Tag: Ilya Kovalchuk News and Interviews

Jul192010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Ilya Kovalchuk re-signs with the Devils

Ilya Kovalchuk re-signs with the Devils (Photo © nypost.com) Russian superstar Ilya Kovalchuk will be back with the New Jersey Devils as he will re-sign with the team. The contract's details will be released during a conference the team will host on Tuesday afternoon. Kovalchuk is a recent addition by the Devils as they added him to their lineup during the 2010 NHL trade deadline. But the move didn't boost the Devils like expected as they were defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers during the playoffs' first round. During this year's free agency Ilya Kovalchuk was reported to have refused offers from the Los Angeles Kings, the Atlanta Thrashers and SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.

Jun72010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

SKA offers Kovalchuk $14M per year

Russian Players In NHL

SKA offers Kovalchuk $14M per year (Photo © nj.com) SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL has offered Ilya Kovalchuk a $42M, 3-year contract (which makes its $14M per year), as reported by Russian newspaper Sport-Express. In case Kovalchuk accepts the offer, he will also get a huge signing bonus. SKA has long been trying to get Kovalchuk (we wrote about this in November, December and February).

May182010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

2010 WC: Russia trumps Finland 5-0

Russian National Hockey Team News

2010 WC: Russia trumps Finland 5-0 (Photo © REUTERS/Grigory Dukor) Team Russia defeated team Finland 5-0 in the last Qualification Group game of the 2010 World Championship. Alexander Ovechkin ended his goal streak. Team Finland started well the first period, putting a lot of pressure over Varlamov. But despite a long 5-on-3 chance with Alexei Emelin and Dmitry Kulikov in the penalty box, the Finns didn't manage to score. With the teams back on even strength Kulikov had a good chance getting out of the sin bin, but he was hooked down by a defenceman, thus drawing a penalty for Bykov's team. On the consequent man advantage team Russia cycled well the puck, but couldn't get it into Vehanen's net. At the sixteenth minute team Russia scored the first goal of the game: the puck moved fast from...

May62010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

2010 WC: Russian preliminary roster is out

Russian National Hockey Team News

2010 WC: Russian preliminary roster is out (Photo © Sport-Express) Team Russia released the preliminary roster for the upcoming 2010 World Championship, that will be played in Germany from May 7th to 23rd.. Bykov and Zakharkin made some changes from the LG Hockey Games line-up. The roster is made up of 11 NHL players and 12 KHL players. The team's captain isn't decided yet. Most likely the starting goaltender duties will be shared between Eremenko and Varlamov, with Koshechkin acting as third goalie. Goalkeepers: Alexander Eremenko (Salavat Yulaev Ufa) Vasily Koshechkin (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) Semyon Varlamov (Washington Capitals) Defencemen: Konstantin Korneev (CSKA Moscow) Vitaly Atyushov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) Dmitriy Kalinin (Salavat Yulaev Ufa) Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan) Alexei ...

May42010 by Gary Laws2 Comments

World Championship – Ilya Kovalchuk: “We need to win now like never before”

Russian National Hockey Team News

Ilya Kovalchuk: "We need to win now like never before" (Photo © Bruce Bennet/Getty Images) Ilya Kovalchuk gave an interview to Russian newspaper Sovetskiy Sport where he talked about going to the World Championship without a contract in the NHL, his favorites to win the Stanley Cup, what Russian players agreed to do after failing at the Olympics. RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation. Many thought that you won't play for the national team. It is very risky as you don't have a contract for the next season in the NHL. Besides your wife gave a birth to your son in March. Was this decision hard to take? Kovalchuk: "After failing in Vancouver all guys agreed to go to the World Championship if there is a chance. We must win and make this season end well. My wife Nicole understood me at...

