Atlanta Thrashers

The Atlanta Thrashers' Ilya Kovalchuk: Budding Hockey Legend?

Teenage hockey stars rarely say anything memorable at the NHL Entry Draft, preferring to get through the day on awkward smiles, mumbled answers and plenty of hair gel. But Ilya Kovalchuk was different. On the day before the Atlanta Thrashers made him the first pick of 2001, he declared his career goal: to be the greatest Russian hockey player ever.
Whether it was an off-hand remark or (more likely) the crowing of an 18-year-old accustomed to being the best player on every team at every tournament, the quote was considered a sign of Kovalchuk's callow arrogance. But considering his raw materials and what he has shown with the Atlanta Thrashers so far, "best Russian hockey player ever" might be within reach.
Who stands as the greatest Russian hockey player of all time? It could be the original legend, Vsevolod Bobrov, hub of the first Soviet dynasty in the 1950s. Candidates from the '60s and '70s include the fiery Boris Mikhailov and Vladislav Tretiak, the star goaltender. Viacheslav Fetisov and Igor Larionov won international titles in the 1980s and Stanley Cups in the '90s. Larinov is still going strong and his Detroit teammate, Sergei Federov, is one of the game's current masters.
But the man who sets the bar in Kovalchuk's mind is likely Valery Kharlamov, the dazzling playmaker and scorer who was perhaps the best hockey player in the world when the Soviet Union played Canada in the historic 1972 Summit series.
Kharlamov, whose stated goal was to "play the game beautifully," may be his country's most revered hockey player. His early death, in a car accident at the age of 33, enhances the legend. "Many greats followed, none with the quixotic flair… dash and charisma of the successor to Bobrov," wrote Lawrence Martin in "The Red Machine," a history of Russian hockey.
Flair, dash and charisma are words often used in describing Ilya Kovalchuk, who wears number 17 in Kharlamov's honor, though Kovalchuk is bigger and comes with a broader mean streak. At the age of 19, he is scoring at a pace of 40-to-50 goals per season, and his goals are often spectacular. He's also a winner, having led Russia to the World Under-18 and World Junior Championships before turning pro. He can play the game beautifully, although he and the rest of the Atlanta Thrashers often look very ugly indeed.
But Kovalchuk need only look to his immediate predecessors to see how quickly a promising career can plateau. While Russians have thrived in the NHL since the end of the Cold War, the most spectacular and talented have fallen short. Alexander Mogilny and Pavel Bure were fully expected to set the league on fire when they arrived (in 1989 and 1991, respectively), and for a while they did. At times, each looked like he might stake a claim to the title of greatest Russian hockey player. But they have been irregular scorers in recent years, grounded by injuries and occasionally indifferent play.
Perseverance - through the dog days of winter, losing seasons, coaching changes, left wing locks, draining road trips, revolving linemates, oak tree defensemen and pesky checking forwards - is perhaps the greatest challenge facing any NHL star. To go down as Russia's hockey player for the ages, Kovalchuk will have to rise above it all, stay healthy, play close to two decades of high impact hockey and avoid the ups and downs that plague so many exceptional talents from Vernon to Vladivostok. A handful of age-group medals and a solid rookie season are a decent start, nothing more.
With the Atlanta Thrashers struggling, Kovalchuk's triumphant junior years must now seem a distant memory. The Thrashers are a bad hockey team, losing games in bunches and playing to oceans of empty seats. Another new star, Minnesota's Marion Gaborik, is scoring more goals and making more headlines, while Kovalchuk learns to backcheck. "No matter how many goals you score, you can't give up more," said Thrashers' coach Curt Fraser, after scratching him from the lineup for a game in October. "He needs to learn that lesson now. He has to pay attention to defense."
The healthy ego apparently remains intact, which does not win him much support on the public relations front. The hockey code dictates that young players maintain at least a show of humility. Kovalchuk's self regard comes off as selfishness, a tag that has dogged Bure his entire career. The Thrashers don't seem too bothered. "I like his attitude," says Dany Heatley, the team's other emerging star.
But Kovalchuk might want to heed the words of his idol: "It is important for an athlete to always look at himself with impartial assessment," said Valery Kharlamov, "to look at himself, not with admiration, but with the stern eye of a critic."

posted by Link @ 10:10 AM