Kovalchuk to Russia to start season

[SB39 2]

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/magazin...0052:09:22PMPDT

Not on tsn, but guy says he signed with Khimik Voskresensk of the RSL... Needs confirmation

[Jim A 4]

its too bad the IIHF doesn't have a rule where if you sign with a team, you are their asset for the season..no getting players for a couple weeks, mess with the standings..and then see them bolt..let him stay over there and miss the nice moderate climate of Atlanta and those road trips to LA etc in the winter

[SR27 0]

My cyrillic is letting me down a bit but from what I gathered he has already played for them last night in a 2:5 loss to Metallurg and made an assist. "Ковальчук" That`s him. official site

[Adam91 0]

That would really hurt the thrasers chance at the playoffs

[Adam91 0]

That would really hurt the thrasers chance at the playoffs

Kovy not resigning would obviously hurt their playoff chances... my little bro just decided to let everyone know...

[vivaotravez12 0]

Jesus Christ...I already lost Datsyuk in fantasy hockey...this is what happens when you draft 2 months before....

[hockechamp14 0]

I would be surprised if kovalchuk wasn't on a contract by Oct 5th. His UFA will be delayed for a year if he doesn't ink a deal by Oct 5th. Word is that he doesn't want to be in atlanta, but is afraid to sign a RFA sheet with the rangers.

[Rustybender 0]

At the risk of being cursed at, I would say yes they can afford to lose him.

I think we could all agree that the NHL doesn't need him to keep existing hockey fans. I can only guess that you think the loss of him will hurt the NHL's attempt to win over new fans. If that's the case, I have to disagree.

Not because of a lack of skill, but because he's Russian. In America (the country that needs to be 'sold' on hockey,) your not going to use someone with a foriegn sounding name and a funny accent to market the game. Is that unfair? You bet it is, but it's also reality. You're going to use a clean cut, well spoken Canadian or American player as your marketing image. Modano, Yzerman, Iginla all come to mind. Or maybe if Crosby turns out to truely be the reincarnation of Wayne, you could use him. If you want to ignore fuglyness and add charisma, you can add Hull and Roenick to that list. These are the guys that will grace the covers of magazines, not Kovalchuk.

If he Kovalchuk goes to Russia, it will hurt Atlanta. The NHL will be fine.

[Cheechoo 0]

Kovalchuk, Datsyuk, Korolyuk ......... all "deciding" to play in Russia. I wonder whether their "decisions" are being helped along by outside forces that have an interest in retaining high caliber players in Russia............... <_<

[DekeHead 0]

Russian mafia or not :o , they are Russian players after all. I know that a lot of us who grew up during the Cold War still imagine the bleak Soviet Union when we think of Russia, but times there are changing. I don't find it that hard to imagine that these guys would simply rather play at home in their own country and culture. Of course, the conspicuous lack of a salary cap in the league over there may have also been an influence on their decision...

[Cheechoo 0]

I completely agree with you, DekeHead. My post was half conjecture and half joke, and quite inappropriate. As a European transplant to North America myself, I know there are many good reasons to return to your home country. But then again, being able to play in the world's best hockey league may be a good enough reason to stay. It just seemed odd hearing one report after another of Russian players staying in Russia, but again, my post was inapropriate.

[Chadd 916]

I completely agree with you, DekeHead. My post was half conjecture and half joke, and quite inappropriate. As a European transplant to North America myself, I know there are many good reasons to return to your home country. But then again, being able to play in the world's best hockey league may be a good enough reason to stay. It just seemed odd hearing one report after another of Russian players staying in Russia, but again, my post was inapropriate.

Datsyuk's Russian contract was for $6M a year from what I understand. That's tax free and playing at home. A much better deal than he could get over here.

[#1STUD 0]

This is kinda off topic here but, I would recommend that you guys read "From Behind the Red Line: An American Hockey player in Russia." It talks about Russia in the late 80's. Its a real eye opener to how there whole culture was.

[DekeHead 0]

I absolutely agree with #1STUD about the book! It's a great read and really illustrates the cultural and philosophical differences between the USA-Canada and Soviet-Russia styles of hockey. I think that it may be out-of-print, though. I found mine through eBay.

[DarkStar50 679]

I can understand playing in "Mother Russia" if you are a native but after reading some horror stories about the rinks in the Russian pro leagues...... Sports Illustrated ran an article last December about the rink Kasparitus played in: the bathroom didn't have a toilet seat!! I know we have some pretty shaky barns back here but this is a home rink of a pro team!! I guess with $6M Dats will bring his own seat to the rink when he needs to take a dump!

Since the fall of communism, all the Russian rinks have gone down hill. The government no longer puts up the $ to support the rinks. The ice surfaces are horrible and everything else in the rink is a disaster. We have a lot of elite Olympic Russian figure skating coaches in my rinks who won't go back to Russia to coach if you doubled the money they make here. If these NHL'ers want to skate back home: C ya!!

[JGraz15 53]

Here is a picture of Kovalchuk in Russia this season

Also, is it prnounced Ko-vel-chuke or Ko-val-chuck?

http://www.khimik.ru/sezon.html?GameID=27