Rus: Igor Grigorenko Review

Igor Grigorenko - Detroit Red Wings

Igor Grigorenko suffered a serious injury in a car accident during the off-season and did not play a single game in the Super League’s regular season. In late December the talented center made an attempt to come back to action after a six month absence. He skated several games for Lada’s junior farm club before succumbing to leg pain, for which he underwent another surgery.

After the final surgery, the prognosis was quite grim: the doctor’s did not expect Grigorenko to skate again until mid summer ‘04. Fortunately, the young forward recovered ahead of the set time table and started to practice with Lada in mid March during the first round of the playoffs.

He finally made his return to the Russian Super League during the semifinals. Grigorenko failed to score during his three games back with the big club, looking a bit sluggish and a shadow of his former self, likely due to the lack of the same conditioning he had a season ago. However, the significance of his presence on the ice in the Super League ahead of schedule was not lost.

During several interviews during and after the playoffs Grigorenko reiterated his complete recovery from the injuries. Judging by his attitude, the speedy young player has not lost that confidence that made him one of Russia’s top forward just a season ago.

Grigorenko will likely return to Lada for the 2004-05 season, as the Red Wings will likely wait to sign one of their top prospects until after the upcoming, potentially turbulent season in the NHL subsides. Similarly to Pavel Vorobiev’s situation with the Blackhawks a couple of seasons back, the Red Wings would also like to make sure that the talented center is fully recovered from his injuries before signing him to a contract.

article courtesy Evgeny Belashchenko and RussianProspects.com