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The-Leak (aka) kingwell (bka) JULES:
Peter Forsberg's latest stop on his long road back to the NHL began last night in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. The Swedish star suited up in a pre-season game for Modo and played on the first line during his team's 2-1 win over Geneva.
Wearing No. 7 instead of his usual No. 21, Forsberg was held off the scoresheet but was on the ice when Modo scored their first goal.
"The real feeling with the puck is not there," Forsberg told reporters in Switzerland. "You need a couple of games to get into it. It felt really good, no problems at all."
On Friday, the 36-year old was included on Sweden's initial 69-man list of players who will be considered for the 2010 Olympics. The former NHL MVP last appeared in the NHL in 2007-08, when he counted 14 points in nine games for the Colorado Avalanche. Persistent foot problems have plagued Forsberg over the last few years.
The-Leak (aka) kingwell (bka) JULES:
There is no question Alex Kovalev is one of the most talented offensive players in the National Hockey League.
The 36-year-old showed he can play some defence yesterday, too.
Kovalev, who signed a two-year deal worth $10 million US with the Senators Monday, fended off questions about his reputation as a gifted but inconsistent performer who’s had difficult relationships with coaches.
“I’ve been saying this many times. I don’t know where that came from. When the coach says something to me, I just listen. I don’t answer back anything,” Kovalev said yesterday from Russia on a conference call with reporters. “Maybe their feeling is I don’t really care. Maybe it’s better when you argue and the coach maybe wouldn’t think that way. To tell you the truth, I don’t know why everybody is thinking that way, that I’m hard to coach. I always do what the coach wants me to do.”
There was talk of a difficult relationship between Kovalev and former Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau, who was fired near the end of last season. Stories of a rift out of Russia were denied.
It’s interesting now that Kovalev is dropping into a situation here where Dany Heatley has asked for a trade partly because he doesn’t like the way he’s being handled by Senators coach Cory Clouston.
“All I’m looking for in my career is I have some kind of communication with the coach, some kind of understanding when stuff is happening,” said Kovalev. “If something goes wrong, I can get some kind of communication, tell me what I’m doing wrong and what direction we should move. We’re all doing the same job. We want to be successful.”
The inconsistent label also wrankles him.
“I don’t know why people think that way all the time, they always say ‘inconsistency.’ There’s a feeling about me I only play when I want to play. I always compete the way I can. Sometimes you have to be more aggressive. Sometimes you have to be relaxed. It depends on the situation.
“I can play the fourth or fifth line, it doesn’t matter. I can play with young players, old players. Maybe sometimes I try to do too much because I feel I can change the game or make the team successful. Sometimes it works in a good way. Sometimes it works in a bad way. But I always play with my heart.”
Kovalev was enthusiastic in branding the Senators a Stanley Cup contender and winning a Cup is a priority as his career winds down.
Kovalev sees himself taking some of the load off captain Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and maybe Heatley, depending where the latter winds up.
“The way I look at it, they have one really good line that’s been successful year after year,” said Kovalev. “I think I can be part of creating two or three good lines, which is something every team needs to be successful in the playoffs. I’m not a big believer that one line can do the damage all the way to winning the Stanley Cup.
“Maybe I could be in the mix on the first line and maybe sometimes on the second line. That way everybody will have enough energy to have a strong season and compete for the Stanley Cup.”
But he also made it clear his first choice was to stay down the 417 with the Montreal Canadiens.
“I don’t really have any options, choices,” said Kovalev.
There had been contract discussions with the Habs, but Kovalev said he wasn’t given much time to make a decision and before he knew it, the Canadiens had signed Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta as free agents. He was out of the picture even as Canadiens fans demonstrated outside the Bell Centre to show their support for keeping Kovalev in red, white and blue.
“Everything happened so quick. There was not much time to respond and they went in a different direction,” he said. The primary reason he wanted to remain with the Canadiens was his family. He said he didn’t want to uproot his children. His oldest, Nikita, has just finished first grade.
“When you’re 19 years old, (changing teams) is easier on you,” he said. “The first thing I think about is family. When you move to a new city, you have to start everything over. The way I look at it, I’m disappointed for them. I feel bad for the kids.
“It’s hard to accept that things happen in life.”
The-Leak (aka) kingwell (bka) JULES:
--- Quote from: Mtl 's M-0-s-T on August 29, 2009, 02:35:55 PM ---Furthermore
East
Philadelphia
Washington
Boston
Pitsburgh
New Jersey
Tampa Bay
Carolina
Montreal
Ottawa
Buffalo
New York
Toronto
Florida
ATl
NYI
West
San Jose
Chicago
Calgary
Detroit
Anaheim
Los Angeles
vancouver
Minesota
St Louis
Dllas
Edmonton
Columbus
Colorado
Phoenix
Nashville
--- End quote ---
I agree with your East ranking totally, except I think I'd rank NYI higher, ( I know it's purely becuz of Tavares but whatever! I believe in Superman ). I'm excited to see Lightning play. Philly will dominate. Can't wait to see the new MTL line in action, and Kovy on the PP in Ottawa with the Pizza line.
You already know in the West Van is gettin ranked first.. I dunno they are top 4 at least! I think Detroit is gonna have a tough year, I can't say why tho haha. I wouldn't rank Anaheim that high... LA is gonna continue to get better.
Good rankings!
MontrealCity's Most:
Thanks man yeha the wets is very veyr hard to rank... Everytime i think detroit will have a tuff year, they do good but i do think Chitown is taking that division this year.
Anaheim yeah they could scroll back a little but then again i just dint see realy a better team to put a head of them?
Is vancouver that good? i dont know.. with Cal defense...
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