Confirmed with Link: Alexei Kovalev retired
- Thread starter Shrimper
- Start date
stefanh
Registered User
plaidchuck
Registered User
He played for I think AK Bars Kazan last year but didn't do that well.
I think it'd be nice if the club invited him to a game as a special guest and maybe had a pre game presentation to say thanks.
Jacob
as seen on TV
- Feb 27, 2002
- 49,845
- 30,043
Big McLargehuge
Fragile Traveler
He's a well-liked player who played the best hockey of his career in Pittsburgh...I see nothing wrong in him being the guest of honor at a game and getting a standing ovation from the crowd.
It's not like he'd be getting his number retired.
Yeah for the guy who after being traded & was asked if he could ever see himself coming back said "Maybe when they're playing in Vegas"
He was a great player for us for a short period of time but he's always been kind of a jerk. The fact we stole him from NY & then because of an unfair system had to give him back for nothing will always reflect the need for the salary cap. That's his legacy to me.
Wes C Addle
Bernard Shakey
mrzeigler
.. but I'm not wrong
Congrats to a guy who was a joy to watch during his prime.
He should be revered simply for giving the world the "longest shift ever" story from his days with the Rangers.
He should be revered simply for giving the world the "longest shift ever" story from his days with the Rangers.
clefty
Retrovertigo
I'll take issue with this. The economic structure of the time might have made it difficult to sign Kovalev to a deal competitive with the open market or a team with a massive payroll of the Rangers and necessitate a trade, but it did not force Craig Patrick to trade him for what he traded for.
Other teams were selling off talent and getting high picks and prospects, and what do we get for a winger who's last three seasons resulted in 90+ point scoring pace? A lousy Mikael Samuelsson and three career minor leaguers. You didn't need hindsight to see what a horrible trade it was, and I blame ownership just as much for signing off on it. I can't even believe the NHL approved such a heinously ******, lopsided deal.
It was the most annoying thing about Craig's attempt at a re-build. It was like he was always trying to pull off these acrobatic miracle trades turning retreads into superstars outsmarting himself in the process. San Jose got Brad Boyes and a 1st round pick for Owen Nolan mere weeks after we traded Kovalev, Washington got Brooks Laich, Tomas Fleischmann and a bunch of first round picks (including Mike Green) for Bondra, Lang and Gonchar. Chicago has Bryan Bickell today out of trading Alexei Zhamnov. What did we get? Rico Fata, Richard Lintner and Joel ****ing Bouchard.
Anyway, rant aside, losing Kovalev had to do with the league economics, but the "for nothing" part was because Craig Patrick sucked at selling.
Last edited:
Harvey Birdman
…Need some law books, with pictures this time…
Id like to see the org offer him a front office job here, class guy, great player for us. Could bring a lot of good things with foreign rookies in talking/mentoring them.
Thatll all happen behind the scenes... But I hope at least Shero reaches an arm out.
No matter what, best of luck to him in what ever he does. Was always a pleasure to watch him play no matter what uniform he was wearing.
Thatll all happen behind the scenes... But I hope at least Shero reaches an arm out.
No matter what, best of luck to him in what ever he does. Was always a pleasure to watch him play no matter what uniform he was wearing.
plaidchuck
Registered User
Kovifan27
Registered User
hiptanaka
Registered User
I agree that Craig Patrick got fleeced on those deals, without a question. However, if we did receive a justifiable return for the high-end players we sold off during the "X-Generation", then we may have never been in a position to draft Crosby, Malkin, etc.
bathroomSTAAL
The halcyon days
Kovalev for Lintner, Bouchard, Fata, and Samuelsson
Jagr for Beech, Sivek, Lupaschuk
Naslund for Alek Stojanov
Straka for Norm MacIver and Troy Murray (to be fair he got him back)
Straka again for Strbak and Anshakov
Yeah, some bad trades on his record
Jagr for Beech, Sivek, Lupaschuk
Naslund for Alek Stojanov
Straka for Norm MacIver and Troy Murray (to be fair he got him back)
Straka again for Strbak and Anshakov
Yeah, some bad trades on his record
clefty
Retrovertigo
I disagree. It's not like many, if any, of the picks or prospects we could have (should have) picked up would have been ready to turn us into anything but an awful team the following season. They'd all still have been juniors or in the AHL.
Consider this. One of the returns he actually got right was a 2nd round pick for Hedberg in 2003, which was spent on Alex Goligoski. How long did it take for him to break into the NHL?
I mean, everything worked out well, but... wow, that's shocking when you put it all together.
Hey, we got Rico Fata though.
Le Magnifique 66
Let's Go Pens
Agreed, even in Montreal he was so loved by people here great person, had a private loge for kids which he payed for and was always involved.
Best of luck to Kovy and thanks for great memories
plaidchuck
Registered User
Burgs
Registered User
- Sep 10, 2005
- 6,761
- 7
But just like the Jagr deal, the Pens also received cash from their trade partner (4 million in Kovalev's case) which they needed badly to stay afloat. I'm not happy with what Patrick got back in assets but I understand him asking for money lowered the return in terms of players and picks. The NHL prohibited cash trading shortly afterwards.
clefty
Retrovertigo
What? No.
He made some awful decisions at the end, but he was still one of the league's best General Managers in his time.
Zen Arcade
Bigger than Kiss
To be fair on that one, Straka was absolutely awful that year and went to the Kings and played even worse. He was also coming off of a couple of injury plagued seasons and people were speculating that his career was over.
That doesn't excuse the other deals though.
