ST. LOUIS — Ryan Reaves remembers Vladimir Tarasenko scanning the aisles of the St. Louis Blues’ team plane as a shy rookie in 2012, unsure of where to sit.
“I had an open spot, but I guess he was a little intimidated to sit next to me,” Reaves recalled Friday morning. “I told him to sit down.”
That interaction blossomed into one of the NHL’s more unique friendships: A Russian winger with a boatload of offensive talent cozying up to one of the league’s toughest players, an enforcer from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Reaves and Tarasenko grew close during Reaves’ time in St.