The Hockey Goddesses » Picture Post

…and Gagarin Cup goes to Salavat Yulaev

Thorkhild — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 05:34:26 +0000

Salavat Yulaev and their Gagarin Cup

The 2011 winner of Gagarin Cup is Salavat Yulaev from Ufa. They managed to finish the final series against Atlant (Mytischi — a suprising finalist, as no one expected they would play in the final) in five games. The head coaches of Salavat are from Russia’s national team: Vyacheslav Bykov and Igor Zakharkin. So I suppose quite a few of the champions will be present at the coming IIHF Worlds in Slovakia. Some fantastic photos can be found here — at one of the best Russian sports photographers: http://vladimir-pesnya.livejournal.com/644925.html

Here are some videos after the final game. The players share their joy and happiness, I think these are always the best moments of any big victory!

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Thrashers Shocking the Nation (and Canada)

kaatiya — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:04:11 +0000

The Thrashers tied their record for consecutive wins tonight in Denver — enough said for now. Let’s do it again Thursday against the Penguins. As we once cheered for my alma mater’s football team which was rising in the CFB polls: SHOCK THE NATION! Let that be our new battle cry.

Go Thrashers — shock the nation (and Canada too)!

The Thrashers score in OT to make it six straight wins.

SKA Saint-Petersburg vs Carolina Hurricanes

Thorkhild — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 07:36:34 +0000

On October, 4, SKA played against Carolina in the show game “KHL vs NHL”. It was a nice show, with lots of goals and fights. SKA won 5:3.

St. Petersburg coach Ivano Zanatta explains to IIHF.com:
“This meant a lot to the national hockey pride of Russians. The Olympics left a scar in the Russian hockey soul. What we did tonight was to start mending that scar a little bit,” said the Italo-Canadian who is entrusted with the monumental task of jelling this star ensemble into a cohesive group.

His counterpart was also quite happy with his team’s performance, but not with the way the SKA, according to Paul Maurice, took liberties with some of his star players.
“In the NHL when players have an issue they are allowed to solve it by themselves,” said the Hurricanes coach. “And then you continue to play. But this is not possible in international hockey, there is a different tradition.”

This is the second time that an NHL-team will face a KHL-club. In the inaugural Victoria Cup on October 1, 2008, the New York Rangers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat European club champion Metallurg Magnitogorsk, 4-3, with Ryan Callahan netting the winner with 20 seconds remaining. The game was played in Bern, Switzerland, reminds the IIHF website.

Here are some photos, taken from championat.ru, sovsport.ru and other open sources

Kovy Takes on Ovie in Charity Game

Thorkhild — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:23:26 +0000

Kovalchuk and Ovechkin at the game.

Russian hockey stars Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Ovechkin organized a charity game “With all the heart” in Moscow’s Sokolniki Arena. All the money will be sent to people who suffered from the recent forest and other fires in Russia. The original idea belonged to Ilya.

Many famous current and former players took part in the Ovie vs Kovy game including: Evgeni Malkin, Nikolai Zherdev, Slava Kozlov, Alexei Kasatonov, Slava Fetisov, Alexander Kharlamov, and Dominik Hasek. Many top Kremlin officials, KHL President Alexander Medvedev and various celebrities were in attendance.

Kovalchuk and Ovechkin invited their first coaches to participate in the game as managers.

After the game Kovalchuk admitted that it had been a pleasure for him to play at Sokolniki — at his home arena (where HC Spartak Moscow plays). He also said he and his family had suffered from the Moscow smog. For those who haven’t heard, the city of Moscow and its surrounding areas were recently blanketed in smoke from fires burning near the city, as the Russian capital endured extraordinarily high summer temperatures.

Ovechkin said that such charity activities should be developed in Russia. He added that he had been in the Moscow smog, too.

Former Atlanta Thrasher Slava Kozlov admitted he hadn’t defined his future career yet. He asked not to link his visit to Russia with contract talks — his purpose there was to visit his parents. Kozlov also said that the New Jersey Devils didn’t call him — only Kovalchuk asked him to join.

Here’s a video from the show which ended 13:13.

And here are photos from the Russian media and various open sources

Kovalchuk Dances and Dekes and … Bedevils Thrasher Fans

kaatiya — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:26:32 +0000

I snapped this picture of a bubble-blowing Kovalchuk in February 2006 during warmups before the Thrashers took on the Panthers. In later years, he still chewed his gum and blew the bubbles -- even with his visor on!

