Jay Barriball

History

2003-04: As a sophomore in high school, Jay Barriball played for the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minn., and scored 16 goals and 36 assists in 25 games, placing him 42nd in Minnesota high school state scoring. Barriball was named All-Conference and helped Holy Angels win the 5AA Sectional as defending champions. He only had an assist in 3 games in the AA State Tournament as Holy Angels.

2004-05: Barriball scored 32 goals and 49 assists in 30 games and helped Holy Angels win the Minnesota State AA Championship. The junior had 3 goals and 1 assist in the 6-4 win over Moorhead. Barriball was named to the All-Tournament Team for scoring 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 games. His 81 points placed him fifth in the state in scoring and he was the second-highest scoring junior. Barriball was named to the Associated Press All-Star First Team, the Star Tribune All-Metro Team. For some reason, the Pioneer Press named Barriball to the All-State Third Team. He also played for the Minnesota Select-17 Team.

2005-06: Barriball split his senior season between the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL and Holy Angels. Six games, 6 goals and 10 assists into the Minnesota Elite High School League, Barriball left to play for Sioux Falls. In his second USHLl game, Barriball scored 2 goals and 1 assist and was named the USHL Offensive Player of the Week Oct. 17. The Holy Angels senior returned for the start of his high school season and scored 28 goals and 38 assists in 25 games. Although Holy Angels lost in the 5AA Sectional to Apple Valley, Barriball was still named to the AP All-State First Team, the Star Tribune All-Metro First Team, the Pioneer Press All-State Team. A Missota All-Conference player for the third consecutive season, Barriball was also named one of the 10 finalists for the Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award. Barriball’s 66 points placed him 18th in Minnesota state scoring. After the high school season, Barriball returned to Sioux Falls deep in the stretch and finished with 5 goals and 7 assists in 13 games for the Stampede. Barriball scored 2 goals and 1 assist for Sioux Falls in the Clark Cup Playoffs, but a knee injury cut his post-season short at 5 games. During the season, Barriball also committed to the University of Minnesota for the 2007-08 season.

2006-07: A freshman at the University of Minnesota, Barriball led the Golden Gophers in scoring with 43 points. He was a scoring threat at both even strength and on the power play. He had the tendency to strike in bunches, with a dozen multi-point games. Barriball’s linemates frequently included Ben Gordon and Blake Wheeler, and the three combined for plenty of goals throughout the season.

2007-08: The marked Barriball’s sophomore season with the University of Minnesota. The forward appeared in 41 games with the club and finished fourth on the team in scoring with six goals and 15 assists for 21 points. He missed the final three games of the regular season with an ankle injury, but returned for the opening round of the playoffs and scored the team’s first goal in the 3-2 win over Minnesota State on Mar. 16. He plated at right wing on the team’s first and second lines.

2008-09: Barriball had a bounce back season as a junior for the University of Minnesota as the Gophers finished fifth in the WCHA but missed the NCAA tournament after falling to Minnesota-Duluth in the conference quarterfinals. Barriball was the Gophers' third-leading scorer with 11 goals and 23 assists in 34 games and was +3 with 52 PMs.

2009-10: Barriball skated in just five games for Minnesota as a senior; suffering a season-ending knee injury in November during a Gophers' practice. He was off to a fast start – scoring 2 goals with 2 assists – and was +3 with 10 PMs before getting hurt.

2010-11: Barriball made his pro debut in March 2011 with the AHL's Peoria Rivermen after skating as a red-shirt senior for the University of Minnesota during the college season. Barriball had 1 assist and was an even plus/minus with 4 PMs in six regular season games with Peoria and appeared in one contest during the playoffs; finishing -2 with no points or penalties. Barriball was the second-leading scorer for the Gophers, who finished fifth in the WCHA and struggled to stay above .500 for much of the season. In 30 games he scored 12 goals with 16 assists and was +6 with 18 PMs. Barriball scored 7 of his 12 goals on the Gophers' power play.

2011-12: Barriball was limited to just 21 games with the AHL's Peoria Rivermen due to concussion-like systems – and did not play another game after January 1st.  He showed some offensive promise when he was on the ice – finishing with 4 goals and 9 assists and was plus-one with 14 penalty minutes.  Peoria missed the AHL playoffs after finishing fourth in the Midwest Division. Barriball was re-signed to a one-year contract by the Blues in July 2012.

Talent Analysis

Barriball is an excellent skater with quick feet that can use his agility and hockey sense to evade opponents. In addition to his offensive talent, he has a strong work ethic, a commitment to defense, is a rink rat, coachable, and also makes the players around him better. A diminutive player, the light winger must add additional size and strength in order to add the speed and explosiveness needed to become an elite offensive player at the NHL level. He must remain healthy this season or drop farther down the Blues' depth chart.

Future

Barriball has played only the opening game to start his second season at the AHL level in Peoria and has been sidelined with a lower body injury (knee) ever since. He’s still maybe a month away from returning to the line-up but has also been experiencing equilibrium problems of late and it could be from the concussion last season.