[News] Ilya Kovalchuk retiring

[Devils'Advocate]

No, the Devils just disappear from the rankings for next year. So if the Devils finish dead last, they just don't go into the lottery at all and the team that finished second last get the best shot at the #1 pick.

[zunie75]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

You can't build teams around Russians.

NJ is going to be right with us at the bottom of the standings next year... and they won't even have a 1st round pick to look forward to.

Pavel Datsyuk would beg to differ.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

No, the Devils just disappear from the rankings for next year. So if the Devils finish dead last, they just don't go into the lottery at all and the team that finished second last get the best shot at the #1 pick.

Link? Not doubting you. Just want to read more about it

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by zunie75

Pavel Datsyuk would beg to differ.

That team was not built around Pavel Datsyuk

[Rudee]

Originally Posted by rogermexico

This is crazy news. He's only 30.

He's not retiring from hockey. He's retiring from the NHL. In actuality, he's quitting the NHL. He will play hockey for many years to come in Russia.

[Rudee]

It's not like he's flushing away $77 million dollars. He will be paid handsomely in Russia. He will make just as much or more.

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by Rudee

It's not like he's flushing away $77 million dollars. He will be paid handsomely in Russia. He will make just as much or more.

Probably more. No high state tax to pay, or any escrow, better endorsement deals... Yeah.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Link? Not doubting you. Just want to read more about it

The answer would probably be in the draft lottery section in the CBA. I'd like to see some corroboration too, as it makes a difference.

If the Flames are in last an NJD is in second, and NJD are in the lottery, Calgary's chance goes up to 43.8%. If they're out of it (and the odds are scaled to 100%), it's 30.8%. For everyone outside of first though, your odds of winning the lottery improve if NJD is excluded from the lottery, so it's to be determined which scenario is better for the Flames.

[SHOGUN]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Are you not following the thread? He'll make more than that playing in the KHL

Give me a legitimate source that states he will play the KHL in the upcoming season, there's only speculation, till then we only know for sure he left 77 mill by retiring now.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by SHOGUN

Give me a legitimate source that states he will play the KHL in the upcoming season, there's only speculation, till then we only know for sure he left 77 mill by retiring now.

I bet they'll announce it within a day or two. It may be only speculation at this point, but in January he didn't want to leave SKA in the first place and the home Olympics are just round the corner. Of course he'll play in the KHL ... he won't retire completely at 30 just 6 months before the home Olympics.

[JonDuke]

For those of you arriving late to this thread and needing a very quick, visual summary:

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Lots of people play hockey for fun. And even pay a small fortune to do so.

I don't know what you do for a living but I doubt anyone would do it for free let alone pay to do it

How many people who play hockey for fun spend half their time on planes and in airports, living out of hotels, playing 82 - 100 extremely competitive games a year, with coaches breathing down your neck constantly, journalists sticking microphones in your face, etc. And that's after spending the first 20 years of your life already dedicated to hockey and training day and night before you even become a pro.

It probably seems weird to fans, but to a lot of these guys it does become a job. You see interviews with guys who have been retired for 5 or 10 years who haven't even put on skates since their last game in the NHL. And for a lot of those guys, it is about the money - even with 20 or 30 mil in the bank they want more. And others are willing to leave money on the table to retire with their health and spend time with their families. Again, Nik Lidstrom came very, very close to going back to Sweden to raise his family before he was 30. He would have left over $60 million on the table.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

No, the Devils just disappear from the rankings for next year. So if the Devils finish dead last, they just don't go into the lottery at all and the team that finished second last get the best shot at the #1 pick.

Are you sure? The entire lottery percentages would then have to change. Plus with only 13 non-playoff teams instead of 14, their whole method of selecting a winner would also have to change.

[Ruttiger]

Was thinking this morning this isn't the worst thing in the world, to have Russians slowly migrating back to play in a viable league at home. The thing that has killed the intrigue and mystique around playing the Russians over the past 20 or so years is, in addition to the end of the cold war, having all their best players playing in the NHL.

I know, for our own selfish reasons, a lot of people want the best players playing in the best league because it's in our backyard. But if you can be well-compensated, and in many cases, better off than if you played in the NHL, with the added benefit of being able to play in our home country, how many of us wouldn't consider the same choice?

