Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today
Picasso’s paintbrush, Pujols’ bat, Potter’s wand. Each magic-maker holds one, too.
And after Blues practice Wednesday — the last practice day before Thursday’s season opener — Robert Thomas showed me the hockey stick he’ll use this season.
“It’s a Warrior Alpha LX3,” the great Blue said.
There are assists in this thing.
The St. Louis star’s stick is matte black with some small, neon yellow lettering. And the blade is swathed in white tape, this gift-giver wrapped like a gift.
“This curve, it’s Corey Perry’s curve,” the right-handed shooter Thomas said in reference to the 20-year vet and former Hart Trophy winner. “I like it because the first half of the blade is pretty flat and straight, makes it easier for passes. And then, when you kind of get to the middle, you get a little cup, so when you’re carrying the puck, it just sits in there. You can make some nice passes out of there and also shoot from there. So that’s why I like the stick.”
Robert Thomas is an artist. His canvas is the ice, and his paint is the puck, if you will. And he creates. He innovates. He improvises. He devises. Last season, he tallied 60 assists. Same total the season before. Only five players in the history of the St. Louis Blues have ever recorded a 60-assist season — Adam Oates, Bernie Federko, Craig Janney, Blake Dunlop and Doug Gilmour. And only Oates, Federko and Janney did it more than once. Thomas is in exquisite company — and he only turned 26 in July.
“He’s just so smooth,” said new Blue Nick Bjugstad, a 13-year vet who has played with Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Kirill Kaprizov, who will face the Blues on Thursday with the Wild —and he’s fresh from signing the biggest contract in National Hockey League history. “A lot of the top-end players that I played with, he resembles a lot of them, as far as the patience and the quickness at the same time. That’s kind of the fine line of the elite players. They’re able to slow it down to the point where they bring guys to them, and then they’re able to speed it up. Their lever is very maneuverable.
“So yeah, Thommer is definitely up there. Very impressive how he can make plays. I played a lot against him — and he’s made a lot of plays against me, so I’m glad I’m on the same sheet as he is now.”
Beginning Thursday at Enterprise Center against Minnesota, Thomas will center a line with wingers Pavel Buchnevich and Jimmy Snuggerud. The line, if you recall, blossomed in the postseason last spring. It’s such an enticing line, in part because of the unknown. Just how good can “Jimmy Snipes” be? Part of the growth of the 21-year-old wearing sweater No. 21 will be due to Thomas, who makes good players great.
“It’s a combination of elite hands and elite vision,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said of Thomas, who was an 18-year-old on the Cup champs in 2019. “He scans the ice before he gets the puck. And even if he doesn’t have time to scan, his feel for where they are — and where we are — is excellent. He puts pucks to spaces, and he usually puts it right in a position where someone can do some damage with it. So yeah, it’s fun to watch.
“Sometimes he comes back to the bench, and I’m like: ‘I don’t know how you (expletive) saw that guy!’ But it’s a credit to him, because you’re standing there, still, as a coach, and he makes a play that you don’t see from the bench. It’s pretty amazing.”
In three of the past four seasons, Thomas has averaged more than a point per game. Last year, he finished with 81 in 70 games played (21 goals, 60 assists). Of course, he erupted offensively after the February break — by the playoffs, he was, arguably, the hottest player in hockey.
So can he make the 2026 Canadian Olympic team this season?
“I think the Olympics will be a byproduct of his game,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “You know, he’s one of like 90 Canadians that wants to make the Olympic team. He has a realistic chance. He got derailed last year with an injury. He’s an offensive catalyst for us. You know, he has to be a great faceoff player. He’s got to be able to kill penalties. He’s got to be able to play well at the last five and six minutes of games — his energy level’s got to stay high. And if he does that for our team, we’ll be in a good spot, and that will help his Olympic likelihood.”
On Wednesday, Montgomery gushed about Thomas’ brain. The kid is curious. A student. Montgomery will talk about a play from a NHL game the previous evening, and Thomas will often know the exact play. Thomas peers at his peers to pick up a something he can do with his stick. And, the coach said, Thomas watches (and watches and watches) just how teams defend.
“So when he plays them,” Montgomery said, “he’s already ahead of the curve.”
As for Thomas’ actual curve, the stick blade is complemented by an “85 flex” stick shaft — “I switched this summer,” Thomas said. “I really liked the lower kick point.”
That means the stick’s flexibility is designed to accommodate quicker shots and passes, compared to powerful blasts.
Here’s thinking his 85 flex stick will produce 85 points this season.
Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today