AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2008 > January > 27 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USKovalchuk, Nabokov team up for chuckles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
He took nine shots but pulled an 0-fer. Goalies stopped six. Two others bounced off legs. Another flew wide of downtown.
He was stopped on a breakaway, performed a snow angel while flat on the ice after being robbed of another chance in front and — emotional sort that he is — ended the second period by throwing his stick.
On most nights, this would set up a postgame meltdown for Ilya Kovalchuk. On this night, he was Henny Youngman.
“I threw my stick, [then] I gave it to the fan,” Kovalchuk said Sunday night. “But I don’t think he was excited.”
Thank you, he’s here all week. Tip your Zamboni driver.
The NHL All-Stars came to town. One (Rick Nash) scored three goals. One (Eric Staal) scored two goals. Another (Evgeni Nabokov) would’ve kicked out a
Winnebago Sunday if given a chance.
But the best performance — or at least, the best show — was put on by Kovalchuk, who had to settle for an assist in the Eastern Conference’s 8-7 win over the West at Philips Arena.
Despite being blanked, it speaks to Kovalchuk’s performance Sunday and his popularity in this town — as well as his security — that he was brought to the large interview room after the game but teammate Marian Hossa (who had a goal and an assist) stayed in the locker
room.
As a general rule, defense isn’t high on the priority list in NHL All-Star Games. Actually, it’s not anywhere on the list. There were 21 goals scored in last year’s game. There have been fewer than 10 scored only once in the last 17. And in 40 years of picking All-Star MVPs, defensemen have been picked only twice and goalies only five times (largely because they escaped with all of their vital organs, and no significant twitch).
But Nabokov, San Jose’s goalie, seemed determined to rob the attention Sunday, as well as knock a fellow Russian off the stage. He was the only one of six goalies to pitch a shutout in his one period, stopping eight shots in the second period.
“Obviously he was really trying to score, and he wanted it for his own fans,” Nabokov said, smiling.
And you had no desire to make him a hero?
“No.”
With 1:03 left in the second period, Kovalchuk was set up perfectly in the slot from less than 10 feet out, a relative gimme for him. He shot quickly, the puck air-mailed to the upper right hand corner of the net. But Nabokov gloved it. Kovalchuk, exasperated, fell back on the ice and stared to the ceiling.
This won’t make him feel any better: “You can call it a lucky save,” Nabokov said. “The whole top shelf was open and I just tried to swing my glove, and it ended up in the glove.”
In the final seconds of the period, ex-Thrasher Marc Savard sent Kovalchuk in on a breakaway, but Nabokov stopped him again, this time with his pads. Then came the stick chuck.
Kovalchuk and Nabokov were Olympic teammates two years ago in Turin, Italy.
“We’re good buddies,” Nabokov said.
“He’s really good for a small guy,” Kovalchuk said.
He meant that as a compliment.
More from the funny Russian: “I’m going to work on my shot in practice.”
Kovalchuk has scored 37 goals this year. It seemed like he could’ve scored 37 Sunday night. In his last All-Star appearance in 2004, he scored once. Surprisingly, he worked a give-and-go with Carolina’s Staal late in the third period — surprising in that Kovalchuk closed the deal by feeding Staal for a game-tying goal with 7:25 left.
“I think everybody in the building thought I was going to shoot it,” Kovalchuk said.
He had one final chance in the final minute. But a pass intended for him down low on the left side was knocked away by Calgary’s Dion Phaneuf. The East continued to press the attack but Kovalchuk headed for the
bench.
“I broke my stick and so I [went] to the bench,” he said. “I wanted to get another one, but [Alex] Ovechkin jumped [on] and changed [for] me. So I’m like, ‘OK, I need to change.’ “
Soon after he sat down, Savard buried the game-winning goal. It was that kind of night for Kovalchuk. But he didn’t seem to care.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Thrashers / NHL
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By thrashed
January 28, 2008 12:14 AM | Link to this
The game on Jan. 30 will be interesting if Kovy can get back on track. I think he’s a little “oh well, it’s the All-Star Game.” But I think throwing his stick is a sign of reagular season fustration that you wouldn’t see at an All-Star game if the Thrashers and Kovy were coming into the break winning or atleast doing better. AND I’m very glad Savard got the winning goal. Let’s DW know he made a mistake letting Savard go. Hope he doesn’t make that mistake with Hossa.
By CB
January 28, 2008 12:33 AM | Link to this
Kovy is the man in Atlanta…There’s no doubt who the king of Blueland is…
By Dave
January 28, 2008 3:08 AM | Link to this
Trade Hossa to Boston for Savard?
By Who cares
January 28, 2008 5:54 AM | Link to this
Who cares?
By Sam
January 28, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this
I see Jeff woke up on the right side of the bed today. You finally got in the All Star spirit.
By PW
January 28, 2008 9:53 AM | Link to this
It was great fun to see everyone enjoying themselves. I enjoyed Kovie being Kovie. They guys are so intense during the games, it was great to see them smiling and having fun.
