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Vladimir Tarasenko Reported To Join Russia At Worlds

By Kate Cimini

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According to a translation of a Russian-language story on championat.com, St. Louis Blues star forward Vladimir Tarasenko is headed to the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships to play for Team Russia, alongside Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin and Nikolai Kulemin.

The news broke Tuesday morning on the sports news site, and on Twitter via Igor Eronko, a hockey writer for sports.ru. It was later confirmed by the official IIHF Worlds Championship Twitter account.

According to the article, the three players must pass a medical exam before joining the team. Malkin, who reportedly was playing through a bad back in the playoffs, may have difficulty being cleared to play by an entirely new team of doctors. Tarasenko should have no such issue.

The article that broke the news (in Russian, of course), reads as such, per Google Translate:

"The curator of the Russian hockey team Arkady Rotenberg said that hockey clubs in the National Hockey League Evgeni Malkin, Vladimir Tarasenko and Nikolai Kulemin arrive at the location of the national team, which will be a medical examination.“We are expecting the arrival of the team of three players from the NHL. It Evgeni Malkin, Vladimir Tarasenko and Nikolai Kulemin. Once they arrive, we will conduct a physical examination, and its follow-up, I hope the players will strengthen our team at the World Championships. With regard to capital, many worthy candidates, the coaches determined in the near future “, – quotes Rothenberg correspondent of” Championship “Paul Panyshev.Ice Hockey World Championship will take place from 1 to 17 May in Prague and Ostrava."

Tarasenko has played for the Russian Juniors team at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships three times before, once winning a silver medal with them in 2009 and captaining them to a gold medal at Worlds in 2011.

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This is his second time competing on the adults’ team; his first was in 2011 when he joined the team for a total of six games, scoring one goal for them. Tarasenko also joined his home country’s team for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, recording five games and no points.

With the St. Louis Blues out of the playoffs with a disappointing first-round loss for the third year in a row, an opportunity to play at worlds with his home country will surely help take the sting from the early playoffs exit for Tarasenko.

Tarasenko performed amazingly during his third playoffs series for the Blues, scoring six points over six game (two of which were power play goals), recording a hat trick one night and registering one assist. Despite his offensive output, he still finished a -4 in +/- and the Minnesota Wild wrapped up a win in 6 games.

With this trip to Worlds, at least Blues fans can watch Tarasenko in action again, relatively soon. And maybe we’ll even get to see his always-amazing tip-in goal that he reused in the playoffs against Dubnyk.

Next: Blues Rumors: Changes Coming To Team

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