Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Samuel Blais needed ice time.
He’s already gotten plenty of work with the Laval Rocket.
“It feels good playing a lot of minutes here,” the left wing said following his debut weekend with the Rocket, “so I’m feeling pretty good.”
Blais’s chance with the Montreal Canadiens has not come. At least not yet. After signing with Montreal as a free agent and going to training camp with the team, the Toronto Maple Leafs grabbed him off waivers on Oct. 6.
The Leafs opportunity reunited him with head coach Craig Berube, who coached Blais in St. Louis when the Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2018-19. His Toronto debut came Oct. 29 at Columbus, where he played a season-high 10:55. Slowly his ice time dipped, however, falling to a low of 4:19 on Nov. 13. Blais has 265 NHL games on his ledger and produced a goal and two assists in his eight games with the Leafs, but he spent all of last season in Abbotsford and the Leafs – attempting to sort through a slow start to their season – did not necessarily have the luxury of giving Blais a lot of additional time to ease his way back into the NHL pace.
“I thought the games I played, I had some pretty good games,” Blais said of his brief spin with Toronto. “But they had a lot of players there, good players. I thought when I got in the lineup I did a good job.”
Reclaimed off waivers by Montreal last week, Blais was assigned to Laval. For the product of Montmagny, Que., this is as close to home as it can get for him. And of course, the Canadiens prevented him from joining the North Division rival Toronto Marlies.
Head coach Pascal Vincent put Blais right to work, playing the left side of a line with captain Lucas Condotta and Xavier Simoneau, forming a line that can cause considerable problems for opponents. All three play a gritty, agitating style.
In his debut on Saturday night at Lehigh Valley, Blais produced a first-period goal and then forced overtime via another tally with 33.6 seconds to go in regulation. He finished off the 5-4 victory with the only strike in the shootout.
A night later in Hershey, Blais chipped in a pair of assists in Laval’s 4-3 victory. And in his home debut at Place Bell on Tuesday, Blais picked up an assist in a 4-1 win over Providence, his fifth point in three games.
AHL fans are familiar with Blais. He was a force during last year’s Calder Cup run for Abbotsford, recording 19 points in 23 games while constantly hitting, forechecking and wearing down opposing defenders. Eight days after skating the Cup at Bojangles Coliseum, Blais had a new one-year contract with Montreal.
“They (the Canadiens) have a young team, a really good team, and when you have a chance to sign with your hometown team, I think it’s an easy decision,” Blais said. “I’m glad I did.”
The consistency that Blais displayed last spring is what the Canadiens are hoping to see.
“When they won the Cup in St. Louis,” Vincent said, “he was so good during those series. Same thing last year. Physical guy. I think he has his own identity. He’s got great hands, but he can be physical at the same time. I think he can bring something that is hard to find.
“We need to see consistency in those areas. One-on-one battles. Getting to the net. Driving plays. Being reliable defensively. What he’s good at is he can shoot the puck, he can be really good around the net, and he can be physical. If he does that really well and consistently, I think he’s giving himself a good chance.”
After winning the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy in 2024-25, the Rocket are again among the AHL’s top clubs, leading the North Division at 15-6-0-0. Blais makes them even better. Maybe it means Laval taking the next step towards a championship. Or maybe it will open another opportunity to join the Canadiens. Either way, Blais is in a good place.
“I’m just happy I’m playing a lot of hockey,” Blais said, “and getting my confidence back.”