Athlétique.Canadien Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I'm not going to start a new thread for this but there is a new video available at tsn.ca (not tsn.ca/nhl - just tsn.ca). Kovalev has trimmed down to 215 lbs and talks about Tangs and La Rock! http://watch.tsn.ca/#clip86624 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Kovalev has trimmed down to 215 lbs and talks about Tangs and La Rock! I heard that interview in the car on the drive back home this afternoon. I thought it was excellent news. Kovy shedding an extra ten pounds will allow him to be faster and keep up with the younglings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 If AC won't make a new thread, I will! Maybe Kovalev gave 10 pounds to Lapierre? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athlétique.Canadien Posted August 29, 2008 Author Share Posted August 29, 2008 Thanks simonus. I was at work and the internet is a taboo when working. Had to be sneaky and quick. Home now. Much better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Man, he gives such long answers even to simple questions. I bet the journalists love talking to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CerebusClone Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Man, he gives such long answers even to simple questions. I bet the journalists love talking to him. In a way, it's a pleasant change from players who can barely put two words togother, and just mention a few old cliches. The anglo media is lucky now in Montreal with Kovalev, and all these well-spoken University players. On the other side, most of what comes out of Kovalev's mouth is a bunch of politically-correct BS; according to his interviews, he loves everyone, every linemate is a highly skilled player that complements his play (including Lapierre 2 seasons ago), the coach is always right, ... Thankfully, we always have translations of his interviews back in Russia to know what he really thinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLP Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 IMO Kovy is the best player the Habs have right now. Just saying. I hope we sign him to a multi-year deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 IMO Kovy is the best player the Habs have right now. really going out on a limb there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLP Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 really going out on a limb there... hehehe i dunno, is it a no-brainer that he is? I'm in Japan remember not clued in so well to the conventional wisdom. Oh don't want to open a new thread for this but can someone throw me a response on this question: Do Canadian midget (age about 16-18) hockey players ever drop the gloves and fight in games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 He has the most talent, and last year he was the best player. It remains to be seen who the best player will be this year. Kovalev has a history of not sdhowing up after good years. Tanguay has as many point per game years as kovalev and is 8 years younger. Markov, Komi, Tanguay and Price all have a shot at that. AK46 could have a big year as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CerebusClone Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 IMO Kovy is the best player the Habs have right now. Just saying. I hope we sign him to a multi-year deal. It depends on which Kovalev shows up, and also on which Koivu shows up. Last season was the first time we could say that Kovy was outr best player on the ice; he was more or less at Koivu's level during his first season - not to mention quite inconsistent - and simply mediocre the following year. As for Koivu, will we again see the post-lockout Koivu who is only a shadow of his former self; as someone else said a few weeks ago, will we see Captain Koivu or Captain Hook? I actually believe we could see Koivu's best season this year; he has no reason not to show up highly motivated (his biggest problem recently in my opinion), he should play with two quality offensive wingers for perhaps the first time in his career, and I actually don't believe his physical health prevents him from playing a great full season, especailly since he won't have to carry the entire team on his shoulders. I believe what we called his slumps in the past was just his offensively limited linemates (Higgins, Ryder, Zednik, ...) not completing his plays like true offensive wingers should have, and these guys didn't generate a whole lot of opportunities themselves; so basically whenever Koivu wasn't on his "A" game (no one plays great 82 games a year), he would rarely get a point, unlike other players who can still get points thanks to the efforts of their linemates. Ideally, Koivu and Kovalev will compete hard all season long for the right to be called the top line. We haven't had two lines playing great hockey at the same time for so long. There's also a remote possibility that Andrei Kostsitsyn could emerge as a superstar player, but I doubt that will happen until Kovalev leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CerebusClone Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 He has the most talent, and last year he was the best player. It remains to be seen who the best player will be this year. Kovalev has a history of not sdhowing up after good years. Tanguay has as many point per game years as kovalev and is 8 years younger. Markov, Komi, Tanguay and Price all have a shot at that. AK46 could have a big year as well. I'm personally still not sold on Tanguay who won't have a franchise player like Forsberg, Sakic, or Iginla to hold his hand in Montreal. He's highly skilled, and should help the team if used properly, but he doesn't have game-breaking skills like Kovalev does regardless of how many points they've scored in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trizzak Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Oh don't want to open a new thread for this but can someone throw me a response on this question: Do Canadian midget (age about 16-18) hockey players ever drop the gloves and fight in games? Totally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Who cares if he has the game breaking skills like Kovalev, i'll bet he puts up similar numbers. I'm all about production. Tanguay does well with offensive centers, koivu is an offensive centre. He'll get 