Ilya Kovalchuk Retires

If it's true according some news I has heard about so this far that he's going to receive a roughly $20million per year contract in KHL.

So it's absolutely ridiculously, it's more than 2x more than Crosby ,Malkin, Ovie & co gets in NHL for every year plus mind that the rates in russia are ridiculously low like 12% or something so....whoa that's lotsa moneys remaining after paying up for the rates!

Kovalchuk is a quite great player (not as great as for 5-8 years ago but still a 70-75 point player) but there're about 15-20 players who're better than him in NHL so just wonder how much the rest will earning annually if they had to move to KHL then compared with Kovy's $20m....absolutely madness!!
 
So I guess here's my followup question. Who is to blame if you can place blame?

-The Devils for extending such a ridiculous contract knowing this possibility was always looming?
-Kovalchuk for agreeing to such a ridiculous lifetime deal and giving fans false hope that he would be around for the next 20 years?
-The NHL for having a lockout and extending the ability for players to play overseas? Does this even happen if there's a lockout?
-The KHL for continuing to woo NHL players currently under contract back to their league?
-Phil Kessel for outperforming Kovalchuk come playoff time
 
If the KHL is throwing that kind of money around, it's tough to say no.

If the tax difference truly is that low, then the $77 million that he walked away from can be made up in 3 years in the KHL. The contract could be front loaded, with signing bonuses, guaranteed money, etc.

As a father of 3 too, if I had the chance to make 12 years of money in 3, and be closer to family, I'd do it.

Plus it does give NJ some cap room now. The owner wanted to make a big splash when he bought the team and had the new arena, and needed a superstar. 3 years later, the owner can't make interest payments and is losing money.


Another note, I can't stand Roenick. He just spews garbage out. He's entitled to his opinion but I think his ideas/thoughts/rants are idiotic.
 
chadsexington said:
So I guess here's my followup question. Who is to blame if you can place blame?

-The Devils for extending such a ridiculous contract knowing this possibility was always looming?
-The NHL for having a lockout and extending the ability for players to play overseas? Does this even happen if there's a lockout?
Click to expand...

I think these 2 are the main culprits.

NJ knew that contracts were going to be an issue in the new CBA, so they tried to squeeze Kovy's contract in. But the cap restrictions under the new CBA pretty much screwed NJ.

I think Kovy is also doing NJ a favour. It was a bad contract, length and term.

Kovalchuk could "un-retire" in a few years and NJ would still hold his rights.

The lockout gave more players a taste of what the KHL/Europe is really like, and for some, it wasn't so bad. N.A. star players had a taste of what hockey was like overseas. Relationships get formed, and becomes another option when their contract is up for negotiation.
 
Exactly. Imagine being paid 7mil to play a game in Europe, then finding out you could make 20mil and move back to your family in North America.

Greed doesn't even enter the question. It would be flat out ludicrous if Kovy didn't go home. Kudos to him.
 
FrozenInferno said:
How can the KHL afford contracts like these?
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After the fall of the Soviet Union a lot of top political officials embraced capitalism very quickly, and soon found themselves in high-end private sector positions of authority. Nomenklatura capitalism FTW!

Take a look at Alexander Medvedev's profile - started his career working for an elite Soviet political research centre, transferred to one of the state-owned mega-banks in 1989, got transferred to the oil industry shortly after 1991, and is now the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Gazprom, one of the biggest organizations in the world. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he was an undercover KGB agent, too.

Money isn't an issue for a man in that position. Oh, and he happens to be the President of the team that Kovalchuk played for during the lockout and presumably will be returning to, SKA St. Petersburg.
 
chadsexington said:
So I guess here's my followup question. Who is to blame if you can place blame?

-The Devils for extending such a ridiculous contract knowing this possibility was always looming?
-Kovalchuk for agreeing to such a ridiculous lifetime deal and giving fans false hope that he would be around for the next 20 years?
-The NHL for having a lockout and extending the ability for players to play overseas? Does this even happen if there's a lockout?
-The KHL for continuing to woo NHL players currently under contract back to their league?
-Phil Kessel for outperforming Kovalchuk come playoff time
Click to expand...

