Kovalev bashing

rwp2le · Guru

Kovalev bashing

Johab · Guru

Who is this MAts Naslund guy??....i hear about him ALL the time...but ive never seen him play...i never see any footage of him ....i've never seen any records by him...he doesnt seem to be THAT great a player. Can anyone enlighten me?

rwp2le · Guru

Markus Naslunds older brother. Played his glory days in the late 80's early 90's. May have scored 90 points or so, but was very small. 5'6 or something like that. Look him up on the net there should be lots about him.

Muller93 · Guru

rwp2le wrote:

Wow, I cant get over all the bashing of Alex Kovalev. He is the first super star we have had on this team in years. I personally can't remember a player this skilled on our team in my life time, unless you count Mats Naslund. There are a lot of people saying he doesnt show up every game, personally I dont see it. When Kovui is invisible so is Kovalev. But hey I guess we should expect him to beat all 5 guys when he has the puck, not just 3. It is very obvious that when this guy gets the puck a lot we win games. Next time you guys wanna say he didn't show, watch how many times he has the puck in the offensive zone with no help, and still beats 2 guys. Kovalev and Koviu are not our problems, team defense and goaltending are. A $6 million dollar goalie should be winning you games, not costing you them. Theo almost cost us that game last night, but yet again, Kovalev and Koviu were there to save his ass. Enough of this bashing of our superstar, or it will be many, many years before we see another again.

Well put. Clear as a bell to me. You may require a secret tonic to convince some yahoo's on this board however. Luckily not many yahoo's though.

rwp2le · Guru

I would just hate to see our fans and the media drive him out of town like they did with Pierre Turgeon and Mark Recchi. It is a shame how hard we are on our players. A team with our history should have no problem signing free agents. Look at the Laffs, they sign everyone. But that is because Habs fans are Habs fans, win or tie, am I right?

JohnM · Guru

Habs fans are either the best or worst fans in the world. The french media is a problem in itself...

barry33 · Guru

rwp2le wrote:

I would just hate to see our fans and the media drive him out of town like they did with Pierre Turgeon and Mark Recchi. It is a shame how hard we are on our players. A team with our history should have no problem signing free agents. Look at the Laffs, they sign everyone. But that is because Habs fans are Habs fans, win or tie, am I right?

Have to totally disagree with you. If you are saying that Leafs fans are faithful irregardless, you need to be reading some of the posts on tsn.com after they lose a game. "Fire Quinn", "Trade Sundin", "We Suck", "Belfour Sucks'. The truth is that Toronto is just as bad, or worse, a city to play in than Montreal. The only difference being that Toronto also has baseball and basketball to take some of the heat off the Leafs. But the fans in Toronto are every bit as critical and demanding than Montreal and then some.

As for the fans being hard on players, it's true. Montreal is not the place to play if you have a thin skin..or coach for that matter. However, the team has 24 Stanley Cups so you cannot argue with success. CJ told me that he relished the challenge of coaching there because he knew that every move he made would be second guessed. He thrives on that. I have heard Larry Robinson's name thrown about which is a joke. He could not stand the heat in the hockey wasteland of New jersey. The fact that Bob Gainey is giving his buddy carbo a year before he "puts him into the boiling water" indicates that it is a tough place to coach.

And finally, as for bashing Kovalev, he has been bashed everywhere he has played, not just Montreal. He used to drive fans and coaches nuts in New York and was labelled a floater. He has done very little to erase that reputation in Montreal. He seems to turn it on or off at will. Blame it on lack of linemates, blame it on too much Poutine, whatever. The fact is he signed a HUGE contract with the idea that he was going to be a marquee player. He now has 12 goals and 22 assists. Michael Ryder, who gets paid 1/5 the money, has 22 goals. (And yes I am ware that Kovalev was hurt). Kovalev is paid to score goals. He has not done that. Just liek CJ can blame his problems and demise on goaltending etc., you can say that Kovalev has no support. Suck it up Kovy. It is a well known fact in the league that he is a very selfish player which I have no problem with. But do your job Alex and put the little black thingy in the net.

salted_one · Veteran Member

rwp2le wrote:

Wow, I cant get over all the bashing of Alex Kovalev. He is the first super star we have had on this team in years. I personally can't remember a player this skilled on our team in my life time, unless you count Mats Naslund. There are a lot of people saying he doesnt show up every game, personally I dont see it. When Kovui is invisible so is Kovalev. But hey I guess we should expect him to beat all 5 guys when he has the puck, not just 3. It is very obvious that when this guy gets the puck a lot we win games. Next time you guys wanna say he didn't show, watch how many times he has the puck in the offensive zone with no help, and still beats 2 guys. Kovalev and Koviu are not our problems, team defense and goaltending are. A $6 million dollar goalie should be winning you games, not costing you them. Theo almost cost us that game last night, but yet again, Kovalev and Koviu were there to save his ass. Enough of this bashing of our superstar, or it will be many, many years before we see another again.

