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Alexei Kovalev News & Rumors

Report: Kovalev to join KHL's Atlant Mytishchi
July 30
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
"According to Russian sports website Sports Express, former Penguins forward Alex Kovalev will join Atlant Mytishchi of the Kontinental Hockey League . The Penguins acquired Kovalev, 38, at the trade deadline in a deal which sent a conditional draft pick to the Senators. In 20 regular season games with the Penguins, Kovalev scored five points (two goals, three assists). In seven postseason games, he scored two points (one goal, one assist). EN Says: This pretty much brings an end to Kovalev's NHL career. There was barely any tread left on his tires and the Penguins were pretty much the last NHL team willing to give him a shot given his history with the franchise. He just couldn't get it"
Report: Kovalev heading to KHL
July 30
NHL.com
 
"If reports are true, Alex Kovalev's NHL career could be over. The website Sports Express is reporting Kovalev has agreed to a two-year contract with Atlant Mytishchi of the Kontinental Hockey League. The 38-year-old Kovalev will be 40 when that contract expires. Kovalev has played for the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators during his 17-year career. He was most recently with the Penguins for a second stint after he was dealt by the Senators at the trade deadline. He had 16 goals and 34 points in 54 games with the Senators and Penguins this past season. In 1,302 career games, Kovalev has 428 goals and 1,024 points. He won the Stanley Cup as a"
Penguins parting ways with Alex Kovalev, Mike Comrie
May 29
SportingNews.com
 
"The Penguins' offseason plan regarding their own free agents is starting to come into focus. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, GM Ray Shero has decided not to bring back veteran forwards Mike Comrie and Alex Kovalev. "I'm not sure what Mike's going to do," Shero told the paper. "He might be leaning towards retirement." Shero has been in discussions with Mike Rupp and Pascal Dupuis about potential contract extensions and told the Post-Gazette that he hasn't ruled out signing his other potential free agent forwards in Max Talbot, Craig Adams, Arron Asham, Eric Godard, Chris Conner and Nick Johnson. The Post-Gazette also reported that Sidney Crosby is expected to be re-evaluated by a"
Pens' GM Shero says Comrie, Kovalev won't be re-signed
May 28
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 (scroll down)
"In the meantime, Shero said two of the club's impending free-agent forwards -- Mike Comrie and Alex Kovalev -- won't be re-signed. "I'm not sure what Mike's going to do," Shero said. "He might be leaning toward retirement." Comrie, 30, was signed as a free agent last summer. He had a strong preseason but sustained a right hip injury in the second game of the season that eventually required surgery in December. He returned to play sparingly late in the season, finishing with one goal, six points in 21 games. He did not crack the lineup in the playoffs."
Where was Kovy?
April 28
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
 columnist Joe Starkey
"It's not often you see a player go from top power play to healthy scratch in the same game. It happened to one Alexei Kovalev on Wednesday night in the biggest game of the season - Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning - and it has to leave you questioning coach Dan Bylsma in the wake of a bitter 1-0 loss. Particularly galling was the sight of the Penguins flailing away with a 6-on-4 advantage in the final minute (goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had been pulled) as Kovalev watched from the bench. Aren`t those precisely the kinds of situations he was brought here for? "It`s pretty hard to say I wasn`t happy (about Kovalev`s absence)," said Tampa Bay goalie Dwayne Roloson, who made 36 saves."
Penguins' Kovalev earns his keep
April 15
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 columnist Ron Cook
"When the Penguins staff gathered to put together a game plan for the team's first-round playoff series against the Ottawa Senators last spring, there was a lot of excitement in the room. " 'No Kovy. That's good for us,' " general manager Ray Shero remembered thinking. Really good, as it turned out. The Penguins beat the Senators in six games. The Senators weren't nearly as strong without winger Alex Kovalev, who was out with a knee injury. Moral of the story? If your team is in the playoffs, you don't want to see Kovalev on the other side. Ever. That silence you hear this morning is coming from the Tampa Bay Lightning's room. No one in there could possibly be willing to argue the point."
Kovalev is climbing list of most durable players
April 5
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
"Alex Kovalev has gotten a lot of attention over the years for being gifted and creative, which is pretty easy to understand. What has gone largely unnoticed, though, is that he has been pretty durable, too. Kovalev will play in his 1,300th NHL game when the Penguins face New Jersey tonight at Consol Energy Center, making him just the 50th player in league history to reach that level. "It definitely makes me feel old," Kovalev said. "But at the same time, it makes me feel young, because it says that even after all those games and all those injuries, I'm still playing in the league." He stands fifth in career games-played among active players, trailing only Boston's Mark Recchi (1,650), Mike"
Kovie doesn't do much, but he's a fly guy
March 16
Ottawa Sun
 
