if he was any good he would be in the line up already..

being beaten out by players like Hudler, Downey, Ellis, Kopecky who lets be honest, arn’t particularily good…

he should go home

+ his agents a wanker

Posted by pharazon on 10/26/07 at 04:47 AM ET

This is how it works, guys.  The Russian media and Russian player agents do a great job of convincing prospects that the AHL is a horrible place to play compared to the Superleague (which they claim, despite being a trap-fest, is the 2nd-best league in a world, and only by a slim margin), so a demotion to the AHL is seen as a personal insult and a useless endeavour, and they then dog it because the players are told, again, by their agents, that the reason they’re not succeeding is because they’re not getting enough ice time, or aren’t playing with the proper players…

And then a guy like Larin, who triumphs the cause of “our hockey is better than their hockey,” refers to NHL’ers as playing “across the ocean” as “legionnaires” (i.e. people who’d sign up with anybody for $) who don’t understand that winning the Superleague title and playing for the “combined team” at the World Championships are honours that outweigh competing for the Stanley Cup, and constantly looks for conspiracy theories as to why Russians in the NHL struggle because their coaches “don’t understand them,” and, as such, don’t give the players the ice time or properly-talented linemates to succeed (as opposed to, say, earning your ice time)--Larin has made a legend of Andrei Nazarov, the former San Jose Shark who went from top prospect to goon, painting a picture of a tragically misunderstood and misused “boxer” (now that Nazarov is a coach, he and Larin talk hockey regularly)--and all this bullshit has nothing to do with reality, but guys buy into it.

I’m of the belief right now that none of Grigorenko’s struggles have much to do with the fact that he can’t skate all that well.  You don’t need to buy a genius in a box kit to know that there are a bunch of guys in the NHL who can’t skate particularly fast and do just fine (Hal Gill excluded), but it’s about how you make up for it with good positional awareness and the ability to give-and-go with the puck at a speed your legs can’t match.

Grigorenko hasn’t adjusted to the pace of the NHL game--guys don’t just wait for you to do what you do with the puck and then grab on to slow you down anymore, like they do in the trap-fest that is the Superleague, the dimensions of the NHL rink--he doesn’t have any “dead spots” to hide in like he did on the 100’ wide European rinks, and his physical shape is still just rounding into professional form because he had no idea that he was expected to show up in top form instead of taking a few months to do so (that’s what happens when the season ends in April and camp starts in June)…

I think the off-ice issues are distracting him as well, and in that case, however, I do lay blame on the Wings, because they allowed Grigorenko to bring his wife and daughter over here without hiring him a “minder” to translate for him and help him adjust to the fact that a lot of an NHL’er’s professional preparation lies in the ability to take care of yourself and leave the off-ice distractions at home when you head to the rink.  He’s trying to learn how to pay his rent, car lease, bills, and get around without having attempted to learn a lick of English, and the Wings should have anticipated that Grigorenko would struggle to adapt given the collectivized nature of Russian hockey, where your car, apartment, utilities, etc. are taken care of as part of your contract.

All that being said, he’s got to earn his ice time, and when he earns a few shifts, he’s got to prove that he deserves more, and he doesn’t seem to be able to wrap his head around that concept.  The NHL isn’t a, “Okay, go out there, and we’ll see what you can do” league; it’s “Okay, impress me in the one 30-second shift you have with Aaron Downey and Matt Ellis, and then I’ll think about not nailing your butt to the bench,” and that’s something he’s obviously not comfortable with.

If he can’t put his game together because he didn’t prepare himself, both on and off the ice, for the rigors of the NHL, the on-ice part, he only has himself to blame for, and the off-ice part, well, he and the Wings share the blame for that one.

Besides, his contract states that he can only return to Russia on the first of November if he’s not on the Red Wings’ roster, and he’s on the Red Wings’ roster, so if he bolts now, they can suspend him.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 10/26/07 at 05:52 AM ET

This is all too bad, actually.  Larin is telling Grigs everything bad about this NHL world.  It’s an obvious plot to get him back to the muthaland.  And it’s sad because with unbiased translation alone could make Igor understand that he has to fight for ice time.  He has to earn his superstar status that Larin is making him out to be.  I think the best thing that could happen right now is for Grigs to get rid of Larin for a week and get an unbiased (or at least one that swings Redwing) translator.  Grigs shoulda moved into Datsyuks house when he came over.

Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 10/26/07 at 06:50 AM ET

Well, Grigorenko’s agent, Mark Lapush, was serving as his translator initially, and he was the one who deferred questions about Grigorenko’s shape or ability to play at an NHL pace to himself, refusing to tell Grigorenko what he was being asked.  He hasn’t helped.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 10/26/07 at 07:09 AM ET

Mornin’

If Grigs really wanted to do anything he could to stay up here, he would have demonstrated his commitment by offering to stay in GR for even a couple more weeks beyond his contract mandated stint. Now, aided and abetted by his agent, he comes off as a spoiled, petulant child. Not gonna fly with the Organ-i-zation, methinks. So, he wants to play and prove how damn indispensable he is? Fine,I say throw him on a checking line tonight. Throw him out for the odd 1st line shift. Play his chunky ass 20 minutes, see how *that* works out for him.

Oh, and Drapes locked up for 3 more:

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=221428&hubname=nhl

Posted by TeamDub from The gratch. on 10/26/07 at 07:16 AM ET

My translation isn’t nearly as nuanced, but Larin wrote a “set-up article” blaming the Wings’ management for Grigorenko’s troubles.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 10/26/07 at 08:08 AM ET

Grigs—what a freaking “soap opera” and now the saga of Hasek part deux—what joy on a Friday morning!!!

TD, thanks for the heads-up on Drapes new 3 year contract.  Did anyone besides me think it curious that his contract, in the first year (i.e. next year) pays him LESS than he is making this year; and in subsequent years pays lesser still???  I know he is getting older, but hells bells, those are fairly big cuts.  My conspiracy thinking is that he took some discounted money to help the ORGANIZATION make respectable offers to pay Lidstrom and Z to renew/extend their contracts.

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Hockey Hades on 10/26/07 at 08:31 AM ET

Given the Wings’ experience with Russian players, I’m not sure why/how they mismanaged this one. If things like ‘minders’, and translators were given to previous Russians, why not now?

The rhetoric coming from Babbles and Ken echoes Chief’s statements, and now my own. They’ve basically given up on this kid and are shifting their attention elsewhere. The talented hands are there and could have been very useful but being this *unprofessional* after several years in the pros is inexcusable.

Posted by srt on 10/26/07 at 10:23 AM ET

Dave over at Gorilla Crouch made the salient point about this whole situation.  Grigs has done nothing to DESERVE being on the Wings roster aside from have a savvy agent to get that November 1st clause into his contract.  On a Babblecock team, you WORK your way onto the roster, and he’s done none of that.  However, I don’t think it’s time to give up on him-- I think it’s time to tell him to cut the bullshit and get real.  Give him what the Russian Conspiracy-Theory crowd want-- put him on Datsyuk’s line in a game or situation where he won’t be too much of a defensive liability (and with Dats centering him that shouldn’t be too hard) and give him that one chance to show that everything up to now has been a complete anomaly because he hasn’t been playing with Dats.  If he still plays like North American hockey is a waste of his time, forget his head, forget his hands, and forget the rest of his fat ass and cut him loose.  Send him down to the Griffs so he can head home or else let him go AWOL-- just get him off the roster, off the cap space, and get in somebody who’s WORKED for that spot.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Russia With Love on 10/26/07 at 10:50 AM ET