New Thomas Interview @ Athletic

[STL fan in MN]

Does it speak volumes? Why should they have announced it by now? It’s called marketing. Teams will wait to announce things when it’ll create the most press/buzz.

So they weren’t going to do it during the playoffs, they weren’t going to do it around the draft, they weren’t going to do it around the start of free agency…they now have the behind the scenes draft thing coming out in a few days so probably not around then either. After that is open though.

But I wouldn’t expect it in August. Early Sept makes more sense to me to get the most buzz as training camp will be coming up soon then and all the guys should be heading back into town then so they can get all 4 (or however many will end up wearing letters) up on a stage, have the new captain walk out on stage wearing his jersey with a C on it for the first time etc., have Kerbs or someone interview him a bit etc. Then tie some sort of random Thomas ticket package which will create a slight ticket selling bump. It’ll probably be the main hockey story for a couple days if they time it well.

But it’s also possible they do open the season with a committee of 4 As. But you say it like that’s for sure going to happen. I recall Army mentioning it as a possibility but definitely wasn’t worded like it was a certainty. My gut says they’ll name a captain and it’ll be RT. They’re just waiting for the best timing to announce it.

A lot of talk about a committee if Thomas is a sure bet to wear the C. We'll C.

"I think the League has evolved into more of a leadership by committee. But I'm not dead-set on one path yet. And ultimately I'll let Alex [Steen] and Jim make that decision."
- Armstrong

"I don't think it's necessary to have a captain if you don't have a captain..That's going to be a lot of discussion for Army, Steener, with myself."
- Montgomery

And when were these comments made? Before or after RT having these meetings with Steener? And don’t have links to them?

Hey. Not looking to start a war. Just stating facts and not hiding links. Both recent/April. Not baiting - not my style - and not sure why we are dismissing what Army and Monty have stated 3 months ago. Here you go.

Link

Link

So the end of season press conference. That’s what I thought.

I too recall those comments and definitely not saying you’re making any of this up but disagree with calling April current. Army said not going with a C was one of the options. But that was 3 months ago. I bet they have a much more solid plan now. We just don’t precisely know what it is.

IMO, those comments were to get one of the guys, likely RT, to take the bull by the horns and show they’re ready for the C. My guess is that’s precisely what RT did in these multiple discussion he had with Steen. But like you, all I have is my opinions and gut feelings. We’ll see soon enough but I’ll be surprised if they go into the season w/o naming a C.

Certainly not a solid endorsement. Recent must be relative. And not sure why they would commit. This team is young and needs to prove themselves. RT included.

Well RT certainly isn’t young. He’s 27 and has 8 NHL seasons under his belt. What is it you feel he needs to prove?

Didn't say he was young (I know his history with the team and his age). Just that he needs to prove himself. I said the team is young. Very important to have a leader, or in this case, a captain, who can lead this young core. A lot riding on it and invested.

It's apparent he needs to prove to the coaches and leadership he can do just that. Lead. That he's more than just an "A". That they don't have to light a fire under his rear. Or as you say, "Take the bull by the horns and show they’re ready for the C."

I don't have an issue with management withholding the 'C' from him. If he's the player I think he is, the player he thinks he is and the player the team need him to be, he'll make it very apparent, very quickly, that he deserves the honor. If not, management made the right decision to not just give it to him.

And, for the record, John Cocktoastin remains one of the all-time great handles on this or any other board. Mt. Rushmore.

Thanks, Huckleberry. My favorite movie and have had it as my handle since about 2008. Yours is a good one too.

As a final note on my part - I think all we're all saying is - if he's ready and willing to lead, let him have it. If not, don't be in a rush to slap it on his chest. Too much at stake here with this young group.

I don’t disagree with this view actually. I think really the only thing we differ on is if RT has shown he’s the guy for the job yet. I feel he has. It seems you aren’t fully convinced yet. And to be fair, I’m not 100% convinced either, but also know we as fans can really only see maybe 5% of what Blues management sees. So just reading the tea leaves, it seems like they’re comfortable with him being the guy. But that’s just my perception, which could be wrong.

