Blues unveil 2017-18 regular-season schedule

Highlights include first matchups against expansion Vegas, home and 

home sets with Winnipeg, Chicago, home opener against Ken Hitchcock

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The NHL unveiled its 2017-18 regular-season schedule on Thursday afternoon, and it was already known that the Blues would open the season on Oct. 4 at Pittsburgh and open at home Oct. 7 against Ken Hitchcock and the Dallas Stars.

But the remainder of the Blues schedule was set, including 16 sets of back-to-back games, a season-long five-game homestand on Nov. 21-Dec. 1 and a road trip that doesn't exceed four games at any point.

The Blues will open with seven of their first nine games on the road, play the Winnipeg Jets in a true home-and-home set Dec. 16-17 and against the Chicago Blackhawks April 4 and 6.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins visit Scottrade Center for a matinee affair at 2 p.m. on Feb. 11 and the Blues' first matchup with the Western Conference champion Nashville Predators, who eliminated St. Louis in six games in the second round, come to St. Louis on Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving.

The Blues' first game against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights takes place in Las Vegas on Oct. 21, one of two visits for the Blues to the new NHL city. Vegas makes its only visit to St. Louis on January 4.

The Blues will finish against the Colorado Avalanche for the second straight season, this time in Denver on April 7.

Here is the Blues' full schedule, preseason and regular season: 

2017-18 ST. LOUIS BLUES SCHEDULE
PRESEASON
SEPTEMBER
19 -- at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
20 -- COLUMBUS, 7 p.m.
22 -- at Washington, 6 p.m.
23 -- DALLAS, 7 p.m.
24 -- vs. Pittsburgh at Belle Vernon, Pa., TBA
26 -- at Columbus, 6 p.m.
28 -- vs. Minnesota at Kansas City, 7 p.m.
OCTOBER
1 -- WASHINGTON, 2 p.m.

REGULAR SEASON
4 -- at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
7 -- DALLAS, 7 p.m.
9 -- at NY Islanders, Noon
10 -- at NY Rangers, 6 p.m.
12 -- at Florida, 6:30 p.m.
14 -- at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.
18 -- CHICAGO, 7 p.m.
19 -- at Colorado, 8 p.m.
21 -- at Vegas, 9:30 p.m.
25 -- CALGARY, 7 p.m.
27 -- at Carolina, 6:30 p.m.
28 -- COLUMBUS, 7 p.m.
30 -- LOS ANGELES, 7 p.m.

NOVEMBER
2 -- PHILADELPHIA, 7 p.m.
4 -- TORONTO, 7 p.m.
7 -- at New Jersey, 6 p.m.
9 -- ARIZONA, 7 p.m.
11 -- N.Y. ISLANDERS, 7 p.m.
13 -- at Calgary, 8 p.m.
16 -- at Edmonton, 8 p.m.
18 -- at Vancouver, 9 p.m.
21 -- EDMONTON, 7 p.m.
24 -- NASHVILLE, 7 p.m.
25 -- MINNESOTA, 7 p.m.
29 -- ANAHEIM, 8 p.m.

DECEMBER
1 -- LOS ANGELES, 7 p.m.
2 -- at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
5 -- at Montreal, 6:30 p.m.
7 -- DALLAS, 7 p.m.
9 -- at Detroit,  - 6 p.m.
10 -- BUFFALO, 6 p.m.
12 -- TAMPA BAY, 7 p.m.
14 -- ANAHEIM, 7 p.m.
16 -- WINNIPEG, 6 p.m.
17 -- at Winnipeg, 5 p.m.
20 -- at Calgary, 8:30 p.m.
21 -- at Edmonton, 8 p.m.
23 -- at Vancouver, 9 p.m.
27 -- NASHVILLE, 7 p.m.
29 -- at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
30 -- CAROLINA, 7 p.m.

JANUARY
2 -- NEW JERSEY, 7 p.m.
4 -- VEGAS, 7 p.m.
6 -- at Philadelphia, Noon
7 -- at Washington - 2 p.m.
9 -- FLORIDA, 7 p.m.
16 -- at Toronto, 6 p.m.
18 -- at Ottawa, 6:30 p.m.
20 -- ARIZONA, 7 p.m.
23 -- OTTAWA, 7 p.m.
25 -- COLORADO, 7 p.m.
30 -- MONTREAL, 7 p.m.

