Monday, December 1, 2008

Ben Wright Sets the Record Straight on Kovalchuk's New Linemates

Just in case you hadn't heard:

Ilya Kovalchuk's line mates have changed but his role hasn't. Mike Knobler at the AJC is reporting that Ilya Kovalchuk "got demoted to the fourth line Monday" but nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, he was wearing a different color of jersey, but reading anything into that is a stretch at best.

Amidst the recent struggles Kovalchuk has been one of the consistent bright points. He's shooting the puck more frequently, playing with more enthusiasm, and he just had a three-game point streak snapped. John Anderson has been more than happy with his play since the win in Toronto and the line adjustments today at practice are an attempt to get Ilya rolling at even strength. He wasn't showing great chemistry with Jason Williams and Eric Perrin, so Anderson is going to try him with Marty Reasoner and Chris Thorburn. You may recall that towards the end of last season Kovalchuk played with Thorburn and Bobby Holik and the trio was on fire. Reasoner doesn't have the size of Holik but he has a lot of the same grit.



Heeengh?

4 comments:

FrenchCatalogues said...

If they wanted to add grit. Why not add Army up with them as well? Army and Reasoner have obviously done well with each other for the most part. What if you just add Kovy to that mix, and you have a better scoring chance as well, with Army that is.

Big Shooter said...

Heengh!!!

Big Shooter said...

Frenchy -

I thought the same thing about Army. I'd like to see him and The Czar on a line...

Mortimer Peacock said...

HEEENNNNGH!!!!