"Alex Kovalev's return to Scotiabank Place was much like his career as a Senator. That is, mostly uneventful. He did show how badly he wanted to score against his former teammates when his head snapped in disgust after a deflection of a Kris Letang point shot went over the net and the glass. And Chris Neil did release some of the frustration Ottawa fans had in L'Artiste when he hammered Kovalev into the boards behind the Pittsburgh net (what was he doing there, you ask? No idea.) a few moments later. But mostly, Kovalev's first game back in Ottawa since he was deadline-dealt to the Penguins was a fly-by. He was booed, but not intensely, and not all night. (He played 18:07, with three shots"
Pens forward Kovalev returns to Ottawa to face old club
March 15
Ottawa Citizen
 
"To those who watched it unfold from the outside, it always looked as if Ottawa Senators coach Cory Clouston and Alex Kovalev were at odds. It had all the elements of a ready-made conflict: a coach who prizes form and structure versus L'Artiste, the practical side of hockey versus its creative impulse. Something had to give. And it finally did when Kovalev was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are in Ottawa on Tuesday night to play the Senators. But Clouston says he never had a problem with Kovalev. He was a "good guy," says the coach, wasn't a distraction and wasn't a "cancer in the dressing room." It's just that, slowed by age and surgery last spring on his left knee, Kovalev wasn't"
RW Kovalev speechless about return to Ottawa
March 15
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
"Alex Kovalev's pending return to Ottawa has a lot of people in the hockey world talking. Kovalev is not one of them. The 38-year-old winger did not make himself available to the media after the morning skate Monday and likely will not talk to reporters before the game today. The game tonight in Ottawa will be Kovalev's first trip to Scotiabank Place since the Senators traded him to the Penguins for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in February. "He's going to want to prove something, that's for sure," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. Kovalev signed a two-year, $5 million deal with Ottawa in 2009, a move that did not work out well for either party. Kovalev tallied 76 points in 131 games"
Alex Kovalev happy to be back in a Penguins uniform
March 2
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
 
"Two games into his second stint with the Penguins, Alex Kovalev is a happy man. Sitting in the locker room at Southpointe for the first time in eight years, Kovalev joked about how everything in Western Pennsylvania seems the same. And for him, this is a good thing. The best years of Kovalev's career were with the Penguins, and he is delighted to be back. "I drove around the city and went to some old places to eat," Kovalev said of his Monday afternoon routine. "It doesn't feel like it has been almost 10 years. It's amazing that a lot of things still look the same, and I am just happy to be here again." Kovalev found himself separated from C Jordan Staal in Tuesday's practice. He skated on"
Kovalev lifts Penguins in shootout
February 27
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
 
"The number on the back of the jersey is different. However, on Saturday night the Penguins saw some of that same old special stuff from the new/old guy with their crest once again on his chest. Alex Kovalev's 150th goal as a Penguin ? and first in eight years ? started their unexpected scoring binge, and his Round 2 shootout goal lifted his club past the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-5, at Air Canada Centre. "He gave a little speech after we won," Penguins forward Max Talbot said of Kovalev, who was acquired Thursday from the Ottawa Senators to help provide some offensive punch to an injury-depleted squad that had scored only 26 goals in February before this win. "He said he was happy to be here,"
Kovalev says he can still be 'that guy' for the Penguins
February 26
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
 
