When Klim Kostin got the word from San Antonio general manager Kevin McDonald that he was being called up by St. Louis, he had to double-check.
“I’m like, ‘Are you sure it was me? ’ “ Kostin said. “He said, ‘Yeah.’ “
First, Kostin called his father, who’s currently in Los Angeles, with the news. Then he called his mother, who’s back in Russia.
“My family and myself were just waiting for this moment like two years,” Kostin said. “I’m so excited to get a chance, a callup. . . .I’m so excited to hear I’m here and see St. Louis fans.”
Whether he actually gets a chance to see those fans _ you know, from the ice while playing a game _ remains to be seen.
“We’ll see what happens,” coach Craig Berube said. “We don’t have any extra forwards, so back-to-back games, going on the road, we needed to get a guy in here. And we’re protected.”
With games in Columbus on Friday and back at Enterprise Center on Saturday against Anaheim, Kostin may be nothing more than insurance in case somebody else goes down. It’s possible he’s just here until the Blues decide to sign either Troy Brouwer and/or Jamie McGinn _ the veterans here on a tryout basis.
But that didn’t prevent Kostin, 20, from experiencing excitement and some nerves as he stepped on the ice Thursday at Centene Community Ice Center for his first regular-season practice as a member of the Blues.
“It’s different,” Kostin said. “You know, a little nervous. You want to do everything good. And when you sometimes miss the puck or something _ you’re like ‘Oh no. Coach see me, oh no, no.’ ”
Even if he’s just around for a few practices and watches a couple of games, there are benefits to even that thin slice of the NHL experience.
“Any time you’re around NHL guys and you’re practicing in an NHL practice, you can see the pace and execution and just what it’s like,” Berube said. “I think it’s good. It doesn’t hurt.”
But there’s no doubt Berube feels Kostin has the goods to be an NHL player. It’s more a matter of “when” not “If.”
When asked how Kostin looked in practice, Berube said: “He looked fine. He’s an NHL skater. He’s got an NHL shot. So he’s gonna look good in practice.”
As for the tryout veterans, Berube and general manager Doug Armstrong probably will decide the status of Brouwer and McGinn no later than the middle of next week.
“They’re NHL players,” Berube said. “One has 800 games (Brouwer), the other guy has 600-some (McGinn). They don’t have jobs. The league’s gotten younger over the years and things happen. But they both know how to play the game. They both look good to me. They both look in good shape.”
THURSDAY’S LINES/PAIRINGS
Sanford-O’Reilly-Perron
MacEachern-Barbashev-Sundqvist
(So based on the top four lines Thursday, Kostin will not be playing in Columbus. He was on a fifth line Thursday in practice with Brouwer and McGinn.)
_ Brayden Schenn has cooled off lately, with no goals in his last five games.
_ Alex Pietrangelo has seven points in his last four games (one goal, six assists); Ivan Barbashev has five points in his last six games (two goals, three assists).
_ Tyler Bozak played a season-high 18 minutes 24 seconds Tuesday against Arizona.
