There are currently six hockey players playing in the KHL who already have contracts with NHL clubs. They are goalkeepers Artur Akhtyamov (signed by Toronto) from Ak Bars, Alexey Kolosov (Philadelphia) from Dynamo Minsk, Spartak forwards Ivan Morozov (Vegas) and Alexander Pashin (Carolina), as well as Torpedo forwards Vladislav Firstov (Minnesota) and Nikolai Kovalenko (Colorado).
The seventh is CSKA goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov, whom the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers signed by Philadelphia, but the Russian side does not recognize him.
Kovalenko returned from injury to Torpedo and immediately scored 5 points (3+2) in three matches. It was clear what kind of striker the Nizhny Novgorod team lacked. Especially when in Balashikha, during the match against Vityaz, Nikolai found himself alone surrounded by four opponents. And he was already knocked down, but the striker managed to score a goal from a sitting position. We rarely see this!
“I have already scored with a header. Knee, legs too. But scoring from a sitting position, that never happened to me before,” Kolya said.
His father Andrei Kovalenko is a famous hockey player who himself played for Colorado when the club was based in Quebec. He joined the NHL at the age of 22 after winning the 1992 Albertville Olympics with the CIS team. Played 620 games in the league with Quebec, Colorado, Montreal, Edmonton, Philadelphia, Carolina and Boston. He returned to Russia in 2001 and became the leader of Lokomotiv, which won national championship gold in two consecutive seasons.
In general, Nikolai is the son of a hockey star parent. But that doesn’t stop him from showing off brilliantly. And I think when Kovalenko Jr. leaves for the NHL, he will quickly become an important player there.
From the interview with Nikolai Kovalenko you will learn:
“When you work with Larionov, every training session is like a vacation”
— What is the nuance that you play for Torpedo as a Colorado hockey player, having already signed a contract with them?
— First of all, now I’m thinking about Torpedo, how we can win the Gagarin Cup. And then I’ll try to help Colorado in the playoffs, if they let me.
I was very happy to sign with the Avalanche. For me, it was a dream to arrive in the NHL. When I signed, I was the happiest kid in the world.
At the same time, I understand that we cannot stop there. You have to continue to work to progress. When I get there, I don’t need to be in the third or fourth row, but I immediately work my way to a leading position in the top 6. Yes, there is strong competition there, but that only stimulates it. I will try very hard.
— Do you want to follow Kaprizov’s path?
– Yes, it’s true. And when they asked me why you don’t leave, because you are already 24 years old, I cited Kirill Kaprizov as an example. It is clear that he is always better than me in everything, as I think. But he won everything in Russia: he won the Gagarin Cup with CSKA, scored a golden goal at the Olympics and participated in the World Championships. And he calmly went to show his skills in Minnesota, immediately becoming the leader of the club.
Kaprizov left at 23, and he’s a good example that there’s no need to rush into the NHL. You must first become stronger in Russia and gain mastery. Moreover, you yourself understand what kind of coaching team is at Torpedo under the leadership of Igor Larionov. I told the young people last season: “Guys, you should have fun, feel good emotions every day. Come to training as if it were a vacation for you. Because it very rarely happens that at the start of your career you immediately come across such coaches. It’s just a fairy tale. When they’re not yelling at you, they’re not yelling at you, but they want to do everything to open you up and make you better.
Well, imagine, there was a period at Torpedo where we lost nine times in 15 matches. But no one shouted, there was no aggression towards the guys. No one was removed from the team or placed on the reserve list. Everyone understood perfectly well that such a period had come and that they had to go through it. We feel enormous support from the coaches.
“My father said that Tikhonov does not remember young people”
— Did your father have the chance to be a student of Viktor Tikhonov at CSKA and in the national team?
“I remember that dad always said that Viktor Vasilyevich did not remember young people. And he told them during the game, “Hey, boy! If one of the novice hockey players made a mistake, Tikhonov angrily went around the bench and looked for him: “Hey, boy, where are you? You don’t have to do this!
