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A new man

ROY MacGREGOR

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 5:05 PM EST 03/04/08

Last year, Montreal fans jeered Alexei Kovalev. This year, they cheer him. Roy MacGregor looks at the turnaround
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  1. Mike B from Canada writes: Mr. Kovalev, I would also love to see you carrying that trophy around the ice, with Bob and Guy right beside you. Year after year. And then read from Clark the Slightly that it was all a fluke and the Leafs were robbed!
  2. bort sears from Canada writes: It can be little wonder why skilled players like Kovalev lose interest in playing in the NHL, a league that would rather showcase its toughness than its skill. It is a shame that audiences must be subjected to Sportsnet's 'Fights of the Week'; idiocy of Don Cherry; and the rantings of the miseducated Brian Burke, to whom too many GMs seem to follow. Sometimes I hope that there will be a European league for which skilled players can flourish and not have to worry about players like the headhunting Pronger. It has been a rare treat to watch Kovalev work his magic this year and seems only fitting that he is doing so for Les Glorieux.
  3. Seth Montgomery from Brussels, writes: C'mon MacGregor, the Kostitsyn brothers are from Belarus. With this whole interweb, it isn't hard to check your facts!
  4. Alberto Bayo from Canada writes: AK27 is moving and skating this year...more than relying on positioning and jumping into the play at the right time. He is playing more like he did years ago....really nice to see. Loved seeing him undress Chara. Alex also seems to enjoy helping out the younger players, and the Kostitsyn brothers especially will benefit. Excellent profile... thanks Roy MacGregor. GO HABS GO
  5. Sean O'Reilly from Canada writes: It must be a contract year......
  6. Swifty J from Mtl, Canada writes: It's not a contract year for Kovalev.

    I admit I was as ready as anyone to throw him overboard last year. Now I'm delighted to have been proven wrong.
  7. Rick Firth from Dalhousie, Canada writes: Great read on Kovalev. The guy has been doing it all year for the Habs and ought to be considered for the Hart trophy. He is simply amazing to watch, game in and game out, a magician on ice. He is, by far, the best stickhandler in the game today. He has tremendous on-ice vision and is in a league with Gretzky, Mario, Orr as a creative master. Keep it up AK-27...you are a pleasure to watch!
  8. CD W from Canada writes: Montreal fans are like little children, no candy they whine. Live in toronto with our crap team and form a backbone.
  9. Erik Mielke from OSHAWA, Canada writes: Kovy is awesome what a joy to watch GO HABS!!!!
  10. Swifty J from Mtl, Canada writes: CD W, maybe you should take a page from our book. We made it clear that we wouldn't tolerate mediocrity, and the organization took note. In Toronto, a backbone only serves to make it easier to lie down and take what the Leafs dish out.
  11. Jorge Cad from Nassau, Canada writes: Just caught up on your coverage of the Canadiens. Not suprising, completely useless.

    Very sad that you call yourselve's Canada's newspaper. You are a local Toronto paper, nothing wrong with that, just accept that.

    Your business coverage is considred a joke on the desk here.

    Geo
  12. Jake McSnake from Canada writes: Hey,

    I smell of few Leaf fans in disguise here, Leafs Suck, nuff said.
  13. alex just a canadian from Canada writes: saw this guy at practice by himself, a true magician with that puck, doesn't even look like he is working. I wish the NHL had more talent of his kind. Win or lose he has earned my respect.
  14. T J from Canada writes: What surprises me still is that a skilled fellow like Kovalev lacks the character and moral fibre to be a true team player or leader. He isn't a professional. He virtually took last year off, with pay, and perhaps cost his team a playoff spot by his selfishness with and without the puck. He took rediculous penalties and then often times argued himself into double minors-thus withdrawing his services from the team at a high price. He dragged Samsonov down as well-they both were pouty,whiny complainers who epitomized the worst of the Russian imports. After Samsonov was shipped out, and Alexi had his walk in the park with Gainey, I believe only the did he see the light at the end of a one way ticket back to Russia and far away from the lucrative US dollar contact he had signed. Highly skilled he is. He remains self-centred-look at me everybody-look at my video-a pure money man. No more vertigo for Alexi this year. I just don't trust him in the clutch, like I don't trust a lot of Detroit's highly skilled Euro no-shows. Ovetchkin has shamed these money hungry phonies into cleaning up their acts through his skill and enthusiasm and with his well-deserved lucrative contact. I love the Habs and I enjoy watching Kovalev play. The flowing, dyed hair and the fancy skills video doesn't fool anybody. At least not Bob Gainey.
  15. Watcher of the skies from Montreal, of course., Canada writes: I would not be surprised that Koivu and Streit at the game, even if they're wounded. Do not underestimate their will to win the cup, that is the goal of their lives, and in this jersey, it can't be better. We will see after the first round, and start believing.

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