Pissed off at Kovalev yet?

I have a friend that is a huge Habs fan, that sent me a text after the first two games that simply said "Well, are you sick of him yet?".

I knew exactly what he was talking about, but wasn't sure how to answer the question. My view on Kovalev from Day 1, was that he wouldn't be as frustrating as he isn't our primary (or at least most crucial) source of offense (as he was in Montreal). I figured that we could count on him for 25-30 goals in the season plus a ton of assists... and that would be fine.

As I know it's really early to throw anybody under the bus, you have to criticize his effort. I know everybody says "That's just Kovalev, that's the way he plays". He just doesn't seem to care out there... I think a shining example of this was against the Islanders- he lost his bucket about 4 or 5 times that night, and each one- instead of just playing without it until the whistle, he stopped what he was doing, slowly skated up to his fallen equipment, gracefully picked it up, put it back on, did up the strap, and tried to find where the game was going. The process took about 30 seconds, and was PAINFUL to watch.

So my question is the exact same as my friends'- because I'm having trouble finding an answer within myself-

Are you sick of him yet?

I knew what we were getting with him. No surprise here. I expect some lazy and indifferent play much like we had with Heatley. The difference is I expected 40 to 50 goals from Heatley and I only expect 25 to 30 from Kovalev. At his current pace he'll only get 16 but I think it's a little early to be calculating that just yet.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I knew what we were getting with him. No surprise here. I expect some lazy and indifferent play much like we had with Heatley. The difference is I expected 40 to 50 goals from Heatley and I only expect 25 to 30 from Kovalev. At his current pace he'll only get 16 but I think it's a little early to be calculating that just yet.

No kidding. Going by the ifrst five games, Spezza's only on pace for 30-something points.

Nop.

I think most of us knew what we were getting. He'll be awesome, he's always a bit of a slow starter. I'd rather have skill, size and the reputation to scare the crap out of opponents than 'some dude' for 2.5 million.

A lot of us are unhappy right now with things in general from last night's game, but wow, we should all relax on Kovalev, Spezza etc. It'll happen.

nope, happy to have him here, Kovalev has had games of brilliance this season and well games of not so much, then games where he has bad bounces, missed the open net last night, got robbed by Biron against the Isles, but it's 5 games, no time to hit the panic button, AK27 will fulfill his role on this team.

asq2 wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I knew what we were getting with him. No surprise here. I expect some lazy and indifferent play much like we had with Heatley. The difference is I expected 40 to 50 goals from Heatley and I only expect 25 to 30 from Kovalev. At his current pace he'll only get 16 but I think it's a little early to be calculating that just yet.

No kidding. Going by the ifrst five games, Spezza's only on pace for 30-something points.

On the bright side Seaway will be happy to hear Fisher is currently on pace for his first 30 goal and 60 point season!

I'm not really sure what I think of Kovalev. He boggles my mind.

He is clearly talented but out of all our forwards (except for Kelly perhaps) he doesn't seem to be on the same page as the rest of the team. It's like he is playing his own game oblivious to what is going on around him.

Kovalev is a different guy, I think we all knew that when we got him. He makes substantial coin-5 mill but, is capable of winning 10 games all by himself-20 points. He is quite possibly the difference between making the playoffs or not.

111519 wrote:Kovalev is a different guy, I think we all knew that when we got him. He makes substantial coin-5 mill but, is capable of winning 10 games all by himself-20 points. He is quite possibly the difference between making the playoffs or not.

I love that X factor he brings, he better start helping our PP though, over 40 seconds of 5 on 3 pp and I don't think they even had a shot on goal. That has to improve. SpezzD summed it up best with Kovalev I believe as he said Kovy doesn't have to be option 1 here, so no pressure, he can be option 2 and do his own thing.

Hoags wrote:I'm not really sure what I think of Kovalev. He boggles my mind.

He is clearly talented but out of all our forwards (except for Kelly perhaps) he doesn't seem to be on the same page as the rest of the team. It's like he is playing his own game oblivious to what is going on around him.

Every Habs fan around the world just nodded in agreement with you.

I hope he gets some chemistry going and helps us get a productive PP. Our PP is the WORST in the league right now. 1 for 15. Wow.

COnsidering he didn't skate all summer long, this is not surprising. What is surprising is the new media thing in jumping on players and teams after 5 fuckign games. Talk about ridiculous!

jamvan wrote:COnsidering he didn't skate all summer long, this is not surprising. What is surprising is the new media thing in jumping on players and teams after 5 fuckign games. Talk about ridiculous!

Yeah, he's admitted that he usually doesn't skate much in summers in general. Not sure why... but that will translate into a longer transition for him to get in game shape.

shabbs wrote:
Every Habs fan around the world just nodded in agreement with you.

I hope he gets some chemistry going and helps us get a productive PP. Our PP is the WORST in the league right now. 1 for 15. Wow.

When Kovalev, I thought PP would be one aspect of the game the Sens would not have to worry about.

Instead it's becoming our biggest problem

i knew exactly what kovy would look like this season.... he'll net between 20 to 25. he has very little heart for the game at this point, no one is screaming his name he's a high maintenance guy from the part of the fans. once he starts scoring a few more and people start appreciating him he'll get better. right now i doubt he wants to be in ottawa. he sure is playing like that. just milking the $$$cow...