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The "Now That We've Had Time To Digest This Thread"


Colorado Rockies 1976

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Yeah yeah yeah it's a blessing

Truth is, this team is now without a star player, and, while it sounds lame, the honest truth is that stars put butts in the seats.

I'm truly dreading seeing 12k people in the arena during a Thursday night game in December if the team gets off to a predictably slow start.

 

Blue Jackets put butts in seats with Rick Nash, but they're better off without him and are going to get even more butts in seats now that they're competitive. Even with Kovalchuk, no one showed up to Thrashers games.

Bottom line: People will show up if you put a good product out on the ice.

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Blue Jackets put butts in seats with Rick Nash, but they're better off without him and are going to get even more butts in seats now that they're competitive. Even with Kovalchuk, no one showed up to Thrashers games.

Bottom line: People will show up if you put a good product out on the ice.

The difference is Colunbus didn't give up anything to get Nash and got a lot in return for him when he left.

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Yeah yeah yeah it's a blessing

Truth is, this team is now without a star player, and, while it sounds lame, the honest truth is that stars put butts in the seats.

I'm truly dreading seeing 12k people in the arena during a Thursday night game in December if the team gets off to a predictably slow start.

Marty is a megastar and Schneider could be a star...I watched a lot of canucks games last year and he is an exciting goalie to watch..in my opinion we have 2 of the most exciting goalies in the league (ie not just straight drop to your knees and get hit). Any time I would go to a game in the past and see the non-marty goalie was getting the start I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed. Now I would be extremely excited either way. 

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Kovalchuk's value, besides his stellar 4 on 5 work, seems to be mostly that he was taking ice time from worse players.  That's about it - the ability to take ice time away from players worse than him, both on the power play and at even strength.  I think he was good not great on the power play, but I don't put much ability in myself to evaluate guys on the power play from a numbers perspective.  From an eye-test perspective his decision-making and positioning was less than ideal, but he was occasionally a wizard and that slapshot is second-to-none.

 

Basically I don't think it's that valuable to have a forward putting up 70+ points if he's taking 25 minutes to do it.  If Brunner or someone else can put up similar rates while only playing 16 minutes of ice time, the Devils are not losing all that much - they have the depth this year to not have to rely on a 25 minute a game Kovalchuk.

 

I could not agree more

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If Lou helped facilitate this move it is a massive coupe for the Devils moving forward. Kovalchuk needs seasons like he had in 2011-12 to be worth his contract. I think his game is going drastically down hill and fast.

 

His 2011-12 season is not that great.  Sure, he was way up there in goal scoring and points but he led the league in ice time by an enormous margin, and got to play with Zach Parise for most of the season.  

 

Maybe it's unfair to hold that against him and maybe he'd be better if he were used, say, 21 minutes a game, but even if you take out his short-handed minutes (and points), his rates don't look elite, they look average.  Part of that is the Devils' D system perhaps, but still.

Edited by Triumph
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I feel a little betrayed just because he was my 2nd favorite player behind Elias, but I know the team will probably be better off in teh long run (if not short run too) if they get someone like Brunner like Jason and Tri said. I still can't grasp how you'd wanna live in Russia over NYC suburbs since it's basically a 3rd world country, but that's just because I'm not from there I guess. IF it's just for family, I can't really fault him for that. Though if he just left because he didn't wanna pay escrow, I hope he blows out both his ACLs tomorrow at the press conference

Edited by DH26
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You know what?  I'm going to do exactly the same thing I did last summer when Parise left.

 

I'm just go to step back, and forget about hockey for a while.  I'm still beyond pissed off and its been like 4 hours since the story broke.

 

I'll see you all in a few days.  There's no sense to me sticking around and just spewing negativity. 

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I'm not saying anything in my post is right but it's my emotional reaction to some pretty shocking news. Emotion clouds judgement but I'm just going to state how I feel.

