Alex Kovalev

For the Alex Kovalev fans out there in Montreal, and there are more than a few of you:

Continue reading "Kovy comes to town out of uniform" »

But he doesn't say much after the Senators' morning skate.

He likes playing with Cheechoo.

He wishes he could play all of Ottawa's six pre-season games.

He's not still living in La Belle Province: "I don't know where you guys got that."

Audio: Alex Kovalev

Game blog

•  •  •

The worst thing thing you can do in the Ottawa room is step on the Senators logo in the middle of the carpeting.

An RDS cameraman did it.

Twice.

The room attendant was not amused. Neither was Chris Neil.

"Show some respect!"

Please.

Good job the centurion (remember that putz from the playoffs?) wasn't on duty.

Kovy, the new kid on the block, walked across the logo after morning skate on Friday and was p[romptly told it would costy him $1,000.

"Good thing you're rich!" Jason Spezza yelled.

They should have made him wear the centurion suit.

With great thanks to Andie Bennett of the Team 990, here are a few clips of Alex Kovalev speaking at his charity golf tournament, stitched together into one. The topics: Kovy's heart remains in Montreal, how he hopes the media goes easy on the kids, on the importance of the captaincy of the Canadiens, on being held out of action last season, and on the Kostitsyn brothers.

Thanks, Andie. Habs Inside/Out owes you. Again.

Alex Kovalev is back in the good graces of the Russian hockey federation.

Kovy has been invited to Russia's Olympic summer tryout camp which will take place Aug. 29 to Sept. 1

Andrei Markov is on the list, of course.

But Alexander Perezhogin, who was on Russia's team at the Worlds, has been dropped

Alex Kovalev wears a Bob Gainey jersey during pregame warmup on Feb. 23, 2008, the night Gainey's number was retired by the Canadiens.
Phillip MacCallum, Getty Images

The popular story about Alex Kovalev’s negotiations with the Canadiens claims that the Russian forward’s career in Montreal evaporated on July 1 when he failed to reply to a contract offer extended by GM Bob Gainey.

But a Gazette source close to the negotiations suggests that Kovalev did indeed reply that afternoon, to an offer Gainey had increased a few hours earlier to two years and $10 million from the original two years, $9 million he’d offered two days before the Canada Day free-agency kickoff.

It seems it was the Canadiens who did not then reply to Kovalev's request to tweak the second offer, Gainey using his afternoon to sign free agents Mike Cammelleri and Brian Gionta, which sent Kovalev packing when the salary cap proved too tight. Kovalev signed a deal Monday with the Ottawa Senators for the same two years and $10 million the Canadiens had offered.

Former Canadien Alex Kovalev, now an Ottawa Senator, was just on a conference call from Russia. It was over in 7:48 after three reporters – Marc Antoine Godin from La Presse, myself and Abe Hefter of CJAD – asked a few questions. There was a call a few minutes earlier with Ottawa media, but audio quality isn't good enough to post here.

Kovalev said Bob Gainey's decision not to re-sign him forced him to move quickly to find another NHL home. He didn't go into much detail about contract negotiations and suggested it was nothing personal, merely business. He thanked Montreal fans who ralled Sunday on his behalf, friends having emailed him images and reports of that.

Here's audio of the Montreal end of the conference call. There's a short bit of dead air at the beginning of the file, a technical problem at the operator's end. Just let it run.

Ottawa is a bilingual(ish) city, so maybe Alex Kovalev gets to keep the nickname conferred upon him, with no small degree of irony, by Montreal's French media.

Oh, he was artistic. Nobody ever left the Bell Centre complaining about ticket prices after Kovy had painted one of his masterpieces.

What skills!

What flair!

What a showman!

And what a five-year love affair between Kovy and fans who have seen the best of the best and expect, for $100 a seat, to witness something more entertaining than Tom Kostopoulos losing a fight.

