Maurice Richard Trophy

From the first days of his stay in the NHL, Ilya Kovalchuk established himself as a talented striker, capable of becoming a league legend over time. In the debut season, he chalked up 29 abandoned goals. Subsequently, the Russian only progressed in this aspect and, until his full return to Russia, did not fall below the established level. And in the 2003/2004 championship, he forever inscribed his name in history, becoming the sixth owner of Maurice Richard Trophy in history.

In his third year in the league, the Atlanta striker hit 41 rivals 41 times and shared the title of best sniper with Rick Nash from Columbus and Jerome Iginla from Calgary. Thus, he was the second Russian hockey player to win an honorary award, compiling the company to two-time medalist Pavel Bure. Since then, only six players have managed to win this trophy, since with the advent of the Alexander N. Ovechkin in the NHL, the intrigue in the fight for the title of best goalscorer actually died for a while.

It is noteworthy that two matches before the end of the regular season, Kovalchuk was one puck behind his counterparts, and his position was worsened by a long dry series of five games. Nevertheless, at a key moment, Ilya scored goals in the confrontations with Pittsburgh (six seconds before the final siren) and Tampa Bay, thanks to which he managed to finish on a par with competitors.

98 points for the season

Nevertheless, Kovalchuk did not stop there. After a one-year break caused by the lockout, the Russian returned to the Thrashers and scored 98 points straight away. In 78 meetings, he scored 52 goals and gave 46 assists, but even this did not help him not only take at least one individual award, but for the first time in history to take the team out of Georgia in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In the dispute over Art Ross Trophy, he finished in eighth place and lost 27 points to Joe Thornton of the Boston Bruins, while in the sniper race he was behind Jaromir Jagr (54) and Jonathan Chichu (56). It is worth noting that the third line was shared with him by Ovechkin, who played three more matches.

Nevertheless, for Kovalchuk this season remained the most successful in terms of statistics. Subsequently, he only scored more than 50 goals and scored more than 90 points for the championship. The first bar obeyed him in 2008 (52), and the second - a year later (91).

Kovalchuk 13 times during his career in the NHL made hat-tricks. And one of them converted into poker. On November 11, 2005, the attacker actually dealt with Tampa Bay with his own hands, forcing the goalkeeper John Graham to surrender four times. Moreover, three of the four goals Kovi scored in the majority, but in order to complete the achievement he needed only 21 minutes 32 seconds of pure playing time.

2008 World Cup Gold

Despite the individual successes and the status of one of the most dangerous forwards on the planet, Kovalchuk for a long time could not take the first trophy. At the same time, he was not lucky not only at the club level, but also with the national team, where he suffered one disappointing defeat after another. At the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, the Russians offended the Americans in the semifinals and were forced to settle for bronze.

On the third line, the national team remained at the world championships in 2005 and 2007. At the same time, Ilya himself looked very faded. At tournaments in Austria and Russia, he scored three and two goals, respectively, with all of them falling into the preliminary and group stages, and only Czechs suffered from top rivals.

In this regard, in 2008, the Atlanta and the Russian national team did not expect serious success from the famous sniper. Especially taking into account the fact that the unbeaten run of the “red car” at the world championships was already 14 years old, and the tournament was held in the homeland of the founders of hockey.

However, the squad of Vyacheslav Bykov and Igor Zakharkin managed to create a sensation and win gold medals, and the final match with the Canadians has already entered the annals of Russian hockey. 12 minutes before the end of normal time, the Russians were 2-4 behind, but first Alexei Tereshchenko reduced the gap, and then Kovalchuk himself restored parity. And already in overtime, Ilya became the author of the winning goal and brought the team the long-awaited championship.

The best player of the World Cup 2009

While in Canada, Kovalchuk showed himself brightly only in the final, then a year later in Switzerland he shone throughout the tournament. Forward “Thrashers” chalked up five goals and nine assists, becoming the second in a scorers dispute. He was left behind only by the legendary Canadian Martin Saint-Louis (4 + 11), who once again demonstrated his assistant talents. But this did not stop the organizer from calling the Russian not only the best striker of the World Cup, but also the most valuable player.

This time, Ilya did without a heroic double in the final with Canada, where Oleg Saprykin and Alexander Radulov decided everything. But it was incredibly stable during the competition. Kovalchuk took part in all nine matches and did not distinguish himself only in a meeting with the United States in the group stage.

But he returned them a favor in the playoffs, where he chalked up a goal and a transfer. In many ways, the success in Bern and Kloten was the starting point for the striker in terms of conquering a number of records in the Russian national team. At the moment he is the best in the number of goals, passes, scored points and games played, as well as penalty minutes.

The longest NHL contract

In 2010, Kovalchuk got into the Guinness Book of Records, as the holder of one of the two longest-term contracts in the NHL. In September, Ilya signed an agreement with New Jersey Devils for 15 years, according to which he was supposed to earn a total of $ 100 million. It is noteworthy that in 2006 Rick Dipietro signed for the same term, but this event caused much less excitement. At least for the reason that the fee of the American goalkeeper “New York Islanders” for the same period amounted to $ 67.5 million.

It is noteworthy that initially Kovalchuk and New Jersey intended to sign an agreement for 17 years in the amount of $ 102 million. It was assumed that the main amount would be paid in the first ten years, during which the state of the hockey player was supposed to increase by $ 95 million. However The NHL vetoed the conclusion of this contract, believing that in this way the Devils tried to circumvent the limits on the salary ceiling and the maximum hockey player fees prescribed in the collective agreement.

As a result, the Russian worked only two and a half years, after which he shocked the whole world with his decision to end his career in the NHL. It was adopted immediately after the next lockout in the North American League, during which he defended the colors of St. Petersburg SKA. Thus, the Devils lost their main star, and Kovalchuk returned to his homeland, becoming a persona non grata among American fans.

Two Gagarin Cups

In the Continental Hockey League, Kovalchuk spent five seasons playing for St. Petersburg SKA. Already in his second year in the team after concluding a full-fledged contract, he helped the army team win the Gagarin Cup and added the first trophy at the club level to his collection, and repeated success two years later. Moreover, in 2015 he scored 19 (8 + 11) points in 22 playoff matches and was recognized as the most valuable hockey player of the tournament.

As for productivity in the regular season, in the first few seasons his indicators were not impressive, but in 2017 he was able to return to a high level again. By the spring of that year, he had 78 (32 + 46) points in his asset, which helped him become the second in the scorers race. Only the forward of Magnitogorsk Metallurg, Sergei Mozyakin, turned out to be higher. But a year later, Ilya took revenge and finished the championship on the first line. To do this, he needed to score 63 (31 + 32) points.

Pyeongchang Olympic gold

In 2018, Kovalchuk took the next step towards joining the Triple Golden Club. If until this moment only success at the World Cup was listed in his track record, now victory at the Winter Olympic Games has also been added. In the absence of hockey players from the NHL, Oleg Znark's wards practically did not experience problems during the championship, allowing the drama to break out only in the final. Until the last seconds, the Russians without a flag were inferior to the Germans, but eventually broke their resistance.

Kovalchuk scored seven (5 + 2) points in six matches and took fourth place in the scorers list, losing to Finn Eeli Tolvanen (8), as well as compatriots Kirill Kaprizov (10) and Nikita Gusev (12). Nevertheless, it was the vice-captain of the national team who was recognized as the most valuable player in the Olympics. In addition, during the competition, Ilya brought the number of goals at the Games to 14 and became the best sniper in the history of the Russian team. Prior to him, this title was owned by Pavel Bure, whose assets appear to be 11 exact shots.