Ranjan Rupal is the North Bay Battalion TV play-by-play voice on The OHL Tonight on TVCogeco, and also the editor of TroopSurge.com.
On the hottest day of the summer, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, Dylan Blujus breezed into the seventh-floor lobby of the Buffalo Marriott Harborcenter, appearing relaxed and eminently confident, showing none of the ill effects of a lengthy AHL season.
Predictably he was on time. Right on time.
Perhaps not surprising for a hockey player whose life has centred around being on time for practices, for meals, for buses, trains, planes…on time for everything. The hotel was just a 5-minute drive for Blujus, who, by his own admission, loves Buffalo, and is happy to return to his home town every summer, talkin’ proud about a city experiencing a long overdue urban renewal, one powered, in part, by the entrepreneurial vision of Buffalo Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula.
Not that he’s ever very far from home. Since being drafted 40th overall in 2012 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, he has played with their affiliate in Syracuse, a city just 150 miles east of Buffalo.
Though the bulk of his achievements came with the Brampton Battalion, and with his arrival on the scene in North Bay in 2013 being delayed somewhat by a meniscus tear sustained during preseason camp with the Lightning, you could form an opinion that Blujus’ time here was fleeting, simply a waypoint in the journey of a soon-to-be professional athlete.
But you’d be wrong.
As the 2013-14 season drew to a close, there was plenty at stake for Blujus. The Lightning had yet to offer him a contract and he was returning from an injury that had denied him the first dozen games of the season. Upon returning, it took time for Blujus to find his skating legs. A goal and four assists in his first 15 games left fans wondering if the wait had been worth it, if Blujus was going to be the NHL-bound talent that could be the missing piece on a team still trying to find its identity.
But he new that North Bay was special.
“I left for training camp in Tampa and ended up messing up my meniscus in my knee,” recalled Blujus. “They had to reconstruct that and I was in Tampa for a month. Being there, and having the Battalion playing all these games already, I was anxious to get back. I wanted to get back to North Bay. I had heard from all the guys, Marcus and Brenden, telling me how great the fans are.”
“I caught a little bit of it for training camp, “ said Blujus, “I was there, I met my billets, I met some of the fans and there was a great turnout for that. When I got there for the home opener, I couldn’t play in it. I remember skating out there for the home opener, but I had to skate back to the locker room because I wasn’t quite ready to play yet. I still had chills during the introduction.”
By January, however, Blujus found his game, and the rest of the Battalion followed suit, embarking on a red-hot trajectory that would lead straight to the Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference champions, and a date with the Guelph Storm for the J. Ross Robertson Cup.
Under the watchful eye of Steve Yzerman, the Tampa Bay Lightning is viewed as a model franchise for player development. Throughout Blujus’ final season with the Battalion, he was in regular contact with Stacy Roest, the Lightning’s director of player development. Playing with a Battalion club that was headed deep into the OHL playoffs meant that Blujus was on centre stage, literally, with Tampa’s scouts watching closely, and he delivered the goods, ultimately earning an entry-level agreement.
“I think one of the biggest things in having success as a player is being on a successful team,” reflected Blujus. “We were on a great team that year, we made the deep run. There are only so many hockey players still playing at that time of the year. There are more eyes watching you. That helped me out greatly.”
It has been a smooth transition to life in the AHL, made smoother for Blujus, in part, because of the advice offered by his brother-in-law, Dan Gronkowski, the former NFL tight end who journeyed about during his career.
“He played 3-1/2 years in the NFL,” explained Blujus. “That whole family has a great work ethic. They put in all the work, they’re smart guys. They know what being a professional is. Especially Dan, he really led me. Some days if I wasn’t working hard enough, he’s not afraid to come up to me and tell me ‘Hey Dylan, you gotta start working harder. There are guys working harder. It’s professional sports and people are coming for your job.’”
With two seasons under his belt, Blujus is poised and ready for an NHL career. Recently anointed a ‘black ace’ during the Lightning’s playoff run, Blujus spent 40 days practicing and traveling with the NHL club. During that time he came away with a feeling more than anything else, a feeling that he rather be playing in May than watching from the press box, and Blujus hopes to take that as motivation when training camp opens.
“Starts to the year are really important because that’s when the coaches get their trust in you again,” said Blujus. “It comes down to hard work and having a good summer.”
“I have to work hard this summer. Keep skating. Keep working out to get stronger and faster. Wherever I am, maybe I’m in Tampa, maybe Syracuse, just go in there and do my best. If I’m in Syracuse, hopefully I can play well, up to my ability, and hopefully get the chance to play in the NHL.”
On a weekend that had Battalion fans looking squarely to the future, with Cam Dineen selected by the Arizona Coyotes, Mark Shoemaker by the San Jose Sharks, Brett McKenzie by the Vancouver Canucks, and Justin Brazeau getting a free agent invite to Detroit’s prospect camp, I asked Dylan about his reflections on his time in North Bay.
“North Bay is a classic junior hockey town,” he replied, without hesitation. “That’s what junior hockey should be, with the fans right behind you. There couldn’t have been a better town to relocate to.”
