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Samson Too Strong For Juniors |
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He wasn't strong enough to endure the physicality and rigorous grind of the NHL, so he was returned to the WHL Kootenay Ice.
Now that he's back in juniors, he's clearly too strong a player for the other kids his age to compete with.
Samson Reinhart is too good to play in junior hockey, however, the NHL was not the place for him. Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray predicted that this would happen when he sent the second overall pick in the June 2014 NHL Draft back to Kootenay a few weeks ago.
Murray hated saying goodbye to the kid because he felt an emotional attachment to the center man. Reinhart was Murray's first ever draft choice as an NHL GM. He scouted Reinhart live in person and was thrilled when the Florida Panthers selected D-man Aaron Ekblad first overall in the entry draft. Murray and the Sabres scouting staff were thrilled when Reinhart was available to them at #2. They had high hopes for Reinhart to make the Sabres after his nine game rookie tryout had ended. His IQ, skating and skills are NHL ready, however, he was too easily knocked off pucks had become the target of heavy body contact from opposing D and forwards. Murray agonized over the decision and felt it was best for Reinhart's development to send back for his fourth season of junior hockey rather than have the kid suffer a serious injury due to the hard contact that is commonplace on every shift in the NHL. I'll never forget watching Reinhart get pounded hard by Jack Skille of the Columbus Blue Jackets in Buffalo's season opener. Veteran players in their late 20s and early 30s tend to send messages to the rookies. Skille did just that to Reinhart in the first period of his pro hockey career. Ted Nolan eased the kid's exposure to heavy body contact when he reduced Reinhart's minutes and skated him on the fourth line. Frankly, Reinhart is no fourth liner who plays six minutes a game. He needed a break. He needed to feel good about himself after he failed to follow the lead that Ekblad set by making his NHL club out of training camp.
So, with a heavy heart, Reinhart skated back to Kootenay to resume his domination of The Dub.
He has not disappointed one iota.
The WHL has announced that Reinhart is the Denny’s WHL Player of the Week for the week ending November 16, 2014.
Reinhart accumulated seven points, including a goal and six assists, while posting a +4 rating in two games over the past week, leading the Ice to a pair of wins in that span.
Reinhart had himself a very productive weekend.
He chipped in four assists, including setting up the tying and game-winning goals, in a 7-6 overtime victory over the visiting Calgary Hitmen. On Saturday night, he lit the lamp and set up two other goals for a three-point game while being named the game's first star vs. the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Reinhart, a 19-year-old from Vancouver, B.C., is in his fourth season in the WHL with the Kootenay Ice. Reinhart has scored three goals and 10 points through four games since returning to the Ice after beginning the season in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres. The 2013-14 WHL Player of the Year and Sportsman of the Year, Reinhart has amassed 104 goals and 264 points in 207 career regular season contests.
Tim Murray isn't going to be measuring and grading Reinhart by his offensive statistics and his grotesque scoring number in Kootenay this season. He will be watching to se the gains that the kid makes when he's hitting the gym to pump iron when his buds are playing Xbox. Reinhart has to dedicate himself to developing his body into that of an NHL player. Reinhart is 6'1 and 190 lbs. Murray and Nolan want the kid to report back to Buffalo next July with better strength and jacked pipes. All he need do is follow the work ethic of former first round forwards Zemgus Girgensons and Mikhail Grigorenko, who have hit the weight room hard in order to add the muscle mass and strength that is needed to exert oneself and to win battles at the next level.
Reinhart is not eligible to play in AHL Rochester this season so he'll have to his strength and conditioning/fitness work in junior. He will have find the discipline and the time to grind out squats, curls, and bench presses when he is not skewering other 18, 19 and 20 year olds with his exquisite suite of hockey measurables.
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