Kukla's Korner Hockey
Subban Next In Line
by Paul on 09/23/11 at 07:52 AM ET
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from Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette,
Montreal hockey fans have a thing for hockey players. They love a man in uniform, if the uni is bleu-blanc-rouge and bears a logo that stands for CHeri.
Flamboyant Canadiens are particularly dear to their fluttering (and too often, fickle) hearts. The purest examples are Maurice Richard and Guy Lafleur, homeboys who played with distinctly Québecois flair and élan.
Then, after a long dry spell, Kovalev revived the magic. Playing like he’d come from Togliatti by way of Thurso, the Russian brought the Bell Centre crowd to heights of emotion that hadn’t been scaled since the Canadiens left the Forum.
And then he was gone – along with Saku Koivu, who had been underappreciated for, among other sins, a lack of crowd-pleasing hot-diggity-doggery. Montreal fans admired Koivu’s courageous conquest of cancer, and the more sophisticated among them appreciated his leadership, dedication and whistle-to-whistle perseverance.
But they didn’t love him ... not like they loved l’Artiste.
Koivu was the guy who got straight As, collected for UNICEF and was president of the student council. Kovalev was the bad boy with long hair and a fast car.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens | KK Hockey | Permalink
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