Jimmy Snuggerud's first day with the Blues: A ride from the captain, a new number and a starting job

New York Times

31-03-2025

ST. LOUIS — The phone calls started coming in to the front desk at the St. Louis Blues practice facility at 5 a.m. Monday.
'Centene Community Ice Center, how may I assist you?' the receptionist said as she answered a dozen inquiries into the team's practice time. 'They're on the ice at 11.'
The Jimmy Snuggerud era has officially begun.
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The Blues announced Friday that they had signed Snuggerud to a three-year entry-level contract, and then the 20-year-old right winger joined the hottest team in the NHL after it secured its ninth consecutive win on Saturday in Colorado.
'It was a really quick turnaround — kind of from zero to 100 and a lot of emotions,' said Snuggerud, whose University of Minnesota team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament last week. 'I'm really excited to be here now and meet this group of guys.'
Speaking of quick, it appears that Snuggerud could be in the Blues' lineup right away. They host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday at Enterprise Center in the first game of a three-game homestand.
'Potentially,' Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. '(I'll) talk it over with the staff. He's a quality talent that we've acquired, and it's just going to make us deeper and better.'
Snuggerud, a Hobey Baker finalist who finished with 24 goals and 51 points in 40 games at Minnesota this season, traveled to St. Louis over the weekend and stayed in a hotel the night before his first practice with the team.
He admitted to having 'a little trouble sleeping' because of the excitement ahead of Monday's practice.
Snuggerud was chauffeured to the Blues' practice facility by captain Brayden Schenn. The two players have the same agent, Ben Hankinson of Octagon Athlete Representation.
'Schenn picked me up,' Snuggerud said. 'He's been great. He's such a great leader — such a great person. Everything about him is just awesome. He's been through so much as a player, and you get to ride in the car with him and be his teammate now. It's so cool. You get to see life through his eyes.'
Then just before 11 a.m., Snuggerud skated onto the ice for his first practice with the Blues and saw life as an NHL player through his own eyes.
Snuggerud takes the ice with the Blues. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/tRNyBQHEqH
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) March 31, 2025
In the opening drill, Snuggerud was paired with Alexandre Texier. They made a few quick passes to each other, and with that, he was off and running.
'You have to be ready from the start,' Snuggerud said. 'There's so many good players on the ice, so just watch what they're doing and learn from them. It showed quick, though. It was a fast-paced practice — a lot of movement, a lot of speed. It's just to get on the ice with the guys.'
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The decision to turn pro, Snuggerud said, was two-fold.
First, he felt he had improved in the areas — speed, puck possession, leadership — that made him want to return to the Gophers for his junior season.
'I feel I worked on them well enough where I could jump on this team,' Snuggerud said.
And second, he wanted to be part of a team that is sitting in the No. 2 wild card spot in the Western Conference on Monday, with 87 points.
'I want to be here for them and be by their side when they win hockey games,' Snuggerud said. 'That was the most important thing for me, making that jump — just knowing the mentality is hockey, hockey, hockey. There's no school anymore. It's hockey, and you're here to win hockey games.'
There's no school, but there will be classes to complete — well, at some point.
'Hopefully I'll finish out,' Snuggerud said. 'We'll see how it goes.'
Monday was about learning what the Blues want from him and what they see in him.
'I'd say advice playing-wise, it's just play hard, work your butt off, be competitive and use your hockey IQ,' Snuggerud said of what he's been told.
Jimmy Snuggerud is here. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/bdUTAk4VYs
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 31, 2025
In a 35-minute practice, it didn't take Montgomery long to see why the club drafted Snuggerud at No. 23 in 2022.
'His hockey sense. His game management. His puck play was really good. His hands are exceptional. His skating is NHL speed,' Montgomery said. 'Those are things that you're looking to see, but the biggest thing is the brain. He thinks it so well.'
Schenn also noted Snuggerud's shot, which produced two goals in Minnesota's 5-4 regional loss to the Massachusetts. In 119 career games with the Gophers, he had 66 goals.
'He can score,' Schenn said.
The Blues had Snuggerud on the third line with Oskar Sundqvist and Zack Bolduc on Monday, giving an indication that he'll be in the lineup Tuesday. He was also on one of the power-play units, lining up in the bumper position.
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'He did a really good job there,' Montgomery said. 'Supported pucks well. He understands time and space. He's a scorer and a shooter, and those guys know how to get open. You could see his puck support and release were ideal for the bumper position.'
But as the captain said, everyone should keep their expectations reasonable.
'Let him feel comfortable, and let him go from there,' Schenn said. 'He's going to be nervous. He was nervous today. He flat-out said it. He's never even done an NHL training camp, right? So it's our job to make him feel as comfortable as possible as quick as possible.
'Obviously he has elite talent, but at the same time, you don't expect him to come in here and be this guy that's going to save your season. He's just got to be a piece for us, and that's all we need from him.'
Montgomery, who spent five seasons coaching at Denver University (2013 to '18), will lean on his experience with college-age players when bringing Snuggerud into the mix.
'It's the path that I know, what the adjustment is like,' Montgomery said. 'It's being able to give them a little bit of advice on what to expect the biggest differences will be and how he's going to have to adjust his game to be able to get the scoring chances that he's been used to getting at every level.'
#stlblues practice lines:
Neighours-Thomas-BuchnevichHolloway-Schenn-KyrouBolduc-Sundqvist-SnuggerudToropchenko-Faksa-WalkerExtras: Joseph, Texier, Dvorsky
Fowler-LeddyBroberg-FaulkSuter-TuckerExtra: Parayko, Kessel
BinningtonHofer
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) March 31, 2025
Montgomery will also have to balance the emotions of players who might be taken out of the lineup to make room for Snuggerud and the disruption that could cause. For example, Mathieu Joseph was an extra forward in Monday's practice, as was Texier.
'As a coach, you never stop worrying about all of those possibilities,' Montgomery said. 'But in the end, I think if you communicate to everybody that's involved, especially your leaders, and they understand that when we bring in a new player, it's an opportunity for us to get better and that's why we're doing it. In the end, we all want to put the best players on the ice and the best team possible. I'll sit with the staff, and we'll see if we make a change to the lineup or not.'
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Schenn wasn't concerned about the team's chemistry being affected.
'We're not going to worry about Jimmy being a disruption in our locker room,' he said. 'You hear a lot about him — hear he's a great kid, a guy that is well-liked by his teammates. He's going to be quiet initially. That's just the reality of coming into pro sports and being a young guy. If he has any questions, you're there to answer them. It's one of those things where you don't have to worry about him coming in and disrupting anything.'
The Blues, in fact, let Snuggerud lead the post-practice stretch Monday and were tapping their sticks on the ice to show support for their new teammate.
Meanwhile, the newest No. 21 in franchise history was saying and doing all of the right things.
Why did Snuggerud, who wore No. 81 in college but can't have that number because it belongs to Dylan Holloway, take No. 21?
'I just looked at the list and happened to choose No. 21,' he said. 'I'm playing for what's on the front.'
And on jumping into the lineup with a team that's in a playoff race?
'You dream of it as a kid, but I'm playing for everyone else in here,' Snuggerud said. 'I'm here to win hockey games. They're the hottest team in the NHL, and I'm so lucky and grateful to be a part of it.'
(Photo of Jimmy Snuggerud and Alexandre Texier courtesy of the Blues)