Alex Kovalev Signs Two Years in Ottawa

When next spring rolls around there is a better than average chance that the Montreal Canadiens management might look back and want to kick themselves for not trying to sign unrestricted free agent Alex Kovalev. After Montreal with a grand total of only 249 goals in regular season play, general manager Bob Gainey talked about the importance of getting more offence for this upcoming season. While they made some stellar signings, which include veteran Scott Gomez (58 pts), Brian Gionta (60 pts) and Mike Cammalleri (82 pts) their biggest mistake might be in not signing a veteran such as Kovalev who in his 17^th season produced for a respectable 65 points. Even though this former 1991 first round New York Rangers draft pick might have lost a step or two due to age he still processes leadership intangibles and most important of all knows what it takes to win as shown by his 1994 Stanley Cup ring with the Rangers. I’m a firm believer that in order for a team to be successful they have to have a veteran leader such as a Bill Guerin with the Pittsburgh Penguins or a Mark Recchi with the Boston Bruins to give wisdom and be a locker room presence over a long season. Heading into next season the Canadiens who are coming off a disappointing season of finishing eight in the Eastern Conference have also cut ties with another strong leader in former captain and 14- year Canadiens forward Saku Koivu who scored 50 points last season in Montreal. Kovalev who has been playing in Montreal for the past five seasons has signed a two -year contract worth 10 million with the Ottawa Senators. Many thought that the Togliatti USSR native who enjoyed his best season in 2007/08 with 35 goals and 49 assists would be traded last March at the deadline after struggling mightily with inconsistency. At that time Gainey gave his star forward some time off to “Clear his head”. Montreal who were swept by the Boston Bruins in the playoffs may have lost quite a few fans on Monday in letting Kovalev walk. While there was some mild protest among Montreal fans in not re-signing their long time hero Koivu, fans took it one step further with Kovalev by organizing a rally in trying to persuade Gainey to keep the veteran who besides for the ’94 Cup has also won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and a Bronze in 2002. With this signing in the nations capital, Kovlaev who has also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins in his storied career will more than likely be on the Senators first line as the Senators are still trying to get rid of disgruntled forward Dany Heatley. “I think you always want your players to play 100 per cent, and that’s difficult over 82 games and if you are judgmental you can find a hole,” Senators GM Bryan Murray said about the criticism Kovalev has received about being inconsistent. “I think Alex, they claim has been a little more inconsistent than he should be. I think the opposite. I think when he plays great he can win a game for you. In this organization we’ve got many hard workers and guys that will compete for us every night, but we needed something special to go with that and this guy’s a special player.” In 1,151 career games Kovalev has racked up 394 goals and 941 career points.