FEBRUARY
1 -- at Boston, 6 p.m.
3 -- at Buffalo, 6 p.m.
6 -- MINNESOTA, 7 p.m.
8 -- COLORADO, 7 p.m.
9 -- at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
11 -- PITTSBURGH, 2 p.m.
13 -- at Nashville, 7 p.m.
16 -- at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
20 -- SAN JOSE, 7 p.m.
23 -- WINNIPEG, 7 p.m.
25 -- at Nashville, 5 p.m.
27 -- at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
28 -- DETROIT, 7 p.m.

MARCH
3 -- at Dallas, 1 p.m.
8 -- at San Jose, 9:30 p.m.
10 -- at Los Angeles, 3 p.m.
12 -- at Anaheim, 9 p.m.
15 -- vs. COLORADO, 7 p.m.
17 -- vs. N.Y. RANGERS, 7 p.m.
18 -- at Chicago, 6:30 p.m.
21 -- BOSTON, 7 p.m.
23 -- VANCOUVER, 7 p.m.
24 -- at Columbus, 6 p.m.
27 -- SAN JOSE, 7 p.m.
30 -- at Vegas, 9:30 p.m.
31 -- at Arizona, 7 p.m.

APRIL
2 -- WASHINGTON, 7 p.m.
4 -- CHICAGO, 7 p.m.
6 -- at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.
7 -- at Colorado, 8 p.m.

Perron has mixed emotions about leaving St. Louis again

Forward selected by Vegas in expansion draft disappointed not 

to stay with Blues, excited about new challenge with Golden Knights

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- David Perron understands the business, but in the end, leaving St. Louis is a mixed bag of emotions after being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft on Wednesday.

There's disappointment for Perron leaving the place where his career began for the second time, but there's certainly excitement of joining a new franchise that on paper looks to be further along than when the NHL expanded last in 2000 with the addition of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

David Perron's second stint with the Blues came to an end after the

forward was chosen by Vegas in the expansion draft Wednesday.

Perron, 29, was the player the Golden Knights targeted on the Blues' roster when general manager Doug Armstrong submitted the Blues' list of available players and those that were protected.

Essentially, it came down to Ryan Reaves or Perron that would get the protection rights. The Blues chose Reaves, exposed Perron and when Perron go that call from Armstrong earlier in the week, the inevitable set in.

"It's a business and that's the way it went," Perron said Thursday morning. "I'm still a little bit disappointed about the way everything happened, but I understand the situation. Yes, I was hoping to be (in St. Louis) for two (years) and hopefully more. The way it went last year, I was proud of the effort I was putting out there last night. That's how I feel about it. That's a big positive. If that's it for me in St. Louis, I'm a little more happy the way it went this time than maybe the last time I was there. It went well, too, the last time, but the feeling was a little bit different leaving and this time, it's just like in a way a tough bounce with the business. 

"I found out a couple nights ago. 'Army' called me. I was able to sleep on it and kind of feel the disappointment and then when I got up in the morning, I can already feel like I was turning the page. Looking at the city, the restaurants, I've been there a couple times, I'm starting to get excited about it so I'm glad I got to find out about it at least the day before."

Perron had 18 goals and 28 assists in the regular-season in 2016-17 after signing a two-year, $7.5 million free agent contract to return to the franchise that made him a first-round pick in 2007 (26th pick). He felt it was a good enough season to warrant being one of the protected players, but with Vladimir Sobotka returning and signing a three-year contract and Reaves' importance to the team, someone had to be left exposed.

"It was disappointing; I can't lie about that," Perron said. "I felt like I had a strong season, strong enough to be on the list. Things happen. 'Sobe' comes back to sign for a three-year deal. He's a very valuable player on the team and then obviously the energy 'Reavo' brings to the fourth line is necessary on every team. A lot of young guys coming up, too, and pushing. I'm proud of the way the Blues are built. I'm always going to be proud that I played in St. Louis but still it's disappointing. I felt like I could have been on there, but in the end, it's a business. I know that 'Army' didn't feel comfortable, just like the other GM's, to put the list out there. They still get attached to the players to an extent. They don't want to lose anybody. These guys work so hard to build a team. It takes a while to build a team the way you want it. With the expansion draft, things like this happen. It's tough for everybody."

