The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Robert Thomas

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues joined Jeff Marek on The Sheet. Discussing the Blues playoff push, playing for Jim Montgomery, getting new teeth, and a whole lot more...Shout out to our sponsors!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Tim Hortons: https://www.timhortons.ca/rollupReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Hi, I'm Steve Patterson, host of The Debaters, a comedy podcast where Canada's funniest comedians debate the world's silliest topics, like maple syrup versus honey. Your suggestion that syrup is only good on pancakes, that's so untrue. There are a million different things you can use maple syrup on. Two. Give me two other things.

Forget the million. Crepes? That's French for pancake, buddy. That's the Bare Knuckle Round, everybody. That just got sticky. Listen to the debaters wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere.

Acast.com. Speaking of players, we got one of the NHL's best joining us right now. He is Robert Thomas from the St. Louis Blues. He joins me on the sheet. Robert, first of all, thanks so much for stopping by. I know you just probably finished practice and you're hopping on with me right now. So Aaron Ambrose is going to be joining next. Zach Phillips is my producer. So this is your Simcoe Express Day on the sheet here with yours truly. Before we get

into the NHL memories of playing YSE and if you have a story or two about Zach Phillips go for it. Oh geez that's a long time ago. Obviously I'm so pumped he's on the show with you now. You know such a great guy and obviously we've had a good relationship since Junior Jeff and couldn't be better and happy you guys are rocking the show. So we've had a lot of good memories. I don't even know where to start. Let me ask you this. Okay, you're not a hockey player right now, Robert Thomas.

You are a scout. Okay, so like put on a black shirt and a black jacket and get a bad cup of coffee in your hands and give me the scouting report on young Zach Phillips, my producer. Zach Phillips, I would say responsible player, two-way guy, good stick, could make plays too. Was always in the right areas.

That's what would be my scouting report. Good guy in the room? Great guy in the room. They don't flood the room. Yeah. No. No. room. Great guy in the room. They don't flood the room. Thanks so much for hopping on today. First of all, here's the question we're all asking about your team.

Can you guys do this? Give us the vibe in the room here. It's a really cool story. The Pareto injury is really unfortunate and horrible timing, but like, what's the mood in the room? And obviously you guys think you can do it. There's a belief there, but give us the temperature of the room right now.

Yeah, you know, this year's been kind of up and down for us. You know, we obviously had a coaching change early in the year. We battled a bunch of injuries and, you know, we had a bunch of new guys come in. So it takes a little bit of time to adapt. Once we made the coaching change, we felt like we were playing really good hockey. We just weren't able to find a way to win or they would score with a minute left and we'd lose. So our results were kind of based on how we felt like we were playing.

We went into the break, came out. Obviously Colton and Benner had a great Four Nations tournament. Benner came back. He's been unbelievable for us. We just kind of found this little mojo and the things that we were doing before the break were turning into results. We got a ton of momentum and we feel great. And the belief has always been in our room with how good we are and how good we can be. And now, uh, now everyone's seeing it.

You know, you mentioned Four Nations. I mean, it's such a galvanizing tournament for everybody and just an absolute home run for the NHL. It was, uh, I would imagine fun to be part of as an NHL or watching it. Like here's the thing that I want to ask you about though. Okay. So we see the two fights off the drought that could Chuck brothers go and okay. So like that's to be expected.

What went through your mind when you saw Pareko say, okay, I'm going to do this with JT Miller because he doesn't do this very often at all. No, he doesn't. But when he does it's, uh, he's scary when he does. There's something that switches in his head. I remember it was, I think it was last year he fought in San Jose, and it was right in front of our bench, and I just remember seeing something

flick in his eyes, and he was terrifying. I didn't want anything to do with him. Interesting that San Jose and his eyes go roll back in his roll back in his head and he just goes for it. Yeah, so it was it was really cool. Obviously the nicest guy in the world. But he's got some competitive fire under there. Thoughts on Jordan Bennington in the tournament. I mean, there was a lot made about him all tournament long.

Like I was I was saying the same thing. Like there was always one moment in every game where you're like, Bennington's awesome, awesome, awesome. But there was that one moment. And then in that final game, he erased all doubt for everybody. Yeah. I mean, I think the biggest thing is we we've all known it for years. Now everyone knows that is in those big moments.

He always comes through and he always steps up and rises to the occasion. And, you know, I think everyone saw it in that final game, some of the huge saves he had that kept the game close and ultimately led him to the win in overtime. So he's a special competitor and I'm glad everyone got to see it. Um, kind of sucks. He's our, he's our secret weapon and the cats are in bag now, but, um, yeah, he's a special player. But play, but like players know, like everybody in the NHL knows, like in the last couple of years, she's been like right in there with the Vezna conversation. Like players know how good this guy is.

