Frustrated Jakub Vrán is still unable to break into the St. Louis Blues. Recently, the young Russian Nikita Alexandrov has been getting the chance to replace him.
The Blues entered the current NHL season more like outsiders. But if the regular season ended right now, they would advance to the playoffs.
Another surprise is that Vrána, who ranks 15th in team productivity, has a minimal share in the team’s success.
The Czech winger has only scored six times and scored twice in 17 games played, making for an ugly average of 0.12 goals per game. So far, Vrána’s worst performance in the NHL was in his rookie year, when he reached the number 0.14.
It sounds even worse that he has only made a healthy substitute seven times. So he missed almost a third of the games.
“At the beginning of the season, I didn’t imagine it like this,” quoted Vrána by St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “A lot of things I can’t control at the moment, so I’m just training, working on myself and my confidence and trying to stay positive. In short, I’m waiting for an opportunity, there’s not much more I can do in this position.”
The last time the Czech striker played was on November 28 in Minnesota, he came up empty-handed. Since then, he has sat in the stands as a substitute on three occasions.
Instead of the 27-year-old Czech shooter, the more versatile and four-year-younger Alexandrov played, who claimed a place in the NHL last season with great performances on the farm in Springfield.
“I told him he had to keep working and stay patient,” the St. Louis Craig Berube.
Some time ago, he publicly criticized the Czech forward for insufficient effort. “In certain areas of the game, he just waits for a goal and doesn’t work,” he said, among other things.
Vrána has now confirmed that the coach encouraged him to be more competitive even between the four eyes.
“We talked about a lot of things,” he started. “It is certain that as a hockey player you will make mistakes in some things. Hockey is about mistakes and no player is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. But there is always something you can improve on your game.”
The current suffering of one of the most genuine Czech gunners is quite surprising, because at the end of last season, after being traded from Detroit to St. Louis was doing well. In 20 races, he collected 14 points, including ten goals.
“When I came here, I felt a lot of confidence from the coach. I just played and tried to show what I can offer this club. Then I went home and worked hard over the summer, and the training camp went well for me,” Vrána described.
The turning point was brought by a sharp season, which is far from going according to the forward’s ideas.
“There are things that I can’t influence. That’s the way it is. And we are a team, it’s not just about me, but about the whole team. I don’t want to transfer negativity and frustration into the cabin and onto the ice, even if there is some in me,” added the 13th pick of the 2014 draft , which, despite its talent, still did not fully break through among the best.
2023-12-05 17:40:04
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