Upshall lands on his feet with the Blues
Canucks training camp hopeful wasn’t here for long, but says his Vancouver experience was worthwhile
Saturday marked Scottie Upshall’s 20th career game against the Vancouver Canucks.
As you’d might expect, this time had a slightly different feel for him.
Upshall, 34, went to training camp with the Canucks on a professional tryout offer, looking to extend his NHL career after the St. Louis Blues failed to re-sign the forward following two seasons with their club. He even took part in Vancouver’s trip to China for exhibition games against the Los Angeles Kings.
When the Blues started being sideswiped by injuries early in the year, they reached out again to Upshall. He was a late scratch from a Vancouver pre-season game against the Calgary Flames on Sept. 28. He signed a deal with the Blues two days later.
“It feels a little bit different to be here. You feel a little bit closer to the surroundings, to the dressing room, to their training staff and medical staff,” Upshall said after the Blues’ morning skate on Saturday at Rogers Arena.
“Everyone was really, really great. I had a great experience. It was nice seeing all the guys, because it felt like it was yesterday we were eating dumplings in Shanghai and walking the Great Wall together and travelling in that awesome plane we flew over in. All those experiences were really cool.
“They’ve got good guys. The makeup of their team is awesome. I had a really great time getting to know Hank and Danny (Sedin) and all the guys.”
Upshall, a former WHL standout with the Kamloops Blazers, admitted that while with Vancouver he was paying attention to the injury situation with the Blues, which included losing winger Robby Fabbri for the season when he re-injured his knee he had hurt last year in training camp.
As Upshall puts it, “when you’re on a tryout you’re trying out for every team.”
“I was trying to make the Vancouver Canucks, but ultimately, you want to be showcasing yourself to the whole league,” continued Upshall whose NHL career, which surpassed the 700-game plateau this season, has included stops with the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Arizona Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers, as well as his time with the Blues.
“I knew that St. Louis, as they got banged up, was going to need somebody. I think they spoke to (team) leaders and they mentioned a couple of guys and I ended up being the guy. It felt good to come back, because I felt tight with this group. I think we’re close to being a really, really good hockey team.”
He says that when St. Louis first approached him he let Vancouver general manager Jim Benning know what was going on. Upshall says that Blues general manager Doug Armstrong spoke with Benning before Upshall took the St. Louis offer.
As for the Canucks, Upshall believes he might have stuck with the big team.
“They gave me a great chance to show what I could bring,” said Upshall, who was averaging 11 minutes, 22 seconds of ice time through 20 games this season going into Saturday, with two goals and eight points in that span.
“I was there to push guys, work hard, be a good teammate. I think there might have been room for me, but you’d have to ask them.
“We had a really good exit meeting after I signed with St. Louis. It was a great experience.”
There’s loads to like about the Blues right now. They have scoring depth up front. They have grit and experience with guys like Upshall.
Upshall also pointed to the offence they’re getting from their defencemen. The Blues had 19 goals from blue liners going into Saturday, including seven from Alex Pietrangelo and five from Joel Edmundson.
The Canucks, by comparison, had three goals from their rearguards as of Saturday morning.
Edmundson, another former WHLer who played with both the Blazers and the Moose Jaw Warriors, had three goals in 69 games with St. Louis last season.
“It’s just the system that Yeosie (Blues coach Mike Yeo) has put in. He wants us to join the rush and the forwards are doing a good job of covering for us,” Edmundson said. “It’s a group effort.”