Thursday,
March 19, 1998
Sather fed up with Kovalenko
EDMONTON (CP) -- Glen Sather has had it with Andrei Kovalenko.
The Edmonton Oilers general manager, fed up with Kovalenko's
unwillingness to break a sweat during games, has started trying to unload
the seemingly unmotivated forward.
"I'll have to shot him around," Sather told the Edmonton Sun.
"I made some calls (Wednesday).
"If he can't get going and (coach Ron Low) can't get him going
we'll have to trade him."
One problem could be Kovalenko's $1.1-million US salary. That's
a lot for a player who has just five goals and 21 points in 56 games.
Wednesday, February 25, 1998
Oilers hope Kovalenko catches fire
By DAN BARNES -- Edmonton Sun
There was a silver medal around his neck in Nagano.
Will there be a silver lining to his stormy season in Edmonton?
Oiler winger Andrei Kovalenko can only hope, and work, for that
kind of finish to the worst campaign of his six-year NHL career.
In 49 games he has five goals, just one more than he managed
in six games for the Russian Olympic team.
"I find my goals again. I hope I didn't leave them there," said
Kovalenko, who will be under pressure to keep his hot hand here.
Coach Ron Low has promised he won't be patient with anybody during
the 25-game fight to the finish.
As if to hammer that point home, winger Scott Fraser was recalled
from Hamilton, where he's a 30-goal scorer already.
He's no fourth-liner, but that's where he skated yesterday, alongside
Rem Murray and Valeri Zelepukin. If Kovalenko falters on the second line,
Fraser will be promoted faster than you can say Juan Antonio Samaranch.
Kovalenko said his confidence was boosted by his performance
in Nagano and he thanked his coach Vladimir Yurzin for that.
"In the Olympics, coach say forget about everything that has
happened and play how you can. Just relax."
He did that all right, and he played well on a line with Alexei
Yashin and Sergei Fedorov.
The relief he felt when the goals came was mirrored in his wife's
reaction.
"My wife cry when I score against Finland. Everybody called me
to tell me that."
Wednesday, January 7, 1998
New life for Kovalenko?
By DAN BARNES -- Edmonton Sun
Bryan Marchment used to sit beside him. Jason Arnott was two
stalls over.
As the vacancy signs kept going up in his little section of the
Oilers dressing room, Andrei Kovalenko would not have been shocked to hear
he was gone too.
"A trade would not be a big surprise to me. It is my bad, bad
year. But I would like to stay here. I like the guys, I like the city,
I like the fans. It would not be big surprise but I would not be happy.
"I had a meeting with (GM Glen Sather) one month ago. He said
if I don't play better, he'll try to trade me."
Kovalenko didn't exactly light it up after their chat but he's
still here, testament to how difficult it is to unload a $1.1-million US
contract that comes with just three goals.
It appears the Oilers have no choice but to keep hoping he'll
snap out of his funk. He looked good last game and was positively flying
in practice yesterday.
"Did we get a new Kovalenko in the trade too?" asked one of his
teammates.
It looked like it as he sped around the ice on a line with Valeri
Zelepukin and Rem Murray.
"You can see last game I play good. I skate, I finish checks.
My game was good but I'm not happy because we didn't win. I had a chance
to score and I didn't. Maybe if I score, my team win. I need that. I need
to score and help my team win.
"Forty games left; it's not too late."
Sunday, October 19, 1997
Kovalenko caught in a slump
By DAN BARNES -- Edmonton Sun
MARINA DEL REY - Andrei Kovalenko is confused. Make that confounded.
Perplexed even.
Throw in frustrated, upset, exasperated, impatient, anxious and
uptight.
He doesn't have a goal. And tomorrow evening he probably won't
have a spot in the Oiler lineup. So what's a guy to do?
"Bike," he said. "Forty-five minute bike, 150 heart rate."
He's trying to smile his way through a slump that has crippled
the Oiler offensive attack. He doesn't have a goal in seven games.
