Ilya Kovalchuk has had one of the more unique careers of NHLers today. After his humble beginnings as a promising young Atlanta Thrasher, Kovalchuk developed into one of the league’s most dangerous scorers. As a result, he signed a ridiculous 15-year, $100 million contract with the New Jersey Devils.
Perhaps as most should have expected, Kovalchuk did not see out that contract through. Even so, most people didn’t see the end of the contract coming so early.
Kovalchuk only spent four years with the Devils before leaving to go play in the KHL. Many thought this would be the last the NHL would see of the Russian, but five years later he returned to join the Los Angeles Kings.
With Kovalchuk being a player loaded with strange stats based on his unorthodox career path, it feels unsurprising that he is the player that has been victimized by the Vancouver Canucks for 8 goals twice over the span of 17 years, most recently on Wednesday in an 8-2 loss.
While the odd stat is more just coincidence than a reflection on Kovalchuk, it gives Canucks fans a little ammo if they ever get into it with a Kings fan. That may be more likely after Wednesday’s game and some of the talking after it.
(H/T Jeff Paterson)
