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Inconceivable. Kovy vs. The Kings


Neb00rs

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The two teams that Ilya was deciding between are in the finals. Unebelievable. The media will make it seem like Ilya rejected the Kings, but the truth is that the Kings didn't feel he was worth sacrificing that much for him. They might have been right for themselves to not but I hope Ilya has a big series and shows them why he chose the Devils and deserved the big contract.

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/pro_sports/hockey/Devils_Ilya_Kovalchuk_thirsty_for_that_first_sip_from_the_Stanley_Cup.html?c=y&page=1

Edited by ben00rs
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I like this post, but why are we pretending Kovy chose the Devils for reasons other than an extra $20 million plus? He (and his wife) clearly preferred LA.

Well, money is certainly not Kovy's only factor in signing with the Devils but your point is kind of the point of my original post. While everyone will spin it that way, this is not a story of, "Kovy rejected the Kings and picked the Devils." This is a story of, "The Kings didn't feel Kovy was worth outbidding the Devils." And I for one, hope Kovy goes in there and shows them what they missed out on.

EDIT: Also I'm updating the OP with this article from TG: http://www.northjers...html?c=y&page=1

“It’s a team sport, hockey, and some great players never won, but you definitely want to be the winner,” he said. “I really believe in hard work and if you work hard every day, you do everything to be successful, there’s always going to be a chance. It looks like this year is my chance and I will try to do everything to get the job done.”

- this one is going in my sig after the finals.

Edited by ben00rs
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I like this post, but why are we pretending Kovy chose the Devils for reasons other than an extra $20 million plus? He (and his wife) clearly preferred LA.

Admittedly, the way the whole signing went down made it hard to warm up to him initially...just felt like his agent was doing whatever he could to make LA happen, to keep pulling the Kings back in. It was so drawn out...it was exhausting to watch...I can only imagine how it must have felt for all involved parties by the time it was finally over with.

That being said, Kovy would hardly be the first guy who chose money over where he thought he'd be happiest at that time...but it does seem like he's embraced everything about being a Devil and hasn't thought about LA one bit since signing here...so at this point, how and why he stayed here isn't really relevant anymore. He's here, he's producing, and he's a big reason why this team finds itself in the SCF. That's all we ever wanted.

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I don't think you all have the whole reasons he chose NJ over LA right.

I think we don't know. I can't guess and I can guess about EVERYTHING! I can tell you why I think Henrique ordered eggs for breakfast -- and why it is he never actually would have if not for the reason I gave -- and I'd have half of you believing it because I'm observant and rational and manipulative.

But Kovauchuk's signing.... I have zero idea. I have no idea what LA was really saying. I have no idea what Kovalchuk really wanted. I have no idea what his agent was doing or why. There are just too many unknowns - too much was going on that we had no way of knowing or even GUESSING.

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I think there is a lot of rewritting of history here. The fact is Dean Lombardi was NEVER interested in Kovy.

The Kings didn't even give him an offer.

It was only AFTER the Devils gave Kovy an offer that Kovy's agent ran back to the Kings owners to try and up the Devils bid.

I don't blame Kovy, and his agent was only doing his job trying to help Kovy's wife's acting "career". But to say the Kings were in the running was just false. Those were just rumors put out by Kovy's agent (which dupped some people).

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I think there is a lot of rewritting of history here. The fact is Dean Lombardi was NEVER interested in Kovy.

The Kings didn't even give him an offer.

It was only AFTER the Devils gave Kovy an offer that Kovy's agent ran back to the Kings owners to try and up the Devils bid.

I don't blame Kovy, and his agent was only doing his job trying to help Kovy's wife's acting "career". But to say the Kings were in the running was just false. Those were just rumors put out by Kovy's agent (which dupped some people).

Looks like Kovy was given an offer according to this article:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/07/ilya-kovalchuk-dean-lombardi-kings-nhl-hockey-free-agency.html

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Lombardi did say he liked Kovalchuk "much better" after the Russian winger visited Los Angeles last Sunday night through midday Tuesday.

Again, it wasn't until AFTER the Devils made thier offer and then gave him a lower offer than the Devils.

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I think there is a lot of rewritting of history here. The fact is Dean Lombardi was NEVER interested in Kovy.

