The Kovalchuk Trade, And A Must-See Gear Link
Posted by jtbourne on February 5, 2010 · 14 Comments
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Man. You guys loves you some gear talk. The second part of this entry picks up where we left off, a bit. However, there’s something a little bit more relevant to discuss today:
The Kovalchuk Trade
The Devils? The Devils. Really? The Devils.
Get ready to hear "dynamic" way too often.
I guess I was hoping for somewhere a little bit…. sexier. I mean, no offense to you, Devils fans – you guys have every right to be stoked. Not only are you now legitimate Cup contenders, but the rest of us (sorta) benefit from Kovy playing in more “important”, widely broadcast games.
But when I think of the amount of exposure I get to NHL stars, Parise wasn’t too far behind Kovalchuk in the ”great players I never see play” department.
So whatever. From the hockey fan aspect, I’m a little bummed about the deal. But lets look at the deal beyond Justin’s self-interest, something we rarely do:
My first, and somewhat ridiculous thought, was “as an unrestricted free agent, you can sign anywhere you want, right? Could Kovalchuk feasibly sign back with Atlanta? Would that be looked at as the most evil thing ever, or is that legit?”
Only reason I thought that was because of the legitimate quality of the offers Kovalchuk reportedly received from Atlanta: $101 million over 12 years, or $70M over 7. Does he think he’s going to get much more than that somewhere else? Those deals would have made him higher paid than both Ovechkin and Crosby (in the early years of the deal). Who turns down offers like that from a team you claim to want to play for? No, I think I deserve MORE than half a million dollars a year over what that Ovechkin dud makes. Nobody, that’s who.
{In the event he can’t sign with Atlanta as a UFA this summer for some reason I’m unaware of, then my bad. That was just my initial reaction.}
So that was my brief conspiracy theory. Maybe Ilya and the Thrashers just agreed that they don’t have “it” this year, and were conspiring to stock up for next, when he’ll then re-sign with them.
{By the way, I really like the name “Ilya”. It’s just badass to say. I might name my dangly rec hockey alter ego “Ilya”.}
Back to life, back to reality….
I thought Atlanta made a pretty nice deal. Bergfors and Oduya are above average additions to any team, plus Cormier and the first-round pick are packed full of positive maybe (or maybe Cormier will get charged with more elbow-related assaults), so who knows how this trade looks in five years. It could look really good for ATL.
Forhead save!
As for New Jersey, good on ya for taking a swing at this year. I hate the half-commited thing the Flyers do every year – it’s what I keep bitching about with Washington.
Yes, we acknowledge we’re good enough to win the Cup. Yes, we acknowledge our goaltender isn’t good enough to win a Cup. No, we don’t intend to do anything about that.
So the Devils smell themselves as a three(ish) seed, see themselves winning round one, mayyyybe round two at best, but see that they’re going to have to beat Pittsburgh or Washington to have a shot at the Cup. And, as it stood, they couldn’t go blow for blow in a game that ends in a football score.
Now they can.
You can only lean on Parise and Zajac so much – believe me when I say, this was a huge puzzle piece for them.
By the way, if you’re in the West, you’re going YES. Another team to make getting out of the East that much more miserable.
The West feels that misery, like, every year. San Jose, Detroit, Chicago and in the past, Anaheim and even Vancouver have all taken turns rallying on each other for extended series. By the time the Western Conference champion shows up to the final, they’re a ragtag group of replacement players, while the winner in the East has generally had one,/one-and-a-half difficult series instead of at least two. (How about San Jose getting a just-healthy Anaheim as an eight seed last year? Or whoever gets Detroit this year? It’s just a deeper conference.)
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Nice work, you comment machines. Our stick-taping conversations grabbed us a link from Uniwatch - if you’re a sports gear fiend, this blog is amazing. The sub-heading describes it best “The Obsessive Study of Athletics Aesthetics”. The site is amazingly well written and thorough – definitely check it out.
Some hockey-tagged postings are here (including something you Wild fans will love – a behind the scences dressing room tour of their gear). College hockey posts are here.
I used team-colored grip tape pretty much everywhere I went, because it’s fun to make your stick pretty, and I actually liked how the product feels. Further links to pictures are provided on the site (like to certain players Olympic sticks), but for now, here’s a sampling, taken directly from Uniwatch’s trip to the Wild’s stick room:
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Holy crap, humans. It’s Super Bowl weekend. Should be a doozy, so tear it up! Zima’s for everyone! (They still make those?)
