BY IAN MENDES
sportsnet.ca
Alex Kovalev has seen his ice-time reduced with a demotion to the fourth line.
Now the star Ottawa Senators winger says he is being made the scapegoat by head coach Cory Clouston for the team’s sluggish start to the season.
"It looks like it right now. I'm not the only one not playing well. He (Clouston) decides to pick me, but it's happening all my career, so I accept that," said Kovalev on Friday morning. "It gets frustrating, but there's nothing I can do about it. That's his decision and I just try to play as hard as I can when I have the chance."
Earlier this week, Clouston hinted that benching Kovalev could become a viable option if his offensive struggles continue. He has scored just seven goals in 30 games this season and has rarely looked electrifying. But the Senators head coach does not agree with Kovalev's assertion that he is being singled out.
"He's not being picked on," replied Clouston. "It's not about underperformance. We're not expecting everyone to have a good game every night. We just want the effort."
Kovalev spoke to the Ottawa media for two minutes on Friday, trying to clear his mind on a number of topics that have bothered him over the past few weeks.
"I never make Christmas wishes, but at this point, I wish that people would stop picking my brain and let me play the way I can. That's the only Christmas wish I can have right now," Kovalev said. "I just don’t understand because sometimes when you start playing well, and everything goes well, they start brain-picking again. I don’t know why it keeps happening and why they don’t just let me play like I can. I don’t know if it’s some kind of jealousy or something else."
Kovalev denied asking Senators general manager Bryan Murray for a trade out of Ottawa.
He is in the final season of a two-year, $10 million contract he signed last season.
Clouston said he and the Senators organization knew what they were getting when they signed Kovalev, who has a reputation of being enigmatic and inconsistent on the ice.
"This is about what we expected. We're very happy with his game some nights and disappointed with his game other nights," said Clouston.