People need to pay more attention to their booing. DW is the reason Savard left and the team has payed for it. He should have been signed before free agency and when he was willing to give the home town advantage. DW was arrogant in his discussion of Savard at the end of that season. We would have made the play offs and kept Hossa with that one signing. Back to the fun topic of the day. The All Stars was great. Every aspect of it.
By MFP
January 28, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this
first off, the stick throwing by Kovy was just in fun…he was smiling the whole time and just mucking it up for the crowd….that said, i was sadly disappointed at the level of fun the NHL failed to obtain in throwing this event in Atlanta…the intermissions were BORING and the skills competition was lacking any excitement…half the time we had no idea what was going on or what the score was on saturday…and they couldnt even figure out who won the fastest skater!…i also didnt like how the Thrashers werent allowed to promote themselves alongside the NHL this weekend…it could have gone along way towards bringing more interest to a small hockey market!!…oh, and Savard, you still owe me $100 for a new jersey!
By Nascar_Dave
January 28, 2008 12:02 PM | Link to this
Those of you that think Hossa will still be a Thrasher are disillusioning yourselves!!! He’s gone! One foot is already out the door! Time to wake up and smell the coffee!
Oh yeah, and WADDELL sucks!
By ww
January 28, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this
I agree with PW. The allstar weekend could have been a whole lot better. The memorabilia and hockey cards setup was weak at best. Very few vendors. Where were the interactive games for kids, equipment to try out, sticks to try out, fastest slapshot competition, accuracy competition for the fans. Should have had a lot more vendors and activitities for the kids and adults outside or even across the way at Georgia dome. I could have done a better job marketing the game in Atlanta, the NHL is clueless when it comes to marketing. They should also be showing every hockey game on TV in HD. Come on NHL and Thrashers, fire your current marketing people and get someone in there that knows whats going on and the consumer wants. My 2 cents!
By Apocalypse
January 28, 2008 3:10 PM | Link to this
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By Scott
January 28, 2008 3:17 PM | Link to this
Kovy is the man in Blueland and owns Philips Arena.
By Tony C.
January 28, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this
Who’s the @sshole trying to bring politics into a hockey blog?
By Charlie L
January 28, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this
As a true hockey fan I had some observations while at last night’s game. First off the Jonus Bros. sucked. As someone next to me said, “they were ear piercingly awful.” Ne-Yo wasn’t much better either. Could the NHL do any better and get musicians that fit the majority of the crowd demographic?
The game itself was entertaining, but since no defense was played, it hardly resembled true hockey.
The joy of the evening was seeing how excited the crowd was. Seeing all the top stars in the game was an exceptiuonal thrill.
Next time NHL - stick to hockey and avoid picking music wannabee’s or has beens.
By Charlie L
January 28, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this
As a true hockey fan I had some observations while at last night’s game. First off the Jonus Bros. sucked. As someone next to me said, “they were ear piercingly awful.” Ne-Yo wasn’t much better either. Could the NHL do any better and get musicians that fit the majority of the crowd demographic?
The game itself was entertaining, but since no defense was played, it hardly resembled true hockey.
The joy of the evening was seeing how excited the crowd was. Seeing all the top stars in the game was an exceptiuonal thrill.
Next time NHL - stick to hockey and avoid picking music wannabee’s or has beens.
By Formula_1_Erin
January 28, 2008 5:26 PM | Link to this
Nascar_Dave -
So does your mother. Unfortunately, she has sharp,crooked teeth, chapped lips and she isn’t very good at it. (Ouch!)
By the way, “Genius,” “NASCAR” is an acronym. (That means it is an all-captialized word where every letter stands for its own word.)
Congratualations on your illiteracy, Dave!
By Keith Reece
January 28, 2008 7:33 PM | Link to this
Kovy’s gonna be fine. I like seein a little fire in em. I think the rest of the team needs a little of what he’s got. Need to worry about Hoss’s contract and the defense, or no playoffs.
By Brendan
January 28, 2008 11:36 PM | Link to this
Jeff Schultz, re: Kovalchuk. If Atlanta doesn’t offer 12-years/$121.2M … someone else will. He’ll get that kind of offer and money. Crosby’s cap hit is $8.7M. Ovechkin’s is a hair over $9.5M. This deal would be $10.1M, not quite the max cap salary, but precariously close to it. It would make Kovalchuk the highest “cap hit” in the league. It would also announce Kovalchuk as the MAJOR SUPERSTAR that he truly is. He may not be Canadian. Or play in a Canadian market. But Ilya Kovalchuk truly is a “bonafide sniper,” who CAN play defense, and is an enforcer, even if that shouldn’t be “his role.”
Kovalchuk’s re-signing, in 2009, would send a message to the leary season ticket holders, currently holding their breath about Hossa’s future with the team.
Not, let me ask you. Who would rather have on an 8-10, or even 12-year deal: Hossa or Kovalchuk?
Beeeee honest. One disappears in the playoffs and auditions for Detroit and the other one plays hard every night and should be the Captain of the team.
Still thinking?
You really shouldn’t be. Not if you’ve been to the games this season, or watched them on TV.