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BREAKING FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE: My cat is cute:
I guess I should get up and do something...
"ceilingfan, ceilingfan, ceilingfan..."
Can't get enough of this pic - "nombottlenommmm"
I'm a hockey player turned writer. After playing for Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA (NCAA), I carried on with a NHL tryout (New York Islanders in 2007) before spending a couple seasons in the AHL/ECHL. My father, Bob Bourne, won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders in the '80's, as did my fiancee's dad, Clark Gillies. I'm now a columnist for USA Today, Puck Daddy (Y!) and Hockey Primetime.com.
Surprised that Kovalchuk went to NJ. The one thing I hate about him is his lack of defensive play. That is a hockey peeve of mine. Just let him play on the PP. Im sure he could still score a lot of goals.
I don’t have the hockey gear lust others do. But I’m an adult playing rec league. My visions of hockey grandeur are gone. I do wish I could get my Drury curve (or equivalent) in a lower lie.
“$101 million over 12 years, or $70M over 7. Does he think he’s going to get much more than that somewhere else? ”
This seem to be a common question. My take is that he doesn’t think he’s going to get that much or more somewhere else, but rather that much isn’t enough to make him want to stay in ATL. I’m guessing he’ll end up signing for a more reasonable sum somewhere he wants to play.
In other words, Ilya’s (right there with you on the name’s badassedness) decision is more a reflection of his feelings about ATL than it is of his greed.
Well, he could certainly get more in Russia. He could get whatever he damn well pleases in Russia. Private plane, all the caviar he can eat, dancing girls…
There’s no rule that he can’t re-sign with Atlanta, but it would probably make it pretty difficult for Waddell to get his phone calls returned.
He’ll get that cash + more tax free in Russia. And be the reverse Sergei Makarov.
All that pointless tape talk is one way to make yourself famous.
Ohhh, thanks for the link. The Wild tour was neato. Yep. Neato.
He’ll probably go to the KHL for 13 mil a season….more money for fewer games…
re: the conspiracy theory…
isn’t that kinda what happened with Tkachuk? St Louis traded him to Atlanta (maybe that’s where they got the idea!) for some assets and then resigned with St. Louis for 2 more years….
I wonder if Ilya will pull a Hossa and signa 1 yr deal with a team like the Red Wings, Pens, etc.?
And there is no rule against Kovalchuk signing with Atlanta in the summer.
Keith Tkachuk was traded away from St. Louis at the deadline in the recent past and signed right back with the Blues over the summer.
Then wouldn’t it be awesome to hear that Waddell and Kovalchuk sat down together and went “Look, we might be a playoff team, but we aren’t a Cup contender. We need way more pieces for that. Here’s what we want to pay you. You can either sign this deal now and take a futile shot at this year, or sign in a few months with a much better line-up and a brighter future for the team. Your call.” ?
Bourne,
I can not help but think maybe there is a connection between your kitty fetish and not making it the bigs.
haha I would LOVE to see a scenario where Kovalchuk signs back with the Thrash. It would be heal stealing a move right from a 1980s WWF wrestler. Great trade for Devils regardless of what happens in the summer. How stacked is that Atlantic Division now? Always thought a great All-Star weekend would be to make mini teams from each division then have them play a 3-on-3 round robin tournament instead of one big boring game.
Justin, don’t forget to watch the Puppy Bowl (with associated Kitten Halftime Show) on Animal Planet on Sunday (http://animal.discovery.com/tv/puppy-bowl/puppy-bowl.html) – we always having it running on another TV while the SB et al is on. It’s highly entertaining (and right up your alley in case you haven’t seen it before).
Go Saints!!
JB,
My heart and my thoughts go out to you, and of course, the Burke family. It was you who helped introduce Brendan, and his story, to all of us.
I’m very sorry (and I was very wrong).
Hey, Justin. Pretty sure you’ll have heard/seen this already, but I do feel for the Burkes tonight.
There just aren’t any words. I really admired Brendon for his courage in coming out of the closet in the atmosphere that hockey engenders, and to find out that he’s gone is devastating. There’s a better chance that you’ll be able to get to the Burkes than any of us, so convey to him our sympathy if you can. I’ll pray for that family tonight.