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7/09/2010

License to Ilya?

By Sara Tylkowski


REPORT: Kovalchuk to sign with Kings,
REPORT: Kovalchuk may stay in Jersey,
REPORT: Flyers want in on Kovalchuk,
REPORT: Ilya Kovalchuk, stop being such a prima donna and make up your damn mind.

Well, that last one isn’t your typical headline per se but...we’ll go with it. I mean seriously, am I the only one who is sick of the “where is Kovy going” hysteria? No NHL franchise in their right mind would willingly dish out the amount of cash he is expecting, right? Probably, but then again...I’m not an expert.

Don’t get me wrong, I had no issue with Kovalchuk prior to all of this. Actually, I have a thing for Russian born players (not THAT kind of thing...mind out of the gutter..thanks) It’s something about their intensity and the way they manipulate the puck so effortlessly to go in their favor. And when I say in their favor, I mean in a way that nine times out of 10 it just...Wows you. Kovalchuk, in my opinion, falls in the one out of 10 categories. He hasn’t done anything to “wow” me to the point where I believe he is worth all the hype.

Ten Million per season? Sid and Ovi don’t even make $10 million a season, and they have several 100-point seasons under their belts, not to mention Stanley Cup rings, Olympic gold medals (oh wait, Ovi doesn’t have any of that...my bad) and are up for numerous awards at the end of each season. Even further, both Sid and Ovi captain their teams. I can’t believe I am actually using Ovechkin to prove a point...Shame on me.

So why drag it out? Unless he’s trying to overshadow the Fisher/Underwood wedding, which I cannot believe actually made the headlines on the NHL Web site (www.nhl.com), or maybe he is dead set on that $10 million and figures somebody will budge at some point. Sorry Kovy, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Have fun in the KHL, I hear they overpay players to play the equivalent of about three-fourths the length of an NHL season. Best of luck!

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