If this pattern continues, I think you'll start to see the re-emergence of the power of the Canada-Russia hockey rivalry. It may never be what it was in the 70's and 80's, but I would relish the feel of some of those classic Canada-Russia games again, bolstered by the fact the players wouldn't be quite so familiar to us anymore.

Haven't read the whole thread yet so not sure if these thoughts were covered already. Just my two cents.

[Murph]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

That team was not built around Pavel Datsyuk

No, it wasn't. It was built around Lidstrom. But if you had to pick the forward that has been most important to the Wings organization over the last ten years (i.e. the guy their forward group was built around), you would pick Datsyuk.

Either way, I think the original point that building around Russians can be done is valid.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by SHOGUN

Give me a legitimate source that states he will play the KHL in the upcoming season, there's only speculation, till then we only know for sure he left 77 mill by retiring now.

TSN said last night he's expected to sign with the KHL team SKA as early as monday.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Scotty Bowman has never been a GM in the NHL that I can recall.

Well, never a good GM.

Originally Posted by transplant99

Oh yeah...forgot bout that as he was also head coach for much of his time there as well.

I always look at Scotty like Glen Sather. Great coach, meh GM.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Ruttiger

Was thinking this morning this isn't the worst thing in the world, to have Russians slowly migrating back to play in a viable league at home. The thing that has killed the intrigue and mystique around playing the Russians over the past 20 or so years is, in addition to the end of the cold war, having all their best players playing in the NHL.

I know, for our own selfish reasons, a lot of people want the best players playing in the best league because it's in our backyard. But if you can be well-compensated, and in many cases, better off than if you played in the NHL, with the added benefit of being able to play in our home country, how many of us wouldn't consider the same choice?

If this pattern continues, I think you'll start to see the re-emergence of the power of the Canada-Russia hockey rivalry. It may never be what it was in the 70's and 80's, but I would relish the feel of some of those classic Canada-Russia games again, bolstered by the fact the players wouldn't be quite so familiar to us anymore.

Haven't read the whole thread yet so not sure if these thoughts were covered already. Just my two cents.

There is also the appeal of builidng something over there. The KHL may not be the best league in the world at this point, but it wants to be and is progressive in achieving that.

I used to work for one of the biggest and most successful engineering companies in the world, but I left for a small upstart company with big goals. There is a lot to be said for being part of something that is building (it's not always about being part of something that is the best and was the best before you ever arrived). Being financially compensated for joining is one positive, but there are other positives that people over look. The KHL might not be the best, but it is an exciting time for them.

[tempz]

I translated his name into Russian and then did google news search:

http://translate.google.ca/translate...12%2F599611%2F

Recall that on Thursday evening Kovalchuk announced his departure from the "New Jersey." According to the "SE", he will continue his career in Petersburg SKA.

http://translate.google.com/translat...ite-anons.html

Ilya, explain the reasons for your decision? Ilya Kovalchuk: I think the trick in the NHL I did - the prospect in our country, in our league.
Of course, the fans believe that you will play at the Olympic Games in Sochi.
Ilya Kovalchuk: It's very important for me, as for every Russian. This is our Olympics and I dream to play for his country and win! And what a good goal!
In which NHL team you continue your career?
Ilya Kovalchuk: You'll soon find out. Hold on a couple of days.
From the Editor
According to our data, Ilya Kovalchuk is going to sign a contract with SKA St. Petersburg in the next two years. The contract amount was not disclosed.

You heard it in English here first folks, he'll sign with them in the next two years. I feel like I just accomplished a whole lot of nothing.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

Are you sure? The entire lottery percentages would then have to change. Plus with only 13 non-playoff teams instead of 14, their whole method of selecting a winner would also have to change.

I agree with you that simply dropping them out of it and carrying on would not work.

As you say, the math wouldn't work.

Also, say you finished 30th and the Devils finished 29th. Would you be happy letting the 28th place team get re-ranked as 29th and thus get a better chance of winning the lottery? No way.

I would think that they would have to run the lottery with the Devils in their place and then drop them once the rankings have been determined.