Kovalev given time off...

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=267501&lid=sublink01&lpos=headlines_main

Good, he is uselss.

Surprising he's decided to suck this year. He's an impending UFA.

When he wants to be, he's amazing. Just ask the Bruins.

My money's on this being his last waltz in the NHL. Look for him to join Jagr and Emery next year.

Don will be on his typical "I hate Russia" rant this weekend.

what is it with Cherry and Russians? I think he saw Rocky IV, and Ivan Drago scared the crap outta him.

i live in montreal and i told everyone here (to cries of horror) this summer that he should be traded while his stock was high, and since he's so inconsistant. well now they all agree... did anybody not see this coming?

Gainey said it loud and clear. kovalev has to stay away from the team... can you say "bad influence"?
Kovy is the most overated MTL player after latendresse(an .

There's apparently more to this whole story.

It seems the issues in Montreal may have something to do with the 'off ice activities' of several of Montreal's younger stars.

Corus Sports/CKAC's Jean Perron recently called out Carey Price, Chris Higgins and Sergei Kostitsyn as being the culprits. It was reported these young men were enjoying the pleasures of Montreal's night life to the detriment of their performance as hockey players.

I must say I thought, watching the Habs play at times, that more than a few were nursing a hangover.

Jacques Demers goes into detail in his CKAC podcast. Demers says the young men in question have already been given a reprimand by Habs management.

The article and broadcast of Demers' interview are in French.

Text here:
http://www.corussports.com/canadiens/_party_est_fini-20090217-1420593.html
Listen here:
http://www.corussports.com/radio/audioplayer.php?file=1420593.mp3&mode=cn&id=1420593&date=20090217

The gist of all this is that a rift supposedly exists between several factions of the team for various reasons having to do with committment.

Perron and Demers, both ex-Montreal coaches, are no strangers to players' shenanigans. Pat Burns, another ex-Habs coach, was quite explicit in his radio interview today on CKAC that he went to fetch his guys more than once from bars on Crescent Street.

Whether Kovalev, apparently a fitness fanatic, figures in all of this, is not clear. Or maybe he's just another dysfunctional component of the Habs' inconsistent '08-09 campaign. Gainey had to have a very serious talk with Alex at the end of the 2006-07 season because Kovalev had just put in a terrible year with Les Canadiens. After reviving his game last year, AK27 seems to be firing blanks now.

What the above demonstrate--as we have seen in several cases this year--that a coach needs to be a psychologist as well as a hockey man.

Wow... sounds familiar...

davetherave wrote:There's apparently more to this whole story.

It seems the issues in Montreal may have something to do with the 'off ice activities' of several of Montreal's younger stars.

Corus Sports/CKAC's Jean Perron recently called out Carey Price, Chris Higgins and Sergei Kostitsyn as being the culprits. It was reported these young men were enjoying the pleasures of Montreal's night life to the detriment of their performance as hockey players.

I must say I thought, watching the Habs play at times, that more than a few were nursing a hangover.

Jacques Demers goes into detail in his CKAC podcast. Demers says the young men in question have already been given a reprimand by Habs management.

The article and broadcast of Demers' interview are in French.

Text here:
http://www.corussports.com/canadiens/_party_est_fini-20090217-1420593.html
Listen here:
http://www.corussports.com/radio/audioplayer.php?file=1420593.mp3&mode=cn&id=1420593&date=20090217

The gist of all this is that a rift supposedly exists between several factions of the team for various reasons having to do with committment.

Perron and Demers, both ex-Montreal coaches, are no strangers to players' shenanigans. Pat Burns, another ex-Habs coach, was quite explicit in his radio interview today on CKAC that he went to fetch his guys more than once from bars on Crescent Street.

Whether Kovalev, apparently a fitness fanatic, figures in all of this, is not clear. Or maybe he's just another dysfunctional component of the Habs' inconsistent '08-09 campaign. Gainey had to have a very serious talk with Alex at the end of the 2006-07 season because Kovalev had just put in a terrible year with Les Canadiens. After reviving his game last year, AK27 seems to be firing blanks now.

