Oshie/Blues to Move Forward,
Oshie to Donate Money

TJ Oshie returned to practice today following a two-game “suspension” after missing practice on Monday, and spoke a bit about the situation. Statements were given by both Oshie and team management and it appears both sides are ready to move forward.

Once again, our friend Lou Korac did an outstanding job reporting on the situation. The following quotes are all reported/tweeted by Lou – it’s important to give credit where it is due.

GM Doug Armstrong: “I feel very good that T.J. Understands the seriousness. He’s ready to make amends with his teammates.”

TJ Oshie: “I was irresponsible. I made a mistake. I realize that. It was my full responsibility to get here & get here on time.”

and …

“I’m going to do everything I can to earn the trust back of the fans, who I love here in St. Louis, of management & mostly my teammates.”

Nothing too surprising in the statements given by the team’s management as well as Oshie himself.

Also, Lou reports that Oshie went on to state that he didn’t feel right accepting pay for the two games/days he was absent, so he plans on donating his salary for those two days to the 14 Fund and the Dream Factory foundation. A nice/proper gesture for Oshie to make.

Now that the statements have been released, the interviews given and the punishment served, there really is no direction left to go but forward. In my opinion, it is what lies ahead that is much more critical than the events that have recently transpired.

How Oshie decides to handle himself in near and long-term future following this event is much more important to me than finding out all the nitty-gritty details of what happened on Monday. We can pretty much label this as Oshie’s final warning. It’s pretty clear any future mishaps/screw ups along the lines of what we all believe caused him to be absent on Monday won’t be handled lightly.

Consider this an opportunity for Oshie to take hold and truly make himself the face of the franchise we all believe he could be. Other youngsters, such as Alex Pietrangelo, have emerged and taken on great shares of responsibility within this organization. There’s no reason Oshie can’t join them.