Columbus Blue Jackets: Martin St. Louis Proves Size Doesn’t Matter
By William Espy
The Columbus Blue Jackets recently hired the Hockey Hall of Famer as a consultant to work along side the coaching staff.
The Columbus Blue Jackets added one of the most successful undrafted players in history, who helped break the “size barrier” that used to dominate the NHL. Martin St. Louis played for head coach John Tortorella in Tampa Bay’s Stanley Cup winning season and now they’ve reunited in a different way with the Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets have one “undersized” player on their roster in Cam Atkinson who stands at 5’8″ and he’s proving he too can be a star despite his size. There’s quite a few small players in the system as well with Trey Fix-Wolansky at 5’7″ and Vitali Abramov who’s 5’9″.
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In the past, success seemed to be synonymous with size while in recent years the game has been trending toward smaller players with speed and skill. Stars like Johnny Gaudreau, Brad Marchand as well as soon to be star Alex DeBrincat breaking out in recent years.
Martin St. Louis proves that despite size, you can’t count out any players in the Columbus Blue Jackets franchise until they’re given a fair opportunity. St. Louis also had another factor against him, which is fairly similar to the Jackets’ star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. They both were undrafted.
Counting out any prospect before they have a chance at the professional level, especially prior to them reaching the NHL level; if they ever make it. While it goes without saying that every player won’t reach the NHL, they all equally have an opportunity at making it once they’re signed to an NHL contract.
Next. Columbus Blue Jackets Hire Martin St. Louis. dark
Martin St. Louis proves that any prospect on any team has an opportunity to be a star at the NHL level even if they don’t seem like a likely candidate to be so.