40-year-old Ilya Kovalchuk has repeatedly said in an interview with that he has not yet finished his sports career. And recently he made it clear that in two weeks he will decide whether to return to the KHL.
Kovalchuk is the most valuable player of the Olympic Games Gold (2018), two-time world champion (2008, 2009) and winner of three Gagarin Cups (2015, 2017, 2021).
We spoke with Zhamnov after the Fonbet KHL championship match against Lokomotiv (2:4). Spartak currently occupies fifth place in the KHL Western Conference standings with 16 points.
—You celebrated your birthday recently (October 1st), how was it celebrated?
“I had dinner with my family at home, that’s all.” In the morning I was again at Spartak training.
— The “Reds-Whites” do not play very coherently. Which Spartak match do you consider ideal for the start of the championship? What should fans focus on?
— I will only be able to answer this question after the season. Only one month of the championship has passed. There were a lot of good matches, but also a lot of bad ones. We need to find that happy medium. We will try to do this as quickly as possible. But now I can’t tell you. There are matches in which we have won. But I can’t say we executed them perfectly.
— For the second year they are discussing the exchange of defender Alexander Nikishin from Spartak to SKA. In exchange, your club received the rights to nine players at once. Can we now say that there are advantages here too for the “reds and whites”?
— We will also evaluate this trade based on the last game of the season. The same Ivan Morozov is a good center. The guy went through some tough times before leaving for North America. It’s clear that in the AHL farm club he didn’t play the hockey he could. There are different circumstances, and hockey there is a little different. Well, here Morozov still needs a little more time. I know how he can play. And he knows it himself. He hasn’t reached the level yet where we’ve seen him open up 100 percent.
— Are you in contact with Mikhail Maltsev, to whom you also have rights? He signed with Los Angeles but was sent back to the AHL.
— I cannot answer yet, because we are speaking while it has not yet gone through the proposed exemption procedure. He could be taken to another NHL club within 24 hours. And when they are finished, starting Tuesday, we will understand what happens next. We are in contact with Maltsev’s agent and will have more information on his further actions soon.
— The main thing is to arrive before the December deadline in the KHL?
– We’ll see, yes. I think Maltsev himself is more interested in playing here than in a farm club.
— How much does your young locker room need a leader as veteran as Ilya Kovalchuk?
– I think that such a mentor is of course necessary. This is not even discussed. Ilya has extensive experience and great authority. Of course, such players are needed. But I have already said several times that this decision depends on Kovalchuk himself.
— You didn’t play professional hockey at 40, did you?
— Yes, I finished at 36 because of an injury.
– But it’s difficult to come back when you’ve missed two years. Does he need to follow a special diet at Spartak?
– Yes, but I saw Ilya several times, and we went skating with him in the summer. He is still fit and in good shape. And such a hyper-athletic person. He still works as well in the gym as he does on the ice. I believe it won’t be a big problem for Kovalchuk to return to big hockey.
— If Kovalchuk plays for Spartak, you will have full houses at every match. Is this also an argument?
– That would be wonderful! But I can’t complain anyway. We play in Moscow, the fans come to support us. We come to the region and there are a lot of supporters who support us there. The Spartak audience is very large. We are grateful to them for still being with us. And the arrival of Kovalchuk will only strengthen this effect.
Watch Fonbet matches of the KHL championship on the channels of the Match holding company, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
