Blues top-line center had career year with most goals, assists, points; became first Blue in more than 30 years to record 60 assists in season talks about his jump up, team's inability to reach playoffs, more ...
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Robert Thomas could have basked in all his glory.
After all, the St. Louis Blues top line center had every right to glorify his season, which included career highs in goals (26), assists (60) and points (86) while playing in all 82 games this season.
He joined some great Blues of yesteryear as far as first to reach 60 assists since Craig Janney (68) in 1992-93 and most points in a season since Pavol Demitra (93) in 2002-03.
But Thomas, who did acknowledge he felt good about the things he did throughout the season, chose to reflect more so on why the Blues (43-33-6) did make strides from last season, going from 81 points to 92, but ultimately missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight season.
He also set a career high inn face-off percentage (53.1), shots on goal (170), power-play goals (eight), power-play points (27) and average ice time (20:57), among other accolades.
Sure, there was a lull in a stretch of games late in the season, but as has been outlined multiple times now, Thomas played through a stretch of illness that bogged down his production, and he still was able to take on the challenges defensively of being matched up against some of the game's best and neutralizing them effectively.
The 24-year-old discusses his season, why the Blues failed to reach the playoffs, how they have improved, what needs to be done to take the next steps, the in-season coaching change and more:
When you look back on this season, what do you think?
It's obviously disappointing. You want to be in the playoffs. You want to be fighting for a chance to win it all, so that part's disappointing. But there's a lot of positives to take. You look at last year to this year, I think we took a huge jump forward and I felt like we beat a lot of really good teams this year. We're right there and I think there's a lot of positives to take into next year.
Ever think with five guys with 25+ goals, two goalies with save percentages over 91, defensemen leading league in blocked shots that you should be playing right now?
Yeah, I mean we're right there. We were fighting until three games left in the season and had a really good chance. It was tough. Our conference, there were a lot of really good teams with good records. We were right there. I think there's a ton of positives to take. I think there's a lot of us that are really excited for next year and think we're going to take another big jump as well.
Was this year personally a big step?
Yeah, I think I took another step forward throughout my career. It gets me excited. You don't know kind of what your ceiling is. I think I surprised myself a little bit this year. I'm really excited to kind of find out how it plays out.
How was the adjustment for you to be part of the leadership group?
You've been a leader at different levels throughout your career and something you take pride in. I take a lot of pride in it. Hopefully I can continue to create an environment here that has been such a good place to play for many years in the past.
Regrets, such as no wins against San Jose. How much does that sting?
Yeah, you can always look back on things like that. Obviously frustrating. You feel like that can make a difference, but there's many games like that throughout the year that you feel like you should have won or you need to win. You can also look at some of the teams we beat consistently that are top in the league. It kind of goes both ways. Obviously there's lots of games throughout the year you wish you could get another crack at.
How much attention do the players pay attention to the coaching search? What's the feeling of the job Drew Bannister did?
The record since he took over speaks for itself. I think we did a lot of positive things. He was obviously a big part of that. Obviously it's not our decision and we're not really a part of that process, but I feel like as a group and as a team, we started to really click and find some momentum. That's what we're taking from this year.
From talking to the guys last year feeling like the culture maybe needed to change after last year, not the sense that is an issue this year; what did you do to change that?
I wouldn't say culture change. I would say kind of like a rejuvenation, if that's the right word. I don't know, just going to throw that out there, but I think you can build off a culture for so long and all it takes is for one bad season to kind of rip it back down to the studs. After the coaching change, you look at the teams we beat, our record is definitely building something and I think that's what excites everyone in this room. We kind of just ran out of time at the end of the season there. You can feel that culture coming back and that's what's exciting to be here for a long time is you see that future and you see where the team's headed and the direction. It's exciting.
As far as personal growth, what parts of your game you feel are still coming?
I would say quite a lot of things to be honest. I can still take another step defensively, face-offs. Those are two things that can continue to improve on. I think my shot was a lot better this year. Just keep on working on situations to use it. I think that'll continue to create more options to pass as well.
Describe this season in one word, what would it be and why?
One word, I feel like there needs to be many words for this year. Obviously a lot of ups and downs, but I'd say momentum would be my word. I think we started to create momentum and we've got to keep on continuing to carry it.
When you look at the whole season, what is one area the team came up short in that you can improve on going into next season?
I would say consistency. Like I was saying earlier, we beat a lot of good teams consistently. You mentioned San Jose and there's a couple other games as well. You clean those games up and you've got a different story on the year. Just consistency throughout the year. That's the main thing.
What did Jordan Binnington mean to the team this year, and Joel Hofer too? Are they the backbone?
You need really good goaltending in this league to win or even compete. We've got two guys that are quite frankly up there for top tandem in the league. That's what you need, that's what we have. You're never going to be a bad team when you've got two goalies like that.
