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What's Wrong with Kovalchuk?


mikepeluso8

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Gulitti's speculating that it's lower back:

Devils right wing Ilya Kovalchuk, who appears to be trying to play through a lower-back issue, played 21:20 in today’s 4-3 overtime loss in Philadelphia and did not register a shot on goal. He did have an assist on Travis Zajac’s power-play goal in the second period, though.

“It’s a tough one, but overall you’ve got ups and downs,” Kovalchuk said. “So, I’ve got to see what I can do better and be better next game.”

Kovalchuk was in the medical room for a while after the game and walked slowly through the locker room to go get dressed before returning to talk to the media.

When asked (for like the 20th time) if he is healthy, Kovalchuk replied, “Yeah” and then walked away.

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TG speculates it's a lower back issue on his most recent blog.

Says he spent a substantial amount of time in the medical room after the game yesterday and before slowly making his way back to the locker room.

It sucks losing a superstar player, and that NBC probably poisoned the minds of a lot of people with all the Kovy bashing they felt compelled to do during the game yesterday. The guy's getting a raw deal, probably still because of that contract.

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Still, half a Kovy is better than a whole anyone else we may have waiting in the wings.

Do we even have half? He really hurt us yesterday.

If he does play, he shouldn't be logging huge minutes and doing nothing. That's obviously on the coach, who would be a fool to just roll Kovalchuk out there maimed, playing the same amount of minutes and expecting a better result.

DeBoer deserves a lot of credit for putting together our bang-up fourth line. Now he's gotta do something about Kovalchuk. We need a lot to go right to win this series, and waiting around for a gimpy Kovalchuk to bang in a laser now and then doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

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Do we even have half? He really hurt us yesterday.

If he does play, he shouldn't be logging huge minutes and doing nothing. That's obviously on the coach, who would be a fool to just roll Kovalchuk out there maimed, playing the same amount of minutes and expecting a better result.

DeBoer deserves a lot of credit for putting together our bang-up fourth line. Now he's gotta do something about Kovalchuk. We need a lot to go right to win this series, and waiting around for a gimpy Kovalchuk to bang in a laser now and then doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

He's not playing the same amount of minutes. Yesterday's game went almost 65 minutes, he played 21 minutes. Here's his OT games this year:

LAK: 29:07

NSH: 32:02

SJS: 32:25

PHI: 24:38 (injured at end of 3rd period)

CBJ: 23:17

TOR: 25:40

OTT: 30:28

FLA: 28:14

WSH: 23:01

OTT: 26:01

EDM: 24:12

BUF: 29:15

NYR: 27:05

STL: 29:07

ANA: 24:22

TOR: 27:27

BOS: 26:12

COL: 25:22

TOR: 28:20

CHI: 24:34

In every OT game NJ played this season, Kovalchuk got more ice time. I don't see how much more they can cut his time - maybe get him down around 18 or 19 minutes a game - but anything more than that, I don't see it happening.

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Sucks to see Kovy like this :(

Big :( from me too. He's been dreaming of a moment like this for more than a decade. He's reached the second round of the playoffs with a very capable team. Not only that, but he HATES the Flyers and this matchup has sometimes brought out the best in him. Very painful and sad for us fans to see him hurting out there.

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Devils winger Ilya Kovalchuk did not speak with the media today. He was, according to a team spokesman, getting therapy.

It is assumed the therapy was physical. There were no further details, other than to say the right winger would join the team at some point as it heads to Philadelphia for Game 2 against the Flyers.

Kovalchuk did not have a shot on goal in Game 1 against the Flyers. Although he had his moments in the first round against the Florida Panthers, it was obvious he was dealing with an injury that could be a leg muscle.

But the second round against the Flyers did not start well. Coach Pete DeBoer was asked how he thought Kovalchuk played.

"I think the answer to that is pretty clear. Pretty obvious," DeBoer said.

"It's never for lack of effort with Kovy. You look around the series and great players go through stretches where things aren't working for them and then everything is working for them. You just have to work your way through it."

Kovy gets treatment for mysterious injury.

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Good answer by DeBoer, I don't care what anyone says. The second you admit that Kovalchuk is injured is the second you have to take him out of the lineup: big target bulls-eye on his back pretty much. Not saying he should be playing the rest of the series, but the option is still there.

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Good answer by DeBoer, I don't care what anyone says. The second you admit that Kovalchuk is injured is the second you have to take him out of the lineup: big target bulls-eye on his back pretty much. Not saying he should be playing the rest of the series, but the option is still there.

If we could all tell Kovy was playing hurt, the Flyers could as well. This is only news to fans who -- for some reason -- thought he was just half-assing it out there. Nothing really changes.

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If we could all tell Kovy was playing hurt, the Flyers could as well. This is only news to fans who -- for some reason -- thought he was just half-assing it out there. Nothing really changes.

I agree. I thought it's been obvious since Round 1. But I didn't notice any uncharacteristically physical play against him. Usually you notice some big hits or consistent targeting when a team knows who's got the injury. They go out of their way to hit him. Usually the case, but I didn't really notice it too much.

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If we could all tell Kovy was playing hurt, the Flyers could as well. This is only news to fans who -- for some reason -- thought he was just half-assing it out there. Nothing really changes.

+1

Kovys injury is clear as day. If the injury was the kind that could heal with a week of rest, clearly he would have been rested. Odds are he'll be stuck with whatever is bothering him the remainder of the season. Tough luck for the Devils, and tough luck for him. Unfortunately we have nothing that can replace him, even if he's playing at 50%..

Granted, I do think it would make sense to limit his defensive duties, like the PK, in his current condition.

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lose series, kovalchuk hurt forever, marty retires, devils go bankrupt, parise leaves... :koolaid:

Oh man, I would never go to see that film! Too depressing. The good guys (read: the Devils) are supposed to win! :P

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I don't see how much more they can cut his time - maybe get him down around 18 or 19 minutes a game - but anything more than that, I don't see it happening.

You really can't cut much more than that if he's playing a regular shift, agreed. The coach has to determine whether he's a liability and if he should dress Kovalchuk at all. Hopefully, his therapy helps him not be a liability.

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Unfortunately we have nothing that can replace him, even if he's playing at 50%.

I've seen a few people express this, but I'm not sure why. If he's not much of an offensive threat at even strength because of his injury, and he's an average defensive forward to begin with, then he's of little use. I'll take the healthy body.

Maybe he'll be better. He has to be. 50% of Kovalchuk (or whatever percent yesterday was) stinks.

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