"Alex Kovalev has read all of the stories written about him lately. He doesn't buy the popular contention that, at 38 and coming off a less than eye-popping couple of seasons with the Ottawa Senators, he can't immediately be a go-to scorer for the Penguins. "I'm still that guy," he said Friday morning from Raleigh, N.C. Kovalev, acquired Thursday for a conditional seventh-round draft pick, said his days as an impact scorer are not in the past. "Physically, I'm still strong, and I'm not much slower," he said. "I'm still the same player, but maybe because it was a not good situation (in Ottawa) I couldn't show that. I have a chance to show that now." Kovalev flew his private jet to Raleigh on"
Kovalev wants second Stanley Cup title
February 26
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
"Alex Kovalev is a rare talent -- at least, he was earlier in his career -- and a unique individual. How many guys, after all, fly to their first game with a new team in their own plane, the way Kovalev did after the Penguins acquired him Thursday from Ottawa? But Kovalev has the same motivation as just about every other player in the NHL -- he wants to win a Stanley Cup -- even though his incentive is slightly different. He won a Stanley Cup in 1994, his rookie season with the New York Rangers, but the experience wasn't quite complete, for reasons far beyond his control. "When I won the Stanley Cup, I never had a chance to take it home because of the lockout, so I never really saw the Cup,"
AK-27 off target too often
February 25
Beaver County Times
 columnist Chris Bradford
"When the artist formerly known as "Alexei" Kovalev left Pittsburgh in 2003, the Penguins were in the grips of what then-GM Craig Patrick infamously dubbed "survival mode." Eight years later, the Penguins finally have their new $321 million house in order ... unless you count the fickle lighting at Consol Energy Center. On the ice, however, a rash of injuries - to superstars, fourth liners and now defensemen alike - have the Penguins in a different sort of survival mode. No, the Penguins are in no danger of missing out on the playoffs completely. But unless someone starts scoring goals or creating offense soon, the Penguins should expect to be a first-round fatality when the Stanley Cup"
Kovalev traded to Pens
February 25
Ottawa Sun
 
"The moves are fast and furious for the Senators. The club picked up Marek Svatos from the Nasvhille Predators on waivers Thursday and winger Alexei Kovalev is packing his bags for the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a seventh round pick. After picking up Svatos, the Senators then got the 38-year-old Kovalev to waive his "no move" clause to be dealt to the Penguins. The club is able to get his $5-million salary off the books. "It's too bad it's ending this way but what happens, happens. That's life," said Kovalev, who added he's looking forward to going back to Pittsburgh. "It's a business and you can't choose things in life. Whatever happens, happens. "You have to take whatever path is"
Kovalev 'feels bad' over play for Sens... but also 'excited' at shot in playoffs with Pens
February 25
Ottawa Sun
 
"Alex Kovalev couldn't have wished for a better gift on his 38th birthday: A fresh start and a shot at a Stanley Cup. The Senators winger was sent back to one of his old haunts when GM Bryan Murray dealt Kovalev to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a conditional six-or seventh-round pick in the draft. Kovalev gladly waived his no-trade clause on Thursday to get a chance in the playoffs and bring an end to his frosty relationship with coach Cory Clouston "It's definitely pretty exciting because I've been there before," said Kovalev, who played for the Penguins from 1998-2003. "It's too bad that I didn't show myself as a (better) player here in Ottawa, but I still had a good time in this"
Pens acquire Kovalev from Senators
February 25
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
 