The Kings didn't even give him an offer.

It was only AFTER the Devils gave Kovy an offer that Kovy's agent ran back to the Kings owners to try and up the Devils bid.

I don't blame Kovy, and his agent was only doing his job trying to help Kovy's wife's acting "career". But to say the Kings were in the running was just false. Those were just rumors put out by Kovy's agent (which dupped some people).

So which is it, the Kings didn't even give him an offer, or they gave him an offer after the Devils did? Does a 15-year, $80 million offer sound like they weren't interested, or not in the running? You don't throw around that kind of coin and term if you're not interested. Your first post simply wasn't accurate.

What that offer did show is the Kings had a price that they thought was more than fair in mind and weren't willing to budge...actually, very Lou-like in their approach. They basically told Kovy, "You want to be a King, it's pretty much on you at this point...how much money do you really need?" I don't blame the Kings for drawing the line, and I don't blame Kovy for not leaving $20 million on the table.

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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Yeah i remember the 15 year 80 million offer being discussed and happening.

I don't blame Kovy for doing what he did. Players and their families have lots of reasons for choosing where to work, it's a personal decision and it's a business decision. But at the time it sure looked like they wanted LA and would have went there if the price was even close.

In any case, I'm currently happy he chose NJ, and I'm happy about that contract...for now.

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Yeah i remember the 15 year 80 million offer being discussed and happening.

I don't blame Kovy for doing what he did. Players and their families have lots of reasons for choosing where to work, it's a personal decision and it's a business decision. But at the time it sure looked like they wanted LA and would have went there if the price was even close.

In any case, I'm currently happy he chose NJ, and I'm happy about that contract...for now.

If the Devils win the Cup, there's pretty much no pressure on Kovy, unless his play really tanks in the next few years. Just the fact that they got there gives him a lot of leeway, but if the Devils win this thing, you won't hear a peep about his contract for a loooooooooong time. And yeah, whatever went happened in the past happened...the end result some wanted was Kovy remaining here, the end result we ALL wanted was the Devils having a chance to win a Cup. I don't care about 2010 anymore.

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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So which is it, the Kings didn't even give him an offer, or they gave him an offer after the Devils did? Does a 15-year, $80 million offer sound like they weren't interested, or not in the running? You don't throw around that kind of coin and term if you're not interested. Your first post simply wasn't accurate.

What that offer did show is the Kings had a price that they thought was more than fair in mind and weren't willing to budge...actually, very Lou-like in their approach. They basically told Kovy, "You want to be a King, it's pretty much on you at this point...how much money do you really need?" I don't blame the Kings for drawing the line, and I don't blame Kovy for not leaving $20 million on the table.

Fair enough: They basically told Kovy, "You want to be a King, it's pretty much on you at this point".

I guess my point was Kovy was courting the Kings more than the Kings were courting Kovy. The Kings didn't do anything until AFTER Kovy's agent went running to them AFTER Lou gave him the Devils offer.

Lombardi is a Lou apprentice.

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If the Devils win the Cup, there's pretty much no pressure on Kovy, unless his play really tanks in the next few years. Just the fact that they got there gives him a lot of leeway, but if the Devils win this thing, you won't hear a peep about his contract for a loooooooooong time. And yeah, whatever went happened in the past happened...the end result some wanted was Kovy remaining here, the end result we ALL wanted was the Devils having a chance to win a Cup. I don't care about 2010 anymore.

I do my very best to ignore any "off-ice" issues because I feel like no matter how insignificant they are, the media will try to latch onto it and make it seem like a huge deal. Parise could say oh yeah, I do miss Minn a bit, it is my home and all. The media would have a field day with that about how it's a sure thing he sign with Minny next year. It's all speculative BS and I really don't worry about any of that kind of stuff until a player is playing awful or makes it clear they want out or the team says they're looking to dump said player. Just like with the Devils financial "hardships". The only place that was saying sh!t about it was the NY Post, which people should take about as seriously as those stories from the National Enquirer.

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Maybe we can get that 50 goal season we've been hoping for! boogie.gif

I don't this team is built that way, but I'll take 35-40 goals from Kovy 2.0 for the next few years (especially since his mistakes are fewer and less glaring).

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