Blues forward makes season debut tonight against Wild in home opener, gets thrown into fire on top line with Thomas, Neighbours
Brandon Saad was able to take in a couple of the St. Louis Blues road games to open the season, but not all of it.
The forward was busy with wife Alyssa as the couple welcomed their third child, a daughter named Lyra, last Thursday, but the 31-year-old is anxious and eager to get his season going here on Tuesday in the home opener against the Minnesota Wild (6:30 p.m.; ESPN, ESPN 101.1-FM).
And the Blues will waste little time getting Saad into the action, throwing the left wing onto the top line with Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours after what coach Drew Bannister felt was a terrific training camp.
"Conditioning, compete level, the speed he did things at in practice, in games kind of really stood out to me," Bannister said. "It looked like a player that is motivated and ready to get off to a good start.
"... He's excited. We're excited to have him back in the lineup. It'll be nice to have him."
And isn't it customary for a player to score in his first game after a child is born?
"I don't know, that would be great," Saad said with a smile.
Saad has 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) in 46 games against the Wild and is sitting on 499 points in the NHL (253 goals, 246 assists) and will be playing in his 864th NHL game tonight and is the player to watch.