What the above demonstrate--as we have seen in several cases this year--that a coach needs to be a psychologist as well as a hockey man.

Yeah I saw Perron saying that last night on TQS, 100%.He said it was especially during the all star week end.

Gainey's got to have something up his sleeve. It sounds like Kovalev is no longer welcome around the team, much like Avery earlier this year. But Lang's out for the year (most likely) and Latendresse is out as well, and Sergei Kostitsyn was sento the AHL. They need offence and they need it bad.

I believe it was Eastwood (on Team 1200) who said that Pittsburgh could be the most logical destination, but who can they offer in return? Is it a three-way deal involving LeCavalier? (yeah, that never goes away) The Habs also need a PP QB. How about Redden for Kovalev?

wprager wrote:Gainey's got to have something up his sleeve. It sounds like Kovalev is no longer welcome around the team, much like Avery earlier this year. But Lang's out for the year (most likely) and Latendresse is out as well, and Sergei Kostitsyn was sento the AHL. They need offence and they need it bad.

I believe it was Eastwood (on Team 1200) who said that Pittsburgh could be the most logical destination, but who can they offer in return? Is it a three-way deal involving LeCavalier? (yeah, that never goes away) The Habs also need a PP QB. How about Redden for Kovalev?

maybe just maybe kovalev could help the rangers but nobody in their right mind would want to touch that gastly 6 year 6.5 million $ redden contract...

davetherave wrote:There's apparently more to this whole story.

It seems the issues in Montreal may have something to do with the 'off ice activities' of several of Montreal's younger stars.

Corus Sports/CKAC's Jean Perron recently called out Carey Price, Chris Higgins and Sergei Kostitsyn as being the culprits. It was reported these young men were enjoying the pleasures of Montreal's night life to the detriment of their performance as hockey players.

I must say I thought, watching the Habs play at times, that more than a few were nursing a hangover.

Jacques Demers goes into detail in his CKAC podcast. Demers says the young men in question have already been given a reprimand by Habs management.

The article and broadcast of Demers' interview are in French.

Text here:
http://www.corussports.com/canadiens/_party_est_fini-20090217-1420593.html
Listen here:
http://www.corussports.com/radio/audioplayer.php?file=1420593.mp3&mode=cn&id=1420593&date=20090217

The gist of all this is that a rift supposedly exists between several factions of the team for various reasons having to do with committment.

Perron and Demers, both ex-Montreal coaches, are no strangers to players' shenanigans. Pat Burns, another ex-Habs coach, was quite explicit in his radio interview today on CKAC that he went to fetch his guys more than once from bars on Crescent Street.

Whether Kovalev, apparently a fitness fanatic, figures in all of this, is not clear. Or maybe he's just another dysfunctional component of the Habs' inconsistent '08-09 campaign. Gainey had to have a very serious talk with Alex at the end of the 2006-07 season because Kovalev had just put in a terrible year with Les Canadiens. After reviving his game last year, AK27 seems to be firing blanks now.

What the above demonstrate--as we have seen in several cases this year--that a coach needs to be a psychologist as well as a hockey man.

I would be doing the exact same thing. People can say what they want, but unless you have had millions of dollars coming at them when they were 20, 21, 22 years old in Montreal, with no one but your team mates, what can you say.

Flo The Action wrote:

wprager wrote:Gainey's got to have something up his sleeve. It sounds like Kovalev is no longer welcome around the team, much like Avery earlier this year. But Lang's out for the year (most likely) and Latendresse is out as well, and Sergei Kostitsyn was sento the AHL. They need offence and they need it bad.

I believe it was Eastwood (on Team 1200) who said that Pittsburgh could be the most logical destination, but who can they offer in return? Is it a three-way deal involving LeCavalier? (yeah, that never goes away) The Habs also need a PP QB. How about Redden for Kovalev?

maybe just maybe kovalev could help the rangers but nobody in their right mind would want to touch that gastly 6 year 6.5 million $ redden contract...

Only five years and a bit left now I know it's not going to happen. They already have Redden. They call home Patrice and pay him less and over a much shorter term.

Watching 100% now. Gainey saying, With the way Kovalev is playing, the team dont need him...