A source close to the situation said that Armstrong and Vegas GM George McPhee had dialogue about perhaps making a trade to keep Perron off Vegas' wish list and steered in the direction of someone else, perhaps Jori Lehtera, but the price was too high for Armstrong's liking and thus, Perron was left in the vulnerable spot of being taken.

"We knew we were going to lose a player that we didn't want to lose," Armstrong said on the team website. "That's the nature of the expansion draft and the price for having an additional team in the NHL. We'd like to thank David for his time with the Blues and wish him the best of luck with the Golden Knights."

And this Armstrong had to make the call to inform Perron he would be a player exposed.

"I got the call midweek (last week) that I wasn't going to get protected," Perron said. "He had a good feeling that I wasn't going to be selected or that they were going to do something if that was the case. It didn't work out and I know he tried. I have so much respect for 'Army.' There's no hard feelings. I understand the business. ... St. Louis is always going to be my favorite place to play in the league because I started there. I played there seven years out of 10 so far. Everyone in St. Louis are great people. I had so much fun playing at Scottrade Center and I always will."

While Perron had a solid regular-season, his playoff performance -- at least on paper -- was not what he wanted nor what the organization expected. Perron had one assist in 11 Stanley Cup playoff games and it was more evident in the second round when the Blues were searching for offense in a six-game series loss to the Nashville Predators.

"I talked with both 'Yeozy' (Mike Yeo) and 'Army,'" Perron said. "The fact that 'Sobe' came back, it was a little bit tougher mentally on me. I wanted to win more than anything, but I was going home every night and some nights, I wasn't satisfied with my play. Some nights we were winning and I could move on a little bit easier from that first round. Still in the end, you go from kind of everything I was doing in the regular season, PK and all that stuff and then 'Sobe' comes back, it changes a lot. I don't play PK anymore, I go from 17, 18 minutes to 13-14 and on top of that, I feel like my game slipped a little bit. I really appreciate that 'Yeozy' kept giving me a chance to go out and try and make a difference. I still feel that if we kept playing, I would have found a way eventually. I really felt the trust in Yeozy for that too because we had a lot of players that wanted to play, that could play. The way it was going, I wasn't satisfied with myself. I know that they wanted more from me, too. That's just the way it is, but mentally, it was a tough one that way."

Perron, who recently became a father for the second time, now moves to a franchise that added some notable players, including James Neal of the Predators, Marc-Andre Fleury of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, Cody Eakin of the Dallas Stars, Erik Haula of the Minnesota Wild, among others.

"It's a great feeling," Perron said. "I was talking with Marc-Andre Fleury. We're good buddies, we played together. I had some guys call me on teams I played with before and they said, 'You're going to play with this guy, he's a great guy. You're going to love him,' things like that. I really do feel like we have a strong chance to be competitive to make the playoffs next year. That's all you want really. The pressure won't be there for us to make playoffs in a way just because it's the nature of that, but I know that in the room, there's never one team that goes into the season not wanting to make the playoffs. You see what Nashville did this year. 

(St. Louis Blues photo)

David Perron had 18 goals and 28 assists for the Blues last season after

returning to sign a two-year, $7.5 million free agent contract in 2016.

"Playoffs are so tight, you never know. It'll be crucial early on to try and build chemistry and some kind of identity throughout the year that the coaching staff will obviously try their best to do that. I think we're going to have one of the better coaches in Gerard Gallant. I've only heard great things about him and that's one of the things the next morning when I got up, I remember it was him that coaches the team and it really made me more excited because of everything I've heard about him. I'm also going to play with six or seven other French-Canadian players. That's another cool thing that I didn't really experience in my whole career."

Perron, who has 159 goals and 219 assists in 10 seasons, won't close the door on a possible return to St. Louis one day, whether it be as a player or in another capacity.