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice…

So sings the great Geddy Lee. So what’s up Kovy? Nothing yet? I must confess, this Thrasher fan is waiting in suspense with the rest of the hockey world, though I am not sure why. Maybe it’s the true child that lurks in all of us — that part of you that really believes ice cream for dinner is, indeed, a fine idea. The naive child who hopes against all hope. And, shhh … I still hope for Kovalchuk to come back to the ATL. I said shhh! Stop laughing! It could happen. Hope springs eternal, after all. Now if you are here and laughing at me, just get on with it. Meanwhile, I will give you a few shots of Kovalchuk that I’ve taken over the years. I’ve practiced my hockey-shooting skills on Kovy and the Thrashers for years, so herewith are just a few of the many. By the time you get to the end maybe you’ll have stopped smirking at me. Feel free to let us know you were here (even if you came, you saw, you laughed) — holla!

Kovalchuk got one in on the goalie in warmups prior to a game against the Tampa Bay Lighting -- this is typical Kovy (a rascal!). (October 2009)

I was psyched I got this shot! The incident became known in some circles as 'Point-gate.' Ilya Kovalchuk, who had just made Penguins rookie Sidney Crosby pay for taking a bad penalty, turned to him as he exited the penalty box and gave him 'the business,' earning him the wrath of Don Cherry who suggested he deserved to have limbs broken for such an audacious display of bad sportsmanship. (January 2006)

Kovalchuk was the man of the hour at the 2008 All Star Game in Atlanta, walking the red carpet in style. I shot this from the press pit, and when a reporter asked him what designer he was wearing, he grabbed his lapels and said, 'I don't know, but I look good, yes?'

Ilya Kovalchuk walks the red carpet at the NHL All Star game. Hey! Look! Fans in Atlanta. Yeah, that's right. They exist, regardless of what *they* would like you to believe.

Lean into it! Ilya Kovalchuk warms up prior to a game against the Edmonton Oilers. (October 2009)

A portrait at practice. Buddy Slava Kozlov was showing Kovalchuk something and they skated around in little circles talking about it. (October 2009)

Vintage Ilya Kovalchuk -- his face lit up with excitement as he moves up ice, deking the heck out of the Nashville Predators. (January 2006)

Kovalchuk at the Thrashers' annual Casino Night. Asked to pose with a hockey card depicting teammate Slava Kozlov, here's his humorous non-verbal commentary.

One of my favorite pictures even though it's not the best quality. Kovalchuk on his knee after a big slapshot versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Circa 2006)

Kovalchuk during a break in the action as the Atlanta Thrashers take on the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center in January 2009.

Ilya Kovalchuk at the 2008 All Star Game in Atlanta.

This is how you guard against Kovalchuk, just hang on as he goes for the net. (January 2006)

As of this writing, both of these UFAs are still unsigned. I snapped this photo of pals Slava Kozlov and Ilya Kovalchuk at Thrashers' Casino Night in 2009.

Numerical counterparts line up for a faceoff -- Ruslan Fedotenko of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ilya Kovalchuk. (January 2006)

Though he’s just a memory…
Some memories last forever.

OK. That was cheesy. But you know what? I don’t care. We, in Blueland, loved Kovalchuk. There’s no sense denying it, as many try to do these days. Anyway …

Wow! Going through my old photos, I can’t believe how long it’s been. I see progress in my photography and also in Kovalchuk. Thinking back on all of the games I’ve watched him play — hundreds live — some of that spunky, devil-may-care attitude (pun intended) still exists, but over the years he has grown up a lot. He’s still occasionally temperamental. He’s still a cherry-picker at heart. But still … He would absolutely rip up the Kontinental Hockey League if he chose to go there. Without the bone-crunchers of the NHL to stop him, he’d dance and deke and run up the score. I can tell you from having seen KHL action live, defenders wouldn’t know which way was up. He’d be unfettered and free to dazzle. They do that in the KHL. Lots of fancy moves — and Kovalchuk has moves stored away that he hasn’t even used yet.

In my heart, I think I’ll always love Kovalchuk a little bit. It’s going to be so hard to see him in another NHL uniform. I am looking at the news with my hands over my eyes, knowing that once he signs, he’s really gone … even if, in reality, he left us a long time ago.