Through the first seven games of the season, the New Jersey Devils accumulated a disappointing 2-4-1 record, averaged a league-low 1.86 goals per game, sat 22nd overall with a 3.00 goals against average and owned the 21st-ranked power play (9.5 percent)—with just two goals.
Needless to say, with so much going wrong for the Devils in the early going, change was bound to come. In a shocking move, the Devils chose to make a statement by benching their prized free agent signee, Ilya Kovalchuk, in their match against the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night.
Through seven games, Kovalchuk has amassed a total of two goals and five points to go along with a minus-three rating. While not horrible statistically, Kovalchuk has yet to score on the power play, has been questionable at best defensively and is yet to be the impact player the Devils thought they were getting when they acquired him from the Atlanta Thrashers late last season and subsequently signed him as a free agent.
It appears as if the Kovalchuk saga just won’t die. It is well documented that Kovalchuk’s free agency became a consuming topic over the summer. Now, with the Devils struggling and Ko ...
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Article written by Mark Ritter
Ilya Kovalchuk Benched: Are the New Jersey Devils Stupid?
October 23rd, 2010 by Mark Ritter Leave a reply »
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