"I'm always open to St. Louis," he said. "I know the team is also. I'm very open to anything really. Quite frankly, everyone knows how much I love the game; I want to stay involved even when I'm done. Maybe it will be when I'm playing, maybe it will be when I'm done in 10 years, I'm not sure; I don't know anything. It's not something I've talked with anybody or after, but St. Louis is close to my heart as far as the hockey team and other things. I'll always be connected somehow with them."

Blues open in Pittsburgh, host Dallas in home opener

Season begins Oct. 4 against defending champs, 

welcome Ken Hitchcock for first game at Scottrade Center

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues will open the 2017-18 season on the road against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions then open the home schedule against an old friend.

The Blues will begin the season Oct. 4 for the raising of the Stanley Cup banner against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena

The Blues will begin their home schedule on Oct. 7 at Scottrade Center against none other than Ken Hitchcock and the Dallas Stars at 7 p.m.

Hitchcock, who will begin his second stint as Stars coach after taking over for Lindy Ruff over the summer, coached the Blues for parts of six seasons spanning from 2011-2017 before being fired on Jan. 31.

The complete 2017-18 regular-season schedule will be unveiled on Thursday at 2 p.m. CT.

Blues announce prospect camp

Team draft picks, invitees will hit ice June 28-July 1

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues announced Monday their plans for the 2017 Prospect Camp.

Camp will take place at the Ice Zone practice facility at St. Louis Outlet Mall beginning Wed., June 28 through Sat., July 1.

All on-ice sessions are free and open to the public and camp times will get underway at 1 p.m. for goalies individual skill work, skater sessions at 2 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. There will be 4-on-4 and 3-on-3 scrimmage sessions beginning at 2:45 p.m. daily.

The Blues will announce more prospects to take part after this weekend's NHL Draft in Chicago but among those scheduled include teams split into two groups: 

Team Tkachuk members include:
G – Evan Fitzpatrick (2016 59th overall)
D – Niko Mikkola (2015 127th overall)
D – Grant Frederic (amateur invitee)
F – Adam Musil (2015 94th overall)
F – Filip Helt (2016 211th overall)
F – Dwyer Tschantz (2014 202nd overall)
F – Nolan Stevens (2016 125th overall)
F – Devin Brosseau (amateur invitee)

Team MacInnis members include:
G – Luke Opilka (2015 146th overall)
D – Jake Walman (2014 82nd overall)
F – Tage Thompson (2016 26th overall)
F – Jordan Kyrou (2016 35th overall)
F – Austin Poganski (2014 110th overall)
F – Tanner Kaspick (2016 119th overall)
F – Nikolaj Krag-Christensen (2016 209th overall)

Blues protected/unprotected list made available

Among notables not protected include Perron, 

Brodziak, Lehtera, Bortuzzo, Gunnarsson, Hutton

BY LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The NHL made public Sunday morning the protected/unprotected list available for the Vegas Golden Knights, who will make their expansion draft selections known on Wednesday at the during the NHL Awards ceremony in Las Vegas.

Among those protected by the Blues, who chose to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goal -- as Blues general manager Doug Armstrong indicated to the media during the Blues' exit meetings -- were forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, Paul Stastny, Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Steen, Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund and Ryan Reaves, defensemen Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester and Joel Edmundson and goalie Jake Allen.

That means there will be some notable players the Blues -- and the other 29 NHL teams -- have made available for Vegas to select, barring any trades made between the Golden Knights and such teams.

Some notable names left exposed by the Blues include David Perron, Kyle Brodziak, Jori Lehtera, Dmitrij Jaskin, Magnus Paajarvi, Scottie Upshall (UFA), Nail Yakupov, Robert Bortuzzo, Carl Gunnarsson, Petteri Lindbohm and Carter Hutton.

Among those who were protection-exempt included Robby Fabbri, Colton Parayko, Zach Sanford and Ivan Barbashev.

A complete list of protected/unprotected players can be found here: https://www.nhl.com/news/protected-list-for-vegas-golden-knights-nhl-expansion-draft/c-289972722?tid=289242400

Blues announce 2017-18 preseason schedule

Team will play eight games, including Kraft Hockeyville game against 

Cup champ Penguins, neutral site game in Kansas City against Wild

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues released their preseason schedule on Friday afternoon and will play eight games, including the Kraft Hockeyville game against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins and a neutral site game once again in Kansas City.

