Glenville native Tommy Bleyl, a defenseman, took part in the Nashville Predators development camp after the NHL team drafted him in the first round last month.
John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images
Glenville native Tommy Bleyl, a defenseman, took part in the Nashville Predators development camp after the NHL team drafted him in the first round last month.
Nashville Predator
Glenville native Tommy Bleyl, a defenseman, took part in the Nashville Predators development camp after the NHL team drafted him in the first round last month.
John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images
While Glenville’s Tommy Bleyl is getting closer to playing in the NHL, it’s still common to see him at the rink where he began skating at 2 years old.
On a recent day before the Nashville Predators drafted the defenseman in the first round, Bleyl showed up at the Schenectady County Ray Wemple Memorial Rink in Glenville for a stick-and-puck session with his good friend Cameron Olsen. Both played for the Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa hockey program.
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“I skate there all the time,” Bleyl, 18, said Thursday. “If you go there, you’ll most likely see me over the summer, unless I’m at camp or something. It’s the closest rink to my house, and it got the renovations recently, so it’s really a nice little spot now.”
Bleyl left Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa after his freshman season to advance his hockey career at the prep level. He transferred to Albany Academy for a year and moved on to Cushing Academy in Massachusetts. He spent last season in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
Now preparing for his freshman year at Michigan State, Bleyel always returns texts from Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa coach Jim Buffoline and thanks him for that single season.
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“He’s a pretty humble kid for having such a bright future in the NHL,’’ Buffoline said.
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Bleyl just completed a week at the Predators’ development camp in Nashville. They traded up to take him 31st overall in the NHL Draft on June 26 in Buffalo.
“I would say I’m just taking it in stride, living in the moment,” he said. “I wouldn’t necessarily use the word overwhelming, but it’s definitely action-packed, and it’s my kind of style, so I love that. I’m really living the dream life right now.”
Bleyl, a country-music fan, strolled with fellow Predators first-rounder Wyatt Cullen down the city’s famous Broadway – known as the Honky Tonk Highway – the night they arrived in Nashville.
Of course, the main purpose of Bleyl’s trip was to get his first taste of NHL coaching. At the camp, the Predators split up the defensemen and forwards for some practices, held a 3-on-3 tournament and concluded the week with the Future Stars Game on Friday. Bleyl, who is 6-foot and 165 pounds, went up against Nashville’s top prospects, including all eight of this year’s draft picks.
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“It’s been wonderful,” he said. “I’ve been meeting so many people and love the skates. They’re really fast-paced and intense.”
After returning to Glenville, Bleyl will pack for Michigan State. He originally planned to return for a second season with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL. However, he changed his mind after the draft and will go directly to college.
“I talked to a bunch of people and everything, and it seems like I’m ready to make the jump,” said Bleyl, who will also attend the World Junior Summer Showcase in Windsor, Ontario, from July 26 to Aug. 1.
Last season, Bleyl was named QMJHL Defenseman of the Year and Rookie of the Year, only the second player to earn both honors in the same season.
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Though he had 81 points, he shuns the label of offensive defenseman.
“I would say more of a two-way defenseman,” Bleyl said. “Especially now after this Moncton season… A lot of people would consider me purely an offensive defenseman, but my plus-minus (plus-58 in Moncton) says otherwise.”
Albany Academy coach Matt Alvey, who coached Bleyl as a sophomore, can relate to making the jump to the pros. Alvey, a Troy native, was chosen in the second round by the Boston Bruins in 1993.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Alvey said. “He’s a great kid, first and foremost, but on the ice, he’s just a difference-maker, even as a sophomore here at Albany Academy. You knew he was special. He was a little undersized at the time, but his skating, his compete level, just kind of threw him over the top in the New England Prep.”
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Bleyl also played junior hockey for the Mid Fairfield Rangers in Connecticut before going to prep school.
Bleyl’s family accompanied him to Buffalo for the draft. He hugged his two grandmothers, overcome with emotion, who drove him to skates and fed him as a youngster.
“I’m really thankful for them and they play such a big role in my life,” Bleyl said.
Bleyl credited his sister, Alyssa, with getting him into skating as a toddler. Two years older than him, Alyssa Bleyl began figure skating at age 4.
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“I kind of did whatever she did,” Tommy Bleyl said. “I got on the ice and found out I had a little knack for skating.”
After a learn-to-skate session, Bleyl saw the Schenectady Chargers squirt team holding a practice. He turned to his father, Tom, and said he’d like to play.
“He got me established in the sport and helped me out a lot,” Tommy Bleyl said. “A lot of people actually helped me out a lot with getting started with hockey.”
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