Assuming he does become the next C, hopefully he’s a strong one. He’s been an alternate captain multiple times but at least according to his eliteprospects stats, he hasn’t worn a C since his age 14 season (which is near meaningless when comparing it to captaining a NHL team). But he’s also been one of the younger guys at pretty much each stop in his career, advancing early and having a July birthday. So I don’t really think that history shows a lack of leadership ability as I bet if he had stayed in Jrs as a 19 yr old instead of being in the NHL, he would’ve been captain that season.

I think he’s ready to be C but as with anyone that hasn’t been a C before, it’s an unknown and there will be growing pains. Not exactly the same thing but it makes me think of a few times I’ve had the opportunity to promote someone into their first managerial role. It’s different. Some are great at it and some aren’t. Some that aren’t find their way after some bumps and others make it pretty clear they should be in more of an individual contributor role. But the key is to give them the help and support they need. Back to RT, that would be making sure it wouldn’t all be on him and I don’t think it would be. Both he and Parayko have been in our leadership group a long time and I’d expect the two of them to be the main messengers between the coaching staff and the rest of the players. But what they really need is to make sure all the guys are all steering the ship in the same direction. That they’re on the same page. That there’s clearly expectations from the coaching staff and mgmt. Monty seems like a good communicator as does Steen. And Steen is clearly very focused on culture as well. So I don’t really have too many concerns with them not making sure RT has the support, structure and direction needed to be a good C.

But in the end, time will tell. My guess is he’s announced the C sometime before camp opens but again, just a hunch based on how I’ve read the tea leaves and how companies work in terms of trying to space out announcements.

Oh and also, agree with huckleberry that Fletch is an all-time great movie. I’ve actually gotten my son to watch some of my favorite 80s comedies lately (Spaceballs, Caddyshack, Back to the Future) so maybe I’ll have to add Fletch to the list. But it’s been a while since I’ve seen it so may have to watch it myself first to check appropriateness first. I got in trouble with the wife a bit with how many swears were in Spaceballs haha!

Tombstone is also an all-time great movie.

Agree with what you're saying. You never truly know until you put someone in that spot. I think the support you're talking about is there too. Appreciate the discussion.

Side note - Fletch is totally benign. Maybe the "you’re not recording this are you?" scene is a little whatever, but by today's standards, vanilla. Or maybe the scene where Fletch is hitting on Mrs. Stanwyk in the cabana. I've watched the movie with my two boys a couple of times and didn't feel uncomfortable. Too much good material to not share with future generations! And it's when Chevy Chase was at his best.

Agreed. Has been a good discussion.

And thanks for the breakdown on the movie. I got some side eyes from my wife during Spaceballs when President Skroob was in bed with the doublemint twins and when the sexy nurse walks away and Dark Helmet comments “I bet she gives great helmet.” haha. I explained later that there was no way he got that as I doubt he even knows what a BJ is yet but she didn’t like it none the less lol.

[John Cocktoastin]

A lot of talk about a committee if Thomas is a sure bet to wear the C. We'll C.

"I think the League has evolved into more of a leadership by committee. But I'm not dead-set on one path yet. And ultimately I'll let Alex [Steen] and Jim make that decision."
- Armstrong

"I don't think it's necessary to have a captain if you don't have a captain..That's going to be a lot of discussion for Army, Steener, with myself."
- Montgomery

And when were these comments made? Before or after RT having these meetings with Steener? And don’t have links to them?

Hey. Not looking to start a war. Just stating facts and not hiding links. Both recent/April. Not baiting - not my style - and not sure why we are dismissing what Army and Monty have stated 3 months ago. Here you go.

Link

Link

So the end of season press conference. That’s what I thought.

I too recall those comments and definitely not saying you’re making any of this up but disagree with calling April current. Army said not going with a C was one of the options. But that was 3 months ago. I bet they have a much more solid plan now. We just don’t precisely know what it is.

IMO, those comments were to get one of the guys, likely RT, to take the bull by the horns and show they’re ready for the C. My guess is that’s precisely what RT did in these multiple discussion he had with Steen. But like you, all I have is my opinions and gut feelings. We’ll see soon enough but I’ll be surprised if they go into the season w/o naming a C.

Certainly not a solid endorsement. Recent must be relative. And not sure why they would commit. This team is young and needs to prove themselves. RT included.

Well RT certainly isn’t young. He’s 27 and has 8 NHL seasons under his belt. What is it you feel he needs to prove?