 

Continue reading "L'Artiste is a Senator" »

Alex Kovalev after a scuffle during a game last March. Kovy never lacked for confidence, and he was brimming with it as training camp opened last fall.
John Kenney, Gazette

The Canadiens had come off an Eastern Conference championship in 2007-08, led in large part by the second-best season lifetime of forward Alex Kovalev.

Montreal went two rounds into the playoffs before bowing out to Philadelphia.

The Habs reassembled for last autumn's training camp with high hopes of taking the next step in their 100th season. We all know how it turned out. Now Kovalev is gone, to Ottawa for two years and $10 million.

Captain Saku Koivu is entertaining offers elsewhere, his days in Montreal done barring a remarkable about-face by his employer since 1995. Other familiar faces are gone, with new ones on the way in.

It's always fun – or enlightening, anyway – to dig into the files at a time like this. Below is a feature on Kovalev written on the first day of last autumn's training camp.

Kovalev, 8-10 pounds lighter and eager to crank up his game beyond the excellent season he'd just enjoyed, was asked whether he could find any other Canadien who reminded him of himself maybe a decade earlier, with the same fire in the eyes and the belly.

"No," he replied. "Not even close."

So here's Kovalev last September, on the first day of training camp.

Continue reading ""I'm trying to do my best every year"" »

According to the Ottawa Senators, Alex Kovalev is in Russia – no wonder he wasn't at the Bell Centre rally yesterday! – and will be unavailable to comment today on his signing a two-year deal – for a reported $5 million per – with the Canadiens rival down Highway 417.

Hoping to hook up with him on a conference call tomorrow.

(Wonder which Canadien will pick up Kovy's Bell Centre loge, the one he picked up from José Theodore, to host sick and underprivileged kids at Habs games?)

It's a wave goodbye to Montreal and Bell Centre fans for former Canadiens all-star Alex Kovalev.
André Ringuette, NHLI via Getty Images

Well, it was a glorious summer Sunday to march around the Bell Centre, anyway.

Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey today told radio station CJAD, the club's English-language play-by-play rights-holder, that unrestricted free-agent forward Alex Kovalev won't be back next season.

Gainey viewed the rally by Kovalev fans outside the Bell Sunday afternoon as more of a celebration of the flamboyant Russian than a protest against his not having been re-signed by the Canadiens.

“I think that Alex has really left a mark on people and the hockey fans in Montreal and the fact that he won’t be returning with our team is a difficult and emotional separation for them,” Gainey told the radio station.

RDS reports that russian newspaper Soviet Sport says Alex Kovalev has already met with the Molson brothers, the new owners of the Canadiens, and new head coach Jacques Martin.

According to the newspaper, they have assured him he would be back with the Canadiens next season.

Kovalev made $4.5 million last season and can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Wingers with potential free agency status on July 1st:

Alex Kovalev (UFA)

Alex Tanguay (UFA)

Chris Higgins (RFA)

Guillaume Latendresse (RFA)

Tom Kostopolous (UFA)

Gregory Stewart (RFA)

Matt D’Agostini (RFA)

Barring any big signings or trades, it’s expected that all RFAs will be made qualifying offers, with everybody receiving a modest raise. Perhaps arbitration will be necessary to settle a deal with Higgins, but after last season he doesn’t have much negotiating leverage. It’s highly unlikely that any other team will try to grab one of our guys with an offer sheet (and equally unlikely that we send out an offer sheets of our own).

That leaves Kovy, Tanguay, and Kostopolous.

Tom the Bomb is a great team guy and a useful grinder, but he can be replaced by a younger, cheaper call-up (i.e. Stewart). If necessary, worry about TK in August.

Kovalev is a fan favorite, but Gainey should look into other options before giving l’Artiste a new deal. He’s 36 and infuriatingly inconsistent. While Kovy can still produce, there won’t be a line-up for his services on July 1.

No need to rush.

It was reported earlier in the week that Gainey has not had much in way of talks with Tanguay or his agent because he has been working on something big. Presumably – and this is a big presumption – that something big is Vincent Lecavalier. (And if we’re to believe Jean Perron, you can also throw Martin St-Louis’ name into that mess of a rumour.)