Kessel not only outperformed him, he secretly orchestrated the contract coming to fruition, gave the Devils fans false hope, single-handedly created the KHL. KESSEL UBER ALLES
 
Such a good player, this is disappointing, he may make more money in the KHL, what what is there to chase there, what about wanting to be the best, play the best, win the biggest trophy competitive sports has to offer. I guess for guys like us thats part of the dream, but for him, I guess its just money. Feel bad for NJ, they sign Kovy to this ridiculous contract, lose Parise because they cant afford to, lose a 1st round pick, and lose Kovy now. He was really developing into a great all around any situation type player too.
 
LT21Titans27 said:
Such a good player, this is disappointing, he may make more money in the KHL, what what is there to chase there, what about wanting to be the best, play the best, win the biggest trophy competitive sports has to offer. I guess for guys like us thats part of the dream, but for him, I guess its just money. Feel bad for NJ, they sign Kovy to this ridiculous contract, lose Parise because they cant afford to, lose a 1st round pick, and lose Kovy now. He was really developing into a great all around any situation type player too.
Click to expand...

Honestly I never really liked Kovalchuk. He comes off as selfish and not a team player. Half his time in NJ he looked like a complete bum.
 
LT21Titans27 said:
Such a good player, this is disappointing, he may make more money in the KHL, what what is there to chase there, what about wanting to be the best, play the best, win the biggest trophy competitive sports has to offer. I guess for guys like us thats part of the dream, but for him, I guess its just money. Feel bad for NJ, they sign Kovy to this ridiculous contract, lose Parise because they cant afford to, lose a 1st round pick, and lose Kovy now. He was really developing into a great all around any situation type player too.
Click to expand...

Russians don't grow up dreaming of the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup. Some of them do step it up for World Championships and the Olympics. That's what they grew up seeing as ultimate hockey glory.

Plus they're separated from their families for hockey. Most of them come from pretty modest backgrounds. They don't have hockey family billets like they do in junior hockey here. Parents can't afford to visit or watch games. So they train hard so that one day they can get paid well for all their efforts.

We all do the same. Do any of us take additional schooling/training because we love to study? Small minority. We do it to get more money. How many of us strive to be the best in our field of work or in our company? Heck, some of us don't even strive to be the best in our own department.

For the players, hockey is a job. For the owners, it's a business. As fans, we attach all this additional glory to the game, but in the end, it's just a sport. They're not searching for the cure of cancer.

Jagr had the chance to become the 2nd highest scoring player ever. He'd be 2nd to only Gretzky. But he spent 3 years in the KHL. He just doesn't care about that. We do, as fans. The extra money he got in the KHL goes towards his hometown team which he owns, HC Kladno.

Also look up what Fedorov and Bure are doing nowadays. Makes sense to build a few bridges back home.

Wonder if Kevin Dallman is looked at the same way to a certain degree as we see Kovalchuk.
 
tiger tiger said:
Russians don't grow up dreaming of the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup. Some of them do step it up for World Championships and the Olympics. That's what they grew up seeing as ultimate hockey glory.

Plus they're separated from their families for hockey. Most of them come from pretty modest backgrounds. They don't have hockey family billets like they do in junior hockey here. Parents can't afford to visit or watch games. So they train hard so that one day they can get paid well for all their efforts.

We all do the same. Do any of us take additional schooling/training because we love to study? Small minority. We do it to get more money. How many of us strive to be the best in our field of work or in our company? Heck, some of us don't even strive to be the best in our own department.

For the players, hockey is a job. For the owners, it's a business. As fans, we attach all this additional glory to the game, but in the end, it's just a sport. They're not searching for the cure of cancer.

