Just a few years ago, Penguins forward prospect Joseph Blandisi was worried that his professional career was over before it even started.
It was the 2013-14 season and Blandisi was playing for the OHL's Barrie Colts, averaging over a point per game. He began feeling seriously ill, and nobody knew why.
"I was dizzy all the time, I couldn't really walk in a straight line," 24-year-old Blandisi recalled to me this week. "I couldn't see out of my peripherals. ... For six months I was pretty much bedridden, it was tough."
Blandisi went through misdiagnoses and treatments that did nothing. Nothing was making him feel better. Four months in, he finally had an answer: Coxsackievirus.
Coxsackievirus, while more common in young children, can wreak havoc on adults. It isn't clear how Blandisi contracted the virus, but he speculated that it could have come from unclean shared shower conditions. Once he finally had an answer, the recovery process began, starting with the basics.
"A lot of dark days there, but eventually in the summer I retrained myself," he said. "I started out doing things like balancing on one foot, juggling, and things like that. I retaught myself my coordination. Then everything came back quickly after that and I was able to go again next season."
Regaining his health was a huge relief for Blandisi, who at one point thought his hockey career was being taken away from him.
"When you're not knowing, and you're in the dark for that period of time you almost lose faith in yourself," said Blandisi. "'Maybe I'm just not good enough anymore, maybe it's not meant to be,' little things like that. Thank God I was able to pick it up in the summer and get back to where I was before."
While Blandisi was recovering in the summer of 2014, it wasn't clear where he was going to be playing the following season. Originally a sixth-round pick of the Avalanche in 2012, Blandisi needed to be signed by the Avalanche that summer if they wanted to retain his NHL rights. They didn't sign him. He re-entered the NHL Draft in 2014, and was again passed over. He returned to Barrie for an over-age season.
Blandisi putting it as "where he was before" is being modest. He bounced back, and then some. Prior to his illness, he had recorded a nice 24 goals and 26 assists in 47 OHL games. In his comeback season with Barrie, he led his team in scoring with 52 goals and 60 assists in 68 games. He finished fourth in OHL scoring, trailing only Dylan Strome, Mitch Marner, and Connor McDavid.
Not bad company.
His outstanding season earned him a three-year contract with the Devils. He split time between New Jersey and Albany of the AHL during the first two years of his professional contract. He began the 2017-18 season in the AHL, before he was traded to the Ducks as part of the Adam Henrique-Sami Vatanen deal.
He played three games with the Ducks that year, and spent the rest of the season with San Diego of the AHL. At the beginning of the 2018-19 season, he played three more games with the Ducks before being returned to San Diego.
On Jan. 17, the Penguins acquired Blandisi in the one-for-one deal that saw Derek Grant returned to the Ducks. Blandisi played in one game with Pittsburgh before being re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Jan. 20.
Since he's been in Wilkes-Barre, Blandisi has been excelling. He scored a goal in his first game. And then he did so again in his next game. And then again in the next game. He has four goals and five assists in seven games with Wilkes-Barre, recording points in all but one game.
"I think everybody here, the staff and the players, made it pretty easy on me," Blandisi said of the adjustment to his new team. "They welcomed me in with open arms and I feel like I'm finding my game here. I got put in a bigger role than I was in in San Diego. I'm just trying to take that on and make the most of it."
Blandisi, 5-feet-11 and 190 pounds, has been playing on the top line, and has been seeing time on both the power play and penalty kill. He's played both center and wing in Wilkes-Barre, as he has throughout his career, and says he is just as comfortable in either spot. He describes himself as a bit of a feisty player, too.
"I think I can agitate a little bit, get under the skin of the opponent," he said.
With Blandisi's speed, he believes he's a good fit for the system the Penguins play. Not just in Wilkes-Barre, but in Pittsburgh, too.
"They got lots of fast players up (in Pittsburgh) with lots of skill, and they've been playing a fast game for years now, it's been working for them," he said. "So I think I can fit that part, hopefully I get an opportunity."
As Blandisi works to earn a spot in the NHL, he's still reminded of his battle just a few years ago. Coming close to losing hockey has made him appreciate where he is today that much more.
"If I could come back from that, I feel like now I can come back from anything, pretty much," said Blandisi. "I'm pretty mentally strong because of it. I think at the end of the day I'm thankful it happened, and I wouldn't be where I am today without it."
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THE ROSTER MOVES
• Wilkes-Barre acquired forward Trevor Yates from the Grand Rapids Griffins in exchange for future considerations. Yates was assigned directly to Wheeling. This was a deal at the AHL level, meaning the eventual player who will go to Grand Rapids will be one on an AHL contract, not one that is technically property of Pittsburgh.
