Completely agree with this. And I for one don’t blame Lemtyugov one bit for returning to Russia. But I also don’t think we’ve heard the last of Lemty. He’s still young, he’s skilled enough to become an NHLer.

Ya gotta think a place like Atlanta or Tampa would have given something in return for a guy like Lemmy. Or the Islanders. He’d be their youngest player by like 30 years. The fact that he still uses a stick and not a cane like grandpa Weight should have had Garth Snow salivating for his services.

Well, I’m guessing that we’ll retain his rights within the NHL, so he might come back Stateside come training camp… will the Blues still want him?

This is fucking retarded!!!!!! Jundland and Hellstrom are probably thinking the samething to themselves. How many fucking Russians that have real talent will we let go so some fuck nut can play and take up space on the ice????

You are comepletely correct Brian. This is so fucking stupid.

But Kana is in North America man. He even played some with Peoria this year he’s just a washout so far. I guess being as he’s only a seventh rounder we need shitheads like the fuck we got in the trade to sort of show up and maybe give us enough to keep us interested.

The other problem I see to this is that the Blues have to fix whateve it is Peoria that sucks besides being there.

I’m so angry I’m scattered brained. I’ll you one think it matters very little where you’re drafted as far as what you can do. Some greats have even went undrafted Martin St.Louis for one. Zetterberg was also a seventh round pick.

This is why we have both been saying give him a cup of coffee, keep him interested let him see his goal and let him see how far off he is or not.

GOD DAMN IT!!!

btw I am the Commentor formly known as Chris D. been reading me some Henry Miller lately.

Yeah and I agree this is not the last we have heard of this kid. This is a problem in the NHL. Piss poor talent spread and then they talk about about parity. That’s a load of horse shit. It’s obvious a number of franchises have no idea how to draft well or even make the proper trades or signings…ATlanta, Tampa Bay anyone???

I’m sure someone right now would insert him into their line up. All he has to do is bide his time become an unrestricted free agent once again and start a bidding war.

You know, maybe the ownership does things like this because of this team’s past history of ‘skill’ player busts. (I’m looking at you, Valeri Bure).

Still doesn’t make this move any less stupid.

Well said, Brian.

Mr. P, I understand your point, but the number of grinder callups in recent years seem (to me, anyway) to point to this being absolutely a "skill vs. grit" issue.

Murray likes grinders who bring the lunch pail to work every day, more than he likes guys who can get by on sheer skill. That’s certainly not wrong on Murray’s part, it’s just the way it is, and to me, it’s really just that simple.

Also, I think it sends the wrong message to the skill players when the grinders get the call ahead of them, time and time again, especially when the parent team needs as much skill and scoring pop as it can get.

Believe me, I completely understand the concept of having to work hard and earn your shot, but the Blues have made it a habit in recent years to consistently reward North American hard workers ahead of more skilled Europeans, and that’s not going to help any future skilled European draft picks (or free agents) make the decision to sign here.

Just as an example, I don’t know this for 100% certain, but I’d be willing to bet that the Blues dropped out of (or were eliminated from) the Fabian Brunnstrom sweepstakes last summer because of a perception that skilled Euros had to go an extra mile to prove themselves in this organization.

One time out of how many callups have been made over the last few years, the Blues could have gone to the well and said to a guy like Lemtyugov, "OK, kid, we know and you know that your effort and consistency still need work, but we’re going to give you a cup of coffee so that you can show us what you can do at this level, and so you get a first-hand look at what it really takes to make it in this league."

What would that have hurt? It’s not like the Blues were cruising in overdrive with the lineup they have…

Good article TB, you are right on. On a semi-related note, the Blues have called up a skilled young Euro to replace a grinding North-American. Junland will be a Blue while Fragile Jay McKee recuperates from a broken finger.

There is clearly more to this then what we read and/or see on the ice. Maybe this Russian kid is a douche. Who knows. He clearly wasn’t playing his part and headed back home. Good for him and good for the organization.

I am clearly biased against the Euros but if he wasn’t showing “it” then he wasn’t getting the call up. I may disagree with some of the moves but when push comes to shove the people in charge of the organization have forgotten more hockey then I will ever know.

