THE UNOFFICIAL ST. LOUIS BLUES PRIMER PART 1 : FORWARDS
JORDAN KYROU (Rouzy)
Info: #25, RW, STL 35th in 2016 (listed as a center ? does not play center)
Last season: 37 goals + 73 pts (career high goals!)
History: played a handful of games in the 18-19 season, but his real rookie season was in 19-20 and was cut short due to covid. Broke out for real in the 20-21 season and in the 2022 offseason signed an 8 year contract extension !! Won the fastest skater competition at the 2021 all star game!
Profile: great goal scorer at his best, often passes for the "perfect play" instead of shooting. Not super physical
Other: besties with Robert Thomas, they even signed matching contracts <3
ROBERT THOMAS (A) (Thommer) (Tommer?)
Info: #18, C, STL 20th in 2017
Last season: 18 goals + 65 pts (team lead in assists !)
History: played most of the 18-19 season and won the cup as a rookie! Had a good season considering he was on a team of more dominant veterans, very notably received That One Hit from Krug in the SCF
Profile: Not a massive goal scorer but definitely can score, more of a playmaker. Struggles with overpassing for the perfect play. Resident faceoff man post-ROR trade.
Other: besties with Kyrou :)
PAVEL BUCHNEVICH (Buch)
Info: #89, LW, NYR 75th in 2013
Last season: 26 goals + 67 pts
History: traded to Blues in 2021 and immediately had a career season. Was good on the Rangers, is even better on the Blues.
Profile: Great goal scorer! Very good shorthanded this season, already has 2 SHG! Hasn't been his best year overall but would be surprised if he didn't get at least 20 goals
Other: has never played a full 82 game season
BRANDON SAAD (Saader)
Info: #20, LW, CHI 43rd in 2011
Last season: 19 goals + 27 pts
History: won 2 cups with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015. Signed with the Blues in 2021 as a free agent
Profile: very consistent 20-ish goal scorer! Has been moved around the lineup quite a bit this season but is usually on the second or third line, great depth goal scorer
Other: not super relevant but inch resting to me, he was traded from Chicago to Columbus in the infamous Artemi Panarin trade
BRAYDEN SCHENN (C) (Schenner)
Info: #10, C, LAK 5th in 2009
Last season: 21 goals + 65 pts
History: important piece in the 18-19 cup season, scored a goal in game 7 of the SCF! Was an alternate captain for 3 seasons under ROR, currently his first season as captain :)
Profile: Usually a 20-ish goal scorer, production has suffered this year from being moved around the second and third lines
Other: I'm still jumpscared by him being in 2013-era Flyers fics to this day. He played on the Flyers with his brother Luke for several (4?) seasons !!
JAKE NEIGHBOURS (Jakey) (?)
Info: #63, LW, STL 26th in 2020
History: Technically in his sophomore season, was unexpectedly called up for 43 games last season + made the roster full time this year out of camp. Worked his way up from the fourth line to the first line before settling down to the second line after the coaching change. He's having whatever the opposite of a sophomore slump is! It's definitely been a breakout season for him so far
Profile: Good goal scorer, was briefly leading the team in goals. Very physical guy, doesn't take many penalties considering he's not afraid to throw himself around
Other: Roommates with rookie goalie Hofer, and they both spent the Christmas holidays with the Schenn family! They do a very cute little thing during the goalie headbutt line :)
SAMMY BLAIS
Info: #79, LW, STL 176th in 2014
Last season: 9 goals + 20 pts in 31 games post-trade deadline
History: Played on the 18-19 cup-winning team (was #9), traded to NYR (for Buchnevich) in 2021, scored NO GOALS in 2 seasons there, traded back in 2023 and scored career high 9 goals post trade deadline.
Profile: Usually a physical player, worked well on the relentless 2019 team. Struggling to find his place on the current team, sometimes a healthy scratch
KEVIN HAYES (Hayesy)
Info: #12, C, CHI 24th in 2010 (listed as LW ? but has been playing center)
Last season: 18 goals + 54 pts (PHI)
History: Drafted by Chicago but played for Boston College (apparently had an injury where he almost lost his leg????). Played several years on the Rangers, about ten minutes in Winnipeg, played several years in Philadelphia, and got traded to the Blues in the 2023 offseason for a couple of rocks (a 6th round pick). Part of the controversial trade that made Krug invoke his no-trade clause.
Profile: Good depth scoring and fantastic faceoff man. Decently physical player and he battles well enough that he's already got 10 goals to show for it.
Other: cousin of Keith Tkachuk! His brother (former player, retired in 2019) unfortunately passed away in 2021 and every time he scores, he points to the sky for him :,)
KASPERI KAPANEN (Kappy)
Info: #42, RW, PIT 22nd in 2014
Last season: 15 goals + 34 pts (PIT + STL)
History: Drafted by the Penguins but was traded to the Leafs where he played 5 seasons, then traded BACK to the Penguins where he played 2 1/2 seasons, then put on waivers. The Blues picked him up in 2023 and he put up a solid 14 pts in 23 games. He fought his way up from the minors and has played exclusively in the NHL since the 18-19 season.
Profile: Good depth player. Very fast but doesn't shoot very much. Currently on the fourth line, usually higher but was moved down as other players (notable Neighbours) moved up the lineup.
