Rocket:
Alex Kovalev is playing the worst hockey of any of the Montreal Canadiens. It must be true. I’ve heard that so many times in the past few days. Alex Kovalev has no heart. Kovy is lazy. Alex is a “cancer in the dressing room”. That’s the phrase I’ve heard most so, for sure, that must be true.
I’ve even heard a respectable sports analyst join the kick-Kovy-when-he’s-down party. He finished by saying that the Canadiens had “gone the extra mile with him.”
But are those comments really true? If so, there are a few things that don’t make sense.
Apparently, having consistent, compatible linemates for Kovalev to play with is way beyond ‘going the extra mile’. Tom Kostopoulos and Steve Begin are simple, hard working, north-south players but is there a coach on earth that thinks they are a good match for Kovalev’s style of play? Oh. I guess there is one…Guy Carbonneau.
Does ‘going the extra mile’ mean giving the team’s best players more ice-time to help get the team out of their funk? No, apparently not. On this team 3rd and sometimes 4th line players get more even strength ice-time than the most talented players. So Max Lapierre plays more 5 on 5 hockey than Alex Kovalev. As much as we appreciate the improvement in Lapierre, if he is getting 1st line TOI, the Canadiens won’t be winning.
Since the lockout, there is only one player in the NHL who gets a higher percentage of his points on the power-play than Alex Kovalev. It is just shy of 50%. So if the Canadiens power-play isn’t working, that would mean that 1/2 of his points would be drastically reduced. So, in that light, maybe his point totals aren’t so surprising. If we know this fact, surely the Canadiens coaching staff knows it too. Don’t they??
So, if the team has ‘gone the extra mile’, what have they done to improve the power-play? Gainey: nothing (until the Schneider trade) Carbonneau: absolutely nothing.
If power-play scoring is such a concern, was it a smart move to send Sergei Kostitsyn to Hamilton. Going into tonight’s game, SK74 was tied for the team lead in power-play goals (excluding Lang who is on injured reserve).
And let’s set aside the ‘if we only had Mark Streit’ nonsense. Mark Streit did not play well the last month of last season and struggled in the playoffs. In the playoffs, the Flyers and Bruins analyzed the Habs power-play scheme and designed a way to defend it. The Canadiens coaching staff did nothing to adjust during the playoffs…they did nothing over the summer…and have sat by and watched as this season’s power-play has plummeted to one of the worst in the league.
Now there is a report from a covert Russian source to journalist Marc de Foy through RDS that Kovalev has broken his silence. (Let’s take all of this with a grain of salt given that it is being reported via the dual filters of a notoriously unreliable Russian press and an agenda-driven French press.) RDS is focusing on Kovalev’s alleged comments about off-ice activities. But Kovalev apparently also talked about the confusion caused by bizarre line combinations and the poor communication by the coach.
Alex Kovalev has categorically denied that he spoke about his teammates. He says he would never do that. Kovalev spoke directly to Darren Dreger at TSN. (In the other report RDS says they talked to de Foy, who talked to an unnamed Russian source, who talked to Kovy. So who do you believe?)
Line shuffling has already been addressed. Communication by the head coach seems non-existent until he wants to toss one of his players to the vultures of his press buddies. This isn’t a new issue. Clearly Guy Carbonneau doesn’t understand Alex Kovalev. Or perhaps Elliotte Friedman is correct, Carbonneau doesn’t understand this team.
This article shouldn’t be misinterpreted as an attempt to defend or exonerate Alex Kovalev. I am simply posing questions about shared responsibility, and the possible reasons behind Kovy’s behaviour. Alex has been slow, predictable and looked disinterested. But should Kovalev ‘bear the cross’ alone? Has everything been done to motivate him?
When the ‘cancer’ has been excised, what happens when the patient is still sick?
And when does the coach take some responsibility for the team’s problems? When does the coach start to become accountable? When is he going to face some scrutiny for his actions and for his lack of action?
So what’s the next move? Here are the words of Alex Kovalev, “I’m nobody. I don’t control anything here. All I can promise is hopefully I can come back and play better and help my team. I have no choice.”
Wow. I have to admit, I never saw this kind of “statement” coming.
Obviously (for those that know me) I don’t watch a ton of Habs games, but I do watch my fair share. And I’m sure this whole mess up there isn’t ALL Kovalev’s fault. But lets be honest, even in his best years, he’s always been prone to take long stretches off and just play when he felt like it. Granted, a high skill player needs to play with other skill players. But by the same token, a “leader” would find a way to help make his line mates better, even if that meant changing his game just a bit.
Guy has a ton of skill, but is fickle as can be. He’s Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates personified.
But I do agree, he is far from the only problem in Hab-ville. Should be interesting to see how he, and the team responds. (at the moment the Habs are in the midst of what I’d call an “uneven” performance in Washington. Tough place to play, but they’re hanging in there. Although, the D looks lost at times….and what the hell was with Price taking his mask off two or three times while the play was going on? Lucky he didn’t get plunked)
Price did get plunked..twice on rockets by Ovechkin.
I appreciate your comments Kynch…very knowledgeable hockey fan. Things must be really bad for the Canadiens when the Bruins fans don't even have the heart to take a shot at the Habs.
If you were in Montreal, you may think that Kovalev is the reason this team is losing, and responsible for both global warming & the Kennedy assasination. But that's the agenda-driven media who would like nothing better than to run a number of players out of town on a rail, namely Kovalev, Plekanec, the Kostitsyns, Higgins, Koivu, O'Byrne, and Price. Notice what they have in common?
I'm sure that Kovalev tried to work within the system but when your linemates are Dandenault, Kostopoulos and Begin, something is wrong. It's like workng in an environment where everyone knows that the most incompetent member of the workplace is the boss.
I not providing Kovalev with an excuse, just an alternate perspective. A coach is supposed to be a leader and provide a climate for his players to succeed. I question whether Carbonneau has, or is able to do that.
Yeah, I saw Price take a couple off the cage…..but I’bve NEVER seen a goalie just casually remove his mask while play was swirling around him. Dangerous move, and I believe he ended up getting a whistle on a caps chanceby doing it too (it MAY have been offside, but I don’t think so and the TSN guys never mentioned why there was a stoppage. In fact, they never even mentioned Price removing his mask)
Short circuit in the wiring of the Russian Robot. Come to think of it the wiring was faulty from the start.
No substitute for a human brain really, even in the world of sports.
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