Alex Kovalev: I deserve to be inducted into the Hall of Fame

In the last few hours, Alexandre Gascon wrote an article after hearing what Alex Kovalev had to say. The former Canadien opened up on several subjects concerning the Habs.

For those interested, you can read it here.

The former Montreal Canadien talked about the pressure Montreal puts on field hockey players. He sometimes found it too much (he’s already taken a break from the media, unable to say the same thing over and over again), but he loved Montreal.

But that’s not what we should remember. Kovalev loved playing in Montreal, and during his five campaigns in the city, he claims to have had a lot of fun and to have thrived on the passion and pressure of the fans.

You could feel it.

Leaving for Ottawa in 2009 was a mistake, and he’s the first to say so. He’s said it many times over the years, but he lost his way in Ottawa instead of accepting a little less money with the Habs.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d take the Habs’ offer rather than the Senators in the summer of 2009. – Alex Kovalev

He talked about how much he enjoyed playing against Boston in the playoffs and all the good things Montreal had to offer. He didn’t talk about the full experience, the many games where he did nothing on the ice, but I didn’t expect to see him go there.

This citizen of the world put his self-confidence on full display when talking about the Hockey Hall of Fame:

I think I deserve to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. – Alex Kovalev

Does not being in the Hall of Fame keep him up at night? No. He’s been inducted into the Russian one, and he’s comfortable with the fact that it’s perhaps the biggest honor he’ll ever receive.

But that doesn’t stop him from thinking that he still deserves his place in the sun.

He is aware, however, that with “everything that’s going on in the world” right now, a Russian player might have a hard time making it into the Toronto Hall of Fame.

He’s right: it could affect attitudes in 2023.

I think Kovalev deserves his place. He has over 400 goals (430) and over 1000 points (1029), as well as winning the Stanley Cup. He was a real star in New York, Montreal and Pittsburgh, so not in anonymity.

His name doesn’t seem to come up very often, though…

In Brief

– Starting tonight.

KC
JAX
NYJ
PIT

MIA
CIN
LAKE

_

PHI
DET
SF
ATL

DAL
SEA
GB

Have a great season! 🏈 pic.twitter.com/T34MJVJuT0

– Renaud Bourbonnais (@RenBourbon) September 7, 2023

– Ouch.

– To be continued.

– Official.

– That’ll help create a rivalry.

Hilary Knight to head to Boston in the LPHF!🏒

Aerin Frankel and Megan Keller are the other two players signed by the Massachusetts team. pic.twitter.com/7cV6kt8AjO

– BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) September 7, 2023