Tierney pumped to face his idol

Ilya Kovalchuk disappeared from the NHL for five seasons, but he was never forgotten by new Ottawa Senators centre Chris Tierney.

Kovalchuk, 35, the once-prolific scoring star for the Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils, makes his return to Canadian Tire Centre Saturday with the Los Angeles Kings. Tierney couldn’t be more excited to finally play against his childhood idol.

“That will be really cool, he was probably my favourite during one stretch growing up,” said Tierney, who registered three assists in Wednesday’s 7-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers and is tied with Thomas Chabot with a team-high six points after four games.

“I had an Atlanta Thrashers jersey, one of those baby blue ones that they used to rock, and I was a fan until they moved (to Winnipeg). That was my team.”

Kovalchuk, the first-overall draft selection in 2001, burst into the NHL by scoring 29, 38, 41, 52, 42, 52 and 43 goals in his seven full seasons with Atlanta, but played in a mere eight playoff games. He was traded to the Devils during the 2009-10 season and remained until the end of 2012-13 campaign.

He has played the past five seasons with Saint Petersburg in the KHL, but returned to the NHL after signing a three-year, US$18.75million deal with the Los Angeles Kings in July. He had one goal and two assists before the Kings met the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

“It’s just how dynamic he was,” said Tierney. “He could just shoot and score any time basically that he got the puck. He could control games with his size, speed, skill, shot ... such a fun player to watch.”