Tarasenko: All-Star Game means much to me and my family

Throughout the season, stlouisblues.com will feature first-person accounts of stories from within the St. Louis Blues organization. The series, titled "My Turn," will give fans unparalleled access to personal stories from current Blues players and alumni. This one comes from forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who shares his personal photos from the 2017 NHL All-Star Game in Los Angeles and explains what a trip to the All-Star Game means to him and his family.
Your vote can send Tarasenko and the rest of your favorite Blues to the 2018 NHL All-Star Game. Vote up to 10 times daily at NHL.com/vote before Jan. 1 and you could win a trip to All-Star Weekend in Tampa Bay.

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When I got to St. Louis, I talked with some of the guys about the All-Star Game.
Barret Jackman told me it's the dream of everyone to go there. He said the more you get to go, the more you will enjoy it and it will make you work harder to make it back again and again.
He was right.
In 2015, I got my first chance to go to the All-Star Game. It was in Columbus, and it was a little bit hard for me and my family because were were shy and we didn't really know any of the players.
But I wanted to go back again.
I was lucky to get selected the next two years for the games in Nashville and Los Angeles, and they were great experiences because this time I knew everyone.

Last year in LA was most special to me and my family. Going to the All-Star game means I get to spend more time with them. You don't get much time together during the season because of our schedule and all the road trips we do. I was pretty excited to find out from Doug Armstrong that I was making the trip to represent the Blues again.
LA is a nice city to go, but my family was really excited to go there. We got to go to Universal Studios and have dinner with Alex Ovechkin and Sergei Bobrovsky.
The trip was really special for my son, Mark, too.

He has been playing hockey for a few years now and he's a goalie. They let him stand on the bench with the coaches during the game and he got to watch some of the world's best goalies up close. I think that was pretty important for him and for me.
We lost the game last year, but I scored one goal and it was pretty nice to be able to celebrate that with Mark.
I'll never forget that.
Because of the All-Star Game, Mark wants to work harder and make it his dream to get to the NHL like me. That makes me very proud.

Now I know what Barret meant about the All-Star games. They are very special and no two are ever the same. Guys have a lot of fun there and the fans get a lot of fun, too.
It's been an honor for me to go to three times. Fans are looking to pick you and they recognize how you play, how hard you work and give you the honor to go there.
I look forward to playing my best hockey so I can get the chance to represent the Blues again.