SLUMPING KOVALCHUK SEES ICE TIME CUT
Coaches coach and managers manage, but any thought that the twain shall never meet is ridiculous because they talk all the time.
So you have to wonder if Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake may have suggested to interim coach Willie Desjardins that benching the 422-goal Ilya Kovalchuk for a whole period against the Edmonton Oilers last weekend, then playing him nine minutes on the fourth line in Vancouver Tuesday behind feisty left-winger Kyle Clifford and fast rookie Austin Wagner might be enough to awaken him from a scoring slumber.
It did not look good optically, even if they won both games.
Not to mention fiscally, of course, since Kovalchuk is making $6 million this year and two more after that after being a teammate of Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg for four years.
Former NHL general manager Brian Burke pointed out on Oilers Now Thursday with radio host Bob Stauffer that general managers who were also coaches at one time may do more than make suggestions because they’ve been behind the bench. But Rob Blake hasn’t, so he’s basically staying out of the way. No demands, but some back and forth.
The hall of fame defenceman, normally very accessible but pretty quiet these days with his offensively challenged Kings, isn’t about tell Desjardins who to play and where.
Yet, there was Kovalchuk on the first power-play unit in place of Jeff Carter Thursday against the Oilers, even after 5-2 and 2-1 wins, while moving up to the third line with centre Adrian Kempe.
So maybe a few suggestive words were exchanged between general manager and coach, or maybe Desjardins, who’s been around the coaching block, decided Kovalchuk’s detention was long enough. After all, he had 14 points his first 14 games before his 10-game scoring drought.
“It’s always a matter of trying to find the right spot and you’re always looking for what’s best for the team, for the individual, too, and sometimes it’s not,” Desjardins said after the Kings’ morning skate Thursday. “He’s a guy who can help us. Hopefully in the right spot that will work.”
It would be different if the Kings were lighting it up and winning 5-4 games night after night without any help from Kovalchuk, who has 830 points in 840 NHL games. But, of course, that’s not the way it is in L.A. They went into the Oilers game with 52 goals in 24 games.
Maybe Desjardins saw Kovalchuk hadn’t had a point in eight straight games before he played him 61/2 minutes against the Oilers in L.A. and nine in Vancouver to run it to 10 in a row. That would be cause for cutting back ice time, for sure. But he’s not the only Kings player struggling. Carter hasn’t scored in 11 games, but he has played anywhere from 17:42 to 22:15 in ice time.
“I don’t know how to be on the bench because that’s the first time in my career I sit there for a third period,” said Kovalchuk. “But I’m that kind of guy, you know? I don’t care. We were winning (against the Oilers Nov. 25) and that’s all that matters.”
To Kovalchuk’s credit, he hasn’t whined about his playing time. He’s not waving the media over to gripe or call anybody out. He’s been a good soldier, but he’s not a foot soldier. He’s a front-line leader. Or he has been throughout his NHL time.
“I can’t imagine how tough it’s been for him, but he’s been a good teammate through it all still smiling, still loving life,” said Kings defenceman Drew Doughty. “They have him back on our (top) unit on the power play and that’s huge. That’s one of his specialties.”
Doughty was certainly pumped when the Kings signed Kovalchuk. He’s always liked talent, maybe because he’s always trying to shut it down.
“I played against him in the Stanley Cup final (against New Jersey in 2012)” said Doughty. “I was matched up against him a lot and knew everything about his game and he hasn’t changed anything,”