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The thrill is back for Ryan O’Reilly.

A trade to the St. Louis Blues has O’Reilly excited about hockey and the future after three consecutive losing seasons with the Buffalo Sabres had him talking about losing his love for the game. Now the 27-year-old center is itching to get back on the ice and help the Blues reach the playoffs Charles Haley Jersey , even if that adventure doesn’t begin in earnest for a couple of months.

”I feel like I have a spark in me now,” O’Reilly said Monday on a conference call. ”There’s something different. It’s interesting how it happened, but I’m happy, I’m excited and I don’t regret anything that’s happened.”

O’Reilly said on Buffalo’s locker cleanout day that the Sabres had adopted a mentality of ”being OK with losing” and he believed it crept into their game. He stood by those comments Monday, thanked Buffalo and expressed happiness at moving on to start what he hopes will be a winning chapter of his life.

When the Avalanche traded O’Reilly to the Sabres at the 2015 draft and he signed a $52.5 million, seven-year contract, the expectation was to be the central figure. With St. Louis, he joins an already-established core of Brayden Schenn, Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko, Colton Parayko and captain Alex Pietrangelo.

”My first year in Buffalo, I was really trying to feel things out, and being kind of young at that time Antonio Morrison Jersey , getting that contract, I don’t think I kind of got a hold of the situation as best I could have,” O’Reilly said. ”I don’t think I was ready for that situation as best as possible. But I think going to St. Louis with all the kinds of things in play, the veterans that they have there, that it’s something that’s easier to kind of jump into.”

O’Reilly joins a Blues team that missed the playoffs by one victory and already bulked up in free agency by signing center Tyler Bozak, winger David Perron and backup goaltender Chad Johnson. St. Louis acquired O’Reilly from Buffalo for young forward Tage Thompson, a top-10 protected 2019 first-round pick, a 2021 second-round pick and forwards Vladimir Sobotka and Patrik Berglund.

St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong hopes a change of scenery benefits O’Reilly, who put up between 55 and 65 points in each of the past four seasons.

”He’s got great passion for the sport,” Armstrong said. ”He’s got great passion to compete and to win and hopefully this gives him the boost that he feels is necessary that he can come in here and quite honestly we need that boost.”

O’Reilly hopes his rapport with coach Mike Yeo, Schenn, Schwartz, Parayko and defenseman Joel Edmundson from playing together with Canada at the world championships eases his transition. With the spring tournament filling the void of the postseason http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/devin-hester-jersey , he’s eager to take part in the Stanley Cup playoffs for just the third time.

”There’s nothing like playoff hockey,” O’Reilly said. ”It’s what we all kind of dream of doing. Unfortunately, my career, I haven’t done it enough. And I plan to come in and help this team get there, help this team win.”

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AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow contributed to this report.

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While the Chicago Bears addressed one need at linebacker early in the NFL draft, their problem at outside pass rusher had to wait.

It waited until the sixth round on Saturday.

Bears general manager Ryan Pace turned largely to the defensive side in the final day with three selections, including sixth-round defensive end Kylie Fitts from Utah.

Before Fitts, the Bears selected Western Kentucky inside linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe in Round 4, and Delaware defensive tackle Bilal Nichols in Round 5. They closed out the draft in the seventh round by taking another target for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, Georgia wide receiver Javon Wims.

After grabbing Georgia standout inside linebacker Roquan Smith with the No. 8 overall pick on Thursday, the Bears drafted Iowa center James Daniels with the 39th pick on Friday, then traded up to select Memphis receiver Anthony Miller at No. 51.

Yet there was no outside pass rush help until they took Fitts as the Bears stuck to their draft board instead of moving up or reaching for a player at a position of need.

”You’ve just got to be careful that you don’t force these things,” Pace said. ”I’m glad we attacked needs http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/lance-kendricks-jersey , but we also took best players on the board.”

Now they’ll be left to rely on free agent acquisition Aaron Lynch and third-year linebacker Leonard Floyd for an outside pass rush, while considering remaining unrestricted free agents or undrafted free agents.

Overall, productive safe picks replaced potential and risky selections for Chicago, as Pace made only one trade in his first draft since Matt Nagy became coach.

Last year, Pace traded up to select Trubisky with the second pick of the draft after Trubisky had just 13 college starts. He picked fast, undersized pass rusher Floyd in the first round in 2016, and in 2015 drafted inexperienced wide receiver Kevin White. White has played in five NFL games due to injuries.

The Bears finished last in the NFC North for the fourth straight year and have missed the playoffs every season since 2010, leading to the firing of coach John Fox. They haven’t posted a winning record since 2012, Lovie Smith’s final year.

INJURY QUESTIONS

A defensive end in Utah’s 4-3 formation, Fitts has more than his inexperience in the Bears’ 3-4 scheme to overcome. He had a Lisfranc ligament tear in his foot in 2016 and played in only two games, then had shoulder and ankle sprains last year.

Fitts called the injuries the reason he dropped from a projected pick in the third or fifth rounds to the sixth.

”It was just a run of bad luck and I think I got it all out of the way,” Fitts said. ”I think it definitely made me into a stronger man and I’m healthy now and I’m excited to play for the Bears.”

OVERLOOKED AGAIN

Going undrafted until the final round gave Georgia’s Wims a familiar overlooked feeling.

When the Bears’ seventh-round pick came out of high school, he had to go to NAIA Belhaven after only one year of high school football and because of poor grades. Wims left Belhaven for Hinds Junior College Brandon Scherff Jersey , earned a scholarship to Georgia, and helped lead the Bulldogs to the national title game last year with team highs of 45 catches, 720 yards and nine touchdowns.

INSIDE CONNECTION

Delaware’s Nichols has a real inside Bears connection. Nagy is a Delaware grad, as is Bears offensive assistant Brian Ginn, who played quarterback and was an assistant for the Blue Hens.

”Coach Ginn, he’s an awesome guy,” Nichols said. ”He was one of the guys that helped recruit me at Delaware. Unbelievable guy, great guy.”

STILL NEED

Additional outside pass rushers are needed because the Bears like to use a rotation of three or four outside rushers. Fitts joins Howard Jones, Isaiah Irving and Sam Acho as potential outside pass rushers behind Lynch and Floyd.

Veterans Lamarr Houston, Pernell McPhee and Willie Young accounted for 10 Bears sacks last year but are no longer with the team.

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