Turbulent travel delays Vrana's debut with Blues

After being traded to St. Louis early on Friday morning - about five hours ahead of the NHL's Trade Deadline - Jakub Vrana packed a few bags, gathered his hockey gear and went to the airport.
The plan was to meet his new teammates on Friday night in Los Angeles, then make his Blues debut on Saturday against the Kings.
But that's not how it panned out.

Just before Vrana's 6:30 p.m. ET flight was set to take off, a massive snowstorm arrived in Detroit. Vrana was still allowed to board the plane, but he sat for nearly three hours before the flight was eventually canceled.
"I had a feeling the plane was not going to leave," Vrana told stlouisblues.com. "When I looked outside the window, it was pretty bad, just the snow, the wind and everything. Obviously, there was nothing I could do."
Because the severe weather conditions prevented cars from easily getting to and from the airport, Vrana had to spend the night at the gate - along with nearly everyone else - while he waited for the earliest available flight the next morning. The airline booked him on an 8 a.m. flight out of Detroit, but with 10 inches of snow on the ground in some places, that flight was delayed for more than five hours, too. He eventually boarded and took off for Los Angeles around 1:30 p.m. ET.
From there, it was smooth sailing - until the flight landed at LAX. That's when Vrana discovered that none of his luggage - no hockey gear, no sticks, no suitcases - made it to Los Angeles.

Wearing the hoodie he traveled in, Vrana took an Uber to Crypto.com Arena, arriving just in time for the puck drop between the Blues and Kings. Upon arrival, he met former Washington Capitals teammate Nathan Walker, who took him to the press box to introduce him to his new teammates - Jake Neighbours and Calle Rosen - who were not playing in the game.
Vrana's bags did eventually arrive at LAX around 11 p.m. PT - but by then, the team was already on its way to Arizona. The airline transferred his luggage to Phoenix, and Vrana got a ride to the airport on Sunday morning to pick it up.
But there was still one issue - his suitcase and gear were there, but not his sticks.
"At that point, I was just happy I was here and had joined the team," Vrana said, laughing. "The (sticks) came later [and were delivered to the hotel around 11 p.m. Pacific on Sunday night]."
With the travel issues behind him, Vrana seems to be fitting in well in his first few days with the Blues. In addition to Walker, Vrana also knew Nick Leddy and Thomas Greiss from their days in Detroit.
"Some of these guys, I've played with them in my past," he said. "I know some guys really good, and overall, the team has been accepting me really well. I'm just happy to be here and the guys have been awesome so far.
"It's been unbelievable," Vrana added. "I'm really excited to wear this jersey and go to battle with these guys. I've just gotten here, so things are going to be pretty fresh for me, but I'm just really happy."