AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2009 > January > 27
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Kovalchuk plays Santa
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ilya Kovalchuk didn’t return from the All-Star game in Montreal emptyhanded. As John Anderson was doing his post-skate interviews this afternoon, Kovalchuk handed him an All-Star game cap. “You’re still on the power play,” Anderson said. I think I saw Todd White with a cap, too.
Kovalchuk has been credited with getting Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin to end their feud over the weekend. Kovalchuk, in typical fashion, downplayed his role.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” Kovalchuk said of his reported role as peacemaker. “They’re both Russians. They were always friends. Russians hit each other on the ice, they make a big deal about it. Canadians fight all the time, and they don’t say anything.”
Ovechkin did some guest DJing at a club. Kovalchuk didn’t spin any tunes.
“He was pretty good. I just was listening,” Kovalchuk said. Did Ilya dance? “A little bit,” he said.
Kovalchuk said he had a good time in Montreal and liked the game the best of all the things he did over the weekend. He skated with Jeff Carter and Thomas Vanek on a supercharged line that somehow didn’t score in a 12-11 game. “All three shooters, so we needed a couple more pucks on the ice,” Kovalchuk said.
Bryan Little represented the Thrashers in the YoungStars game and also had a great time.
“It was awesome,” Little said. “The best part about it, it was Montreal, and the fans there were unbelievable. They couldn’t have had it in a better spot.”
The best part: “Going to the YoungStars game, walking on the red carpet, I couldn’t believe how many fans there were. It was crazy.”
He met Mark Messier and had dinner with Vincent Lecavalier, who shares an agent with Little.
“I didn’t get any scoops about Vinny,” Little said of the Tampa Bay star who has been the subject of a lot of recent trade speculation. “They were keeping it pretty quiet. We were talking about stuff other than hockey that night.”
In Thrashers news: Center Jim Slater isn’t on this trip but is healing well and probably will return next week, general manager Don Waddell said.
The Thrashers will use the same lineup tonight they used in their final game before the All-Star break, at Philadelphia: Kari Lehtonen plays in goal and Nathan Oystrick is scratched.
