By JOHN MANASSO

After arriving on time this season, Ilya Kovalchuk has demonstrated some awe-inspiring speed in skating drills during the first two days of Thrashers training camp.

Off the ice on Saturday, Kovalchuk demonstrated his sense of humor.

Of facing former linemate Marc Savard when the Thrashers play Boston this season, Kovalchuk said, "I'm going to give it to him in the corner." Of the acquisition of defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski, one of his lunch partners later Saturday, he said, "He's Russian, so we need more Russians on the team."

But his most colorful comments came when addressing his favorite topic, the illegal stick rule.

"I think this was the worst rule in the world with the illegal stick because you can use whatever you want," he said. "Some guys use the big curve; some guys use the open curve. Everybody plays with a different stick. I don't think it makes a big difference because, anyway, like half the league uses illegal sticks and now everyone will use legal ones."

Can he stay within the new standard of 3/4-inch?

"Oh, yeah, I'm all set now," he said. "And the good thing is if they call me and my stick is going to be legal, they're going to pay five grand and the coach will have to pay a thousand."

Kovalchuk reported at 221 pounds ("more muscle," he said), and on the first day of camp when coach Bob Hartley had the team line up to skate his onerous "mountain" sprints (designed to be about the length of a shift), Kovalchuk demolished the field by about 25 feet.

"It doesn't matter," Kovalchuk said of his performance. "It was a hard practice, and everyone was tired. ... I think everyone had good times. That's what they told us today."