"The Penguins acquired right wing Alex Kovalev today from the Ottawa Senators for a conditional seventh-round draft pick. Kovalev, 38, spent parts of five seasons and was a two-time All-Star with the Penguins from 1998-2003, when the 6-foot-2, 222-pounder scored 149 goals and 347 points and had 11 goals and 28 points in 39 playoff games. His best season came in 2000-01, when he had 44 goals and 95 points. The pick becomes a sixth-round selection if the Penguins win the first round of the playoffs and he plays at least 50 percent of the games in that round. Kovalev had 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) in 54 games with Ottawa this season, including six goals and nine points in his past 10"
Penguins trade to bring back Kovalev
February 25
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
"In the 15 games since Penguins centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have logged a complete game, the club has averaged a little more than two goals an outing and has been shut out three times. Other forwards also are out, and, with such an injury-depleted offense, general manager Ray Shero went looking for a solution before the Monday NHL trade deadline. He found one Thursday in a deal with Ottawa for right winger Alexei Kovalev, but the move also raises questions. Such as, can the skilled Kovalev, who turned 38 Thursday, recapture some of the dazzle he had in an earlier run with the Penguins, including 44 goals in 2000-01? Can he overcome some of the inconsistency that has dogged him,"
Alex Kovalev traded to Pittsburgh
February 24
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray has struck again, trading Alex Kovalev to the Pittsburgh Penguins and claiming former Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche right winger Marek Svatos off waivers. The Kovalev trade is not shocking, as it had been speculated for weeks, if not months, that the Penguins had an interest in the enigmatic Russian winger. Kovalev has scored 14 goals and 13 seasons in 53 games this season, but the move is all about the Senators shedding what remains on his $5 million salary for the remainder of the season. Kovalev, originally signed to a two-year, $10 million contract by the Senators in July, 2009, never came close to living up to the lofty"
Penguins acquire Kovalev from Senators for 7th round pick
February 24
TSN.ca
 
"The exodus in the nation's capital continues as the Ottawa Senators have shipped veteran forward Alex Kovalev to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a conditional seventh-round pick. If Pittsburgh wins the first round of the playoffs and Kovalev plays in at least fifty percent of the games, the pick becomes a sixth-round selection. It has been a disappointing tenure for Kovalev in Ottawa after signing a two-year, $10 million deal with the team as a free agent in 2009; however the enigmatic Russian sniper has turned up his game as of late. He has 14 goals and 13 assists in 54 games this season."
Kovalev ignoring trade rumours
February 16
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Ottawa Senators right winger Alex Kovalev says he's not holding his breath waiting for a trade, but he knows it's a distinct possibility before the Feb. 28 trade deadline. "I've been around for a long time, I've been traded a few times, so it's not new for me," Kovalev said of the constant trade speculation surrounding himself and several teammates. "The job is still the same, to be a hockey player and help whatever team (you're) playing for." Kovalev has been the hottest of all Senators forwards since the All-Star break, with five goals and three assists in six games. He says part of the reason for the sudden success is that he finally feels comfortable that his knee has fully recovered"
Regin, Kovalev clicking for Senators
February 15
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Peter Regin says he has never been superstitious, but the Ottawa Senators forward is starting to wonder if there's something special about that NHL all-star game baseball cap hanging from his locker-room stall. "It might be bringing me some luck, maybe," Regin said of the souvenir that teammate Erik Karlsson brought back from the Jan. 30 game in Raleigh, North Carolina. Since the break, Regin has scored two goals and added three assists in six games. That wouldn't normally be something to write home to Denmark about, but considering that Regin scored only once in his previous 46 games, it does represent a welcome outburst. His tap-in goal, off a great pass from Alex Kovalev — "I don't know"
Bring back Kovalev?
February 13
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
"Ten days ago, all indications were that general manager Ray Shero would be facing a difficult decision as the NHL trade deadline, set for 3 p.m. Feb. 28, began to close in: Should he go out for a long lunch, or just take a nap? The Penguins, you see, barely had enough salary-cap space to add a guy capable of dressing himself, let alone someone who could fill a meaningful role during the stretch drive and playoffs. It's not that the Penguins didn't have any significant needs -- they've had an opening for a goal-scoring winger or two for years -- but that didn't matter when there was no cap space to accommodate the kind of contract such a player was sure to have. However, everything changed"
Kovalev returns to face old teammates
January 22
Ottawa Citizen
 
