Jump to content

2019 NHL Playoffs


Recommended Posts

On 2019-05-19 at 5:23 PM, Floyd said:

I would love to see the Blues win the cup after being written off halfway through the season...

Yeah would take the sting out of losing to them a little easier to take,plus would be nice to see a first time Stanley Cup winner. But my pick if i had to lay money down would be the Bruins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

I didn't know he was still playing!

 

The Athletic has a real nice article on Thorburn and what he and his family went through this season.   https://theathletic.com/939431/2019/06/03/for-the-blues-chris-thorburn-thankfulness-comes-in-the-form-of-family-stanley-cup-final-experience/

For those who don't have the paywall access, some highlights:

  • Getting in only 1 game at the NHL level  and then getting sent to San Antonio
  • Leaving his family behind in StL so as not to disrupt his son, Bennett, who has autism
  • Losing his NHL level benefits when in the minors, which was costly given his son's requirements
  • Blues letting him fly home throughout the San Antonio season to spend time with his family.
  • Blues calling him up to sit in the press box since April, as a Black Ace but also to restore his benefits to help with his son..

Couple of interesting quotes/stories I'll paste directly:

 

Quote

 

As Chris and Sara sat on the front steps of that house in October, just one day before his departure, Thorburn’s wife said something that both incentivized and infuriated him.

“She said, ‘Could you imagine if the Blues called you up at the end of the season, and they made a Stanley Cup run?'” he said.

Thorburn said Armstrong, whom he called a “stand-up guy” throughout the situation, had discussed having a flexible schedule that would allow him to visit his family more regular than the average player. But it was too soon to be thinking about a potential postseason call-up.


 

Quote

 

Bennett doesn’t fly, which was another factor in the family deciding not to travel to San Antonio, but last March, he was able to make the drive to Chicago with several of Thorburn’s other family members — his parents, in-laws, etc. — to watch one of his last games of the season with the Rampage.  That spurred an idea for St. Louis native and San Antonio captain Chris Butler. ...  

Butler wanted the “C” stitched on Thorburn’s sweater for the Rampage’s game March 16 against the Wolves.

“We were in Iowa the game before, and I told the trainers, ‘Hey, here’s what I’m going to do. I want Thorbs to be the captain that night,'” Butler said. “Don’t tell him, I’d just like it to be on his jersey when he comes to the rink. He gets to the rink about 3 1/2 hours before the game, and I’m about a 2 1/2-hour guy, so I got there a little bit earlier that night than I would normally.”

“I show up to the rink and I see the jersey hanging up and with the ‘C’ on it, and I’m like, ‘Stop messing around, you guys, quit ******* with me,'” Thorburn said. “They’re like, ‘No man, that’s for real. Butzy wanted you to wear it.’ That shows you what kind of a guy Chris Butler is; he’s an ultimate leader and a great teammate. It was emotional, man. I was like, ‘All right, you guys have to leave me alone for a little bit.'”

 

Real nice to see Thorbs be handed the cup so early (I think he as like 4th or 5th to get it).  Character guy who obviously still made a big impact on his teammates.  Congrats Thorbs!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Brandon said:

While it's nice that Thorburn gets a ring,  does he really feel satisfied sitting on a bench and really not contributing at all to his team in going to the cup?

Well, the Blues could have left him in the minors for him to deal with his son's autism & they called him up so he wouldn't have to.  That showed a lot of class & compassion from that organization. On another note (pardon the pun) just look at how far a team can go with world class goaltending every night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...