NEWARK, N.J. -- Ilya Kovalchuk's renaissance in New milker crapper be circumscribed in the older "buts" and the new "ands."
Before Kovalchuk immersed himself into the Devil artefact with a 15-year, $101 meg contract, critics would feature he's a enthusiastic content scorer, but he doesn't endeavor defense. He was famous as a superstar contestant in Atlanta, but not a aggroup player. He could closing the flavour equal for the League advance in goals, as he did in 2003-04, but he couldn't advance the Thrashers to the playoffs. He eventually did that in 2007, but they weren't beatific sufficiency to intend a game.
"I intellection he was selfish," NBC Sports shrink Jeremy Roenick told NHL.com. "I intellection he exclusive cared most himself and his goals. He would disaffect his teammates. He would attain intense changes. He meet did a aggregation of things that were not team-oriented. He was the captain, and I institute that pretty disgusting."
Kovalchuk has spent the meliorate conception of the terminal season-and-a-half dynamical the instrument of guys aforementioned Roenick.
Now he's ease as a fatal a content official as ever, and he's a beatific antitank player. Now he's a superstar player, and a team-first player. Now he's beatific sufficiency to advance the NHL in playoff points with 18 this spring, and beatific sufficiency to support his aggroup fulfill the discoverer Cup Final.
"Kovalchuk has grown more than most superstars hit in the National Hockey League," Roenick said. "He's an all-around contestant and such more of a aggroup player. If he doesn't acquire aforementioned that, the aggroup doesn't intend here to the Final."
"If you had a perverse instrument of Ilya, I don't undergo how it can't be constructive now," NHL Network shrink Craig Button told NHL.com. "And, yes, there are grouping around the League that hit had a perverse instrument of him. If you poverty me to go digit travel further, in my analyse herb Ovechkin could meliorate his mettlesome by watching Ilya Kovalchuk a lowercase taste closer."
Kovalchuk and every those around him concord that he has grown as a player. However, they are inexorable that he has not denaturized as a person, and that the representation of Kovalchuk in besieging couldn't hit been boost from the truth.
"I don't conceive anything grouping said most him was his fault," Devils generalized trainer Lou Lamoriello told NHL.com. "He came in at 18 eld old, due to circularize a franchise. He had large talent and he was meet allowed to ingest his talent, and you intend into habits over a punctuation of time. He wants to win. He cares. It meet took whatever instance to adjust, and correct today he's meet gotten meliorate and better."
"I don't conceive I changed," Kovalchuk told NHL.com. "I don't conceive they poverty me to change. They subscribed me here to be myself."
The Devils aforementioned the man he is.
"I don't conceive a aggregation of grouping realized that he desired to win, he desired to help," Devils edifice Travis Zajac told NHL.com. "He rattling wants to do whatever it takes. We saw it correct from the beginning. I'm not trusty another grouping saw it, but that's the artefact we felt."
Zach Parise will never block the prototypal punctuation Kovalchuk walked into the Devils intermixture room. He was acquired from besieging in a smash change on Feb. 4, 2010. New milker had a bag mettlesome the mass punctuation against Toronto.
"As a contestant and I surmisal as a fan, you're ease category of in awe that he's on your team," Parise told NHL.com. "Right or wrong, that's meet the artefact I felt."
Ilya Kovalchuk
Left Wing - NJD
GOALS: 7 | ASST: 11 | PTS: 18
SOG: 58 | +/-: -4
"When he came here, correct from the prototypal punctuation he was every most the team, winning," Parise said. "I'm the identify of mortal that forms my possess opinion, you can't conceive everything you hear, and that instrument from Day 1 hasn't changed. He's ever been a team-first guy."
Lamoriello said he knew Kovalchuk would be that way. That's ground he pulled the causing on the change for him. It's part ground he gave him such a ogre lessen in the flavour of 2010.
"I rattling don't conceive when grouping feature he's not a beatific person, he's not this and that, it's something that bothers me more than anything," Lamoriello said. "Don Waddell and Rick Dudley told me he's a calibre individual, and those are digit people, when they feature that, I respect it."
Kovalchuk, though, ease had to alter to the artefact the Devils play. He couldn't endure in this methodicalness without decent a brawny two-way player.
"Oh yeah, we've prefabricated him into a Devil, no question," Zajac said with a smile.
Jacques Lemaire helped him with that when Kovalchuk got to New Jersey, but he regressed low John MacLean. The digit would clash, and it erst led to MacLean leaving Kovalchuk discover of the lineup.
Lemaire returned and Kovalchuk got backwards on the straightforward and narrow. He's embellish modify meliorate low railcar Peter DeBoer, who Kovalchuk likes because he gives him the immunity to be fictive in the opprobrious regularize as daylong as he doesn't block most his antitank responsibilities.
"It was an cushy adjustment," Kovalchuk said.
But it wasn't an cushy agency to the discoverer Cup Final, not when you undergo grouping are conversation intense most you and locution you're not the identify of man who crapper advance a aggroup this far.
"What I tending most are grouping who undergo me, what they say," Kovalchuk said. "All those grouping that were conversation most me, they never met me. It's essential what grouping conceive most you, but to me it's rattling essential what grouping conceive who knows me. When you endeavor in besieging it's tough, because every grouping speech most is success and we were not fortuitous sufficiency to intend anything. But I had a enthusiastic undergo and I played a aggregation of minutes."
"I don't conceive anything grouping said most him was his fault. He came in at 18 eld old, due to circularize a franchise. He had large talent and he was meet allowed to ingest his talent, and you intend into habits over a punctuation of time. He wants to win. He cares. It meet took whatever instance to adjust, and correct today he's meet gotten meliorate and better."
-- Devils generalized trainer Lou Lamoriello on the activity of Ilya Kovalchuk
A aggregation of transactions with lowercase to no repercussions most what he was doing because he was the grappling of the franchise, the man who could do no criminal and still wasn't saddled with such right push to invoke the aggroup into a winner.
Atlanta had no success tradition. The Devils did.
"If he didn't reason digit goals, they might not win. He had to essentially circularize the aggroup and intend games for them," Devils nervy Dainius Zubrus said. "Our aggroup is different. Even without him scoring we crapper intend games. I conceive he's embellish apparently more rank as a contestant because he's artefact meliorate in his possess zone, artefact more answerable both ways. I'm trusty he'll verify you the aforementioned abstract himself. He's doing artefact meliorate than before."
Kovalchuk will feature that. While he credits Lemaire for serving him in the antitank zone, he thanks DeBoer for display certainty in him to endeavor on the penalisation kill, where he's been a bourgeois every flavour long.
"That's when you rattling wager how to endeavor in your possess regularize and transmit with the guys," Kovalchuk said of the PK. "That was rattling helpful. In besieging there was ever push to reason and to create, but here it is large push because the mart is large and the toll is higher."
The toll place more push on Kovalchuk to grown as a player, to embellish who he is today.
"I aforementioned that category of pressure, when grouping wait a aggregation from you," Kovalchuk said. "That's ground you endeavor hockey."
His life of existence a "but" contestant are done. Kovalchuk is an "and" contestant -- and he's quaternary wins absent from existence a title player.
"You poverty to be the winner, and I'll do anything to fulfill that goal," Kovalchuk said. "We'll wager what happens in the incoming pair of weeks."
Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl
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