"He struggled when he was in the lineup, but after missing six games with a knee injury, Alex Kovalev was thrilled to be putting a Senators jersey on again. What else can you do this time of the season, you want to play hockey, Kovalev said, prior to Ottawa's home game against Kovalev's former team, the Montreal Canadiens. You don't want to be watching on TV. The fun is on the ice. Though he tried to play through it, on Jan. 7 against the Blackhawks, Kovalev aggravated the knee that was surgically repaired in the offseason. The first month was tough, but the next two months I had no complaints, Kovalev said. Everything was fine until that Chicago game, I twisted it again. They put a stick"
Kovalev ready? Locke sent down
January 18
Ottawa Sun
 
"Corey Locke's chance didn't last long. After landing on the fourth line Sunday with Jarkko Ruutu and Peter Regin, the former Ottawa 67's scoring star was sent back to the club's AHL affiliate in Binghamton Monday. Locke, the AHL's scoring leader with 55 points, had just one assist during his stay here. He played 7:27 in a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals Sunday."
Kovalev's knee problem will keep him out of lineup for at least a week
January 11
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Bring on the future. If the Ottawa Senators hadn't already conceded their season will end without a playoff berth, Monday offered yet another sign that the organization is now looking ahead more than at the present. Alex Kovalev's knee problem, which will keep the $5 million US winger out of the lineup for at least a week, presents an opening for a newcomer. At least that's the way coach Cory Clouston spun Monday's news. Corey Locke, Erik Condra, Bobby Butler and Jim O'Brien are all possibilities to be recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League in time for Tuesday's game against the Boston Bruins. Hard-working role players such as Jesse Winchester, Zack Smith and Ryan Shannon"
Kovalev questionable fit for depleted Blues
December 12
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"Hey Blues fans, would you want to see Alexei Kovalev wearing the Note? The Ottawa Sun suggests your team is the only viable suitor for the enigmatic 37-year-old Senators forward. Kovalev still has tremendous offensive skill, but he doesn't seem interested in playing for Ottawa coach Cory Clouston. The Sun went on to note that the Blues have yet to finalize a deal to pump fresh investment dollars into the franchise. Until that happens, the team isn't interested in adding a high-salaried player. And then there is this: Blues GM Doug Armstrong is a deft manager. He is not going to make a move just to make a move. His injury-riddled team still features good chemistry, so he will take a long,"
Battered Blues eye Kovalev
December 12
Ottawa Sun
 
"Alex Kovalev might not be singing the blues about Senators coach Cory Clouston the rest of the season. While it's a longshot because of the high risk for any team looking at Kovalev, league sources say there is one team — the banged-up St. Louis Blues — interested in acquiring the disgruntled Senators winger. But the Blues don't have the cash to make a move right now. Though he has denied making a trade request to Senators GM Bryan Murray, judging by the 37-year-old winger's comments Friday about Clouston, it would appear Kovalev wouldn't mind getting dealt. "The Blues need forward help ... badly," said a league executive Saturday. How bad? The battered and beaten Blues are without injured"
Kovalev stuck in the past
December 12
Ottawa Sun
 
"Bashing Alex Kovalev has supplanted hockey as Ottawa's favourite sport over the past week, and it's time for it to stop. Nobody put a gun to Senators owner Eugene Melnyk's head to sign off on the $10-million deal to bring Kovalev to town, and his performance over the past season and a half should not have surprised anyone. The 37-year-old Russian is highly skilled, highly entertaining and, yes, very frustrating to watch for fans and coaches alike. This has been the book on Kovalev his entire career, so I don't know why his critics are so surprised now. People are a product of their environment, and hockey players are no different. When No. 27 was at his best in the NHL, star players were"
Kovalev: The talented, paranoid artiste
December 12
Ottawa Sun
 
