a long time since he’s had a game
 
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