The Blues open on Sept. 19 against Ken Hitchcock and the Dallas Stars at 7:30 p.m. in Dallas. 

The Blues will play eight games, including to each against the Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals.

The Blues' Kraft Hockeyville game against the Penguins will take place on Sept. 24 in Belle Vernon, Pa. at a time to be determined and their game against the Wild at Sprint Center will be at 7 p.m. on Sept. 28.

The Blues will have three home games at Scottrade Center, on Sept. 20 against the Blue Jackets, Sept. 23 against the Stars and Oct. 1, a 2 p.m. matinee against the Capitals.

The NHL is expected to announce home openers at 11 a.m. (CT) on June 21 and the full regular-season schedule at 2 p.m. (CT) on June 22.

BLUES PRESEASON SCHEDULE
SEPTEMBER
19 -- at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
20 -- COLUMBUS, 7 p.m.
22 -- at Washington, 6 p.m.
23 -- DALLAS, 7 p.m.
24 -- vs. Pittsburgh at Belle Vernon, Pa., TBA
26 -- at Columbus, 6 p.m.
28 -- vs. Minnesota at Kansas City, 7 p.m.
OCTOBER
1 -- WASHINGTON, 2 p.m.

Blues add Berube, Tkaczuk, Alexander to coaching staff

Trio joins Sydor, Ott as new coaches for upcoming season

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues have completed their coaching staff with the additions of Craig Berube as associate coach, David Alexander as the new goalie coach and Daniel Tkaczuk as a skills/assistant coach on Thursday.

The trio of coaches join Darryl Sydor and Steve Ott, who were hired to be part of Mike Yeo's staff last month to go along with video coach Sean Ferrell.

(St. Louis Blues file photo)

Craig Berube, Daniel Tkaczuk and David Alexander have 

been added to coach Mike Yeo's staff for 2017-18.

The addition of Berube and Tkaczuk along with Sydor will reunite the staff of the Chicago Wolves from a season ago. 

Sydor, Ott, Berube, Tkaczuk and Alexander replace Rick Wilson, Ray Bennett and Steve Thomas. Martin Brodeur, who filled in as goalie coach after Jim Corsi was fired, returned to his full-time role as assistant general manager and spearheaded the hiring of a new goalie coach.

Former Blues defenseman Barret Jackman was also added as a developmental coach June 2.

With Yeo (43), Berube, (51), Sydor (45), Tkaczuk (38), Alexander (35) and Ott (34), it's a younger staff moving forward compared to what the Blues had with Ken Hitchcock (65), Wilson (66), Bennett (55) and Thomas (53) last season.

"It's a young staff," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said on the team's website. "... It's an interesting staff, it's a young staff and a staff I think can grow with our younger players. 

"I gave Mike the final say and he has to work with these guys every day, but what you try and do is look where Mike might need to fill in some vacancies in his resume. Having guys that have played the game for a number of years, a guy like Ott, a guy like Sydor, a guy like Berube is really good for Mike to have that.

"I think we all think we know what players are going through, but until you've walked in their shoes, you really don't know. ... Having those experiences, I think, are really good. Just the communication skills with today's players, I think it's very important. Maybe a decade ago, players (were just) 'tell me what to do and I'll do it.' Now they want to know why. It's the 'why' generation. You have to have great communication skills and I think this group has that."

The 51-year-old Berube, who was a candidate for the Buffalo Sabres coaching job that went to former Blue Phil Housley on Thursday, spent last season as the coach of the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves and led the Wolves to a record of 44-19-13 (101 pts), Chicago's best regular-season since 2009-10, and a first place finish in the Central Division. The Wolves reached the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

A coach for 14 seasons, Berube spent two seasons as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Flyers went 75-58-28 in the regular season (2013-2015). Berube also spent seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Flyers (2006-07, 2008-14) and for two seasons (2006-08) was the coach and three seasons as an assistant coach (2004-07) with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL.