""The team doesn't need him the way he is playing now." Alex Kovalev's general manager No, not Bryan Murray. Bob Gainey. The then-GM of the Montreal Canadiens spoke those words to the media in February 2009. He was referring to a man with more letters in his name than the alphabet — Alexei Vyacheslavovich Kovalev — who no one would deny then, or now, comes with skills wrapped in dreams that many a player aspires to but seldom realizes. Bryan Murray and Cory Clouston are experiencing with Kovalev what Gainey and his head coach Guy Carbonneau did, the difference being that Gainey's frustration over the Russian's severe bouts of lethargy hit such an epic level that he enacted what is arguably"
Kovalev better off as an 'enigma'
December 11
Ottawa Sun
 columnist Don Brennan
"When he finally did have the gumption to emerge from two days of hiding in the restricted areas of the dressing room, Alex Kovalev had a lot to say. In retrospect, he would have done himself a favour by staying in the showers. Kovelev was better off as an "enigma" than the fool who spoke recklessly in front of his dressing room stall Friday morning. In a fur-lined hooded jacket, he faced the media and pointed fingers of blame at all those who are trying to understand why he can be decent one game and so awful the next five. Near as we can figure, those fingers were aimed not only at coaches, reporters, fans and teammates in Ottawa, but everyone who has watched his NHL career and wonders"
Kovalev, Clouston play blame game
December 11
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Ottawa Senators coach Cory Clouston is feeling the full effects of our early blast of winter. His voice is hoarse and his eyes a touch red as he deals with the flu bug that has passed through the dressing room in recent weeks. He has also struggled to find remedies for what is going on all around him. Friday morning, he felt the blistering chill of Alex Kovalev's stinging — if somewhat rambling — comments about being treated as a scapegoat by the coach after being moved to the fourth line in Thursday's game against the New York Rangers. Kovalev said he hopes "people would stop picking my brain and just let me play the way I can, and not the other way around. It's the only Christmas wish I"
Kovalev sour over demotion
December 10
Ottawa Sun
 
"An angry Alex Kovalev has voiced his displeasure with management about his role as a fourth-liner. Senators GM Bryan Murray confirmed to QMI Agency before Thursday's visit by the Rangers to Scotiabank Place that he met with Kovalev after Wednesday's practice to discuss the winger's diminishing role. Unable to generate any offence on a line with Mike Fisher and Milan Michalek, Kovalev started vs. the Rangers playing with Jesse Winchester and Peter Regin, who returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for two games."
'We need him to play well,' Clouston says of Kovalev
December 9
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Could Alex Kovalev be headed for a seat in the press box? Not immediately, Ottawa Senators coach Cory Clouston said Wednesday, but that's also not a position carved in stone. It could change. "We're going to take it game-by-game," Clouston said. "Ask me that in another night, or another two nights. We need him to play well. We need him to play proper. We need him to play hard. No different from anybody else. "We need everybody else to play proper, play hard, and, if we get that from our so-called top guys, it'll filter down through the rest of the team." Kovalev is hardly the worst offender on this slumping team. He's tied for third in points with seven goals and seven assists, and over"
Kovalev dumped down to fourth line
December 9
Ottawa Sun
 
"Alex Kovalev wasn't available to speak with the media Wednesday after practice at Scotiabank Place. If he doesn't produce soon, he'll be sitting with the scribes. Kovalev pulled a disappearing act — kind of like he has on the ice for most of this season — when it came to answering questions following the Senators' 40-minute practice. But Kovalev was quite noticeable wearing a green sweater skating on the fourth line with a combination of Jesse Winchester, Ryan Shannon and Peter Regin as the team's search for offence continues. While Kovalev will suit up against the Rangers Thursday to start a three-game homestand, coach Cory Clouston hasn't ruled out scratching the enigmatic winger from"
Sens' Alfie, Michalek, Kovalev all hurting
December 1
Ottawa Sun
 
"Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, along with wingers Milan Michalek and Alex Kovalev weren't on the ice for practice Tuesday and coach Cory Clouston revealed they're all nursing bumps and bruises. While he didn't say what was wrong with Alfredsson, Clouston confirmed Michalek and Kovalev both have "lower body" issues."
Kovalev nets 1,000th point
November 23
Ottawa Sun
 
