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

[Call Me Al]

also for the record i dont really care about him one way or the other at this point, he's not what he was and is stuck on a crappy team which is somewhat satisfying, i just think how can you NOT boo a player that did what he did. it was humiliating as a devil fan at the time!

 

[OmNomNom]

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

he was 27 years old, and as we know, 27 year olds aren't completely mature yet, and much less so when they grow up in a pro hockey environment

if you had a chance a big money, isn't there a part of you that would take it, no questions, and look back at it later and be like "well shit, i didn't fully think this through?"

and then boom, same opportunity (or better) is found elsewhere, in your home country? it's not an airtight "legal" contract, since the league left a loophole

 

[Emperoreddy]

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.

Which is all the difference in the world.

 

[Call Me Al]

this was 2013, he was 30, and i dont feel the need to bend over backwards to make an excuse for him. again, it's a sport and he's a pro athlete who now plays for the team that we are competing against. it's just for fun and entertainment, make it harder for him to play tonight.

regardless of where we are today, he certainly didn't leave with the intention of helping the team in the long run or showing any appreciation for the fans, and he doesn't deserve any kind of good treatment and huge lol if we somehow because the fanbase that makes it easier for hated players to play here!

 

[Call Me Al]

also, the idea that we are definitely better off today is not a foregone conclusion! last i checked in the standings we are in last place in the division and bottom 5 in the league 5 years later

 

[Whaddagoal]

Re: Kovy stuff...

Now, I was thrilled that one of my favorite players outside of NJ ended up in NJ for a few seasons, ecstatic even.

Of course I was pissed off that he had to leave the way it happened (for whatever the "true" reasoning), and doubly pissed because that if 2012 had gone just slightly bit differently at the end, he might have been a MVP of P/O that year plus a cup with NJ and NJ having their 4th cup on a great run that year, would be great all around for Devils fans.

Well... that didn't script out that way, so it was more the sour feeling of what could have been (even if he had stayed), for me as a fan, and NJ team and him. For me, it took some time to reconcile the fact fact he probably, chances were, would never wear a NJD uniform again.,play for my favorite team, nor forge a positive longterm legacy here. Unfortunately it just didn't happen and can't change that.

As to his move vs. money/kids whatever, as a family man, I can relate.

The guy has 3 or 4 kids, so I'm sure,without any doubt family aspect has a major (if not critical decision ) impact on where you want to be when they (the kids) are growing up. Life isn't so black and white, and if he wanted to move his family for 5-6 years to Russia where he is from to both maximize his money income, AND get a choice in where his family will reside where his wife/kids will attend school for their core years, who the hell is gonna be pissed at that, personally? I won't.

I grew up in NJ, like it here (well some parts of it ), but if the guy ultimately didn't want to stay, I can deal with that. I don't personally buy the franchise was ruined theme that is often (or now less often discussed here) because he left. I thought his impact was more positive than negative during his tenure HERE, but I'll accept that people will disagree here.

Boo, whatever. But i don't get the massive Rage here.

Remember Johnny Mac left, Gomez, Parise left, Madden left, everyone left practically. Holik, Nieds, etc. (except for a few Elias, etc). Everyone had their reasoning to staying or going, not my business.

 

[Call Me Al]

every single athlete makes these decisions about their family. why kovy should get special treatment is beyond me. if that's a primary concern then don't try to milk a 17 year contract. you could argue that keeping a kid in school in russia for 4 years and then pulling them to another continent altogether is worse than just simply raising them in alpine new jersey

 

[JrFischer54]

to be fair i dont think kovy wanted the term but the devils didn't want the cap hit to be 12 million or whatever. everyone knew he wasn't finishing that contract if he stayed

 

[OmNomNom]

every single athlete makes these decisions about their family. why kovy should get special treatment is beyond me. if that's a primary concern then don't try to milk a 17 year contract. you could argue that keeping a kid in school in russia for 4 years and then pulling them to another continent altogether is worse than just simply raising them in alpine new jersey

russians love their culture, and i'm pretty sure alpine is as vanilla as you can be

 

[Call Me Al]

i am genuinely befuddled how kovy can do what he did and somehow garner sympathy from some of you guys...

