AT RANDOM: YAKKITY YAK
7 years ago
I’ve never had much time for players who make a point of crapping all over the organization they once played for and that signed their pay cheques the moment they get their ticket out of town, be their beefs and grievances real or imagined.
Same thing for fans or those in the media who feel the need to take a heaping bowel movement on a player AFTER they’ve left town – especially when they never had the intestinal fortitude to do it when they had the chance to have their say while looking the player in the eye.
In hockey, as in life, relationships go sideways. Sometimes, things end badly. If you care to break everything down, there’s usually plenty of blame to go around, frustration at how things came undone. You can point fingers and fire a few final shots as you head out the door, or you can look ahead instead of back and choose to move on without getting in the last word. I’ve always admired those who take that road to points elsewhere. It’s called class.
Former Edmonton Oiler forward Nail Yakupov has shown plenty of that since things ended badly here and GM Pete Chiarelli traded him to the St. Louis Blues. Yakupov opted to take the high road once again on Wednesday when he chatted with reporters in his first trip back to Edmonton since being shipped to the Show Me State on Oct. 7.
WHAT HE SAID
I’m not going to re-visit all the twists and all the turmoil of a tenure that began when the Oilers selected Yakupov first overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. We’ve had at that from every possible angle already. It didn’t work for Yakupov here – assign blame as you see fit, if you must – but he has moved on and is looking to continue his fresh start wearing the Bluenote against the Oilers at Rogers Place tonight.
“I love Edmonton fans, too, you know, said a smiling and relaxed Yakupov, who is wearing the No. 64 that he broke into the NHL with as a member of the Oilers. “I met a lot of good people here. The fans on the street were really nice . . . I had some really good memories.”
Not as many good memories as Yakupov hoped he’d have when the Oilers called his name at the draft podium, I’m sure, but what’s the end game at this point in focusing on that? If there’s been any real snark out of Yak since he packed for Missouri, I haven’t heard it. It goes without saying that Yakupov would love to shove it to his critics in his first trip back, but even that sentiment was muted.
“I’d like to get two points in this building for sure,” Yakupov said. “I can’t wait.” I’m guessing Yakupov might be understating for public consumption here, but that’s the smart play and the way he’s gone about his business for the most part since he first arrived in Edmonton, even when he was clearly frustrated by the cards he was dealt and how things unfolded.
TOUGH GIG
I’ve criticized Yakupov many times in the past for what I perceive as an inability or unwillingness to play effectively within a team concept – you just hate Russians, Brownlee – but I’ve got no skin in the game as it pertains to whether he carves out an NHL career or not. It didn’t work out for Yakupov here, but that doesn’t mean it can’t work down the hockey road. We’ve seen that happen a time or two.
I will say I was surprised he ended up in St. Louis, and I can’t think of a more demanding coach for Yakupov to play for as he tries to turn his career around than Ken Hitchcock, who I’ve known for more than 30 years. Hitchcock demands that the game be played a certain way, and while he’s mellowed with age and changed with the times, he wants what he wants.
“He’s a very unique player from what we have,” said Hitchcock said Wednesday. “He’s different than what we have in our line-up, so there’s an energy level when he’s on the ice that’s good for us. We’re just trying to get him to be good five-on-five and then, hopefully, in a week or two or three weeks we can bleed him into some of the power play stuff.”
“We’re trying to get him to express himself on the ice as much as possible and then we’ll teach him the rest. We’re pretty confident we can teach him the rest, but we are trying to get him back confident with the puck.”
I’m not sold that Yakupov will be able to live up to Hitchcock’s expectations or that the old coach I know will be singing the same tune two or three months from now. I hope so, but suspect not. I’ve written that I think Yakupov will be out of the NHL by the end of this season, so I’m not going to be a hypocrite and get all warm and fuzzy over his return tonight.
That said, I won’t be the least bit unhappy if Yakupov proves me and everybody else who has written him off wrong. The next step in that journey comes tonight against his former team. You’re in the Show Me State now, Yak. Let’s see what you’ve got.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.
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