At this point I really dont understand why every single player down in Peoria hasnt been called up at least once to have a shot at playing a game in the NHL. it should be like a christmas bonus for those guys. You play a game and you get to keep the sweater, if you’re lucky you’ll get called up on a day we wear the thirds. Im only half kidding, i know there are certain caveats about calling guys up and what not, but really, this guy not getting a chance when brad winchester gets 12 games and is currently playing on a line with berglund and perron is regoddamndiculous.

I’m on board with TB thinking this is most likely a skill vs. grit issue. Its like the blues have fallen into the role of the down-trodden blue-collar team that will never win anything and they’re afraid to break the cycle and inject a little skill into the line up just to see what would come of it.

What the hell is the worst that could happen? We plug Lemtyugov into the line up for two nights, he either sinks and goes back to peoria knowing what its like to play in the NHL or he swims and stays on board for a while, or he fails so miserably that he high tails it back to Russia to play out his career there. Maybe the blues need to work on their risk assesment as well as their asset management.

I agree. This consistency excuse holds more weight in the NHL. He played very well last season and we desperately needed skill on that team. He was playing tremendous hockey for at least a month and they never called him up.

Now the fucking million-dollar wortless man Hinote is playing and he looks like shit.

I’m fucking getting sick of it myself. The argument only holds if you’re winning games. Funny how that hasn’t really happened since Regier got sent down. Why not put Crombeen on the line with Berglund and Perron???? Why the fuck does it have to be Winchester speaking of inconsistent fucks. That’s why that guy has not stuck in the league. He was supposed to net a slew of goals. But he’d have to learn how to skate better first.

It’s been covered already but I just wanted to test my new screen name. Obviously Aaron would be taken, but I was suprised Fuck Detroit wasn’t.

Of course it could be I hate Detroit so much that I don’t understand why someone else wouldn’t. People in Detriot might not, but they don’t have computers right?

I see your skill vs. grit argument and raise you a Technoviking. We have some very skilled players who log minutes for us every night. Berglund and Perron have been solid performing youngsters for us and at their age it’s hard to get much more skilled than those two.

On the other hand if we’re ONLY talking about Peoria call-ups then I can see your argument. And yes, sometimes I do feel like the management is trying to play too much into the lore, and aura of the late 60’s and early 70’s teams that won as many games with skill as they won with brute force and intimidation.

Winchester doesn’t belong on a scoring line. teams NEED 2 scoring lines, maybe 3.
how many grinders do we have on our active roster? too damn many!
true, we have a rash of injuries. some of them are scoring forwards and playmakers. why the FUCK are we not calling up scorers and playmakers to replace scorers and playmakers??
Perron, Bergland, Tkachuk, and Boyes are all we got. they are forced to be paired up with the likes of Backes, Steen, and Winchester.
you want to know why we let up so many motherfucking goals?!? because we have FOUR fucking players that can hold on to the puck and keep it in the other team’s zone. everyone else just check people.
Blues brass, what you need to do is stop that kid from going back to Russia and give him an NHL jersey and tell him to pack more than one bag because we NEED his ass!

Too bad.
I don’t blame the kid.
He must think that he’s better’n the guys the Blues called up.

I know that I think he is.

On the bright side, he’ll get lots of ice time and more $$ to boot. Eat mom’s food, too.
I hope he comes back for camp in 09-10.

Usually, I say let the hockey people make the hockey decisions; I’m not a lifer with a world of experience, and I certainly don’t see these guys play every day. Still, I agree with the majority of posts: what would it have hurt to call the kid up and have him play a few games? This is a rebuilding process; I know you want to make the playoffs to keep the fans’ interest (and $$$), but with the major injuries, how realistic a goal is that?

Now is a perfect time to see what you have on the farm and evaluate it at the NHL level. If the coach isn’t OK with that, then you need a new coach, who understands that winning right now isn’t his top priority, or the criterion on which management will judge him.

But, it could also be that Nikolay just wanted/needed to go home for personal reasons, NHL fame and bucks notwithstanding. Family illness, the collapse of the Russian economy, who knows, except for the Peoria locker room and Blues management? And if he left for those reasons, it’s not going to be made public.