Plenty of hype follows Oshie to St. Louis ...

Here is a nice article on former Sioux Star T.J. Oshie. T.J. Oshie is right there will be a lot of us Fighting Sioux fans tuning in to see how he does in the NHL. I will be renewing my NHL center Ice again, but this year I will be watching the St. Louis Blue a little more than I did in the past. T.J. Oshie is a hard working hockey player and he will expect nothing to be handed to him, Oshie will work for everything that comes his way.

Plenty of hype follows Oshie to St. Louis
No one in the St. Louis Blues organization has told T.J. Oshie that he must be on the team's NHL roster next season. No one really has to, either.

"I can sense it a little bit just from being around town," Oshie, the Blues' first-round pick in 2005, told NHL.com. "People are talking. There are expectations, but I'm not really too worried about them. I'm not letting it get to my head too much."

Oshie plans on living up to those expectations soon enough, but the hype began May 13 when he signed his first professional contract. Oshie followed that up the next day with a press conference, where he sat between Blues President John Davidson and Lars Eller, another former first-rounder who also signed his entry-level deal.

With the welcome mat rolled up now, Oshie has to show Davidson, Larry Pleau and the Blues' team of executives why he's worth all the fuss.

"He's a dogged hockey player and a smart hockey player," Davidson told NHL.com. "He can make plays at top speed. He can play the wing or center ice. There is nothing not to like about him. He'll be given every opportunity."

Oshie could have signed his first pro contract last summer, but felt another year of maturing at the University of North Dakota was warranted. He finished the season with 45 points, capping a remarkable collegiate career that included 142 points in 128 games, three trips to the Frozen Four and consideration for the Hobey Baker Award.

"Everybody comes to camp to compete for a job and he'll have to do the same thing, then we'll see where he's at," Jarmo Kekalainen, the Blues' assistant general manager and chief amateur scout, told NHL.com. "He's been one of the best college hockey players in the country. He has taken his team to the Frozen Four twice in a row as one of the best players on that team. Those are the things that build the expectation and I think he has those expectations for himself. We definitely have them, but it does come down to how he does in September."

Oshie Number: #7
Position: Center
Born: 12/23/1986
Birthplace: Mt. Vernon, WA
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Shoots: Right


Even with much to prove, Oshie said his friends and family are already thinking of booking trips to see him in St. Louis.

"The boys in North Dakota, they keep telling me I'm going to do fine and they're going to all be watching me," Oshie said. "All my family wants to make it to every game, so they're looking for tickets. It's overwhelming. I think they're ahead of themselves, but it's great. I don't think it's really going to hit me until I get to camp and see where I am."

"The boys in North Dakota, they keep telling me I'm going to do fine and they're going to all be watching me," Oshie said. "All my family wants to make it to every game, so they're looking for tickets. It's overwhelming. I think they're ahead of themselves, but it's great. I don't think it's really going to hit me until I get to camp and see where I am."

Where he is right now is at the top of the Blues' growing list of prospects, along with fellow center Patrik Berglund and Eller. Davidson and Kekalainen say Oshie and Berglund have the best shots to make the team out of training camp; but Oshie feels he'll probably make it as a winger instead of a center only because of maturity.

"I would probably guess winger right away, being a rookie," he said, "but I would like to move to the center position in the future."

Oshie admits he's nervous about coming to camp. It has nothing to do with his talent and everything to do with him not being familiar with the NHL game.

"I feel good, but I haven't skated with the big guns yet," Oshie said. "They told me to expect a faster game. The game is a lot different than it is in college. Once I adapt I should be OK. I think I'm just wondering if I will be able to keep up and be able to contribute."
(Read the rest of the article here)