Comments on: Kovalchuk looks to Ovechkin, Capitals for his blueprint

By: Are Ilya Kovalchuk’s salary demands tied to Alex Ovechkin rivalry? | Sports Talk

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 12:35:25 +0000

[...] celebrated for doing so. He didn’t go hockey mercenary like some teams want Kovalchuk to go. As Jeff Schultz of the AJC reported last year, Kovalchuk saw that transformation first hand: Ovechkin, his close friend, signed a monster contract last season: 13 years, $124 million. He made [...]

By: Are Ilya Kovalchuk’s salary demands tied to Alex Ovechkin rivalry? | Sport News

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:07:36 +0000

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:08:11 +0000

I’m a huge hockey fan and moved to AL closest team is the thrashers not my favorite but it’s a home team and cool because you can go to their practices when was the last time the public was invited to see the rangers practice? enough about football damn there’s sooooo many HS and college teams can there not be one short article on hockey? and winning does bring attention to the sport… I moved from NC and I hate the hurricanes NOONE knew what hockey was or the hurricanes but damn if the day after they won the stanley cup everyone wasn’t flying flags and wearing ‘CANES shirts the next day… winning fills seats who wouldn’t want to have been there when the THRASHERS beat the KINGS 7-0?!?!?! I WISH I WAS!!!!! football is TAME a little girls sport compared to hockey yeah football is the second highest injury rate but look at the numbers of HS and college football teams compared to hockey? by the way CHEERLEADING has the most injuries so the most dangerous sport is a little girls sport. I hope KOVY stays we need him but I do understand he would be more famous and probably make more money up north. KOVALCHUK scored the second most points last week in all the NHL the thrashers are getting their stuff together a little better and with KANE getting more comfortable I see good things for them hopefully atleast another division championship!!!

By: Canadiankid

Canadiankid — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:11:39 +0000

Great column! I’ve been reading some of the comments, it’s pretty interesting. You have a lot of hockey fans who feel there isn’t enough Thrashers coverage and then you got some narrow-minded haters that won’t give the fastest sport in the world – and don’t kid yourself, it is just that – the time of day. I love football too (CFL – yeah I know, NFL and College) but hockey is the best and the people in the South should embrace it like you would the other sports in Georgia. PS: You can’t run out of bounds in hockey. The Thrashers have a good young team and hopefully Kovalchuk stays, he can definitely make it a whole lot better. And if not, we could use him in Vancouver…

By: scottbravesfan

scottbravesfan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:51:37 +0000

Asheville Dawg,

Shut the F up! No one wants to hear from your red neck ass. The stupid DAWGS SUCK!!!! And will never win a national championship as long as Saban is in Alabama and Meyer is in Florida.

Andy,

I love kovy as much as the next guy but this city has been home to Hank Aaron and Dominique Wilkens so you might want to wait on the “most exciting athlete this city has ever seen” comments.

And finally to Jeff, I just want to say thank you for talking hockey. I love the Falcons but I want to talk about something else besides football all week.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:40:48 +0000

Steve Brown, I respect what you’re saying. What you’re saying makes a lot of sense. Especially in the REALITY that most teams find themselves in. But in Thrasherville, we live in Bizarro World, where hamburges eat people. Stay with me.

You’ve seen it. For the love of Pete, you’ve seen the results of this ownership! One (1) GM, four (4) Head Coaches, that includes Waddell, League Minimum Budgets, and Seven of Nine (7/9) isn’t just a Star Trek Voyager (TM) reference, it’s the factual number of times this team has finished in the bottom of third of the Eastern Conference. And just this past Summer … was the sixth time in nine years … of this team picking inside the lottery draft. Two former lottery draft picks have already been traded away (Heatley, Stefan). Two more’s futures are in some form of doubt (Kovalchuk, Lehtonen). My vote goes to … (drumroll, please) CHANGE WE NEED.

Would Kovy be a mistake as GM? Shrugs. Could the organization lose any more respect than it already has? Antropov is only here … because Kovy recruited him. How many Tier I free agents have CHOSEN Atlanta as their destination? Freely. Ya know, without a sawed off shotgun lodged in their short ribs. How many Tier I players have the organization re-signed, when the option of where to play resided EXCLUSIVELY with the UFA? Some crickets chirp … some tumble weeds roll by … and off in the distance … a coyote howls.

It’s not a big, impressive list. If Kovy is the pot of hunny that brings all the FREE AGENT BEES, then that’s where I cast my vote. If Kovy is the lead inmate running the Asylum … all they need is ONE (1) playoff series victory to surpass everything in the past decade that preceeded it. Actually, rubbin’ chin, they just need one (1) playoff win.

Scratchin’ my head, just WHAT IS IT about this ownership that anyone values? They still haven’t successfully bought out an estranged partner in over four and half years! How much have they p1ssed away on lawyer fees, instead of free agents? Or *gasp*, player retention. If the answer is $1, it’s still too many. If the question really is, “Can we afford to let the inmates run the Asylum?,” the answer is, “YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!! YES WE CAN!!”

By: Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:08:00 +0000

I’m gonna kick your ass the next time I see you, Shultzie!

By: R. Stroz

R. Stroz — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:38:44 +0000

I hope Kovy understands to some extent that he can’t have his cake and eat it too. In other words, if Kovy goes for the maximum salary allowed, the Thrashers will be a revolving door of young talent going elsewhere, and as such, the Thrashers will NEVER have elite status for more than two years.

If I were Kovy and his agent, I would demand an out clause of some sort stating that the ASG must maintain a payroll 6 to 8 million over the salary minimum. If the ASG drops salary, then Kovy can drop the ASG.

By: Steve Brown

Steve Brown — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:10:34 +0000

Brendan,
Waddell and the owners have to at least act like they run the team or they lose respect of players, fans and any star that has choices.

By: GaVaHokie

GaVaHokie — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:03:17 +0000

Well, thanks to Ovechkin’s contract, he can start getting used to a revolving door of players… the Caps better win the Cup this year, they won’t be able to keep that team together for long.

Only 10 players under contract for next year with two major contracts for Semin and Backstrom to be signed.

http://nhlnumbers.com/overview.php?team=WAS&season=0910

If Atlanta gives Kovalchuk $11 million, expect the same in Atlanta… Bogosian, Little, Kane… it’s going to get tough fitting guys in under the cap.

Watch what happens to teams like Chicago and Washington and Philly over the next couple of years.