 

At first I had mixed emotions towards Kovalchuk and the situation. As the day wore on it went more into anger. I understand why he did what he did but it's frustrating as a fan of the Devils, to see the organization jump through hoops, suffer penalties, to give him the long term commitment he wanted, to see him spit on the contract and go home. With my allegiance being to the organization it's disappointing to see a player just outright ignore his contract to go for a cash grab.

 

I know it's not sensible but I can't help but play the "what if" game in my head. What if there was no lockout (again) and the NHL execs actually focused on the sport rather than the bottom line? What if the Devils didn't put all their eggs in the Kovalchuk basket, could Parise have been brought back? I know this isn't necessarily healthy or rational thinking but as a fan today, it's hard for me to not have these questions in my head.

 

I know that while this sucks in the short term, it's ultimately better for the team in the long run. Still, I can't help but feel angry and betrayed whether that is right or wrong.

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To echo the sentiments of many on the board:

 

Short term- It absolutely ******* blows. He was a beast on the PK and obviously an asset on the PP. Also, we're probably worse off in the shootouts (yay Clowe!)  However, it's not going to kill us at ES.  I do feel better that we actually have a competent 4th line so we don't have to see the Janssen's and Barch's of the world. 

 

Long term- This is awesome. We all knew he wasn't going to play out the whole contract, so there was a good chance we were gonna get dinged with a hefty recapture price. 
 

In terms of the sale of the Devils.....this MAY be a help. They shed 55 million over the next 5 years, which could make the team more attractive. Even if JVB keeps the team (barf), it will give him more flexibility.

 

As a fan, it feels like we've been punched in the gut TOO many times the last few years.  Between Parise, injuries, financial woes and now Kovy, you gotta wonder when all this crap will end. It'll sting seeing Kovalchuk and Parise gear around the Rock, but it's probably for the better long term health of the franchise. 

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His 2011-12 season is not that great. Sure, he was way up there in goal scoring and points but he led the league in ice time by an enormous margin, and got to play with Zach Parise for most of the season.

Maybe it's unfair to hold that against him and maybe he'd be better if he were used, say, 21 minutes a game, but even if you take out his short-handed minutes (and points), his rates don't look elite, they look average. Part of that is the Devils' D system perhaps, but still.

The goals per ice time is a new one, or it isn't something I've read in anything you've written before today. Pretty flimsy if you ask me.

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I was taught that in every negative there is a positive.  It may not be apparent immediately but it will happen.  The reverse is true also.  In every positive there is a negative and you have to be prepared when it shows up.  We found the negative in the positive when Kovalchuk decided to retire immediately.  Now out of this negative there will be positives.  The end of the contract and only being penalized $250K  a year for the length of contract is a positive.  We will have to wait to see how it plays out and one never knows how current and future players work out. :)

 

One thing that I don't understand is why folks are complaining about losing the pick.  NJD could have given up a first round pick in 2012, 2013 but chose 2014.  If we gave it up in 2012 the point would be moot.  There would be no going back and saying we shouldn't have lost the pick and want it back.  It is what it is.  Lou had the opportunity to use it in previous years and waited and agreed to give it up in 2014.  Who knows what happens from that.  Trading for a pick isn't unusual.  ;)

 

I can live with this entire situation.  No need wasting energy on something I don't have control over. :)

 

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His 2011-12 season is not that great.  Sure, he was way up there in goal scoring and points but he led the league in ice time by an enormous margin, and got to play with Zach Parise for most of the season.  

 

Maybe it's unfair to hold that against him and maybe he'd be better if he were used, say, 21 minutes a game, but even if you take out his short-handed minutes (and points), his rates don't look elite, they look average.  Part of that is the Devils' D system perhaps, but still.

 

I think the extra minutes kill the rate, though.    Of course there's no way we'll ever know now, unless he comes back as a broken down 38 year old so people can throw sh!t at him.   Perhaps literally.

 

Now, if it was 2001 Elias who ran off to Russia, I'd drive my car off a cliff

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I don't blame the league for this one bit. The KHL will never, ever be a league that can compete with the NHL. The only star players who will want to be in that league are the greedy money hungry cowards like Kovy.

