 |
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| Position | Left Wing |
| Shot | Right |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 1.5 in (1.87 m) 230 lb (105 kg) |
| NHL Team | Atlanta Thrashers |
| Nationality | Russia |
| Born | April 15 1983 , Kalinin, Russian SFSR, USSR |
| NHL Draft | 1st overall, 2001 Atlanta Thrashers |
| Pro Career | 1999 – present |
Ilya Valeryevich Kovalchuk (born April 15, 1983) is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger, who is currently the captain of the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League.
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Kovalchuk played for Russian Super League club HC Spartak Moscow for two seasons before entering the NHL. Drafted by the Thrashers first overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, he became the first Russian ice hockey player to be drafted first overall in the NHL's history. In club-level competition, Kovalchuk wore the number 17 as a tribute to Valeri Kharlamov, a Soviet superstar in the 1970s. When Kovalchuk played for his national team he wore number 71.
Kovalchuk finished second to teammate Dany Heatley in the voting for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2002. Both were named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. In the 2003-04 NHL Season Kovalchuk scored 41 goals, making him a co-winner of the Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy after tying for the league lead in goals along with Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash. He also added 46 assists for 87 points, tied with Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche for second in the league that season, behind Martin St. Louis. Kovalchuk also participated in the 2004 NHL All-Star Game. After the lockout, Kovalchuk scored 52 times, tying him with Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals for third in the league in scoring (behind Jonathan Cheechoo (56), and Jaromír Jágr (54)). He also tied his career-high of 46 assists for a career-high 98 points, finishing 8th overall in scoring and leading the Thrashers in scoring for the second consecutive season. He also became the first Thrashers player to score 50 goals in a season. In the 2006–07 NHL season, Kovalchuk's point production dropped for the first time in his career. He finished with 42 goals and 34 assists for 76 points. Despite his drop in production, Kovalchuk and the Thrashers qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time. The team lost to the New York Rangers in four games, but Kovalchuk scored one goal and one assist in the series.
In 2006, Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz said Kovalchuk "always plays with an illegal stick." The NHL has subsequently, as of the 2006–07 season, changed the rules on stick curvature to allow for a much more curved stick than was previously allowed. Kovalchuk, under the new rules, claims to play only with a legal stick.
On November 1, 2007 and November 3, 2007, Kovalchuk scored two consecutive hat-tricks despite a loss to the Ottawa Senators and the win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. He had a goal in the next game but lost the chance to score a hat-trick due to being injured midway through. It would have been an NHL record had he scored a third consecutive hat-trick.
On January 23, 2008 Kovalchuk was suspended for one game by the NHL for a hit from behind on New York Rangers defenseman Michal Rozsíval in a game a day prior.
On January 11, 2009 Kovalchuk was named captain of the Thrashers during the 9th Annual Thrashers Casino Night.
Kovalchuk receives endorsments from Warrior Hockey for using Warrior gloves, sticks, and pants.
Kovalchuk scored 43 goals during the 2008-09 season, his fifth consecutive 40 goal season.
In 2006 Kovalchuk played in the Olympics as a member of the Russian men's hockey team, and had a four-goal game on February 19 in a 9–2 win over Latvia, but returned to Atlanta without a medal. In 2008 Kovalchuk played in the IIHF World Championship that was held in Quebec City, Canada where he scored just twice. However, he scored the tying goal in the final game for the Gold medal to bring the game to overtime, followed by the game winning goal to give Russia its long-awaited gold medal. On February 18, 2009, he was named the Russian national team's captain for the 2010 Olympics. In 2009, he led Russia to victory in the world championship and won MVP of the tournament.
Played for Russia in:
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2001–02 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 65 | 29 | 22 | 51 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 81 | 38 | 29 | 67 | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 81 | 41 | 46 | 87 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Ak Bars Kazan | RSL | 53 | 19 | 23 | 42 | 72 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Khimik Moscow Oblast | RSL | 11 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 78 | 52 | 46 | 98 | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 82 | 42 | 34 | 76 | 66 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 19 | ||
| 2007–08 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 79 | 52 | 35 | 87 | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 79 | 43 | 48 | 91 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 545 | 297 | 260 | 557 | 384 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 19 | ||||
| Year | Event | GP | G | A | P | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | WJC-U18 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | |
| 2001 | WJC | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 37 | |
| 2001 | WJC-U18 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 26 | |
| 2002 | Oly | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 | |
| 2003 | WC | 7 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |
| 2004 | WC | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | |
| 2004 | WCH | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2005 | WC | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | |
| 2006 | Oly | 8 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 31 | |
| 2007 | WC | 9 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 | |
| 2008 | WC | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 52 | |
| 2009 | WC | 9 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 4 | |
| Junior Int'l totals | 19 | 17 | 9 | 26 | 69 | ||
| Senior Int'l totals | 66 | 25 | 27 | 52 | 131 | ||
| Year | Location | G | A | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | St. Paul | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2008 | Atlanta | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2009 | Montreal | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| All-Star totals | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Preceded by Rick DiPietro |
1st Overall Pick in NHL Entry Draft 2001 |
Succeeded by Rick Nash |
| Preceded by Dany Heatley |
Atlanta Thrashers first round draft pick 2001 |
Succeeded by Kari Lehtonen |
| Preceded by Milan Hejduk |
(Co)Winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy (with Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash) 2004 |
Succeeded by Jonathan Cheechoo |
| Preceded by Bobby Holik |
Atlanta Thrashers captains 2009 – present |
Incumbent |
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