Tarasenko's Season Finishes on Low Note

The St. Louis Blues will have their off-season start early, as they were eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, in a winner-take-all game, for that last wild card spot in the west.  In that game, however, not only did they lose the game, but their star forward Vladimir Tarasenko also suffered an injury, having to leave the game early and not to come back.

The post-game scrum with the coaching staff didn't have any updates to offer, but they were sounding rather despondent about the injury, calling it significant and agreeing that it is likely a long-term injury.  I would imagine that we will have an update a little bit later on in the off-season, especially if there is surgery, but it will have no immediate impact on the playoff pool moving forward.

Tarasenko finished the year with 33 goals and 66 points in 80 games this year, somewhat of a disappointing season, numbers-wise, but he was without his best line-mate, Jaden Schwartz, for a hefty period of time this season, likely bringing his totals down.

Dale C. took the Russian in the 2nd round of the draft this year, 41st overall, and he didn't quite get the return that he was hoping for, although Tarasenko did finish Saturday night in 56th overall in pool scoring, with one more game to go tonight.  It wasn't too far off, but he could have just as easily been a 1st round pick, if he had a good year.  Dale's team will likely finish in 13th place after tonight's game.