I don't need anytime to digest this because my stance will never change on this. I wish kovy nothing but the worst and I hope an injury comes back and bites him in the ass so he can't collect all the money he left us for.

fvck him, fvcking piece of sh!t.

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I think the extra minutes kill the rate, though.    Of course there's no way we'll ever know now, unless he comes back as a broken down 38 year old so people can throw sh!t at him.   Perhaps literally.

 

Now, if it was 2001 Elias who ran off to Russia, I'd drive my car off a cliff

 

How many minutes do you want to trim off?  His last full season in Atlanta he played 14:52 per game at ES and scored 43 points.  He had 46 points in 14:31 per game in 2008.  He had 42 points in 17:33 in 2012.  And that was his 'good' year.  

 

(Territorially he was not great in all of these years, so we can talk about that if you like, but his GOALS ON rate collapsed when he left Atlanta - goals against got way better too)

Edited by Triumph
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I don't blame the league for this one bit. The KHL will never, ever be a league that can compete with the NHL. The only star players who will want to be in that league are the greedy money hungry cowards like Kovy.

I don't need anytime to digest this because my stance will never change on this. I wish kovy nothing but the worst and I hope an injury comes back and bites him in the ass so he can't collect all the money he left us for.

fvck him, fvcking piece of sh!t.

A little bit of perspective helps. It's a frigging game, that's it. I have an irrational sense of grief over it, but I don't wish anything bad on Kovy, except that it'll feel a little better than it wouldn't have been a huge loss.

In the end, this is entertainment. I don't hate Jerry Seinfeld because he pulled the plug on the show, and I certainly dont wish him any physical harm.

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A little bit of perspective helps. It's a frigging game, that's it. I have an irrational sense of grief over it, but I don't wish anything bad on Kovy, except that it'll feel a little better than it wouldn't have been a huge loss.

In the end, this is entertainment. I don't hate Jerry Seinfeld because he pulled the plug on the show, and I certainly dont wish him any physical harm.

 

Ha! I love the analogy. Much like Kovy's career, the longer Seinfeld would have ran the worse the show quality would have got.

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Points per minute is so old even ESPN has listed it on their stats page. :lol:

I've seen shots per 60, which makes a certain amount of sense.

When he isn't there next year, we'll see if it means anything, especially if we get someone like Brunner or Jagr.

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How many minutes do you want to trim off?  His last full season in Atlanta he played 14:52 per game at ES and scored 43 points.  He had 46 points in 14:31 per game in 2008.  He had 42 points in 17:33 in 2012.  And that was his 'good' year.  

 

(Territorially he was not great in all of these years, so we can talk about that if you like, but his GOALS ON rate collapsed when he left Atlanta - goals against got way better too)

 

I don't know, I just know his minutes were sub-optimal.   I'm not sure he's good enough to put up big point totals in 18ish minutes like Elias in 01 or big goal totals like Mogs did that year with 16ish minutes TOI, but I would think playing less would have resulted in more optimal shifts.

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Kovalchuk didn't retire. He whimpered out and quit on his team where he was the guy and decided to leave to go home. There he will play with SKA. And he isn't leaving any damn money on the table. If reports are true from TFP he is going to make $15 to $20 million A YEAR in the KHL. I can respect his desire to go home, but to leave a franchise that depends on you so much without any real notice or time for them to prepare and what not?

 

Unbelievable. With Parise and Kovalchuk leaving over a 3 year span it would be like Bergeron and Chara leaving Boston, Ovechkin and Green leaving Washington, Datsyuk and Zetterberg leaving Detriot, or Getzlaf and Perry leaving the Ducks.

 

Has any franchise in any sport taken such repeated blows almost every other year? Not just these two, Clarkson, Gomez, Nieds, Rafalski, etc. But then you have such faithful guys like Marty, Elias, Zajac, etc.

Edited by Mayday
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Glad we got rid of that ridiculous contract. He fvcked us, no way to sugar coat it. We lose a pick, got a fine, and now we have to fill in this mega hole. Either way can't wait for hockey and to see a team that doesn't have any prima donnas on it.

Kovy was not a prima donna.

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