Vladimir Tarasenko wasn’t great against the San Jose Sharks. Following the team’s loss, Tarasenko elected to avoid speaking to the media. On cue, the media pounced and tried to speculate about serious issues between Tarasenko and the Blues. The narrative seemed a bit nonsensical and was an extreme take on a player who was by far the best skater on the roster all season long. Was there any truth to their speculations?
Of course not. Tarasenko spoke with the media on Tuesday and squashed just about every narrative which emerged shortly after the team’s playoff exit.
Via STLToday, Tarasenko had a pretty reasonable and understandable explanation as to why he didn’t speak with the media after the Game 6 loss.
“I wasn’t ready to talk. I was too frustrated, too upset, too (angry) about our loss and I don’t want to give you guys a hard time to talk with me because I was so mad. We can talk now.”
Makes sense, doesn’t it? Some pointed to the fact Tarasenko wasn’t showing leadership in the moment, but fans will be able to relate to the fact that Tarasenko was too pissed off (the actual words he used) to handle the disappointing defeat.
As for the reported issues between Tarasenko and the team:
“It’s never been even talked about it. We have really good relationships. The media talk about problems between me and the Blues, it’s never been a problem. If there was going to be a problem, I would not sign for eight years.”
That should settle that. Regardless of the rumors, the fact is that Tarasenko wouldn’t sign a long-term deal with the Blues if he had a problem with the team, either at a management or front office level. There may be times where Tarasenko has shrugged off Ken Hitchcock’s message, but just about every player has probably shrugged off Hitchcock. Hitch’s style can grow tiresome once you hear it year after year, which is one of the reasons why the coaching decision is somewhat surprising.
Hopefully Tarasenko’s comments kill off what was a really annoying story fabricated by the media.
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