GDT: The Return of Kovy: Kings @ Devils, 7 PM, MSG+

[SteveCangialosi123]

We should cheer for Kovy, he did us a solid lol.

He sucks ass now.

 

[Emperoreddy]

This isn’t complicated. Two guys left when their contracts were up and opted to use their right to become free agents.

The other bounced during his contract, one that cost the organization assets and potentially the ability to resign other players depending on how broke we were.

The fact we got lucky on the timing to not be buried with cap recapture doesn’t change how scummy it was.

 

[135ace]

i really just dont get the hate for the guy. i was upset when he left but thats over with and i totally understand why he did it. everyone is fine with parise playing games and stringing along the fans because he "went home". neids stringing along the fans and the team deep into ufa everyone is fine because he "went to play with his brother". so because kovy had a signed contract and saw the writing on the wall (i wish our all time great GM saw that same writing) the contract is what makes him different?

everyone is fine with long time devils picking up and leaving when they have deep ties to the team and fans. but kovy? a guy who was here super short and little history gets up and leaves? lets burn this mother to the ground? lol whatever.

without him the team without a doubt makes that 2012 run and honestly without him they dont make that second half run in 2011 either. wasn't he playing something like 23mins a night? as a forward!

i love kovy. like i said it stung when he left i was pissed but honestly there were way more devil players that screwed this team over worse then him. thats just crazy imo

outside of the contract were either of them leaving different situations?

Parise is the one that bothers me the most. He really strung us a long and then stabbed us in the back ala Tavares this past summer. And to go to effing Minnesota of all places?! I mean, sure it's his home, but c'mon, the guys a grown man, you don't go home to mommy unless you're 10 years old. And he left after making the SCF. Just ridiculous. I'd mind it less if he wanted to go to Florida. Kovy I can understand, going home to a different country/culture is quite different. He also got us out of that contract. Very different situations in my opinion.

 

[JrFischer54]

Plus Kovalchuk cares so much about winning he’d rather quit the league and go to a lesser league? Yeah okay.

i dont think it was just winning or not. i'm sure the family aspect of it came into play too. it was a perfect storm

 

[JrFischer54]

This isn’t complicated. Two guys left when their contracts were up and opted to use their right to become free agents.

The other bounced during his contract, one that cost the organization assets and potentially the ability to resign other players depending on how broke we were.

The fact we got lucky on the timing to not be buried with cap recapture doesn’t change how scummy it was.

so i guess to answer to my question is yes the situations weren't that much different just the contract part of it. got it!

 

[Emperoreddy]

Yeah the family matter was not having to deal with escrow with his SKA money.

 

[Satans Hockey]

i dont want to go further down the rabbit hole. i said what i had to about kovy. i think he gets a bad rap and i think he did more good then bad in his short time here. he got us over that first round/second round hump in 2 years when broduer and parise couldn't do it in 10 years.

that playoff run in 2012 was probably the greatest run this team ever had outside of 95. they knocked out the rival flyers and rangers. the rangers to the day of messier guarantee in 94 in overtime at home no less! i dont think any of that happens if he wasn't here. so i will take that trade off of 2012 for him leaving when he did no questions asked.

i also think if the rangers made the finals that year they probably beat the kings or at the least make it to game 6-7 and anything can happen at that point

i've seen them win the cup at home (not 95). but honestly that game 6 against the rangers to me was the greatest moment i've seen in person as a devils fan

I clearly don't hate the Rangers as much as you do and I really thought I hated them a lot lol

2012 in no way tops 2000 or 2003 for me. Being down 3-1 against the Flyers and coming back in their building and winning was amazing. That ot goal with Elias making that pass to Jason for the ot goal to win the cup. Plus adding in that team was so damn fun to watch all season.

03 with some wild ot moments. One to knock out Tampa Bay and then being up 3-1 in the series against Ottawa before they forced it to a game 7 when Jeff pulled out the late goal to win it. The game 7 at home in the finals was the loudest I've ever heard the old arena.

Don't get me wrong I absolutely loved 2012. The Florida ot games 6 and 7 were wild. We bitch slapped the flyers to the point that it wasn't even really a series and knocking out the Rangers speaks for itself but it ended in disappointment with losing those 2 ot games to start the series against the Kings.

If we won the cup in 2012 it would be a different story for me but we didn't so there's no way I can place that run above the years we actually won the cup.

Lots of member berries today lol

 

[Emperoreddy]

so i guess to answer to my question is yes the situations weren't that much different just the contract part of it. got it!

That is a gigantic difference. Free agents have no obligation to resign here. You absolutely do have an obligation when you are already under contract.

Your spin of the situation is literally dizzing.

 

[NJDevs26]

so i guess to answer to my question is yes the situations weren't that much different just the contract part of it. got it!

That’s a pretty big difference. And people still boo the crap out of Zach so I don’t really see the fan base as a whole even treating them differently

 

[Satans Hockey]

Plus Kovalchuk cares so much about winning he’d rather quit the league and go to a lesser league? Yeah okay. And when he finally came back it was with a similar team to the one he left so he wasn’t exactly a soothsayer this offseason lol

And to add to that he came back to the team that he was trying to decide between. It was either gonna be the Devils or the Kings and even the Kings fans booed him when he played there because he didn't sign with them originally. I really don't hate Kovy but I think he's a joke.