"Alex Kovalev finally has his 1,000th point. The Senators winger reached the milestone on a goal in the first period against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night at Scotiabank Place. Kovalev fired a snap shot by goalie Jonathan Quick to open the scoring at exactly 10 minutes. The 37-year-old Kovalev, who became the second Senator to reach 1,000 this season after captain Daniel Alfredsson, had been stuck on 999 since Nov. 15, when he had an assist against the Philadelphia Flyers."
Comfortable surroundings for Kovalev
November 7
Ottawa Citizen
 
"It wasn't exactly a case of Home Sweet Home for Alex Kovalev, but it was close. The Ottawa Senators winger delivered once again Saturday at the Bell Centre, adding yet another chapter to his intriguing history with Montreal Canadiens' fans. Kovalev was without question the best skater on the ice in the Senators' 3-2 win over the Canadiens. He scored twice, including a pivotal power-play goal 6:42 into the third period. In addition to the goals, which give him 997 career points, Kovalev was a horse on the puck all night, pushing through checks along the boards from start to finish. Another indication of the kind of night Kovalev had was the fact Senators coach Cory Clouston threw him out on"
Kovalev comes through
October 27
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is as puzzled by Alex Kovalev as anyone who has watched him during the veteran winger's long National Hockey League career. During an interview Monday on The Fan 590 in Toronto, Melnyk admitted that "to me, (Kovalev) is an enigma … and I say that in a positive way. "One day, and I'm waiting for the day, this man is just going to, I hope, explode." Melnyk got his wish on Tuesday, just in the nick of time. Kovalev had his first two goals of the season and one assist to lead the Senators to a much-needed 5-2 victory against the Phoenix Coyotes. Erik Karlsson and Daniel Alfredsson, with power-play goals, and Chris Kelly also scored for Ottawa (3-5-1). The"
Kovalev's struggles worry Murray
October 21
Ottawa Sun
 
"The Senators and Alex Kovalev don't agree on why the winger is off to a slow start. While Senators GM Bryan Murray told reporters he doesn't believe the Russian veteran has fully recovered from knee surgery he had in April, Kovalev scoffed at the suggestion Wednesday. "Not very good," said Murray when asked how he felt about Kovalev's play. "It looks like his skating isn't where it was last year. I think there are lingering effects maybe from the surgery he had. "I'm hoping that's part of it and I'm hoping as time goes on, he gets going. I don't think Alex is where he will be. We need him to be a good hockey player and to be a creative player. He doesn't need to be a star. He has to be"
What's wrong with Kovalev?
October 17
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Ottawa Senators forward Alex Kovalev went into the fifth game of the National Hockey League regular season on Saturday night without a point. So the question continued to be asked: What's wrong with Alex Kovalev? The obvious answer is that he's 37 and coming off major knee surgery, neither circumstance very good for a player who was never fleet of foot. In the end, it's probably no more complicated than that. That leaves Senators coach Cory Clouston with a tricky problem. How does he coax some points out of Kovalev, for surely the skilled winger still must have at least 20 goals in him? While it seemed that Clouston soured on Kovalev and his linemates during Thursday's 3-2 victory against"
Senators must 'want' puck, Kovalev says
October 12
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Let the puck be their friend. That, according to the Professor Alex Kovalev, is all the Ottawa Senators have to do to escape their malaise. See the puck. Be the puck. Embrace the puck. To Kovalev, who on Monday morning presented his analysis of the Senators' losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs to start the National Hockey League regular season, there was no reason to panic. It's only a matter of the regaining confidence. They have to want the puck, not want to get rid of it. "The only problem I see in the last two games usually happens at the beginning of the season, where some of the players maybe didn't play as much in exhibition games," the 37-year-old forward said."
Kovalev shows fighting spirit
September 30
Ottawa Sun
 
"Unless all the cheers were for the guy dressed in white and blue — and at Scotiabank Place, that is entirely possible — then Alex Kovalev might have won himself a few more Ottawa fans Wednesday night. Simply by getting punched out in a fight. Kovalev dropped gloves and helmets with Maple Leafs defenceman Francois Beauchemin during the second period of the pre-season game at Scotiabank Place, and he wound up on the aching end of the lopsided tilt. It didn't look like he even landed a punch, while Beauchemin delivered at least 10. Nonetheless, the fans roared for Kovalev as he skated to the box. We think. Entering his 18th NHL season, Kovalev has been in just three other fights. Against"
Kovy's contract year
September 25
Montreal Gazette
 