On Tuesday, league Czar Gary Bettman gave operational control of the Lightning to co-owner Oren Koules, but Len Barrie still holds a veto vote. Any trade involving Lecavalier might have to wait until mid-July when this dysfunctional Tampa ownership (hopefully) gets sorted out. Whether or not that trade involves the Habs remains to be seen.

Continue reading "Wingmen" »

I am officially Alex Kovalev:

 http://www.facebook.com/alexkovalev

Woot! Woot!

2007/08 Alex Kovalev GP82 G35 A49 P84; +18 2008/09 Alex Kovalev GP78 G29 A39 P65; -4
2007/08 Tomas Plekanec G81 G29 A40 P69; +15 2008/09 Tomas Plekanec G80 G20 A19 P39; -9
2007/08 CH Mark Streit GP81 G13 A49 P62; -6 2008/09 NYI Mark Streit GP74 G16 A40 P56; +6
2007/08 Andrei Markov GP82 G16 A42 P58; +1 2008/09 Andrei Markov GP78 G12 A52 P68; -2
2007/08 Saku Koivu GP77 G16 A40 P56; -4 2008/09 Saku Koivu GP65 G16 A34 P50; +4
...

At this point last season, the high flying Habs were, well, flying high. Les Glorieux were surging into the playoffs full of confidence - first in the Eastern Conference; a dominant powerplay; a strong mix of veterans and youth; and a high-powered offense led by the top line of Alex Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn.
A year later the Habs are plummeting into the playoffs, wings clipped, expectations broken and instead of hope, question marks and uncertainty loom on the horizon.
Continue reading "What a Difference a Year Makes" »

It’s obvious that Andrei Markov holds these Montreal Canadiens together. He is the team’s best defenseman, he is the team’s leading scorer (64 points, tied with Alexei Kovalev), he is the team’s most proficient passer, and he is a Gandalf-like wizard in terms of hockey sense.
Mathieu Schneider’s injury hurts the powerplay.
Markov’s injury sinks the team.
While there is nobody to replace ol’ 79, Bob Gainey does have the pieces to cobble together a better defensive corps than the one he has fielded over the past two games. Continue reading "In Need of Some Magic" »

With nine points in three games, Canadiens' Alex Kovalev today was named the NHL's First Star in the league's weekly Three Stars ranking.

Kovalev had two goals and seven assists in the Canadiens' three consecutive victories.

The Habs are playing like the Habs again. The boys are scoring goals, skating hard, playing defensively sound and maybe most importantly – smiling.
And who can we thank for this last minute resurgence? Look no further than behind the bench. Coach Gainey has implemented a system that uses players to their strengths and creates a team chemistry that helps overcome individual weaknesses.
This is the team that GM Gainey had envisioned at the beginning of the season. This is the team that, on paper, looked like it could compete deep into the playoffs. Continue reading "Making a Statement" »

Alex Kovalev missed morning skate because he's under the weather (which is sunny and cold today in Montreal) and stayed home.

He's been declared an unhealthy scratch for tonight's game against the New York Islanders, putting Matt D'Agostini and Max Pacioretty on Tomas Plekanec's wings.

Carey Price starts in goal. Patrice Brisebois is a healthy scratch, meaning he must wait another game to play his 1,000th in the NHL.

AUDIO: • Gainey English & French  • Higgins  • Pacioretty  • Gorges, on Streit, etc. 

(And thanks to Team 990's Andie Bennett for Bob en anglais.)

In a bit of fortuitous timing, given how much Alex Kovalev has been in the news lately, he turns up on the Radio-Canada series "Les Boys - La Série II" the next two weeks.

The show (based on the movies) airs Monday nights at 9 p.m.

Continue reading "Kovy one of "les Boys"" »

It's Feb. 24 already in Togliatti, the small town 1,000 km southeast of Moscow where Alexei Kovalev was born 36 years ago.

