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(9-24-26) Blackhawks-Blues Preseason Gameday Lineup
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- (9-24-26) Blackhawks-Blues Preseason Gameday Lineup
MARYLANDHEIGHTS, Mo. -- Whentraining camp started, let's be honest: how many of you had ZachDeanat or near the top if the list as those that would be aroundtowards the end of camp with a legit chance at making the St. LouisBlues roster to start the season?
Buthere is the 2021 first-round pick in the NHL Draft by the VegasGolden Knights , traded to the Blues for Ivan Barbashev , right in thethick of it, and an opportunity of a lifetime tomake his first NHL roster with another solid game when the Blues(0-2-0) host the Chicago Blackhawks (1-0-1) in the third of fourpreseason games at Enterprise Center today at 7 p.m. (MatrixMidwest: Spectrum Ch. 186, DISH Ch. 31, Over-the-Air Ch. 32.2, 32.3,stlouisblues.com, Blues app, ESPN 101.1-FM).
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Thiswill be Dean's third game in as many preseason games, and it'sobvious: the Blues like what they see and want to put him with skillplayers tonight and see how the 23-year-old handles playing on the top line with Pavel Buchnevich and Connor McMichael .
"He'sbeen very noticeable in his speed," Bluescoach Jim Montgomerysaid of Dean, who has one assist in two games."His speed is a quality that we lack a little bit up front, thatnatural people that can flat-out just fly and create, I call ananxiety on defensemen and goalies off the forecheck or off the rush.
"Ididn't know that much (abouthim).I did know that he was a first-round pick to Vegas, I know he was inthe Barbashev trade. Everything has been more off ice than I'veknown about him than on ice. Unfortunately for him, I don't knowthat he's played more than 45 games in a season. There hasn'tbeen a lot of opportunity to see him, but he's shown really wellthis year. I love his attitude, I love the way he's playing."
There'sbeen a plethora of players, including those playing tonight in DillonDube, Oskar Sundqvist , Nathan Walker , Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, DylanPeterson, Jack Finley and Otto Stenberg that are fighting for what appears to be twoforward slots and Dean has been right there, if not elevated himselfabove all of them with his camp thus far.
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"Thecamp coming in, you know it's short," Deansaid."You obviously think about that coming in and in the practices andin the games, just try to do what I can. I think I have some skilland when there's plays to be made, I try and make those but I alsoplay hard, I like th be physical. I think that's something I'vedefinitely brought into my game, especially last year and stuff likethat a little bit more, getting hits and stuff like that. It's thefun part too. You feel more engaged and stuff like that, anddepending on the game part, some games go one way. If you're notcontributing that way, then you start being a little more physical. Ithink that's just kind of the mindset that I've had and camp'sbeen fun.
"Mygame over the years, you have to round out your game in certain waysbut as you become a pro, I feel like that happens a lot more oftenthan not. I think it's a good opportunity and we'll see tonighthow I do with that. It's just exciting."
It'sbeen quite the challenging ride for Dean, who has played in just47 regular-season games the past two seasons for Springfield of theAmerican Hockey League due to injury and being in the NHL's PlayerAssistance Program in the first half of last season.
Butthings finally returned to normal for Dean with a strong finish tothe Thunderbirds' season that culminated with a three-series run inthe Calder Cup playoffs and normal summer of training.
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"Itwas a really good summer," Deansaid."I got to spend a lot more time back home too, which was nice. Igot to see all my family. After the season, that takes away from thehockey a little bit, then you get right back into it. It was justgood to have a full summer of training and I feel really good.
"It'sfun. It's a competitive camp. We don't really talk about that,but it's known. It's good. We're all really good players. We'rejust trying to make the team. It's fun, it's competitive, that'swhat it's really all about."
Tonightpresents an opportunity for Dean, who has played in nine NHL games(in 2023-24 with the Blues) to see what kind of impact he can makeoffensively.
"It'sa good opportunity to play with those guys," Deansaid."They're really great players. I'm really looking forward toit. It should be fun tonight.
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"We'llsee what happens. Focus on the game tonight. I think I've had apretty good camp so far and I'm just going to try and do what I cando."
Andthe reason why Montgomery put Dean there?
"Centerwith speed just to see what that looks like with McMichael andBuchnevich," hesaid."It's an opportunity for the kid to hit a home run."
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Montgomerywants to see more desperation and urgency in the Blues' game aftera pair of 2-1 losses to the Dallas Stars in the first two preseasongames of the year.
Yes,they're preseason games, and yes, lineups have been mixed andmatched, but with only four preseason games, including Saturday'sfinale in Chicago before the regular season begins Oct. 2 in Dallas,it's go time.
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"I'mnot that happy to be honest," Montgomerysaid.'I don't think there's enough desperation or urgency in ourplay. We're not playing fast enough. Offensively, I like a lot ofthe O-zone stuff, but outside of that, we just need to continue toget better."
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Twoplayers Montgomery has liked has been the veteran defensive pairingof Cam Fowler and Brandon Carlo , each who will make his season debuttonight.
"Themost pleasantly surprising, I would say the D-pairing of Fowler andCarlo have been exceptional, and they've both been very good atwhat they're very good at," Montgomerysaid."Fowler's put a real emphasis on defending hard and it'sshowing."
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Why?
"Carlo'sthe most vocal guy on the ice in practice," Montgomerysaid."That allows you to play faster. When someone's telling you togo, or, 'I got 'em, I got 'em,' it just makes your job easier. Youdon't have to guess, you just do your job, and how vocal he'sbeen, especially in the D-zone and at defending the rush, has beenvery noticeable and looking forward to seeing that (tonight) for thefirst time in the game."
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Therewill be some mass and beef when the Blues use a bottom six pairingwith Ross Johnston (6-foot-5, 235 pounds), Finley (6-6, 233) andPeterson (6-4, 209).
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Montgomeryhas indicated recently that he would like to see Finley changemomentum in a game and it's not been there yet and this perhaps isthat opportunity to see if a trio with this much mass can create somehavoc.
"That'swhat we want to see," Montgomerysaid."We put that big line together on purpose. Let's see what kind ofimpact they have on the game, now they influence the game, how theybuild momentum for our team."
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BluesProjected Lineup:
PavelBuchnevich- Zach Dean -Connor McMichael
JakeNeighbours-Dalibor Dvorsky- Dillon Dube
Nathan Walker-Oskar Sundqvist-Aleksanteri Kaskimaki
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Ross Johnston-Jack Finley-Dylan Peterson
TheoLindstein-Colton Parayko
CamFowler-Brandon Carlo
CalleRosen-Adam Jiricek
JordanBinningtonwill start in goal and play the entire game; GeorgiiRomanovwill be the backup.
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BlackhawksRoster:
Forwards: Oliver Moore , Anton Frondell, Ryan Greene , Dillon Boucher, ConnorMylymok, Nick Lardis , AJ Spellacy, Roman Kantserov, Landon Slaggert , Patrick Kane , Sacha Boisvert , Frank Nazar .
Defensemen: Sam Rinzel , Kevin Korchinski , Connor Mackey , Ethan Del Mastro , WyattKaiser, Artyom Levshunov .
Goalies: Arvid Soderblom , Drew Commesso .
Blues Have Options If Tyler Tucker Isn't Available For Start Of Season
(St. Louis Blues)
St. Louis Blues Introduce Blue Note+ As Exclusive Multimedia Network For Telecasts
'It Was A Dream Come True To Play My First Couple Of NHL Games. ... Now it's a new season, you're starting from zero and you're here to take a spot.'
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