As a player, Berube spent 17 seasons in Philadelphia, Toronto, Calgary, Washington, and the New York Islanders and had 61 goals and 98 assists in 1,054 regular season games and is one of three players in NHL history to have appeared in over 1,000 regular season games and serve over 3,000 penalty minutes.

Tkaczuk, 38, spent last season as an assistant on Berube’s coaching staff in Chicago and primarily worked with the Blues' young prospects.

Prior to his stint with the Wolves, Tkaczuk spent four seasons as a coach in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), including a season as the associate coach with Kitchener and three seasons as an assistant with Owen Sound.

Tkaczuk was a first-round pick of the Calgary Flames (No. 6 overall) in the 1997 NHL Draft and played 12 seasons of pro hockey but only 19 games with the Flames in 2000-01.

On June 23, 2001, the Blues acquired Tkaczuk and goalie Fred Brathwaite and forward Sergei Varlamov along with a 2001 ninth round pick for goalie Roman Turek and a 2001 fourth-round pick.

One player extremely excited to have Alexander on board is Blues goalie Jake Allen, who has worked with Alexander, the the director of goaltending development at Alexander Goaltending, since he was 13 years old. 

Alexander, 35, has worked with several NHL goaltenders during the offseason, including Allen and spent the past four seasons as goalie coach of the Syracuse Crunch, the Tampa Bay Lightning's AHL affiliate that just finished second to Grand Rapids in the Calder Cup Final.

Alexander spent five seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Maine, where he coached St. Louis native Ben Bishop.

"Just the NHL in general is an opportunity to work with the best athletes in our respective sport on the planet," Alexander said. "For me, that's ultimately been my dream, alongside of winning a Stanley Cup. I think that's probably the biggest part of it for me is working at the highest level possible in hockey.

"The St. Louis Blues provided an opening there and I think the timing was right. I've been very grateful to be in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization for four seasons now, obviously in the American League. It's a world class organization. I've learned so much here over the years, but I think now's the time to take those learnings and apply it in an environment where new challenges will exist for me. I'm looking forward to that. I think that's what great coaches do, they look for new challenges, explore those and kind of go after it. That's what I'm excited about."

Both Allen (Fredericton) and Alexander (Moncton) are New Brunswick natives .

"He was actually going to university in my hometown and he was the goaltending coach of the midget AAA team at the time, so he would have been in his early-to-mid 20s," Allen said on Thursday. "I was in bantam going into midget and his father ran a goalie camp in Moncton, which was about an hour, 20 minutes away. I wanted to go down and make a good impression, so I went down to his camp that summer, worked with him, made the midget team, worked with him for two years as a midget AAA coach, then I went off to junior and I've worked with him every summer since then (2008). 

"He's climbed the ranks. He was midget AAA coach, then he was the goalie coach at U of Maine, junior A coach, Hockey Canada, sort of worked his way up in the minors and Tampa and now he's with us in St. Louis. It's a cool story on his part. He's worked his way up. We're really fortunate that we're able to reconnect in the NHL."

Allen and Carter Hutton sat down with Brodeur at the end of the season and talked about what kind of coach would work best with them. Allen said he didn't know of the hiring until Wednesday.

"He just wanted to hear what we had to say. Basically that was it. He's known about Dave, but I didn't really know much else until really yesterday when I got a message that said that it was going to be announced. At the end of the day, I was really happy when I got the message that they chose Dave and he was going to be the goalie coach next year. 

"I think he's just so adaptable. Every goalie's different; that's the biggest thing. You can teach certain techniques, etc. But evety goalie has a style of his own. One thing might not work for another. I think that's where he separates himself. I think he can grasp, 'What do I need to do for Carter? What do I need to do for Jake?' He can make it work. He's just such a progressive thinker. He's ahead of the game, ahead of his time. He's always on the ball. He's going to bring a lot to our organization. He's ready to work every day and he has a plan. Once we figure what that plan is come September and training camp, we'll stick to it. I'm sure we'll have great success. He's such a great mind for hockey. He didn't play in the NHL like Marty, but he's very understanding of the game and he's very good on the mental side of it. That's a big thing as well. He knows when to push, when we need to work but a lot of times as well, when we need to lay off and we need to just take a break and take a breather. He's been great at that. He has been in the summers for me."