Kovalev began to play organized hockey when he was seven. Competing against players three years older, the Artiste began to develop the self-preservational evasive moves that have endeared him to Canadiens' fans.

By the age of 14, Kovy's talent had been spotted and he was whisked off to the development camp of Moscow Dynamo.

Four years later, he became the first Russian player selected in the first round of an NHL draft, 15th overall by the Rangers.

The rest, we know.

Here's some things you may not know:

• Kovy missed the birth of his second son to play in the seventh game of the 2004 playoff series against Boston. He scored a goal in the game that eliminated the Bruins.

• He flies a five-seat Cessna 414 and also has a helicopter pilot's licence.

• In addition to sponsoring the Kovy's Kids loge at the Bell Centre, he has paid for Dr. Suzanne Vobecky, a pediatric heart surgeon at Ste. Justine Hospital, to train doctors in Russia. (Kovy had heart problems as a child).

My personal favourite Alex Kovalev fact: He plays the saxophone.

And if you've seen this enigmatic genius play hockey, you know Kovy's style is a lot closer to Coltrane than to Kenny G.

A very intelligent and hugely complex man. Neil Smith, who was GM of the Rangers when they drafted Kovalev, describes him as a "wild child who does his own thing" and cannot subordinate his style to a system.

Maybe the system has to adapt to him.

Leaving the Bell Centre after the Ottawa game, I heard an astute observation  from a veteran hockey writer.

"It's easy," he said, " to coach Tom Kostopoulos."

 

 

Alex Kovalev returned to his team today, taking part in a spirited practice in Brossard.
Christinne Muschi, Reuters

From The Gazette's Randy Phillips, in Brossard:

Forward Alex Kovalev will be back on the ice when the Canadiens face the Ottawa Senators Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre.

Kovalev rejoined his teammates in practice today after a two-day forced hiatus by Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey.

“I feel great. Two days off never hurt,” said Kovalev, who was the last to leave the ice at the team’s practice facility after a brisk 90-minute workout in Brossard.

“It was a pretty tough two days, but in the end it ended up being good days."

Gainey ordered to Kovalev to stay home while the team completed its longest road trip of the season because on an obvious drop in offensive production. He has 13 goals and 39 points this season, the final one of a four-year contract that pays him $4.5 million this season. He had 84 points last season.

Continue reading "Refreshed Kovy is ready to rock" »

Alex Kovalev has just spoken with the media in Brossard.

RDS is reporting that Bob Gainey and Alex Kovalev spoke today and the decision was made that Kovalev will return to the team at practice tomorrow. It will be up to head coach Guy Carbonneau when to bring the player back into the lineup.

Both Gainey and Carbo are satisfied with Kovalev's denials of reports that circulated yesterday, attributed to a Russian who allegedly had spoken to Kovalev.

The Alex Kovalev situation keeps changing by the minute.

After reports surfaced Wednesday afternoon that Kovalev told a Russian newspaper he was done in Montreal, TSN's Darren Dreger tells a very different story.

In response to the reports, Kovalev told Dreger in an email: "I don't care about what people say about me and write about, I just want to come back and play hard."

In response to reports that Kovalev blamed the team's problems on the lack of discipline by younger players, Kovalev said: "It's not my words, but I can't tell you whose. I never talk about my teammates, That is all I can tell you.

TSN's Bob McKenzie is reporting that any team asking about Kovalev's availability in a trade is being told that he is not on the block.

Meanwhile, CKAC radio is reporting that Bob Gainey and Kovalev spoke on Wednesday, with the Russian saying he would welcome a return to the team.  The report also stated that Gainey was open to a potential reconciliation, as long as Kovalev's attitude improved.

You know the rules:

Three lines of five, seven and five syllables.

No cuss words.

