News Article: Kovalev talking smack about Subban

[Saintpatrick*]

I'm not going to shoot the messenger here because we all know Kovalev wasn't the most defensively responsible but I kind of agree with his sentiment. I'm a Subban super fan but I think signing that contract might be the worst thing for him. What if he doesn't live up to it?

I think Subban is the last player we should worry about when it comes to living up to his contract. There's no quit in him and has a tonne of heart. Unlike some former players I could mention.

 

[25get]

As soon as I read Kovy's comments I came here for the laughs... and boy you guys did not disappoint.

It is very ironic coming from Kovalev and while I don't agree 100% with him, he is mainly right.

-The contract is bad (maybe in a few years it will be worth it)
-He is a risky defenseman
-Markov should be captain but he doesn't want and doesn't need to be
-Pacioretty has proved to be a leader with his on and off-ice performance and could very well be the next captain.

Only thing I don't agree is that Subban would score 5 but would maybe allow 2 (not 5 goals back).

One of the most well balanced post up to now in this thread.

I think a lot agree that PK will be the best paid D-men for the next three years (minimum).

So he could be a good deal after 5 years.
Does not mean they are right.

But a lot here are very good at prediction.
Just like two years ago, so many (less than 5%) were against the bridge contract... two years later, 95% were saying it was stupid.

 

[CH25]

Just another ******** summer story is all this is.
RDS trying to compensate for nothing much happening at the moment so they make a big deal out of it.

 

[25get]

I think Subban is the last player we should worry about when it comes to living up to his contract. There's no quit in him and has a tonne of heart. Unlike some former players I could mention.

Agreed.

But so did Ryan White, Colby Armstrong, Josh Gorges, Gionta.
I know they don't have the talent of PK.

But I am not sure who is most overpaid. Gorges at 3.9 or PK at 9M.
At 6M, Markov might be a better deal than PK for now.

Here hoping that PK will raise his game to 9M. To me he was more playing like 7M.

 

[25get]

Just another ******** summer story is all this is.
RDS trying to compensate for nothing much happening at the moment so they make a big deal out of it.

I am still waiting on the comments by the RDS team.
For now, they have just recorded Kovalev's comments.
You see any sign of making a big deal of of this outside of here?

 

[JackZap]

Just another ******** summer story is all this is.
RDS trying to compensate for nothing much happening at the moment so they make a big deal out of it.

How is this RDS fault exactly?

 

[25get]

........and what if you win the cup this season? #icomeinpeaceasalways

Boston, Tampa Bay, NYR and Pens: you really think we have what is needed to win against them year after year?

Then the west: Chicago, Los Angeles, Min (yes with Vanek), SJS, etc.

PK was 17th in scorer, there was three players of NYR in 8th, 10th and 11th also Zucca in 20th. So that's 5 players from the East in the top-20.

We are lucky to only face the West in SCF because we would have none of the top-20 scorer from the East.

The only way we can win against Chicago or LAK is to have their top-5 players out of the line-up...

Even St-Louis would probably pass us in 5 games.

We would need Galchenyuk to score 70+ points, Patches 40+ goals, Sekac to score 40+ points, PK to score 60 points, Markov to score 50+ points and Beaulieu and Gilbert to score 30+ points to be contending with the West.

 

[PricePkPatch*]

Boston, Tampa Bay, NYR and Pens: you really think we have what is needed to win against them year after year?

Then the west: Chicago, Los Angeles, Min (yes with Vanek), SJS, etc.

PK was 17th in scorer, there was three players of NYR in 8th, 10th and 11th also Zucca in 20th. So that's 5 players from the East in the top-20.

We are lucky to only face the West in SCF because we would have none of the top-20 scorer from the East.

The only way we can win against Chicago or LAK is to have their top-5 players out of the line-up...

Even St-Louis would probably pass us in 5 games.

