Torey Krug signed a big deal with Blues; that got Robert Thomas' attention

Tom Gatto

•
Torey Krug signed a big deal with Blues; that got Robert Thomas' attention image

Torey Krug is now a member of the Blues after signing a seven-year, $45.5 million contract on the first day of NHL free agency Friday. He might need to do some fence-mending with his new teammates before and/or during training camp.

Krug angered all of St. Louis with his open-ice hit on Blues center Robert Thomas while a member of the Bruins during Game 1 of 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

MORE: NHL free agency tracker

The instant reaction to the hit was that Krug should have been whistled for charging, but no penalty was called.

The check also took Thomas out of that game and the next four of the series — which infuriated the Blues' fan base. Thomas returned for Game 6 but was not on the ice for Game 7, which the Blues won for their first Stanley Cup title. 

Now, Krug has gotten a big-money deal to play for the team he tried to destroy a little more than a year ago.

Thomas kept it light on Twitter after finding out about the signing, but he did attach an image of the hit to his post.

Some fans followed that theme with ideas about how it might look when the two get together for the first time:

Maybe the memory of winning the Cup will ease any lingering tensions. Professionalism will dictate that the two get along on the ice and work toward winning another Cup for St. Louis. But hockey players are notorious for holding grudges.

We're not saying that Thomas should drop the gloves with Krug during practice to settle it once and for all, but it sure would be an entertaining way to put the hit in the past.

Although, Krug did tweet out a response on Saturday morning to Thomas — so maybe it's all water under the bridge.

And if they did get past all that, then Krug will still have to be ready to face the team he left. Defenseman Kevan Miller, who re-signed with the Bruins on Friday, had a message for his former fellow blue-liner:

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.