Kovalchuk has fond memories of being a Thrasher

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This article was published 27/02/2020 (2020 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT may be ancient history but Ilya Kovalchuk remembers the early days of his pro career in Atlanta with reverence.

“It’s not a fresh memory but it’s a good memory,” said Kovalchuk as his newest team, the Washington Capitals, prepared to face the Jets at Bell MTS Place Thursday.

“It’s a great city. (As a) market it was pretty soft but it was a good group of guys always there who wanted to make the playoffs. I think it was good for NHL that the team moved here. I think the fans and obviously hockey in Canada is a little different. When you come here, it’s always lot of energy and it’s fun to play.”

Kovalchuk, who broke into the NHL as an 18-year-old after being chosen No. 1 overall by Atlanta in the 2001 draft, played seven-plus seasons in Georgia before being traded to the New Jersey Devils.

The 36-year-old Russian holds the Thrashers/Jets club records for goals (328), shots (2,178) and hat tricks (11). The franchise was revived by a move to Winnipeg for the start of the 2011-12 season and now it’s Kovalchuk who’s experiencing a career renewal.

After languishing in Los Angeles as a frequent heathy scratch and being put on unconditional waivers in mid-December by the Kings, Kovalchuk emerged from career irrelevance to sign with Montreal, where he scored six goals and 13 points in 22 games with the Canadiens.

At the trade deadline, he was shipped to the Caps for a third-round draft choice. During Tuesday’s debut in Washington, he went scoreless while getting 14:39 of ice time in a 4-3 shootout win over the Jets.

“I’m still learning the system and stuff,” said Kovalchuk. “Obviously, it’s going to be way easier than the first time because I just spend 12 hours before the game. There was so many meetings and everything. This time I’m all settled, I see a lot of familiar faces in the room…

“I’ve very excited. They know what they’re doing and they have a great core of guys here who already won, so it’s nice. I just need to be myself, play my game hard as I can and help in any way I can.”

Those familiar faces include countrymen Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitri Orlov and Ilya Samsonov. Kovalchuk is particularly thrilled to be joining Ovechkin, a legend and still a star at 34.

“We play together national teams obviously a lot but never the same club,” said Kovalchuk. “It’s good. He’s the best goal scorer ever, so it’s always fun to see him every day and his routine, what he’s done and the way he prepares himself. We’re good friends, so it’s nice.”

The Caps hope Kovalchuk can help them take a run at another league title, adding scoring while chipping in on the club’s second power-play unit to start.

“He’s been in a Stanley Cup final (in 2011-12) as well and he knows what it takes to win,” said Ovechkin. “The last couple of years he was a little bit struggling but it’s all right now. I think he’s focusing on us and his game.”

 

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14