We would need Galcheyuk to score 70+ points, Patches 40+ goals, Sekac to score 40+ points, PK to score 60 points, Markov to score 50+ points and Beaulieu and Gilbert to score 30+ points to be contending with the West.

It's certainly not gonna happen if we admit defeat before the season even starts!!

 

[Kriss E]

Puzzling comments. I can understand the leetch parallel to a certain extent, but the contracts handed out are simply a reflection of the economic times.

Kovalev has seen the the open market system, which fetched him 6.6 mil per year, and be saw the post lockout salary cap system which originally got him 4.5 million per year. If I'm not mistaken, his next contract fetched him even more money despite getting old on the tooth. The salaries are linked to the present day vitality of the NHL, how can he not understand that?

Ya the contract comment is weird. I mean, Roy was earning 8.5M, Sakic got about 10M.
So I think he's talking more about the length of deals and he's right, 8 year deals didn't happen back in those days, did they?

 

[Mario le Magnifique]

It's certainly not gonna happen if we admit defeat before the season even starts!!

Yeah I know right, it's not like this young team made it to CF, and apparently, according to HFboards, badly coached.

 

[HBDay]

Kovalev is right to be flabbergasted.

Once the initial excitement about Subban signing settled.... Feel free to say it with me guys...

It's a bad contract. Everyone knows it.

 

[Hackett]

Ya the contract comment is weird. I mean, Roy was earning 8.5M, Sakic got about 10M.
So I think he's talking more about the length of deals and he's right, 8 year deals didn't happen back in those days, did they?

Yea, I can't think of an 8+ year deal from the 90s being handed out. So they were rare at best.

 

[Fazkovsky]

Everyone has their own opinion who cares? Mr Alex isn't a gm or a coach for a reason

 

[Mr Jackpot]

Yeah I know right, it's not like this young team made it to CF, and apparently, according to HFboards, badly coached.

And how did the Habs do in the CF?

And what would happen for example if you put Carey Price in Toronto and Bernier in Montreal, which team makes the playoffs?

The point is Montreal is not a contender, and they wont be a contender for at least 2-3 years, and even by that time it's not even sure they will be a contender.

Marc Bergevin's goal is to build a contender for years to come. Let's see how he will do.

 

[25get]

Puzzling comments. I can understand the leetch parallel to a certain extent, but the contracts handed out are simply a reflection of the economic times.

Kovalev has seen the the open market system, which fetched him 6.6 mil per year, and be saw the post lockout salary cap system which originally got him 4.5 million per year. If I'm not mistaken, his next contract fetched him even more money despite getting old on the tooth. The salaries are linked to the present day vitality of the NHL, how can he not understand that?

Leetch was never paid as the best d-men in the league.
Let alone being paid the highest salary among d-men in the league for three years...

As for Kovalev, he gave us 35G and 84 points for 4.5M.
He was below Markov, Koivu and Hamrlik.
Following he was also below Tanguay.
Among all those players, only Markov in 2008-9 was a better deal.

 

[Danadiens]

Pot calling the kettle black has nothing to do with race. It means someone calling out someone else for doing things for which he/she were known to do.

I don't know how you put race into the equation. I just imaging you take everything over to top and make issues out of nothing.

Damn why are you so racist? Plz explain.

 

[25get]

It's certainly not gonna happen if we admit defeat before the season even starts!!

Well all these conditions can happen.
We can be a contender for SCF this year.
Just saying: we are a contender for going to SCF.
But almost no team in the East can win against teams in the West.

Even Boston who won against the Nucks would not compete against LAK and Chi.

Things can change and players can become better.
For now, LAK kept Gaborik and Chi added Richards on their third line...

We can dream all we want but we have to look at the teams.
We have less than 5% chance to win the cup...

 

[FinnHab]

Kovalev is right to be flabbergasted.

Once the initial excitement about Subban signing settled.... Feel free to say it with me guys...

It's a bad contract. Everyone knows it.

