Who is this new guy, number 72 Alex Kovalev? Alexei or Alex Kovalev was born on 2/24/73 in Togliatt USSR. He is a 6'1" 222lb RW with a left handed shot. He is known as Kovy or AK 27 as his number had been 27 for most of his NHL career. Kovy is doing his second tour of duty as a Penguin so he should be familiar to most of us. Kovalev was drafed by the New York Rangers in 1991 witht the 15th overall pick in the 1st round. He played for the Rangers until he was traded to Pittsburgh on 11/25/98 along with Harry York for Petr Nedved, Sean Pronger, and Chris Tamer. While Kovy was a Penguin he recorded 112 regular season goals and 283 regular season points in 291 regular season games. His high water mark included a 44 goal/95 point season in 2001/02. Alex was traded back to the New York Rangers as part of the Penguins firesale on 2/10/03 along with Dan LaCouture, Janne Laukkenen, and Mike Wilson for Mikael Samuelsson, Rico Fata, Joel Bouchard, Richard Lintner and CASH.
On 3/13/04 he was traded to Montreal for a second round pick and Jozef Bailey. At the end of the season he became a UFA but signed again with Montreal for 4.5M for 4 years.
During the 2004-05 lockout Kovalev played for AK Bars Kazan in the Russian Super League, and he played for Russia in the 2005 World Championships, where he was named the best forward. Kovalev has some up and down years in Montreal before signing a 2 year 10M contract with Ottawa on 7/06/09. On 11/22/2010 Kovy recorded his 1,000th NHL point at exactly the 10:00 minute mark of period one against the LA Kings. That is very weird! He was traded back to the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of trade deadline weekend deal that involved the Penguins sending a conditional 7th round pick to Ottawa in return. Kovalev has among others, the following distinctions:
First Russian drafted in the first round;
First Russian along with three others to have his name on the Stanley cup as part of the Rangers 1994 Cup team;
First Russian named as captain of an NHL All-Star team;
He is a licensed pilot;
We won a Gold medal in both the 1992 World Championships AND 1992 Olympics;
He was an NHL All-Star in 2001,2003 and 2009;
He won The Hockey News Sakku Koivu Award as Comeback Player of the Year in 2008;
He won the Stanley Cup in 1994;
Kovalev has played in 1285 NHL regular season games, recording 427 goals and 1018 points, while adding another 44 fgoals and 98 points in 116 NHL playoff games! Welcome back Kovy!
On 3/13/04 he was traded to Montreal for a second round pick and Jozef Bailey. At the end of the season he became a UFA but signed again with Montreal for 4.5M for 4 years.
During the 2004-05 lockout Kovalev played for AK Bars Kazan in the Russian Super League, and he played for Russia in the 2005 World Championships, where he was named the best forward. Kovalev has some up and down years in Montreal before signing a 2 year 10M contract with Ottawa on 7/06/09. On 11/22/2010 Kovy recorded his 1,000th NHL point at exactly the 10:00 minute mark of period one against the LA Kings. That is very weird! He was traded back to the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of trade deadline weekend deal that involved the Penguins sending a conditional 7th round pick to Ottawa in return. Kovalev has among others, the following distinctions:
First Russian drafted in the first round;
First Russian along with three others to have his name on the Stanley cup as part of the Rangers 1994 Cup team;
First Russian named as captain of an NHL All-Star team;
He is a licensed pilot;
We won a Gold medal in both the 1992 World Championships AND 1992 Olympics;
He was an NHL All-Star in 2001,2003 and 2009;
He won The Hockey News Sakku Koivu Award as Comeback Player of the Year in 2008;
He won the Stanley Cup in 1994;
Kovalev has played in 1285 NHL regular season games, recording 427 goals and 1018 points, while adding another 44 fgoals and 98 points in 116 NHL playoff games! Welcome back Kovy!
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