The Discontent Continues in Ottawa

The summer of discontent continued for the Ottawa Senators when on Thursday their prized off-season acquisition Alex Kovalev made some puzzling comments that had to have raised some red flags in the nation’s capital. Coming off a sub-par season that saw this 16- year veteran score 65 points with the Montreal Canadiens, Kovalev who is 36 years old left Montreal and signed with the rival Senators on July 6. This former Stanley Cup winner (In 1994 with New York Rangers) spent four full seasons in Montreal and despite displaying some inconsistency last year was still a beloved player. In July fans were making it known by holding a rally outside of the Bell Centre that they wanted GM Bob Gainey to sign the talented Russian. Fans also assembled an online petition that drew more then 8,000 fans in support of not only keeping Kovalev but also making him the new captain. Despite all this support Kovalev who has 941 career points opted to sign a two- year deal with the Senators for 10 million dollars. After telling the media how excited he is to be with Ottawa and how he believes that they can challenge for the Stanley Cup this coming season, he made a head scratching comment at his Montreal golf tournament on Thursday that he eventually wants to return and finish his career with the Canadiens. “I was disappointed, I thought for sure I’d be staying here,” (In Montreal) Kovalev said. “I couldn’t really understand what had just happened. In the end, I took it from a business point of view. You had a chance to stay here, and you didn’t, so you just go and do the job somewhere else.” I’m sure this comment had Ottawa fans wondering if his heart will fully be into playing his best in Ottawa. Kovalev who is only six goals shy of 400 went on to say that his first choice as an unrestricted free agent this summer was in fact to stay in Montreal but financially Gainey didn’t make a suitable offer. “We hadn’t agreed on the amount (with Kovalev), but another player (Brian Gionta) was willing to come and join our team,” Gainey said. “So the dollars that we had allotted there for a particular position were grabbed up by another player.” Rumors circulated that both Kovalev and Gainey got their wires crossed when it came to contract negotiations this off-season. After signing with Ottawa it was reported that Gainey offered the exact same deal to stay in Montreal. However Kovalev tells a different story. “(My agent and I) were just waiting for the best opportunity,” said Kovalev. “It was nobody’s fault. From what I understand, Montreal was trying to take a different direction and that’s what they decided to do. The last thing we heard from them was when they called us and said ‘there’s no more room for you,’ and that they were going with other players. It was really surprising for us.” In the past three weeks or so Kovalev has been in and out of Montreal about three or four times and he’s very touched by the support he received this summer from Montreal fans. While it’s only human nature to be touched by fans who wanted you to stay with the Canadiens I’m sure that his comments of wanting to eventually return didn’t go over to well in the nation’s capital.