Thats true. And it also so fun to see some part of the fanbase go mental when somebody says anything negative about Subban. What a blasphemy.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Thats true. And it also so fun to see some part of the fanbase go mental when somebody says anything negative about Subban. What a blasphemy.

For me it's more the source than somebody saying something negative about PK, hell I could've even taken this if it had come from Lafleur, but pretty hard to listen to someone bash another guy for trying to do too much when AK's legacy is that of a guy who rarely tried enough

Gretzky claimed Kovalev to be the most talented player he ever saw, he easily could have been among the greats and made top $ when he played but he didn't and now just comes off as a whiner

 

[Mr. Hab]

Roy was pretty freaking entertaining to watch man. Heck, a guy like Russ Courtnall entertained me just by zooming by everyone. Claude Lemieux's rugged style..

I mean, it's a different time, the game and the players have changed, people had wooden sticks that could last a whole season you imagine? You can't compare eras.

Yup, we shouldn't compare eras.
But when I watched some footage from the 80s...it looks so slow compared to today.

OVERALL STYLE/FLASH/ENTERTAINMENT VALUE:
<PK Subban is no.1 in this category (imo)
<Kovalev was one of the most talented Hab players...too bad he was inconsistent (but imo was always good in playoffs).
<Courtnall...I do remember his speed...very very fast (for that reason he was entertaining, but did not come close to Subban or Kovalev when it came to overall talent or overall style/flash,etc...imo).
<Roy gave us bragging rights...'86 and '93 Cups...and '89 Cup Finals...imo he was fun to watch for his tenacity, character, leadership (winner), but wasn't all about style (Roy's butterfly style was VERY effective, but not the most stylish.... Brodeur's acrobatic style was more entertaining to watch...Hasek with Buffalo and Cujo as an Oiler were lots of fun to watch...imo).
<Chelios...like Roy...very very effective...huge winners, but not as stylish as Subban and Kovalev.
<Claude Lemieux: one of my favorite playoff warriors...Mr.Clutch!! But still...not as entertaining to watch as Subban. Still...Lemieux was one of the best playoff Hab players in a long time. Huge playoff hero for us...huge. He was also huge for New Jersey.
<Malakhov, heck! even Malakhov was fun to watch sometimes for his smoothness...he made it look so easy out there (Mr.Smooth), but also looked so lazy and careless most of the time...too bad 'cause he had a lot of talent. Could have been more entertaining to watch if he had more heart.

Entertainment value:
really really hard to beat PK Subban...imo.
(his amazing skating, puck handling (ex: one hand on puck, other hand protecting puck/body), slapshot, wrister, coast to coast gutsy moves, very crafty defensive style (actually fun to watch how he plays in the D zone), exciting personality+hockey style, 9mil smile, enthusiasm/positive energy, winner's attitude...wants to win all the time).

 

[NotProkofievian]

Kovalev is right to be flabbergasted.

Once the initial excitement about Subban signing settled.... Feel free to say it with me guys...

It's a bad contract. Everyone knows it.

Nah. It's just ahead of its time.

 

[Agnostic]

Kovalev is entitled to his opinion, and like Lafleur his words are going to draw a reaction. A more self-aware and reflective person might recognize that Kovalev made about $55M in his career from teams who rewarded his questionable and risky style.

I have Kovalev screw ups etched in my brain, he's actually the zero sum risky player he portrays Pk to be. In other words he should shut his pie hole and enjoy retirement.

 

[BJCOLLINS]

Subban would not stop playing if slashed on the hand during a pivotal playoff game.

ZING...lol.

 

[BJCOLLINS]

Kovalev was talented & he knew it..I always felt he was a DIVA.

If he had played with Saku's attitude he'd be a first ballot HHOF'r.

 

[OldCraig71]

Just another ******** summer story is all this is.
RDS trying to compensate for nothing much happening at the moment so they make a big deal out of it.

Best post so far, it is a non story, lets move on.