Samuel Blais stayed in a hotel during the Habs practice camp

Blais was disappointed to leave and that’s normal. He didn’t play in the NHL last season, but he gave himself a chance to make the club in Montreal by having a really respectable camp. Things can change quickly in the big leagues… and today, he finds himself in Toronto. But I’m sure, despite everything, that the fact of having been called up to the waivers by another team gives him a certain motivation…

Blais won’t be in uniform for the Leafs’ season opener, and I can’t seem to figure out why that’s the case. We agree: on paper, Toronto’s roster is pretty good. There are players on the 3rd and 4th lines who are capable of doing the job en masse, but… at the same time, Blais would have been hungry as a lion tonight. The opportunity to perform well against the Habs, who placed him in the waivers on Sunday, was there… and it’s as clear as day that he would have done anything on the ice to make his presence felt.

But hey, the Leafs claimed him in the waivers, and not for nothing either: they saw something in him… and Craig Berube, who coached him in St. Louis, knows him well too.

It’s only a matter of time, in my opinion, before we see him play a game in a Leafs uniform.

’Overtime’

– Yes or no?

– Speaking of the Leafs…

– Already?

– It’s heating up.