"Last spring's surgery was old helmet to Alex Kovalev. But he was only 23 in 1996 when he underwent the first repair of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the right knee shredded when he was a New York Ranger just five years into an NHL career that turns 18 this autumn. Five months ago, Kovalev was a 37-year-old Ottawa Senator in the operating theatre of Pittsburgh surgeon Charles Burke, his left ACL scalpeled after being torn last April. "From experience, you know what to do in rehab. The first surgery didn't end my career, so..." Kovalev said with a laugh before last night's preseason game against the Canadiens. Burke probably knows this patient's knees better than his own. It was at"
Sens wanted Cammalleri, but settled for Kovalev
May 18
Ottawa Citizen
 
"Life would be dull if we didn't daydream occasionally about what might have been. The Senators faithful might wonder, for example, how good Michael Cammalleri would look in an Ottawa jersey. Would you rather have Cammalleri instead of Alex Kovalev under contract, Senator Fan? It could have happened. Senators general manager Bryan Murray confirms that he offered Cammalleri $5.5 million US a season on a four-year contract when Cammalleri became an unrestricted free agent on July 1 of last summer. "But they (Cammalleri and agent Ian Pulver) had decided on Montreal by then, I believe," Murray said in an e-mail. "They never asked me to move (improve the offer)." You probably know what"
Senators' Kovalev untradeable: NHL execs
May 16
Ottawa Sun
 
"Senators fans aren't likely to get their wish when it comes to Alex Kovalev this summer. While the winger took it on the chin in last Sunday's Ottawa Sun You Be The Boss poll in which 71% of respondents wanted the Russian dealt, three NHL executives doubt it's going to happen. After all, having a one-year, $5-million (all terms US) contract, being 37 years old and coming off surgery for a torn ACL and being generally inconsistent in 2009-10 ... there just aren't going to be too many suitors. "I don't think anybody is going to want him," a league executive said Saturday. "Sure, they could try to see if anybody wants to take him, but he's a high-risk, low-reward player. There's not a big"
Sens' Phillips will undergo foot surgery while Kovalev and Michalek will undergo knee surgeries
April 28
Ottawa Sun
 
"Put Chris Phillips on the list of Senators headed for surgery. The veteran defenceman will have a minor operation next week to remove small bunions from his feet that were causing discomfort in his skates. Recovery time is said to be 3-4 weeks. Winger Alex Kovalev was scheduled to have surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee Tuesday in Pittsburgh, while Milan Michalek is also waiting to have similar knee surgery. Both players face 6-8 weeks of rehab."
Kovalev vows to return next season
April 14
Ottawa Sun
 
"A defiant Alex Kovalev insists he'll bounce back from a serious knee injury and return to the Senators lineup in time for next season. The 37-year-old winger suffered a suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he was hit during a meaningless game by Tampa Bay's Todd Fedoruk April 8. Senators GM Bryan Murray said it would be a long and difficult "project" for Kovalev to make a comeback from surgery and an ensuing four months or more of rehab, citing the player's age. Ensuing media reports suggested the Russian's career could be in jeopardy. "I don't know how you guys come up with that," Kovalev said Tuesday, when asked if he thought the injury might lead to his"
Torn ACL ends Kovalev's season
April 11
Ottawa Citizen
 
"All season long, even through his extended scoring droughts and his general laissez-faire attitude toward the regular season, Alexei Kovalev provided glimpses of hope for Ottawa Senators fans that he may have been saving something special for the playoffs. Forget about that now. Kovalev's season — and possibly his career — is over, after he tore the ACL in his left knee during Thursday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kovalev was helped off the ice after what appeared to be a clean hit along the side boards by Tampa's Todd Fedoruk. Kovalev is expected to have surgery in two weeks, followed by four months of rehabilitation. At 37, with a lot of miles already on his body,"