Grigorenko story from #BLUEPRINT series

[radoran]

http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=681863&utm_campaign=Wildfire+Message+-+%22This+year+I%E2%80%99ll+go+and+already+know+what+it...&utm_content=po_464191

 

The highly-touted rookie skated in 22 games for the Sabres, highlighted by his first career NHL goal against Toronto on January 29. But with his ice-time dwindling and confidence seemingly in disarray, Grigorenko was returned to junior on March 15. He didn’t waste any time getting back on track

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“In Russia, for every kid, NHL is all the best players. When you talk about NHL, it’s like to go somewhere, like … the moon or something. It’s just something really crazy and you always think about it. You just dream about the NHL. I’m pretty sure every kid in Russia wants to play in the NHL. You don’t want to play in the second or third best league, you want to play in the best league. And NHL is the best league.”

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“I always wanted to play in the NHL, and I knew it would be a good step for me. Russia has really good hockey. If you want to play in the KHL you need to stay there and play in Russian juniors. But if you want to play in the NHL you need to play in Canadian juniors. I decided that I wanted to be an NHL player, and I needed one or two years to get ready in juniors.”