Here's one to get us started:

Supremely gifted

Not often motivated

Two minutes: Pouting

Rick Stewart, Getty Images

The pundits weigh in:

• Pat Hickey in The Gazette

• Red Fisher in The Gazette

• Sean Gordon in the Globe and Mail

• La Presse's Richard Labbé, who says the Canadiens have spent two weeks trying to trade Kovalev

• Jean-François Bégin in La Presse

• François Gagnon in La Presse

• Ronald King in La Presse

• Jacques Demers for RDS

• Elliotte Friedman of CBC Sports

• Plenty of reading from our locked-out friends with Le Journal de Montréal, at ruefrontenac.com

Much can happen in 24 hours.
Welcome back Mr. Schneider! Sayonara Sergei! Have a Kit Kat, Kovalev. We all knew that the Canadiens needed a shake-up.
Badly.
This week GM Bob Gainey has managed to put the Habs locker room through a spin cycle. Interestingly enough, this turnaround has been done without any permanent changes:
Kovy could be playing in Saturday’s matinee against the Senators; SK-74 can be re-called, as can Ryan O’Byrne; and Gregory Stewart should know his stay up in the big leagues is like a game of snakes and ladders. Schneider will see the season through, but Montreal didn’t give up any manpower that could have an immediate impact on the ice.
Gainey, a quiet and conservative man, made a bold statement to everyone in the Canadiens organization – both to the players on the ice and the personnel behind the bench. Continue reading "More To Come From Bold Bob" »

The day of reckoning was inevitable.

You knew it would come two years ago, when Kovalev ripped Carbonneau in the Russian magazine ... and then had the gall to suggest the interview was a fabrication.

It was postponed when Kovy carried the team to first place last season.

But Kovalev's game deserted him in the playoffs, and it's been MIA ever since.

Gainey is counting on addition by subtraction.

The GM thinks his coach can get this team into the playoffs minus the Canadiens' most gifted and and popular player.

It's a HUGE gamble by an innately cautious man.

Has Alex  Kovalev played his last game as a Montreal Canadien? Will he be traded in the red-hot market for underachieving 35-year-old coach-killers?

Will Gregory Stewart carry the power play?

Does Mathieu Schneider get his number 27 jersey?

With Sergei Kostitsyn sent to Hamilton, is a de-Russification of the Canadiens underway?

CKAC says Kovalev had a no-trade-to-the-West clause that expired Jan. 31. They think Gainey's likeliest dance partner – based on history and their loss of Brad Richards – would be Dallas.

Other possibilities: Anaheim, Columbus, L.A. 

Meanwhile, in Washington, Bruce Boudreau is preparing for these lines:

Higgins - Koivu - D'Agostini

A. Kostitsyn - Plekanec - Pacioretty

Bégin - Lapierre - Kostopoulos

Laraque - Chipchura - Dandenault

Defence pairings are Markov-Schneider, Hamrlik-Komisarek, Gorges-Bouillon

Alex Kovalev takes a breather during the Canadiens' Feb. 6 game against the Sabres in Buffalo. That 3-2 defeat began a four-game losing streak.
Bill Wippert, NHLI via Getty Images

General manager Bob Gainey made a rare public appearance at a Canadiens' practice today and dropped a bombshell when he annouced that Alex Kovalev will not join the team for its road trip to Washington and Pittsburgh. 

Gainey said he decided that Kovalev should take a few days away from the team. Speaking in French, Gainey said he told Kovalev the team has no need of Kovalev's services the way he's currently playing. He added that Kovalev was tired and wasn't playing with any emotion. 

The GM said Kovalev's situation would be re-evaluated at the end of the week but wouldn't commit himself to saying that Kovalev would be back in the lineup for Saturday's home game against Ottawa. 

Gainey said Kovalev hasn't asked for a trade and when asked whether Kovalev as on the block, he replied: "Nobody has talked to me about him." He added: "This is the trading season."  

Gainey Audio

Alex Kovalev responded to the whirlwind of questions around himself with a game-high six shots tonight, assisting on Andrei Kostitsyn's goal in the Canadiens' 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Continue reading "Kovalev: Hard work = game-high six shots" »