In a 2-1 loss to Anaheim, he didn't even get a chance to score
on Guy Hebert.
"It's never happened like this before in my six years in the
league. I have never gone seven games or eight games without a goal. I
don't know what to do."
According to coach Ron Low he could try skating.
Low doesn't feel Kovalenko is moving his feet. He's unhappy with
his play. And he will probably make him sit against the Kings.
Kovalenko will accept the coaches' decision but he'd much rather
play his way out of this slump.
"I feel I can score. I need just one goal to get started. The
home games I think I play good. I skate, I finish checks, I keep the puck
on the boards but I not score.
"I'm pissed off after the game because of that and I think about
that."
Tuesday, November 25, 1997
Soviet in Oilers' lineup punchless
By DAN BARNES -- Edmonton Sun
On his current pace, Andrei Kovalenko will score, let's see,
NO GOALS.
Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. None.
He's 0-for-21 games but continues to occupy a spot in the Oilers'
lineup. Coach Ron Low has displayed incredible patience with Kovalenko,
even during a stretch when it appeared his alleged first-line right winger
was either too out of shape to play well or didn't want to work hard enough.
On most nights now, Low thinks Kovalenko is giving it A for effort.
"I think he's trying his ass off.
"I don't know what to do. We need him scoring. We don't need
him sitting in the stands. I understand that."
So Low does what he can. He watches Kovalenko play hard in St.
Louis and goes with him all night. In Ottawa two nights later, it's a different
story.
"I'm baffled. I thought in St. Louis he played a pretty good
hockey game. He came out in Ottawa, started with (Doug Weight) and (Todd
Marchant) and wasn't the same. So you go half a game and shorten your bench
and he wasn't one of the guys you shorten it to."
Based on yesterday's practice, Kovalenko is due for a press box
seat tonight against Chicago, but that may change.
Thursday, November 27, 1997
The man's a mystery
By DAN BARNES -- Edmonton Sun
The Oilers are going to great lengths to unravel the mystery
of Andrei Kovalenko's ridiculous 21-game goal drought.
Two days ago they had him take a blood test as part of a medical
and fitness exam.
"Just to make sure everything is OK," said Kovalenko.
A team source said the struggling winger's fitness test was anything
but OK and he has been placed under the temporary care of assistant coach
Ted Green, whose duty it is to whip Kovalenko into game shape in the next
week.
It's unlikely he'll play against either Anaheim tomorrow or San
Jose on Sunday, meaning his next action will probably come on Tuesday against
one of his former teams, the Colorado Avalanche.
It's clear the Oilers are doing everything they can to snap Kovalenko
to attention. And in his defence, Kovalenko has remained a positive influence
in the dressing room through his frustrating slump.
He's actually been more outgoing and pleasant with media than
he was as a goal scorer.
So, it is in that lighthearted vein - and as a public service
to the team really - that The Edmonton Sun presents the Top 10 Reasons
Why Andrei Kovalenko Doesn't Have A Goal:
10. Blood test revealed a dangerous sour cream level of .18.
9. Found out only two NHLers retired with 117 career goals -
his current total - and both were boyhood idols: Glen Sharpley and Daniel
Marois.
8. Still not fully satisfied after switching from Marlboro to
Marlboro Lights.
7. Has heard ``it doesn't matter how you play in the regular
season, it's how you play in the playoffs that counts'' once too often.
6. His stick is heavier than the silver one the Oilers gave radio
legend Rod Phillips.
5. Always bets the ``under'' on his sports lotto ticket.
4. Secretly wants to play for Toronto and figures it's the best
way to fit in on the Leafs.
3. Found out Glen Sather made it into the Hockey Hall of Fame
with just 80 goals.
2. Vowed not to score until David Letterman stops making fun
of Boris Yeltsin's vodka intake.
And the No. 1 reason why Andrei Kovalenko doesn't have a goal:
Unsettling flashbacks to hefty speeding tickets when told "it
would be fine" if he scored soon.