Of course, finding a strong coach is a big achievement. And you yourself understand what it was like to arrive at CSKA from Nizhny Novgorod in the late 80s. All the greats played in this team in the 1988/89 season, including the Makarov – Larionov trio – Krutov. It was 100% Igor Nikolaevich, because my father told me how Larionov was demoted to the fourth line, and they played together.
So I appreciate this experience. I try to have positive emotions every day. Don’t get discouraged if something doesn’t work. I find myself thinking that a few more months and that’s it, I’m leaving. And then you don’t know when you’ll see each other again, when you’ll work with the Torpedo staff. Therefore, I must appreciate every day I spend here.
— Do they pull you from Colorado after every game in the KHL, control you?
— The Avalanche is definitely watching me. Scouts write to me and congratulate me on my goals and my good play. I know that Colorado general manager Joe Sakic is calling Igor Nikolaevich and asking his opinion on me. Of course, I myself do not communicate directly with Sakik. It’s clear that when I was out for several weeks due to injury, the Avalanche became concerned and asked what was happening to me.
In other words, Colorado is very interested in me. And it’s very nice. They might have signed me to a contract, and the next communication would have been in the spring when I went to see them. When you’re often in contact with someone from the NHL, it’s more practical.
“It’s great that they don’t call me ‘daddy’s boy’ anymore.”
— Your name is also Tank, like your father. You saw the chronicle of how Andrei Kovalenko played in the early 90s. How are you different and how are you similar?
— Of course, I watched the matches. But you understand, it was another hockey there. There everyone crowded into the front, put it on their stick like a pitchfork, twisted it and tied it. Therefore, at that time, strong guys who could get out of such trouble were highly valued.
I think my dad and I have a noticeably different playing style. I saw a photo of Dad from 2002, when he was 32 years old. He was in great shape then!
— Andrei Kovalenko was the best player in the Russian championship when Lokomotiv won gold two years in a row.
— His muscle mass was incredible then. Just a beast! I think I’m a little more technical on the ice, no offense to my father. But his throw was very powerful.
My father once told me that he missed an empty goal when he was 22 years old. The coach told him to change his stick, and he made himself a helicopter hook. This also helped the pitching.
And we have the same character. I inherited many traits from my father. And this was facilitated by my first coach Eduard Timashev, who taught us from childhood to become men, no matter what.
And it’s cool when people no longer refer to you as “your father’s son”, but instead as “this is this player’s father”. But dad is an Olympic champion and a very cool player!
— I can compare your family to the Tkachuks of the NHL. Dad Keith Tkachuk was a flashy striker who played 1,201 league games. But his children Matthew Tkachuk (Florida) and Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa) have managed to emerge from his shadow and even surpass him in some respects. You have a younger brother, Ivan, who also shows promise. Maybe we will also have such a Kovalenko clan?
— Even though Vanya is only 14 years old, he has everything ahead of him. But it would be very cool if my brother and I one day meet in the NHL and take leading positions there. But being the son of a famous hockey player is not so easy if you play hockey yourself. Because my whole life, of course, I’ve been compared to my father. They said, “Well, your dad is a great player and you should work twice as hard.” »
Even when I was a kid, problems would arise and I usually wanted to finish playing hockey when they just wouldn’t put me in the lineup. They said I was small and wouldn’t play. I was constantly under enormous pressure, when everyone said: “Your father is cool, but what are you going to achieve?”
But everything is possible, the most important thing is faith, the desire to achieve it. I don’t want to brag, but I will say about myself that I am a hard worker. And that gives me confidence. As I like to say, if you work hard, the god of hockey will reward you for all the work you have done. You must be honest about the business you do.
I always think about it. And I want my father to be proud of me. I remember him saying he already had that feeling. But I want to surpass him in hockey so that he will be even more proud of me.
— I believe you will have a great career in the NHL and become a world-leading hockey player. We will call you from Russia!
– Or you can come see me in Denver, I’ll be very happy!
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.