70-80 points. Sorry, if he doesn't have the same game breaking skills as Kovalev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CerebusClone Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 (edited) Who cares if he has the game breaking skills like Kovalev, i'll bet he puts up similar numbers. I'm all about production. Tanguay does well with offensive centers, koivu is an offensive centre. He'll get 70-80 points. Sorry, if he doesn't have the same game breaking skills as Kovalev. I'm more about the impact a player has on the ice than about his paper stats at the end of the season. I believe a player can get 60 points, and still have a much greater positive impact on the team's performances than another guy who gets 85 points. Similarly, if Tanguay, Kovalev, and Koivu all score about 80 points next season, it won't necessarily mean they'll have had the same impact. Edited August 29, 2008 by CerebusClone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I'm more about the impact a player on the ice than their paper stats at the end of the season. I believe a player can get 60 points, and still have a much greater positive impact on the team's performances than another guy of gets 85 points. Similarly, if Tanguay, Kovalev, and Koivu all score about 80 points next season, he won't necessarily mean they'll have had the same impact. I agree. Its similar to Ryder do you think he has a positive impact if he scores 30 goals but is a -17? I would rather have a player score 15 and be +20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CerebusClone Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I agree. Its similar to Ryder do you think he has a positive impact if he scores 30 goals but is a -17? I would rather have a player score 15 and be +20 Exactly... although the +/- ratio can be misleading sometimes since it also depends greatly on the play of your linemates and the reliability of your goaltender. For example, when Saku Koivu got 75 points two years, I actually thought he played his worst season ever in a Habs uniform. He had a lot of problems at even-strength, was terribly inconsistent, was always behind the play which lead to too many hooking/tripping penalties, and was never able to control the play on the offensive zone like he used to before the lockout. Similarly, the Alex Kovalev we saw last season was a much greater player than the Alex Tanguay who score 81 points with Calgary two years ago. Although the point totals are almost the same, Kovalev was the leader of his line on the ice, he was a go-to guy all season long, he carried his linemates from time to time and made them better players, and he used his incredible blend of skills, size and strength to overpower his opponents, and and make a game breaking play that would impact the result of the game. Alex Tanguay is a good offensive player, but he won't change the game by himself; he completes other players, and needs someone to do a lot of the work for him. He's like a Ryder or a Cheechoo, just more skilled and with better playmaking abilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 (edited) In a way, it's a pleasant change from players who can barely put two words togother, and just mention a few old cliches. The anglo media is lucky now in Montreal with Kovalev, and all these well-spoken University players. On the other side, most of what comes out of Kovalev's mouth is a bunch of politically-correct BS; according to his interviews, he loves everyone, every linemate is a highly skilled player that complements his play (including Lapierre 2 seasons ago), the coach is always right, ... Thankfully, we always have translations of his interviews back in Russia to know what he really thinks He's been forced into that by the reporters. When he said he thought they should have called a timeout everyone went nuts. Now he has to watch his mouth. Imagine had he said "yeah, Tanguay's decent but I'm not sold on him." It's not worth the risk. I think he was chancy enough by saying he didn't think the team needed an enforcer. Edited August 31, 2008 by BTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fromage Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 Oh don't want to open a new thread for this but can someone throw me a response on this question: Do Canadian midget (age about 16-18) hockey players ever drop the gloves and fight in games? they do... except its hard to fight when the players wear full cage helmets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_Boagalott Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 I was going to say exactly what CerebusClone & JMMR said. Tanguay might not be quite as offensive as Kovy but his + - is generally really good and will prbably be the best on the Habs this year. Tanguay should single handedly improve the Habs 5 on 5 play this year and in the past few years that is what the Habs were really bad at. Maybe with Tanguay the Habs wont have to rely heavily on their PP and if theyre PP is still 1 of the best in the NHL it could be really good news for Habs fans. There arent many players with a high + - like Tanguays who produce similar offensive numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CerebusClone Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 I was going to say exactly what CerebusClone & JMMR said. Tanguay might not be quite as offensive as Kovy but his + - is generally really good and will prbably be the best on the Habs this year. Tanguay should single handedly improve the Habs 5 on 5 play this year and in the past few years that is what the Habs were really bad at. Maybe with Tanguay the Habs wont have to rely heavily on their PP and if theyre PP is still 1 of the best in the NHL it could be really good news for Habs fans. There arent many players with a high + - like Tanguays who produce similar offensive numbers. Although to be fair, Alex Tanguay has always played in a context favorable to a good +/- ratio. The Avalanche were an offensive powerhouse, and he often played with either Sakic or Hejduk. As for Calgary, they're a very strong 5-on-5 defensive team where practically none none of the regulars have had a negative ratio, not even last year (except for Lombardi at -6) despite the fact that Kipper was quite bad for nearly the first half of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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