Jagr had the chance to become the 2nd highest scoring player ever. He'd be 2nd to only Gretzky. But he spent 3 years in the KHL. He just doesn't care about that. We do, as fans. The extra money he got in the KHL goes towards his hometown team which he owns, HC Kladno.

Also look up what Fedorov and Bure are doing nowadays. Makes sense to build a few bridges back home.

Wonder if Kevin Dallman is looked at the same way to a certain degree as we see Kovalchuk.
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The bold part so many times over. How many of us wouldn't take more money to be closer to our friends and family and all that is familiar to us. Kovalchuk did whats best for him, not the Devils, the NHL, or the fans....he doesn't owe those entities a thing.
 
I will be one of the few who will say that what Ilya Kovalchuk did was fine. Since the lockout in 2004-05 he has made just over 50 million dollars. He easily has enough money to go back home and retire on. I know that he will be making more money but if you were in his shoes can you blame him?

He has 816 career points in 816 career games. He is currently in #137 place for career points in the NHL. That is a pretty crazy stat considering that he is only 30 years old. There are only 10 players currently in the NHL with more career points than what he has.

I will just throw a little more math out here. If he were to play another six seasons in the NHL he could have these approx numbers. I chose six seasons because after that is when his NHL salary significantly drops and I assume that was the planned retirement time for him. Say that he averages just .75 points per game or 60 points per season. That would be another 420 points. I will take say 70 points out due to injuries and missed games because no players will play every single game over the next seven years without a whole lot of luck. That gives him a career of approx 1,150 points and that was rounded down slightly. That would be good enough to crack the top #50 of all time.

So with his decision he would have been a sure Hall of Famer and could have went down as one of the very best goal scorers in the history of hockey. Consider that he is #78 on the all time goals list. He could have very well been top #25 on the all time goals scored list.

Kudos to him for wanting to go back home.


Plus one more cheap shot to take at NHL owners here. I know that his contract was signed before this past seasons half year lost to lockout. I thought that the owners were fighting to stop with these huge contracts. What has happened this offseason? Lots of players have signed very lengthy extensions that will pay the players very well until they are into their mid 30's. The owners fought for the exact thing that they are doing. I only add this statement because I feel that if their were no lockout than Kovalchuk would not have played in Russia for half a year. Thus, the lockout is what has prompted Kovalchuk's NHL retirement.
 
LT21Titans27 said:
what about wanting to be the best, play the best, win the biggest trophy competitive sports has to offer. I guess for guys like us thats part of the dream, but for him, I guess its just money.
Click to expand...



Again, if you were told you could play for the World Cup in Europe and earn 7 mil, or play for the America's Cup in front of your family and earn 20 mil, what would you do. It is greedy and selfish to think our precious trophy is all the motivation a hockey player should need. This isn't the 90's, the "best" players don't even come from the US and Canada any more, let alone have to stay here.

We have seen an increase in Euro players going back home because of the KHL, and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a few more big names follow Kovy's lead. Europe/Asia has a competing league that pays better, has exposure to more of the world, and offers family opportunities that the NHL can't touch.

Ask yourself this, how many times has Kovy's mother stayed up to watch a game of his? How many times has she actually gone to an NHL game of his? How many of Kovy's countrymen have done either?

If your answer is anything but 'never' or 'almost never' then you're delusional beyond help. :beer:
 
The thing that bothers me the most about this is the use of the word "retirement". This word usually means leaving the vocation you've chosen to make a living at entirely and completely. In this case, the word "retirement" is merely a euphemism for describing how he is simply walking out on the Devils and on his NHL contract. He isnt "retiring" from hockey. He's "quitting" or more accurately "walking out" on the NHL. He isnt hanging up the blades once and for all like most players who "retire" do. He is bolting on his team and teammates with whom he signed a legal contract stating he would play for and with for the next dozen years. He shouldnt state he is "retiring". He is simply walking away from one contract he signed for another that will pay more money. He is nothing near "retiring".....

Like Steve Miller sang......take the money and run Ilya.
 

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