Stoll leads Kings to 3-1 win over Devils, Kovalchuk booed throughout - TheHockeyNews

 

[JrFischer54]

That is a gigantic difference. Free agents have no obligation to resign here. You absolutely do have an obligation when you are already under contract.

Your spin of the situation is literally dizzing.

spin i asked you a question and you couldn't give me a simple answer. your pivoting skills are impressive

 

[JrFischer54]

That’s a pretty big difference. And people still boo the crap out of Zach so I don’t really see the fan base as a whole even treating them differently

i already addressing booing further back thats not what i'm talking about with feelings towards zach

 

[bobilly45]

Kk starts

 

[Emperoreddy]

spin i asked you a question and you couldn't give me a simple answer. your pivoting skills are impressive

Question was answered. You are the one acting like being a free agent and being under contract isn’t a MASSIVE difference.

Why even have contracts if blowing off your commitments should be applauded?

 

[JrFischer54]

I clearly don't hate the Rangers as much as you do and I really thought I hated them a lot lol

2012 in no way tops 2000 or 2003 for me. Being down 3-1 against the Flyers and coming back in their building and winning was amazing. That ot goal with Elias making that pass to Jason for the ot goal to win the cup. Plus adding in that team was so damn fun to watch all season.

03 with some wild ot moments. One to knock out Tampa Bay and then being up 3-1 in the series against Ottawa before they forced it to a game 7 when Jeff pulled out the late goal to win it. The game 7 at home in the finals was the loudest I've ever heard the old arena.

Don't get me wrong I absolutely loved 2012. The Florida ot games 6 and 7 were wild. We ***** slapped the flyers to the point that it wasn't even really a series and knocking out the Rangers speaks for itself but it ended in disappointment with losing those 2 ot games to start the series against the Kings.

If we won't the cup in 2012 it would be a different story for me but we didn't so there's no way I can place that run above the years we actually won the cup.

Lots of member berries today lol

hahahaha epic. i do hate them a ton lol my wife always asks me why. i tell her about the 94 series.

i agree not winning the cup in 12 make people "forget" all the magic that happened before that. the runs in 95 00 03 were all magical and special i'm not denying that but i guess just seeing this team that weren't favorites in any of the series just dismantle the flyers how they did and then handle the rangers at home just poetic justice after all that time. i guess it hits me with the sentiment factor. overtime game winner at home against the biggest rivals to make the finals? doesn't get better then that. my closest moment in the building wise is game 7 in 2003. but the devils were as close to a lock imo to winning that game. outside some flukes in anaheim the devils dominated that series too

 

[JrFischer54]

Question was answered. You are the one acting like being a free agent and being under contract isn’t a MASSIVE difference.

Why even have contracts if blowing off your commitments should be applauded?

it wasn't answered. i'm not acting like its a small difference. they both left to play for home and more money. one had a contract one didn't.

 

[Call Me Al]

feel like some people are overthinking this or bending over backwards to defend him for some reason. this is a sport and pure entertainment. kovy screwed us at the time, and crushed a lot of fans who idolized him and loved watching him. it’s great that we are technically in a better spot (maybe? last place again with a bunch of pieces that we hope will make us better in the long run) but that said, who cares! he’s entering the building as a rival player, we should all boo him and make him feel unwelcome! it’s all for fun anyway, and he doesn’t deserve any better than that.

 

[Call Me Al]

when i think “hard building to play in” or “passionate fans” i definitely think of the arenas where hated players that screw their teams are treated nicely

 

[New Jersey Devils]

I dont hate Kovy as much as some other ppl do, but you cannot deny the excitement and emotion he brought here when he played. Dude was absolutely electric.

 

[Cheddabombs]

I'm pretty much over the Kovy thing now. If I were there I'd boo for the first few minutes probably but it is what it is, and that contract would be looking ugly right now anyway.

 

[JrFischer54]

 

[OmNomNom]

i dont think it was just winning or not. i'm sure the family aspect of it came into play too. it was a perfect storm

i used to think that until like yesterday, when i saw that he made as much, if not more, in russia than what he would've made here

 

[OmNomNom]

I dont hate Kovy as much as some other ppl do, but you cannot deny the excitement and emotion he brought here when he played. Dude was absolutely electric.

truth

i really did love our team and that run. rewatching that made me remember how much passion i had at that time and how strong the rivalry was

loved his time here, hate how he left, but i think the reaction is no reaction.

 

[mtnet]

Though it sucked at the time, in retrospect I'd rather it worked out this way.

Plus, it's kind of funny after all that drama of 1) 2017-18 Can the Devils strike a trade deal to send Kovy to another team if he returns this year? and 2) 2018-19 With total autonomy , where oh where will he sign?

Fast forward...LAK overpays, kicks off season 2-7-1 , fires HC a week later, Willie demotes Kovy to 4th line minutes, and basically LAK circling the drain all year in the bottom 5.

If you don't like Kovy (or LA), no amount of boos could be as satisfying as how this all played out.

 

[Call Me Al]

i think it's a little naive to think it had to do with family i think first and foremost was money, second was the treatment/celebrity aspect in russia as they seemed to lay it on pretty thick when he was there during the lockout, then ownership/financial issues here might have played a role and then maybe at the end family. he was what, 30 years old and on a contract for 12 more years, you dont just get homesick and back out on a legal obligation like that