actually theo was pretty sharp and if it wasn't for the first 2, that 3rd one wouldn't have mattered (the 2nd one off our own defenceman) but you are right because this is not how theo has been playing lately. i really think it has nothing to do with his skill but theres somthin wrong in his head whether its stress from off the ice or extreme lack of confedence, he needs to solve his head problems. as for kovy, i think its his character that people dislike (because some of the coments he's made) more than his over-all play. no one can play great every game even the points leaders have off games and even slumps and maybe thats something we all have to realize. or not whatever suites you

Nil d · Guru

Johab wrote:

Who is this MAts Naslund guy??....i hear about him ALL the time...but ive never seen him play...i never see any footage of him ....i've never seen any records by him...he doesnt seem to be THAT great a player. Can anyone enlighten me?

Oh my, Johab, you are so young! Mats Naslund was, in my opinion, one of the best players the Habs have had since Guy Lafleur. Here is a link to his stats:

http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid%5B%5D=3913

Nil d · Guru

rwp2le wrote:

Markus Naslunds older brother. Played his glory days in the late 80's early 90's. May have scored 90 points or so, but was very small. 5'6 or something like that. Look him up on the net there should be lots about him.

Are you sure about them being brothers? I didn't think that was the case. Mats is 14 years older, and they come from different towns in Sweden.

He had a 110-point year, among other good ones. He was a tremendous player, but too small and his career was short as well.

Nil d · Guru

rwp2le wrote:

Wow, I cant get over all the bashing of Alex Kovalev. He is the first super star we have had on this team in years.

Superstar talent? Yes.

Superstar playing? Unfortunately, No.

On his "on" nights, he reminds me of Lafleur. On his "off" nights, I don't realize he's on the ice.

The guy has played 48 games for the Habs so far. Stats: 12 goals, 24 assists, for 36 points. 0.75 points per game, about the same as Markov, Ryder, and Ribeiro this year. Superstar? We can only dream!

barry33 · Guru

Nil d wrote:

rwp2le wrote: Wow, I cant get over all the bashing of Alex Kovalev. He is the first super star we have had on this team in years. Superstar talent? Yes. Superstar playing? Unfortunately, No. On his "on" nights, he reminds me of Lafleur. On his "off" nights, I don't realize he's on the ice. The guy has played 48 games for the Habs so far. Stats: 12 goals, 24 assists, for 36 points. 0.75 points per game, about the same as Markov, Ryder, and Ribeiro this year. Superstar? We can only dream!

Wll put Nilsey. If our "superstars" get alot of heat..too bad. When they sit down with their agents (like Kovy, Theo, etc) and negotiate a huge contract, to me the bar has been set that much higher..by THEM, not US. If you feel you are worth 4 million a year to score goals or stop a puck, you damn well best be ready to do it. If you cannot tak ethe "bashing" when you do not perform them perhaps it is time to join the rest of the "REAL" world and go work at WalMart for 18,000 a year.

JohnM · Guru

Nil d wrote:

Are you sure about them being brothers? I didn't think that was the case.

They are not brothers, just have the same last name.

plouf · Guru

Actually I think they are related in some way.
(Mats and Markus)

rwp2le · Guru

I just think it is funny how fast people forget that he signed here for less money than Pittsburgh offered him. So I guess he is selfish right, also world class players play a lot better when surrounded by other world class players. Not slammin Koviu or nothing, but the guy would be a second line center on most other teams in the league.

murphy · Veteran Member

rwp2le wrote:

Markus Naslunds older brother. Played his glory days in the late 80's early 90's. May have scored 90 points or so, but was very small. 5'6 or something like that. Look him up on the net there should be lots about him.

I don't know about being Markus's older brother but he was a very good player for the Habs. Played from 1982-90, a total of 617 games and had 243 goals and 369 assists for total of 612 points-not bad for a small guy, average of almost a point a game. He was a Koivu type player and I wish we had more like him today.

rwp2le · Guru

I was corrected, they are not brothers, don't know why I thought they were, Markus is a lot bigger than Mats was, but the skill levels are very similar. Mats only problem was that he was 5'6

Desi · Senior Member

Nilsy has it right here I think. No doubt Kovy CAN play like a superstar and he sometimes does. But it's certainly not every night, and his stats don't add up to anything that special. Superstars are players who bring it every night or damn near every night and give the opposition nightmares. Kovy has the ability, but doesn't seem to have the drive. Of course, we want him on the team for those nights when he does give 100%, because then he's awesome and part of a guy like him is better than all of a player like Bonk. But superstar? Remains to be seen...

les Canadiens sont la

habs93 · Veteran Member

Mats Naslund has the hockey championship - Hat Trick (Stanley Cup-Olympic Hockey Gold against Canada off Peter Forsberg's famous goal which The Swedish Govt made into a Swedish Postage Stamp and World Hockey Championship).......