Didn't say he was young (I know his history with the team and his age). Just that he needs to prove himself. I said the team is young. Very important to have a leader, or in this case, a captain, who can lead this young core. A lot riding on it and invested.

It's apparent he needs to prove to the coaches and leadership he can do just that. Lead. That he's more than just an "A". That they don't have to light a fire under his rear. Or as you say, "Take the bull by the horns and show they’re ready for the C."

I don't have an issue with management withholding the 'C' from him. If he's the player I think he is, the player he thinks he is and the player the team need him to be, he'll make it very apparent, very quickly, that he deserves the honor. If not, management made the right decision to not just give it to him.

And, for the record, John Cocktoastin remains one of the all-time great handles on this or any other board. Mt. Rushmore.

Thanks, Huckleberry. My favorite movie and have had it as my handle since about 2008. Yours is a good one too.

As a final note on my part - I think all we're all saying is - if he's ready and willing to lead, let him have it. If not, don't be in a rush to slap it on his chest. Too much at stake here with this young group.

I don’t disagree with this view actually. I think really the only thing we differ on is if RT has shown he’s the guy for the job yet. I feel he has. It seems you aren’t fully convinced yet. And to be fair, I’m not 100% convinced either, but also know we as fans can really only see maybe 5% of what Blues management sees. So just reading the tea leaves, it seems like they’re comfortable with him being the guy. But that’s just my perception, which could be wrong.

Assuming he does become the next C, hopefully he’s a strong one. He’s been an alternate captain multiple times but at least according to his eliteprospects stats, he hasn’t worn a C since his age 14 season (which is near meaningless when comparing it to captaining a NHL team). But he’s also been one of the younger guys at pretty much each stop in his career, advancing early and having a July birthday. So I don’t really think that history shows a lack of leadership ability as I bet if he had stayed in Jrs as a 19 yr old instead of being in the NHL, he would’ve been captain that season.

I think he’s ready to be C but as with anyone that hasn’t been a C before, it’s an unknown and there will be growing pains. Not exactly the same thing but it makes me think of a few times I’ve had the opportunity to promote someone into their first managerial role. It’s different. Some are great at it and some aren’t. Some that aren’t find their way after some bumps and others make it pretty clear they should be in more of an individual contributor role. But the key is to give them the help and support they need. Back to RT, that would be making sure it wouldn’t all be on him and I don’t think it would be. Both he and Parayko have been in our leadership group a long time and I’d expect the two of them to be the main messengers between the coaching staff and the rest of the players. But what they really need is to make sure all the guys are all steering the ship in the same direction. That they’re on the same page. That there’s clearly expectations from the coaching staff and mgmt. Monty seems like a good communicator as does Steen. And Steen is clearly very focused on culture as well. So I don’t really have too many concerns with them not making sure RT has the support, structure and direction needed to be a good C.

But in the end, time will tell. My guess is he’s announced the C sometime before camp opens but again, just a hunch based on how I’ve read the tea leaves and how companies work in terms of trying to space out announcements.

Oh and also, agree with huckleberry that Fletch is an all-time great movie. I’ve actually gotten my son to watch some of my favorite 80s comedies lately (Spaceballs, Caddyshack, Back to the Future) so maybe I’ll have to add Fletch to the list. But it’s been a while since I’ve seen it so may have to watch it myself first to check appropriateness first. I got in trouble with the wife a bit with how many swears were in Spaceballs haha!

Tombstone is also an all-time great movie.

Agree with what you're saying. You never truly know until you put someone in that spot. I think the support you're talking about is there too. Appreciate the discussion.

Side note - Fletch is totally benign. Maybe the "you’re not recording this are you?" scene is a little whatever, but by today's standards, vanilla. Or maybe the scene where Fletch is hitting on Mrs. Stanwyk in the cabana. I've watched the movie with my two boys a couple of times and didn't feel uncomfortable. Too much good material to not share with future generations! And it's when Chevy Chase was at his best.

Agreed. Has been a good discussion.

And thanks for the breakdown on the movie. I got some side eyes from my wife during Spaceballs when President Skroob was in bed with the doublemint twins and when the sexy nurse walks away and Dark Helmet comments “I bet she gives great helmet.” haha. I explained later that there was no way he got that as I doubt he even knows what a BJ is yet but she didn’t like it none the less lol.

You played that perfectly as a dad. No way they got that and good job deflecting the side eye!