Rattie returns to Wolves hoping to shape up game for NHL return

SHARE Rattie returns to Wolves hoping to shape up game for NHL return
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Ty Rattie skates on Wednesday against the Cleveland Monsters after rejoining the Wolves this week. Rattie spent time in the NHL with the Blues and Hurricanes this season, but didn’t see the ice on a consistent basis. (Photo by Ross Dettman/Chicago Wolves)

Wolves right winger Ty Rattie is the first to admit that this season hasn’t gone according to plan.

Rattie broke training camp with the St. Louis Blues, the Wolves’ parent club, expecting he would find a permanent NHL home after spending parts of four seasons there. But Rattie rarely saw the ice and played in only four games before he was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 4.

But after playing five games with the Hurricanes — including one against the Blues in his first game — Rattie, 24, again found himself without a roster spot when the Hurricanes made a move that made him dispensable.

Rattie’s career came full circle when the Blues claimed him off waivers Sunday and assigned him to the Wolves.

“It’s been tough — I’m not going to lie,” said Rattie, whose first game back with the Wolves was Wednesday, a 4-2 victory against the Cleveland Monsters at Allstate Arena. “It’s been a weird season. That’s why I’m glad to be here. I’m happy to get back playing again and work hard and hopefully get back up to the NHL as quickly as I can.”

As familiar as he is with his surroundings, Rattie looks at this stint with the Wolves differently than he has over the last four seasons, when he played in 196 games. He’s more aware of what the Blues, who drafted him in 2011, are looking for. And he realizes he has to put his frustrations behind him if he’s going to catch the Blues’ eye.

“Every morning I would wake up and have that glimmer of hope that I would be in the lineup and that I would play,” Rattie said. “I haven’t had that opportunity yet, and the games I have played, I’ve been lucky to play in the NHL. It’s a tough league to make, and now that I’m back in the AHL, I just have to work on my game.”

Rattie has had discussions with Wolves coach Craig Berube about finding his niche with a team full of offensive firepower. Although Berube knows it will take time for Rattie to play his way into game shape, he’s confident that a player who has 69 goals and 68 assists in his Wolves career can rediscover his touch.

“The way he can shoot and score and [with] some of the guys we have that can make plays and get the puck to him, I think he’s going to be pretty successful here,” Berube said.

Rattie hopes that’s the case. He also hopes that the things Blues general manager Doug Armstrong and coach Mike Yeo have asked him to work on while he’s with the Wolves will help him return to the NHL.

“I have to go back to square one and play my game,” Rattie said.

Follow me on Twitter @JeffArnold_.

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