Inside the house of Robert Thomas is a duplicate Stanley Cup sitting on a desk. It is a dialog piece, a reminder of profession accomplishments and one thing his company inevitably drink out of throughout home events.
“I imply, it is solely like half sip,” Thomas mentioned, laughing. “But it surely’ll do the job.”
Thomas lifted the precise Stanley Cup in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues. He was a rookie then. He is an NHL All-Star now. He admits that the championship feels “eternally in the past” to him.
“I used to be fairly fortunate my first 12 months. So I used to be type of going into yearly considering I will be within the Cup Ultimate or successful all of it. And now, a few years later, we have not gotten shut,” he mentioned. “I am simply itching to get one other probability at it.”
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He was a 19-year-old supporting participant who skated 13:07 per sport within the Blues’ Stanley Cup run. Now in his sixth season, Thomas is the main scorer for St. Louis with 69 factors in 62 video games, taking part in 20:53 on common.
His basic supervisor, Doug Armstrong, mentioned there’s “no query” Thomas is a No. 1 heart within the NHL. Armstrong adopted by on that reward by giving Thomas an eight-year contract with a median annual worth of $8.125 million in July 2022.
That is the primary 12 months of that $65 million contract. Armstrong has referred to as it an funding in Thomas’ future; and like all funding, he desires to see it mature. Earlier than the season, Armstrong mentioned he needed to see Thomas go from being an offensive standout to a whole NHL heart.
“It is the 200-foot sport,” the GM mentioned. “It is a robust activity. You are going in opposition to [Auston] Matthews. You are going in opposition to [Sidney] Crosby. You are going in opposition to [Anze] Kopitar. His job will not be solely to play with these guys, however to outcompete them and outperform them. However the perception in Robert has by no means been greater that he is prepared for that problem.”
Thomas accepted the problem.
“I put an enormous emphasis on it this summer time. Enhancing the 200-foot sport. And I knew I used to be gonna be matched up in opposition to prime strains all 12 months lengthy. If I did not work on that facet of it, then we would not be doing too nicely,” he mentioned. “I really feel like I’ve taken an enormous step defensively, however clearly there’s at all times room to develop.”
The outcomes have been spectacular. By 62 video games, the Blues have a goals-against common of 1.93 at 5-on-5 when Thomas is on the ice, the most effective fee for any St. Louis participant with eventually 30 video games performed. He is beginning to get talked about in Selke Trophy conversations.
“Since I have been right here, he is been an excellent participant for us. He sees some actual robust minutes and he appears to be thriving on it,” Blues interim coach Drew Bannister mentioned. “The offensive facet comes simple to him. The defensive facet, for any expert hockey participant, that is the one factor that lags a little bit bit. However with Robbie, we’re beginning to see him actually mature into two-way hockey participant right here.”
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Thomas’ dedication to protection began with self-reflection about who he’s as an NHL participant. He is been a prime scorer for the Blues over the previous three seasons and is on monitor for the very best points-per-60 minutes common of his profession (3.2). However he isn’t Connor McDavid or Crosby or Nathan MacKinnon as a scorer. And he is OK with that.
“I would not say I am an offensive man that is one of many prime [scorers] within the league. There are guys that may simply make so many extra performs and rating and use their velocity and various things than me,” Thomas mentioned. “So that you have a look at other ways to type of get higher. For me, it was defensively.”
To search out that defensive sport, he studied and realized from some achieved two-way facilities, taking components of their video games to construct his personal.
As a fan and an opponent, he admired former Chicago Blackhawks star Jonathan Toews, who was a Selke Trophy winner and a four-time finalist in his profession. As a teammate, he realized loads from Ryan O’Reilly, who gained the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with the Blues. As a pupil, he is labored with Hockey Corridor of Famer and abilities coach to the celebs Adam Oates, who has additionally helped gamers starting from MacKinnon to Matthew Tkachuk.
“There’s quite a lot of data on the market, particularly from guys which have performed or are presently taking part in and everybody’s so completely happy to share their information,” Thomas mentioned. “You simply type of soak in as a lot as you possibly can and try to discover totally different items that work. Issues like stick positioning from one man, or the best way you need to flip to search out guys coming into the zone from one other man. All that stuff.”
Is he ever shocked what number of commerce secrets and techniques veteran gamers are keen to share?
“By no means. That is what hockey’s about. It is at all times about serving to guys out. Older guys assist the youthful guys and youthful guys assist one another,” he mentioned. “I imply, I have been within the league a little bit bit longer, so guys are coming to me for recommendation. And I am like, ‘I haven’t got the solutions.’ So it is type of humorous.”
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However finally, the choice to fine-tune his protection has every part to do with success on the ice. As Armstrong mentioned, Thomas is competing in opposition to among the most elite offensive facilities in hockey on a nightly foundation. He has been tasked with outplaying them. Thomas takes that function severely, even when the problem is daunting.
“We had McDavid a few days after he had six factors in opposition to Detroit. And I used to be like, ‘Attempt to cease that?'” recalled Thomas, who watched McDavid publish three assists in opposition to the Blues. “However these guys have been massive components of [my motivation]. I positively have to get rather a lot higher in an effort to compete with these guys.”
Thomas would like to compete in opposition to them within the postseason, however these hopes are fading. Getting into Wednesday evening, the Blues trailed for the ultimate wild-card slot by six factors and had only a 5% probability of creating the playoffs, per Stathletes. The Blues have gained a single playoff spherical since successful the Cup and missed the playoffs final season.
“Final 12 months, we weren’t within the hunt in any respect, and it sucked. So I am actually completely happy this 12 months simply being in these strain conditions,” Thomas mentioned. “There’s positively emotional swings. That is why we play the sport. We love strain, we like to compete.”
Few are competing more durable, in each ends of the rink, than Robert Thomas this season.