Right. Yeah. I think, I think everyone knows how good he is. Um, I think one thing that people didn't really recognize is how well he played the place plays the puck. He's like a third defense back there. Now teams aren't dumping the puck to him. Yeah, he's something he's really worked on

the last couple years and it helps out our Diatone. Someone in the chat saying, ask Robert if Jake Neighbors is gonna be a stud. I think he already is. Yeah, he is a hundred percent. You know, he's a guy that he's got a lot more skill than people think. People think of him as a hard worker checker, all that stuff. But some of these goals he scored this year and, you know, he's really developed in his puck possession.

He's making a ton of plays. He's comfortable with the puck. So many things that, I mean, he's still so young and it's still only gonna get way better, but he's a real heartbeat for our team. Let me ask you about Jim Montgomery. You know, when the coaching change was made, I don't think that anybody was surprised.

I think many of us all thought that eventually Jim Montgomery was gonna end up as the head coach of the St. Louis Blues at some point. We didn't know it was gonna be this quickly but nonetheless there it is. What has he meant to you? Like is there anything specific like okay this part of my game is different now or I learned this from Monty? Like what's different Robert about your game with Monty behind the bench? I think a couple things. When I look back when he was an assistant coach with us, he really took a big step with guys like Buchnevich, Kyru, and myself.

He really took it in his arms to really help us and take that next jump. I think a lot of us give him a ton of credit for that. It's different when he's an assistant to a head and he can really take on those challenges and really help us out. So those guys, us three were kind of really comfortable with him in that way. And I think he just freed up a lot of us in the way we play, especially with myself. He's worked a lot on the 200 foot game, being better in the D zone, how to, you know, I get the tough matchups most nights. So how to kind of manage that and be on the right side of things and not kind of cheat

for offense. So he's taught me a ton, obviously as an assistant coach and now as a head coach and it's been amazing having him back. You know, it's interesting, you mentioned you get the tough matchups. I think about, you know, whenever I watch St. Louis play, I always think like, man, look at Robert Thomas has in the Western conference, there's like McDavid and dry saddle and McKinnon and rupee hens and Mark Shifeley.

It's like, there's no nights off for you, Robert. None. It's always fun. Um, yeah, you love the competition. You love playing against that's fun. Yeah. You love the competition. He loves playing against that's what I was then. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it helps obviously the Pranko injury sucks, but having him on the back end, he's a, he's an absolute beast and see him in practice every day. And I don't think people like playing against them. He's so fast, strong, and he's got a long stick. And yeah, so that injury has sucked, but at the same time

you got Broberg and Falker, you've really stepped up and taken on that role and kept their momentum going. You mentioned Broberg, what did you make of the offer sheets in the off season? That's like, well, first of all, like from a media point of view, like that's ball or move, like, all right, army, like that's, here we go all right army like that's here we go There's some some some some juice in this squeeze. What'd you think about it?

Yeah, I was really excited you know, I we hadn't played against them those two so I didn't know too much about them, but Whether it's guys, you know in Edmonton or guys that played against him in finals. Everyone was raving about those two and just the skill. And when they get a big opportunity, they're ready to take it. And they've been really good for us to say the least. I wanna ask you about, life always changes when you become a new parent, obviously.

You're a new dad. I know your parents are thrilled to be grandparents. How has that, not just as a player, because your rhythms are all different now, I'm sure, but how has that changed you as a player? How has that changed you as a person? And congratulations. Yeah, thanks.

Honestly, it's been one of the greatest things. It might sound bad, but I promise you it's a good thing. Your life kind of changes. Your whole life's not hockey. And I think it allows you to have a good balance. You know, you spend your mornings at the rink, you're able to be more focused on it. And when you get away from the game, we're able to kind of reset a little bit and spend some time with the family and it gets your mind off things. And it makes and it makes you perform better

and have a different perspective on kind of whether it's issues or the way things are handled and stuff like that. And I think it just matures you quickly and it's been an amazing year and yeah, it just keeps on getting better. So there's not like in the back of your mind, you're not saying yourself, you know,

if she's a right hand shot, we add 15% to the contract, let's make sure she shoots right on. Is there some hockey dad popping out yet, Robert Thomas? Definitely. Whether it's hockey or sports dad, I'm already thinking of, you know, in the summertime your tee times and tee ended up with her. So there's lots of things we're always thinking of.

You know, my wife Jen played hockey growing up as well. So there's definitely gonna be hockey in there somewhere. That's awesome. You know, the last couple of days has been really warm here and like we're living in the same area. It's been really warm here. And so everything's melting and you know, the rink in my backyard is pretty much done

and all the pucks are emerging from all over the backyard, right? You know what that vibe is like? And you did that, Scott's picked up pucks in the backyard for a number of years. What was that backyard rink like for you? And who else did you share that ice with? Yeah, you know, obviously Zach would come over a lot.

