Schenn set to face former teammates

Blues and Flyers to battle for first time since trade that sent 

Schenn to St. Louis, Lehtera, two first round picks to Philadelphia

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Brayden Schenn reunion tour continues on Thursday.

On Monday, Schenn faced the team that drafted him, the Los Angeles Kings, but emotionally, that was easily brushed aside since Schenn only played in nine games with the Kings before being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2011.

On Thursday against the Flyers, this will be a whole different animal.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues center Brayden Schenn (right) will go up against the Phildelphia

Flyers for the first time Thursday since being traded to St. Louis on June 23. 

The Blues (10-2-1) will look to remain red-hot on the season, having won four in a row and points in seven straight games (6-0-1), but Schenn will likely have a few emotions when the Flyers (6-6-1) come to town in the first meeting between the teams since the trade on June 23 at the NHL Draft in Chicago that sent Schenn to the Blues for center Jori Lehtera, who will make his first trip back to St. Louis, and a pair of first-round picks.

"I obviously spent a lot more time there in Philadelphia," Schenn said. "Obviously a lot of good buddies on that team. 

"At the end of the day, it's part of the business. You go out there and you play hard and compete on ice and talk after. I'm looking forward to it obviously, but I circled this game for a long time and they're coming in on a back-to-back and I look forward to facing them."

While Schenn has ties with players on the Kings, albeit relatively light, he's close with a number of Flyers, with many being teammates with him for six seasons from 2011-2017.

Schenn had 109 goals and 137 assists in his six seasons in Philadelphia, including 25 goals and 30 assists in 79 games last season.

"I still talk to quite a few of those guys," Schenn said. "With social media and stuff like that these days, it's easier to keep up on guys through Snapchat, Instagram and stuff like that, too. It's all good and I'm looking forward to playing them. There's some guys there that have gotten off to some good starts. I'm happy for them, but when it comes down to playing them, I would obviously love to beat them."

Schenn is fond of Flyers captain Claude Giroux, who took Schenn in when he first arrived in Philadelphia and gave Schenn a place to stay for the first year there.

"We were buddies early on and then Brandon Manning, I still talk to a lot, Michael Raffl, I still talk to a lot. I played with 'Simmer' (Wayne Simmonds), who got drafted in LA, Jake Voracek, we were there for six to seven years together, all good guys. It's going to be a little weird facing them."

Weird? Certainly. But Blues coach Mike Yeo anticipated a motivated player come Thursday night.

"That's always emotional and it's his first time doing that," Yeo said. "He's been such a great addition for our group, not only on the ice but inside our locker room and fitting in with the culture of our group that I think we'd want to make it a special night for him, too."

Schenn will have something to prov to the Flyers for giving up on him, as will Lehtera to the Blues, and that's just a natural reaction. 

"Any time a player, whether he gets traded or let go or whatever, there's always those emotions that set in that says, 'Hey, you obviously have something you want to prove,'" Schenn said. "Obviously you want to have a good game against them. Any player would want to have a good game against their former team, but throughout the season and years to come, you want to keep proving yourself and showing not only the previous teams but other teams around the league what kind of player you can be."

But the transition to St. Louis has been a good one for Schenn, who has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 13 games with the Blues and has him feeling good about his all-around game. The Blues gave Schenn a chance to play center and he's making the most of it, and it includes playing with solid linemates in Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Brayden Schenn (right) defends a play Saturday against David Savard and

the Columbus Blue Jackets. Schenn has 11 points in 13 games this season.

"It's been awesome," Schenn said. "It makes it a lot better when winning is happening. A 10-2 start, a great group of guys in this locker room, winning hockey, guys do things for the team and that's why we're successful. Getting traded, you never know what's going to happen, but coming here, it's a strong organization, it's a strong team. It's been awesome."

From the Blues' perspective, they knew they were getting a good player, but Schenn's work ethic and production may be even more than they expected.

"We knew we were getting a good player and I had heard good things about him and his character," Yeo said. "Craig Berube coached him, so he had a lot of good things to say about him. You never really know how a player is until they get in with the group. Number one, you see how they interact with the players, but then, more importantly, how their role fits with the team, what kind of role they have and how their team game fits with your team game. He's been everything and more than we could have hoped for."