JR Ewing Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 This one's for you, Rick. ---------------------------------------------- Even though Nail Yakupov is no longer in the NHL, that hasn't stopped his father, Rail, from speaking his mind on one of his son's former NHL coaches. In an interview with Championat.com, Yakupov's father didn't hold back as to why he thinks the St. Louis Blues have gotten off to a slow start with a 2-4-3 record. ***The following text was translated from Russian to English using Google Translate. “When the coach is an idiot, the team will fail.” “Mike Yeo didn’t succeed at Minnesota, he only lost time there. A similar situation is happening now. The team will not fight for such a coach. I saw them play, familiar with their system. This club should fight for the Stanley Cup, but, again, if the coach is an idiot, then you can forget about it. It seems to me that Yeo doesn’t understand anything at all in hockey. Unrestrained, unrestrained. I wouldn’t even trust the children’s team to him.” Yikes. Safe to say that Rail doesn't think too highly of Yeo, to say the least. The Blues were one of the more active teams in the offseason by signing Tyler Bozak, Patrick Maroon and acquiring Ryan O'Reilly. Expected to be a contender in the Western Conference by boosting their roster, the Blues sit 5th last in the league with 7 points and have struggled at keeping the puck out of their net entering Saturday's slate of games. Yakupov played with the Blues in the 2016/17 season under Yeo and managed just three goals and six assists in 40 games. Yakupov fell in Yeo's doghouse and was often scratched by the Blues' bench boss. The Blues eventually rejected Yakupov's qualifying offer after the Russian suffered a season-ending knee injury. Yakupov spent last season in Colorado where he tallied nine goals and seven assists in 58 games. The first overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers returned to Russia in the offseason by signing a one-year deal with St. Petersburg SKA of the KHL where he’s amassed 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 15 games so far. https://www.bardown.com/nail-yakupov-s-dad-rips-blues-coach-mike-yeo-for-team-s-struggles-1.1199496 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Rick Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 I do not see how the management justifies keeping Yeo in? They are winning now and should be. This team is loaded with talent. Teresenko, Steen, O'Reilly, Pietrangelo, etc. LOADED. My pick to come out of the West, but I will now admit Colorado look mighty good. Buts its a long haul. If the Blues do not turn things around fast, Yeo should be fired. If it were up to me I would fire him now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey-78 Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 Back in the Wild days Yeo proved that he was incompetent, no dispute there but seriously, Yakupov himself failed to prove he belongs in the NHL to any team's top2 scoring lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 2 minutes ago, Hockey-78 said: Back in the Wild days Yeo proved that he was incompetent, no dispute there but seriously, Yakupov himself failed to prove he belongs in the NHL to any team's top2 scoring lines. I'd like to hear Rail's take on the Edmonton and Colorado coaches when his son Nail played there... Or maybe Uncle Hail or Aunt Gail have better takes.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted October 28, 2018 Author Share Posted October 28, 2018 6 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: I'd like to hear Rail's take on the Edmonton and Colorado coaches when his son Nail played there... He wasn't shy. After Nail was sent to St Louis, Rail said that he loved how Ralph Kreuger coached Nail, playing to his strengths, and that Eakins did nothing but set up Nail to fail. Ralph did unlock Yakupov to a degree which no other NHL coach did, for what it's worth: 48 GP, 17-14-31 6 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: Or maybe Uncle Hail or Aunt Gail have better takes.... What's funny is that, aside from father and son's names rhyming like they do, Nail's sister Alina is pretty much a dead ringer for her brother, right down to the eyebrows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted October 28, 2018 Author Share Posted October 28, 2018 20 minutes ago, Hockey-78 said: Back in the Wild days Yeo proved that he was incompetent, no dispute there but seriously, Yakupov himself failed to prove he belongs in the NHL to any team's top2 scoring lines. I'll copy/paste my standing "Why Nail Yakupov was a bust" post. --------- Nail Yakupov is quick, elusive and has a cannon shot. But, if you watch him, one thing is crystal clear: he doesn't really know how to play hockey, and his lack of ability to process the game punishes player and team at every turn. He skates the puck into coverage, doesn't know who/how to backcheck, and even though he has a great shot, he doesn't know how to get himself into position to receive a one-time pass so that he can let it go. When he was with the Oilers, there was a sequence where Darnell Nurse spent around 20 seconds battling with David Backes for the puck, won it and passed it Yakupov outside the line. Yak promptly turned and skated back into the defensive zone and passed it back to Nurse, who once again had Backes all over him in a New York minute. Another time, Patrick Maroon was working like a demon to keep possession along the boards, deep in the Jets zone, and was double-teamed by two players. Yakupov stood 5 feet away, watching the entire thing, not really knowing what he should do. Maroon lost the puck and the Jets cleared. Things like these are constant issues with him, and whether it's an issue of having too many coaches in his head or an inability to process the game at the NHL level, they are a real problem. He's not a player with 5 years of experience, but rather a player with 1 year of experience 5 times. TSN's Ryan Rishaug was told by an Oilers source that Yakupov is very willing to put in hard work, but only in the areas which he's already good at or enjoys doing. Thus, last summer, he spent the bulk of his time working on his shot, especially the one-timer, even though shooting the puck is one of the things he can already do. There has been a steadfast refusal to work on the parts of his game which are not at an NHL level. When Rishaug asked him, this week, what he needs to do to improve his game, Yakupov replied "Nothing new. I just need to keep doing the same things I've always done." He seems like a nice kid, but I don't know how being patient can work with somebody who has repeatedly said that he won't change his approach for anybody. Not any one of Ralph Krueger, Dallas Eakins, Todd Nelson, Todd McLellan, Ken Hitchcock or Mike Yeo could impress upon Yakupov the need to work within the team structure. Oleg Znarok, coach of the 2014 Russian Olympic team said that they simply couldn't take him on, regardless of how talented he is, because he refuses to work on his game. During the past World Hockey Championships, he was sent home early by Znarok, for the very same reasons, and when asked, Yakupov said that he fully intends to play hockey just like he did when he was 10 years old. You can't play successfully at the NHL level when you play the game like you did as a little boy. TLDR - Nail Yakupov has million dollar tools, but a ten cent head for the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Nail's dad ripping Yeo is almost as funny as Zenon Konopka's rabbit (Hoppy) saying Yeo should be canned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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