yes its true ,but why cant he do that more often , he seems to slow the pace down instead of picking it up when he has the puck .

AB Habman wrote:

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Many of the best players have a knack of slowing the play down to make a play. It shuts down defensive skating and opens up the ice. Remember how great Lemieux was at it. Kovy is no Lemieux but he can still control the tempo of the game.

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Don't forget about Doug Harvey on that list. He was called Lazy for slowing the pace of games down but he was effective.

macneil wrote:

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i was more commenting on the fact he rarely does anything at full speed like other russian stars ,

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 Oh, sorry macneil. Misunderstood you.

 Pavel Bure could sure fly with the puck on a string. You're right....most Russians that were elite usually did things at high speeds.

 

Kovalev is not a typical Russian, he actually goes into the corners, and works the boards. His speed is not his best asset, it is the power in his legs. He is an amazing skater, but more because of the power.  Kovalev is really a power forward who has hands of gold.  He slows the game down the way Orr did (not saying he is comparable to Orr), so he can use small bursts of speed as a finish to his moves.  Even when he played with Mario, he would grind the game tempo down.  It seems to me he works best at 1/2 to 3/4 full speed with that little burst at the end.  He goes from 1/2 speed to full speed faster than any Hab I can remember.  I think that is why he slows it down. 

Just curious AB- Would you still want to trade Kovy for Peca??