• Wilkes-Barre recalled goaltender John Muse from Wheeling following Tristan Jarry's emergency recall to Pittsburgh. Jarry was returned to Wilkes-Barre, so the team is currently carrying three goaltenders.
THE INJURIES
• Thomas Di Pauli hasn’t played since Dec. 16 with a lower-body injury. … Jeff Taylor was injured Jan. 18 and has been out since.
• Ben Sexton returned to the lineup on Feb. 8 after being out of the lineup since Jan. 5. ... Sam Lafferty returned to the lineup on Feb. 6 after being injured since Jan. 18. ... Kevin Czuczman was injured Feb. 1. and returned Feb. 6.
THE NEWS
• 27-year-old defenseman Tim Erixon, who has been playing on a professional tryout contract this season, was signed to a full AHL contract for the remainder of the season.
• Defenseman Will O'Neill, released from his AHL contract on Jan. 25, signed with EC Salzburg in Austria.
• Sam Miletic was the latest guest on the team's Penguins Podcast. It's pretty entertaining, give it a listen if you have the time. Miletic and Nick Hart play some fun games, and talk about Miletic's impressive family.
THE GAMES
• Feb. 6: at Rockford, 2-1 loss
The IceHogs opened the scoring just 1:42 into the first period, and Jarrett Burton answered back just over a minute later with his fourth goal of the season.
The IceHogs regained the lead midway through the first period, and that goal held up to be the game-winner after scoreless second and third periods. It was the IceHogs only power play goal on six attempts. The Penguins were scoreless on three power play attempts.
Anthony Peters took the loss in net with 25 saves on 27 shots.
Ryan Haggerty recorded six shots for the second consecutive game.
• Feb. 8: at Milwaukee, 5-2 win
Lafferty was in strong form in his second game back from injury. He opened the scoring on the power play 5:22 into the game, his sixth goal of the season.
Jimmy Hayes scored his sixth of the season midway through the first period to extend the lead. Lafferty scored again, also a power play tally, before the end of the first period.
Miletic added a shorthanded goal at the midpoint of the second period. The Admirals scored their first goal of the game, another shorthanded goal, almost four minutes later.
Blandisi extended the Penguins' lead to 5-1 in the third period, and the Admirals answered less than a minute later, but they were unable to rally.
The Penguins went 2-for-4 on the power play, and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
John Muse earned the win after making 33 saves on 35 shots.
• Feb. 9: at Grand Rapids, 4-1 loss
The Griffins opened the scoring on Saturday with a power play tally, the lone goal of the first period. Miletic scored the lone goal of the second period, his sixth of the year, to even the score.
Then, everything went downhill. The Griffins took the lead 45 seconds into the third period, and added two more before the end of the game.
The Penguins went 0-for-4 on the power play, and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Anthony Peters took the loss with 28 saves on 32 shots.
THE LEADERS
• Goals: Teddy Blueger, 21 in 45 games.
• Assists: Ethan Prow, 22 in 49 games
• Points: Blueger, 39 in 45 games.
THE COMBINATIONS
Joseph Blandisi – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Sam Miletic
Adam Johnson – Sam Lafferty – Ben Sexton
Ryan Scarfo – Jarrett Burton – Ryan Haggerty
Joseph Cramarossa – Linus Olund – Anthony Angello
Kevin Czuczman – Zach Trotman
Matt Abt – Ethan Prow
Chris Summers – Tim Erixon
THE STANDINGS
• After this week, the Penguins record is 24-21-4-1. They remain in sixth place in the eight-team Atlantic Division.
• The power play sits at 17.6 percent, 18th in the 31-team league. The penalty kill is operating at 79.4 percent overall, 25th in the league.
THE SCHEDULE
• The Penguins will visit the Hershey Bears (26-20-0-3) on Wednesday. They'll host the Utica Comets (16-19-4-2) on Saturday, then visit the Hartford Wolf Pack (20-25-3-3) on Sunday afternoon.
• The Penguins will practice at the Toyota SportsPlex on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, all at 10:30 a.m.
GOALS OF THE WEEK
Burton scored the lone goal in Rockford after a nice move to poke the puck away at center ice:
Lafferty's second goal against Milwaukee was a beauty of a backhander:
Miletic's shorthanded goal came off a feed from Blandisi:
Miletic scored this backhand goal in Grand Rapids:
WILKES-BARRE FUN THING
The team's flight got delayed twice on their way back to Wilkes-Barre. My theory is that they all dress the same so it's easy to find each other if they get separated. It's like elementary school field trips when all the kids are in matching T-shirts.
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