The goalie was probably questionable on both, but they were excellent releases from Tarasenko, first was such quick hands and the second was from a tough angle. He made the defenseman look stupid when he came inside for his first.
Impossible to wonder about what kind of ceiling this kid has.
The goalie was probably questionable on both, but they were excellent releases from Tarasenko, first was such quick hands and the second was from a tough angle. He made the defenseman look stupid when he came inside for his first.
Impossible to wonder about what kind of ceiling this kid has.
I'd say 40 goals is his ceiling, but he'll likely be a perennial threat for 30 or more.
The goalie was probably questionable on both, but they were excellent releases from Tarasenko, first was such quick hands and the second was from a tough angle. He made the defenseman look stupid when he came inside for his first.
Impossible to wonder about what kind of ceiling this kid has.
Barulin is actually one of the better KHL goalies from my understanding. He was drafted by the Blues back in 2008, 84th overall. Tarasenko makes a lot of good goalies look questionable.
Man... This kid says all the right things. Here's a quick interview after his two-goal game. I especially liked the character and maturity he showed at the second question:
At least for training camp, Hitch tells JR that from start to finish they were going to play McDonald-Steen-Tarasenko as a line:
Quote:
3. What was your ideas for line combinations in training camp?
Hitchcock: "Our plan was to play one line together all the time and see where it gets and that was (Andy) McDonald, (Alex) Steen and (Vladimir) Tarasenko. That was our plan. The rest we were going to experiment with. We were going to keep twosome together. We were going to keep (David) Backes and (T.J.) Oshie together, (Patrick) Berglund and (David) Perron together, we knew that worked. But that’s the one line (McDonald, Steen, Tarasenko), we met with all three players and we said this is the line that’s going to stay together from start to finish. It’s going to practice together, it’s going to play together and I don’t see us coming off that.
"I watched those guys. They skated out here as a group and the two or three times they skated together they looked terrific. And both Alex and Andy had really embraced Vladi, and the whole team embraced Vladi, so I think if we started up tomorrow, we wouldn’t change our mind on that at all. We really feel confident that it would be a good combination to start and go with."
4. What was your take on Tarasenko deciding to play in the KHL, as opposed to Peoria?
Hitchcock: "We support what he’s doing. I’m always a believer in that there’s a big adjustment from big ice (in Europe) to small ice (in North America) and the game is completely different. I guess selfishly the more hours he spent on small ice the better. That was my thinking. But we’re fully supporting what he’s doing there. I always come from a younger player coming from Europe, the biggest adjustment is closed quarters, so it was a real eye opener when he was here, skating here with these guys, it was a real eye opener for him. Even the 10 days that he was here, you could see a marked improvement by the end of how much his awareness and quickness had changed because he was getting use to smaller ice."
At least for training camp, Hitch tells JR that from start to finish they were going to play McDonald-Steen-Tarasenko as a line:
Yep, just got done reading that article myself, and I think it's a great idea.
It gives Vlad the opportunity to play with the Blues most veteran players who just happen to be some of the most offensively gifted and defensively responsible. It should also take a lot of the pressure off Vlad in the defensive zone and allow him to focus on scoring and less on D. Now Hitch won't let him forget about his defensive responsibilities, but it will allow him to focus on his offensive game more.
BTW, Mac-Steen-Tarasenko, best "3rd" line in the NHL?
I looked to a different tab twice and missed both goals. Still, good game for Vladi, hope the line stays together.
