

ST. LOUIS — Not long ago Vladimir Tarasenko was a boy in Novosibirsk, living with his grandfather while his father played hockey in another city in the Russian Superleague. His grandfather had a friend at an outdoor rink. They would take the bus 10 or 15 minutes, five stops, to take advantage of an open dressing room and endless ice.



They would skate for three or four hours in the subzero Siberian night – minus-20, minus-30, sometimes even minus-40 degrees Celsius. Yes, the temperature could plunge that low. They could skate, Tarasenko said, “forever.”

Now Tarasenko is a 22-year-old winger starring for the St. Louis Blues, ranking among the NHL leaders with nine goals and 19 points in 15 games. He has a wicked shot, deft passing touch, keen hockey sense, strong drive and humble attitude. He is a case study of nature and nurture, DNA and development, talent and commitment.

View photos Tarasenko talks to his grandfather after every game ''except when it's a bad one and I know he'll be a bit mad.'' (USA Today) More

He often talks hockey with his father, now a KHL coach. He still speaks to his grandfather after every game, knowing his grandfather has risen early halfway around the world – at 7 a.m. in Novosibirsk for a 7 p.m. faceoff in St. Louis – to watch the Blues live.

Well, he speaks to his grandfather after almost every game.

“Sometimes when it’s bad game and I know he’ll be a little bit mad at me,” Tarasenko said with a smile, “I don’t call.”

The Blues don’t want to overhype Tarasenko. But when they talk about the future, they talk about living up to enormous potential. When they shy from comparisons, they kind of make them anyway.

“There’s very few players that score like this in our game,” said Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. “Now his test is, can he do it over time? That’s what separates hot streaks from great players. … Can he do it over one year, three years, five years, 10 years? If he does this over 10 years, you know, we’re all going to look at him as one of the premier goal-scorers of this era.”

Darren Pang, the former NHL goaltender now working as a Blues TV analyst, brought up a couple of the premier goal-scorers of previous eras while talking about “that utter desire to score on every shift.” Brett Hull. Mike Bossy.

“I’m not comparing Tarasenko to those guys,” Pang said. “That’s not fair. But we watch him every day in practice. We watch him shoot pucks. We watch how hard it comes off his stick. Wow. It’s not a fluke. It’s something he’s worked hard at as a young kid, shooting hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pucks until his hands were full of calluses and blisters. He’s one of the last guys off the ice. He’s always shooting.”

It’s in his blood.

“I still think it’s not enough,” Tarasenko said. “I have space to improve it. They’ll tell me, my grandpa and my father, if you stop, you’re done. You’re done with everything. You need to try to improve every day.”

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First, the nature, the DNA. Look at Tarasenko’s genes. His grandfather, Vladimir, was a star soccer player and later became the director of a soccer school. His father, Andrei, was such a good hockey player he spent 21 seasons as a forward in the Russian Superleague – making the Olympic team in 1994 and winning the scoring title in 1996-97 – and could show off even after he became a coach in the KHL.

“When we did penalty shots, he scored every time – the coach,” said Blues center Jori Lehtera, who once played with Tarasenko under Tarasenko’s father in Novosibirsk. “We played scrimmages just for fun, and you can see how smart he is, how skilled. And he’s teaching that stuff to Vladdie.”

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