NATHAN WALKER (Walks)
Info: #26, LW, WSH 89 in 2014 (currently playing center, my sources are conflicting but he's currently playing center so. he might be a center)
Last season: 2 goals + 10 pts
History: He's Australian! He was born in Wales! He holds basically all of the Australian records since he's one of like 4 Aussie players ever. He played his first NHL games in the 2018 playoffs and won the cup the with Capitals! Unfortunately did not play enough games for his name to be on the cup. He's technically only played a handful of games this year and started with the AHL team but he's been on the team for a few years now and he just signed a 2-year one-way extention, so you'll probably be seeing more of him :)
Profile: Physical player despite being undersized (5'9). Not a big scorer but provides a major physical presence on a not very physical team.
Other: look at his instagram right now his kids are so goddamn adorable
ALEXEY TOROPCHENO (Torpo)
Info: #13, RW, STL 113th in 2017
Last season: 10 goals + 19 pts
History: Played in the KHL in 20-21 due to issues with the Blues AHL affiliate (goodbye San Antonio Rampage, fuck VGK). Made his Blues debut when a covid outbreak on the team forced them to call up a number of players.
Profile: Physical player! Kinda massive (6'6) so he can and WILL run guys over. Fast and relentless player who doesn't give up the puck easily. Mostly a 4th line grinder but he WORKS on that 4th line. Great penalty killer, already has 2 shorthanded goals on the season
Other: this has less of an impact now because it's just him and buch, but back when there were numerous russian players i always called him my favorite russian. this still stands <3
OSKAR SUNDQVIST (Sunny)
Info: #70, C, PIT 81st in 2012
Last season: 10 goals + 28 pts (DET + MIN)
History: The Blues offseason signing of the century. Played a handful of games with the Penguins in the 16-17 season when they won the cup, but didn't play enough games for his name to be on it. Signed to the Blues 18-19 team on a one-year deal and had his best season to date, won the cup for real this time to boot. Traded to the Red Wings in 2022, then traded to the Wild at the 2023 deadline.
Profile: As a center, he's a solid faceoff man, a solid physical presence, and I think he really exudes everything that worked about the 2019 team. Good defensive forward on the fourth line.
Other: A huge fan of the STL MLS team! Went to games even before he had officially signed here. I think the entire city of STL likes this guy he seems cool. Also the Sundqvist + Walman for Leddy + Witkowski trade is known for being absolutely awful. jake walman if ur reading this pls come back
And that's all for the forwards! This is what the roster currently looks like (1/14/24) and other players who are called up/down frequently will be in a separate section
9 notes
·
View notes
So, I was doing that thing I do in which I look up vintage Ronin Warriors toys on eBay and despair at the thought of ever owning a complete 1995 Cye and Kento, and came across a listing for Lightning Rider Ryo.
For those who have never followed my chronicling of Playmates, Re:Play, and the US Ronin Warriors toyline, there's a long and interesting story there, the gist of which is: Re:Play was a subsidiary/ offshoot of Playmates Toys, who were responsible for the manufacture and distribution of the 1995 and 1999 runs of Ronin Warriors action figures (there is also a very long and interesting story behind those spanning three continents, but that's for another day). Re-Play's entire schtick was reproducing basically whatever Playmates happened to have lying around circa 2001, from Exo-Squad and Earthworm Jim to, you guessed it, Ronin Warriors.
The problem is that a lot of these figures usually suffered from completely inaccurate color schemes and kitbashed accessories, particularly in the case of RW. Case in point, "Rowen", who was really just Ryo with a combination of Sage of Halo and Ryo of Wildfire armor.
(image source: Figurerealm)
(I remember reading a fic about this guy way back when wherein he was Ryo's cousing playing impostor...)
And of course the Way-Off-Base recolors:
(I grabbed these off of my old twitter thread and I can't remember the image sources)
And of course, the aforementioned Lightning Rider Ryo, who was Ryo's head and Wildfire helmet with Cye's Torrent armor and weapons, and its brother "deluxe figure", Dark Rider Talpa, which was Talpa but in his second boss phase because he turned red. Also they both came with a horse, hence the "Rider" part.
(image source: ebay)
(Image source: Figurerealm)
The horse has, for the longest time, been the biggest piece of the puzzle for me, because where the hell did it come from. Nothing from Re-Play was original, after all.
Which brings me back to my previously alluded-to self-flagellation. I stumbled across a listing for LRR that, in a bit of a rarity, included the horse.
Fantastic, I thought as I clicked on the listing just to window-shop.
And then I found they were gracious enough to include a pic of the copyright stamp.
(image source: ebay)
And friends, with that I am happy to say that the mystery that has plagued me for the last 20 years of my life is solved.
The horses included with Lightning Rider Ryo and Dark Rider Talpa was previously from none other than the 1997 Zorro line, which is a thing I'd completely forgotten existed if I ever knew that it did. I was preoccupied by Power Rangers and Beetleborgs at the time...
(Image source: Carousell)
And that, friends, is your toy history lesson for the evening.
3 notes
·
View notes
rw dnd au
survivor, tabaxi fighter
monk, tabaxi monk/druid
hunter, tabaxi ranger
artificer, tabaxi artificer/barbarian
gourmand, tabaxi barbarian
rivulet, tabaxi/dragonborn bard
spearmaster, tabaxi warlock
saint, tabaxi cleric
inv, tabaxi/aasimar wizard/bard
nightcat, tabaxi rogue
looks to the moon, water genasi cleric
five pebbles, harengon warlock
no significant harassment, half-orc bard
seven red suns, leonin paladin
silver of straw, satyr cleric
unparalleled innocence, tabaxi rogue
chasing wind, tiefling artificer
5 notes
·
View notes