Apr282010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Ilya Kovalchuk, Denis Grebeshkov and Alexander Frolov added to Team Russia

Russian National Hockey Team News

Ilya Kovalchuk, Denis Grebeshkov and Alexander Frolov added to Team Russia (Photo © RIA Novosti) As reported by the official site of the Russian Hockey Federation, forwards Ilya Kovalchuk (New Jersey Devils) and Alexander Frolov (Los Angeles Kings), as well as blue liner Denis Grebeshkov (Nashville Predators) have been added to team Russia's roster for the upcoming 2010 IIHF World Championship in Germany as their NHL teams were excluded from the Stanley Cup run. This is surely a boost for team Russia, who will miss Anton Volchenkov and Igor Grigorenko due to injuries. Bykov and Zakharkin will be also without Alexei Morozov, Danis Zaripov and Sergei Zinoviev, all sidelined with injuries. Salavat Yulaev's Alexander Radulov got a mild injury too and will miss the upcoming LG Hockey games in ...

Mar32010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

2010 Olympics: Team Russia aftermath

Russian National Hockey Team News

2010 Olympics: Team Russia aftermath (Photo © sovsport.ru) The 2010 Olympic Hockey Tournament has probably been the biggest disappointing ever for Team Russia. The early quarterfinal elimination against Team Canada was the worst result ever. As soon as the tournament was over for Russia, we published the Top 5 reasons for this fail, now RussianHockeyFans.com judged all the players on the roster. Goalkeepers Ilya Bryzgalov: B+ He played a good game against Slovakia, but he got a L and thus he got benched in the following matches. He should have get more chances. Evgeny Nabokov: D In the first match against Latvia he didn't look too good, but it was an easy game. Against the Czechs he did his job, but in the quarterfinals he had just a terrible night. He should have been benched earlier. He...

Feb222010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Ovechkin, Gonchar, Kovalchuk, Volchenkov talk about Czech Republic, hit on Jagr

Russian National Hockey Team News

Ovechkin, Gonchar, Kovalchuk, Volchenkov talk about Czech Republic, hit on Jagr (Photo © Alex Livesey/Getty Images) After the 4-2 victory against Czech Republic many players agreed that the Ovechkin hit on Jagr turned the momentum in Russia's favor. Team Russia players felt that this was the key event of the game and it helped their team getting the edge over Czech Republic. RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation of short quotes taken right after the game from Sergei Gonchar, Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeny Nabokov, Alexander Ovechkin and Anton Volchenkov. "Ovechkin has a very good physical play, that's why he always tries to pressure the opponents", Sergei Gonchar told Sport-Express. "Successful actions are always reflected to the team's morale. This was the case of today's game. I think ...

Feb202010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Olympics: Ilya Kovalchuk: “At the Olympics you should shove your ‘I’ up a certain place”

Russian National Hockey Team News

Ilya Kovalchuk: "At the Olympics you should shove your 'I' up a certain place" (Photo © Bruce Bennet/Getty Images) Ilya Kovalchuk talked about the bad powerplay of team Russia in the 2010 Olympic Hockey Tournament, the changes that the team will undergo for the next game against Czech Republic and his ice time in an interview to the Russian newspaper Sovietskiy Sport. RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation. - The coaches created "the great line", made up of Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Semin, Malkin, Gonchar. But it didn't work out well. Why this line failed in playing simple hockey? Kovalchuk: "It's not enough to create 'the great line', you have to work on the ice. We try hard to improve the powerplay during the practices. We get so many penalties in our favor, they must be used better....

Feb202010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Team Russia latest news: Fedorov misses practice, Kovalchuk out of Malkin’s line, Nabokov to start against Czechs

Russian National Hockey Team News

Team Russia latest news: Fedorov misses practice, Kovalchuk out of Malkin's line, Nabokov to start against Czechs (Photo © Shaun Best, Reuters) Here is the latest news from the Russian team at the Olympic Games 2010 in Vancouver. Evgeny Nabokov will start in the game against the Czech Republic Igor Zakharkin, Russian coach to Pavel Lysenkov of SovSport: "We think that with Nabokov in the net our players feel more confident." Sergei Fedorov missed a practice Zakharkin: "Fedorov has an individual program. But he's alright, there is no injury." New lines in the game against the Czech Republic Zakharkin: "Maybe we are going to swap the center forwards. We think that Kovalchuk's efficiency should be higher. We remember what chemistry Malkin and Kovalchuk had at the World Championship 2008, but...