ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas wore the “C” as captain of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League in 2017-18 and a year later found himself hoisting the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues.
Now he's looking to put that experience to use after being named the Blues' captain in the organization's latest change of leadership.
“I definitely learned a lot from the first time,” Thomas said Thursday at a news conference with new general manager Alex Steen, alternate captains Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, Jake Neighbours and Colton Parayko, and coach Jim Montgomery.
"The No. 1 thing is just being authentic, being yourself. You take bits and pieces from everyone, but you’ve got to really believe in yourself and in your leadership group, and that’s something that we all really believe in.”
Thomas led St. Louis with 25 goals, 39 assists and 64 points last season despite playing in just 64 games. His 31 points in 22 games after returning from leg surgery on March 1 ranked eighth in the NHL.
Selected with the 20th pick in the 2017 draft, Thomas has five years remaining on the $65 million contract extension he signed in July 2022. Jordan Kyrou, who got identical terms on his deal two months later, got traded to Washington this summer.
Thomas being named the 25th captain in franchise history comes during a period of transition for the Blues. Steen succeeded longtime GM Doug Armstrong in the role on July 1.
Steen played with Thomas from 2018-20 and has seen the 27-year-old center develop traits that make a successful captain.
“Robert’s really, really dug himself into the fabric of the organization and the city and has a great understanding of the responsibilities of this role,” Steen said. “He looks for information, resources. He’s a very curious person, wants to evolve all the time, and I know he’s going to be great at this. And this is something that he’s going to continue to grow with.”
Thomas was one of several members of the Blues leadership group entrusted with a bigger role after the club traded then-captain Brayden Schenn to the New York Islanders on March 6.
“He really evolved as a leader in that last month,” Montgomery said. “At one point, I don’t remember exactly what game, but we were at home and our first period was a little lethargic. I said, ‘Thomer, this is time for you to take over the room,’ and the way the team responded to him in the second and third gave me a lot of confidence that he’s our guy.”
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FILE - St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas reacts after scoring an empty-net goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild, March 1, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt, File)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli military carried out a massive military operation in the occupied West Bank over the weekend, displacing hundreds of Palestinians and placing major restrictions on Palestinian movement, in response to a gun attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others in Hebron on Friday.
The operation comes as Israel enters the final days before a tense election, which is largely seen as a referendum on current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership and security policies during the past three years of war.
Most Palestinian workers with permits will not be allowed to enter Israeli communities for work in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and Monday, and crossings into Israel will remain closed until after Israel’s elections on Tuesday, the Israeli military said.
The military said it operated in more than 400 different locations over the weekend and arrested 40 Palestinians it claimed were affiliated with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The operation displaced hundreds of families, forcing some to navigate crossings on foot after the roads were closed to traffic. At some military gates, people passed sacks of flour and gas canisters through the gates, while an elderly man pushed his wife in a wheelchair through an opening beside one of them. Another family attempted to navigate the gate to access medical appointments.
After Friday's attack, Israel’s military said it found weapons in the gunmen’s car and that they were likely planning to attack Israeli civilians before being stopped at the checkpoint.
The military said that troops were “conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches” in the area where the gunmen operated, and warned residents to evacuate Deir Bahha, the suspected gunmen’s neighborhood.
Hebron municipal officials said between 200 and 300 families had been displaced from Deir Bahha and four surrounding neighborhoods overnight, most going to other parts of the city.
Six Israelis have been killed this year in attacks in the West Bank, which is experiencing a surge of violence. During the same period, 112 Palestinians have been killed, including the suspected gunmen, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.
The attack sparked outrage in Israel, with Netanyahu and three members of his right-wing government giving statements from the site of the attack on Friday afternoon, vowing to respond forcefully. “We warned a few weeks ago about attempts by our enemies to harm us, our citizens and our soldiers ahead of the election,” Netanyahu said. “We will act to destroy this place.”
Netanyahu is under pressure to demonstrate a strong show of force against Palestinian attackers to bolster his image for Israelis concerned with security.
Roughly 3 million Palestinians and 540,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Hebron is one of its most tense cities and the only place where Jewish settlers live in the heart of a densely populated Palestinian area under Israeli military protection.
Metz reported from Hebron, West Bank.
Israeli soldiers take up positions during an army operation in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. A day after a Palestinian shooting attack in the area. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Israeli soldiers close a gate to vehicles during an army operation in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, a day after a Palestinian shooting attack in the area. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Israeli soldiers take up positions during an army operation in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. A day after a Palestinian shooting attack in the area. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinian men sit at a road, blocked in an effort to prevent Israeli settlers from entering the area, after settlers were spotted nearby in the West Bank town of Sinjil, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinians transport bags of semolina past a military gate closed to vehicles during an Israeli army operation in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, a day after a Palestinian shooting attack in the area. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
