Coach of Spartak Moscow Alexei Kovalev in an interview with , he compared the possible return of Ilya Kovalchuk to big hockey with the return of Mario Lemieux to the sport.
40-year-old striker Ilya Kovalchuk has not played since April 2021, when he won the Gagarin Cup with Avangard. As manager of the Russian national team, Kovalchuk traveled to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, where the team won silver.
— You were in Pittsburgh when, on December 27, 2000, Mario Lemieux returned to big hockey after three and a half seasons. In the first match you beat Toronto (5:0) and SuperMario scored 3 (1+2) points. Are these stories similar?
– These players cannot be compared. Lemieux is a completely different style, with a different experience. I won’t say that Ilya is worse than Mario. But they’re still not close. Kovalchuk has his own skills, he knows how to score and beat. Well, Lemieux knows very well where to be on the court when he’s in the opponent’s zone – how to get open, where to pass. He has very good timing in every way.
Another nuance is that when Lemieux returned, he played with the same hockey players he had played with before. Jagr, other Czechs, me, he knew everyone, and Pittsburgh had many world-class grandmasters on its roster. It was easier for him to come back because Mario wanted to play the game rather than take the lead.
Ilya will have to play a little differently. When he returns, he will have to take the first step somewhere. And we, as coaches, will look for options for someone to play with him and help him come back quicker. But it is painstaking work and, in any case, it will take time,” Kovalev told .
Spartak is in first place in the Western Conference (51 points) and on Thursday the team will face Kunlun.
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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.