 

[NJDevils7]

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!

JUST the contract part. Yea, JUST the part about where he signed to play here for 15 years and broke his contract after 3 years. Yea, just that little detail. No big deal.

 

[Blender]

Kovy should be booed every time he is on the ice. f*** him.

 

[NJDevs26]

also, the idea that we are definitely better off today is not a foregone conclusion! last i checked in the standings we are in last place in the division and bottom 5 in the league 5 years later

Better off purely means better off cap wise from 2020-2025 or whenever the recapture kicked in. They certainly weren’t better off on-ice even given his decline physically.

i am genuinely befuddled how kovy can do what he did and somehow garner sympathy from some of you guys...

Because he was the ‘most exciting Devil ever’...a fan base that was starved to have a player get attention and be a star with flash after years of Lou feeding us fruits and veggies got the ice cream and cake dessert for a brief time with the merc.

 

[Triumph]

i am genuinely befuddled how kovy can do what he did and somehow garner sympathy from some of you guys...

He doesn't have my sympathy, but he has my gratitude. Whether he did what he did for selfish reasons, and he certainly did, he saved the franchise an enormous headache by leaving.

 

[Call Me Al]

that's totally fair, but in the context of him playing in the arena tonight as a member of the LA kings, he should get booed out of the building

 

[OmNomNom]

no one will disagree that what he did was massively dick to do, but to think he did it to spite us, or that it was strictly money? nah. strictly money is too naive and simplistic to think about.

he made the same in russia as he made here, iirc when i read about it, but other factors HAD to have played a part too. for one, i think he regretted the 17 year term

 

[Call Me Al]

that's really my only point. i have no emotional investment in him anymore, i dont care about his personal life or reasons for leaving or whatever i just think he should be given a good hard time tonight and probably every time he plays in this building. i don't think anyone is going to argue that while he was here was one of the most exciting times to be a devil fan, we never had a player like him before

 

[mtnet]

He doesn't have my sympathy, but he has my gratitude. Whether he did what he did for selfish reasons, and he certainly did, he saved the franchise an enormous headache by leaving.

That's where I am too, my anger over his departure dissipated with the headaches we avoided later on. I don't care if people boo him out out of the building, all good fun really. I just think it's funny that of all the teams he could have gone to, he couldn't help keep the Kings out of the dumpster this year.

 

[Call Me Al]

i think he made more given the escrow and taxes in america compared to russia but i dont believe his salary was ever really revealed there

 

[theoptimist]

why we care so much about our ex?

 

[Call Me Al]

because he's playing in our building tonight for the first time! it's like your ex coming to your holiday party with the guy that beat you for the job promotion you really wanted lol

 

[JrFischer54]

JUST the contract part. Yea, JUST the part about where he signed to play here for 15 years and broke his contract after 3 years. Yea, just that little detail. No big deal.

it is a big deal but to quote forest gump sh*t happens. would you rather a player be playing for a team he isn't totally committed to? both players didn't want to be here and both left.

 

[JrFischer54]

That's where I am too, my anger over his departure dissipated with the headaches we avoided later on. I don't care if people boo him out out of the building, all good fun really. I just think it's funny that of all the teams he could have gone to, he couldn't help keep the Kings out of the dumpster this year.

25pts in 42 games isn't terrible. i thought he would be slightly better then that though

 

[theoptimist]

because he's playing in our building tonight for the first time! it's like your ex coming to your holiday party with the guy that beat you for the job promotion you really wanted lol

I just got angry

 

[Satans Hockey]

member Johnny Mac left, Gomez, Parise left, Madden left, everyone left practically. Holik, Nieds, etc. (except for a few Elias, etc). Everyone had their reasoning to staying or going, not my business.

All got booed as well besides Madden because he was at the end of his career. Can even argue Mac might have had his jersey retired if he didn't leave. Holik had fake money dumped on his head at the old arena in his first game back as a Ranger lol