RWC REPORT: Grigorenko stalls in Russia, too

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / January 7, 2008

Igor Grigorenko hasn’t exactly enjoyed a storybook return to Russia.

The long-time Detroit Red Wings prospect has been unproductive since joining Salavat Yulaev, the top team in the Russian Elite League. Grigorenko, who left North America in November under the terms of his contract, has just a goal and two assists in 13 games, along with 18 penalty minutes and a minus-4.

Grigorenko had no points in five games with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins before returning to Russia. While the 5-foot-10, 209-pound right-winger has endured a dismal season, he has pledged to get himself in better shape and wants to give North American another try in the fall.

Grigorenko, 24, had only skated on North American ice once — in his 2001 draft year — before finally getting a pre-season taste of the big leagues.

“He knows what he has to do,” Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said recently. “It’s no different than North American kids. We tell them they have to get in shape and until they see it and understand it, they don’t know what they’re up against. He knows what he’s up against now, so we’ll go from there.”

The Red Wings have said they will retain Grigorenko’s rights next season by tendering him a qualifying offer, and will sign him again if he gets his conditioning up. He is eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2009.

The Red Wings love Grigorenko’s hockey sense and offensive ability, although he’s clearly not the same player he was when he played on Russia’s top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk at the 2003 world championship. A serious car accident just after that tournament derailed his career.

— Defenseman Logan Pyett is a world junior gold medallist. Pyett helped Canada win gold with a 3-2 overtime win over Sweden on Saturday. He finished with an assist, 13 shots, four penalty minutes and a plus-1 rating in seven games, playing a third-pairing role and seeing time on special teams.

Forward Joakim Andersson won silver with Sweden. He played a second-line role and picked up six assists, 14 shots, a plus-3 rating and two penalty minutes in six games. He also ranked fifth with a 64.52 faceoff percentage (60 for 93).

— Jimmy Howard (Grand Rapids, AHL) was rewarded for a sensational month of December. He won the Rbk X-Pulse AHL goaltender of the month award after posting a 1.72 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage in 13 starts, going 7-5-1. The sparkling month has made up for a slow start.

— Forward Randy Cameron (Moncton, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) hasn’t taken a step forward as the Red Wings hoped this season, with just eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 36 games on a struggling team. But Cameron is about to get more responsibility, assigned to the top line after his Wildcats traded high-scoring 20-year-olds Matt Marquardt and Phil Mangan recently.

— Forward Jan Mursak (Belleville, Ontario Hockey League) has responded well since a trade from Saginaw. Mursak has eight points in his first six games with the Bulls, including two goals and four assists in his last three contests.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	37	5	11	16	38
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	36	5	7	12	14
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	38	6	5	11	20
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	35	3	7	10	34
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	33	4	4	8	12
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	33	2	6	8	34
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	33	4	3	7	18
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	31	2	4	6	54
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	38	2	6	8	28
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	21	2	2	4	10
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	13	1	2	3	18
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	27	8	9	17	12
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	34	5	7	12	6
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	12	1	4	5	10
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	27	5	14	19	26
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	1	2	0	2	0
C H L
Cory Emmerton	Kingston	OHL	27	14	21	35	6
Jan Mursak	Saginaw	OHL	32	8	26	34	19
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	37	13	20	33	57
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	35	14	16	30	38
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	36	8	12	20	16
N C A A
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	21	7	9	16	41
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	20	2	10	12	26
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	21	3	0	3	6
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	14	1	1	2	6
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	13	1	1	2	6

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	34	--	2.44	.916
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	29	13-14-2	2.50	.915

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; QMJHL -- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; CCHA -- Central Collegiate Hockey Association; WCHA -- Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC -- East Coast Athletic Conference.