We had a bunch of our YSC team that would always come over and play. But yeah, the pucks always line up on the fence in the springtime when the snow melts. For me, you know, obviously my dad played hockey, my mom didn't, so that's kind of where I learned how to play. Wasn't so much, you know, watching from your parents or watching TV, it was just playing on the backyard rink.

You know, a lot of the kids in the neighborhood were a couple of years older, so you kind of learn how to survive out there. I think it helps you develop skills quicker and whether it's small area games or tight turns, there's not much room on a weirdly shaped backyard rink. That's where I learned how to play and really fell in love with the game. you never really have those goalies and stuff out there. You just have little nets. So you try and make as many passes into the net as you can.

So I think that's where some of the way I play comes from. Did you play well in Peterborough with those weird tight corners because you played in your backyard? I mean, outside to go back to London on nights days, play well in Peterborough because of those tight corners? Yeah, the square corners in Peterborough. I only got to play there a couple times. Played there more so in Hamilton at the end, but yeah, an interesting rank. It definitely was a weird feel. You're being very diplomatic right now. I applaud you. Yeah, it wasn't the most fun,

but I remember they used to take advantage of it all the time where you'd rim one on the boards and somehow it'd end up in the slot. So I remember seeing that a couple times and I was like, oh, that doesn't seem fair. Okay. Let me, a couple of things left here for you. One, I have to get in because I'm really curious about this and I'll frame it this way. I remember talking to Trevor Linden at hockey day in Canada. I can't remember where we were, Winkler or Northwest Territories or somewhere.

And I said to him, when did it really dawn on you that you were done, that you were retired and you're never going back? And he said, it didn't really feel like I had retired until I was at the dentist getting my teeth fixed. Because there's no point in fixing your teeth when you're playing because they're just going to get messed up anyway. He goes, at that moment I felt I was retired.

And I'm always curious about players that do their teeth while they're playing. Like you're great looking teeth. Why'd you do that? Ah, geez. Um, I, yeah, I lost my, I guess, three teeth in junior. And, uh, to be honest, I was just sick of just having one tooth missing. And so I was, I remember this story because I didn't want to spend the money and get the

teeth fixed because I knew I was going to lose them again at some point. So I was waiting for someone to hit me in the mouth. And we were playing in Calgary and it was actually Pranko high stick me in front of the net. It took out a tooth and a half of mine and I was miked up for the game and I remember getting this little clip sent to me later because I got off and I was like, did it get my teeth? He's like, yeah, I got one and a half years and I was like, yes, I get my teeth now. So that's kind of my story. You win.

You win. Yeah, so they're all pretty much bridged together. So if I get hit again, then you just take them out and put new ones in and that's kind of how it goes. That's awesome, you win. All right, last question for you. We'll let you get on with your day. I know all your days are busy, especially now as a new dad. Zach Phillips, hop on.

Last question to you. Zach Phillips, you're on with former teammate Robert Thomas. Go ahead, last question's yours. Rob, can you tell the people that I did not pay you to say anything that you said when you first got on the show here today? No, you did not. Couple winks though in the text messages.

Yeah. No, I appreciate you hopping on here and thanks for doing this. I have one question for you though. You have won at every level that you've played at. Stanley Cup, Memorial Cup, OHL, World Juniors, you've won everything like that. What does it take to be the winner that you are, Rob Thomas? What does it take behind the scenes to be as successful as you are? Hmm. Ooh. Skating.

Honestly, it's teamwork. There's no other way to do it. I've been very fortunate enough to play with so many talented players and great teams. But the one thing they all have in common is just there's a feeling in the locker room. There's a feeling on the ice when you're playing with each other,

you're having so much fun. Cause it really takes everyone. And I think the teams that are the closest are the ones that are the most successful, not only in the short term, but long term success. And that's the one thing I can't stress enough is teamwork. Well, as we like to say around these parts, Robert, there's no I in team, but there's two I's in invoice.

That's what we say here in the media. Anyhow, Robert, thanks so much for stopping by. Best of luck the rest of the way with the Blues. It's a fun ride, man. Like good luck getting this team in there. Always a delight watching you. Always a delight having a conversation as well. You be good. We'll talk soon. Yeah, thanks guys. I'll see you soon. This week every day this month I can't get my Bish is day to day I went to the I'm not against those methods but I knew It's me, myself and Alice gonna be fixing my mind I do wanna break it

I turned on the music I do wanna break it I turned on the music It's enough that I don't get your sometimes losing Helping on the days that went wrong Mmm, in the dead dark night Here's a show that we recommend. Hi, I'm Steve Patterson, host of The Debaters, a comedy podcast where Canada's funniest comedians debate the world's silliest topics, like maple syrup versus honey. Your suggestion that syrup is only good on pancakes, that's so untrue.

There are a million different things you can use maple syrup on. Two, give me two other things. Forget the million. Crepes? That's French for pancake, buddy. That's the bare knuckle round, everybody. That just got sticky. Listen to the debaters wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.