Yuri

norrisnick, just wonder... where have you got this almost perfect translation from Russian newspaper? Do they have an English version?

Grig's current team Lada Togliatti has again (for the 7th consecutive year) won traditional pre-season 'Lada Cup' tournament. Igor was amazing in all three games and got best sniper award with 6 points (4G+2A). My guess is that its not only family reasons he's signed with Lada again. Last year new management team of Lada Car Plants has dramatically cut hockey club budget and majority of veterans left the team for better life elsewhere. Clearly understanding the importance of this season for him to sign with Red Wings next year (...or forget about NHL eternally...), this second stint with Lada would definitely give him more ice time, leading role amongst extremely young players, and provide more room to be in a much better shape to head to North America next fall... If it's still his wish to go overseas...

Hi, there... You are quite right in your assumptions: I'm based right in the heart of that country somebody in this thread has earlier referred to as non-European... I've got a dish at my premises, so I have a pleasure to watch at least three NHL games a week, though DRW is a rare bird on TV screens - two games in Oct and one game only in Nov... Believe me, games in Europe and North America are entirely incomparable, at least as far as overall tempo is concerned... First thing is that rinks here are much wider, which in theory should have given more open ice and, thus, more shooting and scoring chances, but... grabbing, obstruction holding, clutching and the likes are commonly used, kind of we-do-not-play-ourselves-and-won't-let-you tactics... A lot of games are merely boring... Though starting this season local zebras began to whistle a lot to prevent all the dirt on ice, still they keep being rather inconsistent even within one game... It is surprising how some guys manage to score around a point a game in such conditions... Checked TV schedule for this week, Grigs and his Severstal are gonna be on air coming Fri vs. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, will share my impressions later...

Here's the most updated information on Igor Grigorenko, as of Tue Oct 25 - got an assist in a 2:2 tie with Molot/Perm. Played in all 19 games so far, 6 goals, 11 assists, for 17 pts, +4, 4 PIM, tied 6th-8th for points with Alex Morozov (ex-Penguin, now with Ak Bars Kazan) and Alex Korolyuk (ex-Shark, now with Vityaz Chekhov) - not a bad company after all... If my calculations are correct his current weight is around 216 pounds... sturdy built... His current team Severstal is not a frequent guest on Russian TV Sport Channel, though I've watched a couple of games and Igor was pretty good indeed... From what I've heard here Grigs was told by DRW, read Holland, and his agent to consistently recover from injuries and spend the entire season in Russia - his contract doesn't have an out-clause to go to NHL this year... So, let's hope he'll progress throughout the year and be in good condition to start next season as a Red Wing...