BY SPORTSNET STAFF
sportsnet.ca
After signing a two-year contract with Atlant Mytischi of the KHL, Alexei Kovalev blasted former Senators coach Cory Clouston and the hockey writers in Ottawa in a Russian newspaper report.
In an interview with Pavel Lysenkov of Sovetsky Sport, Kovalev claimed that he had several issues with Clouston's coaching style.
"In two seasons I still couldn't understand the ideas of our coach Cory Clouston. It seemed that he scoffed at some players," Kovalev told Lysenkov in an article translated by Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo! Sports.
"You have to treat players kindly. If you leave someone on the bench you should explain why it happened. This is coach's job. But when a player is benched and doesn't understand what is happening, he becomes lost.
Kovalev also called out Ottawa reporters and claimed they didn't actually watch hockey. "There are different journalists. My opinion of Ottawa journalists is that they don't watch hockey at all. When they fly with the team and go through the (metal detector) at an airport, their bags are filled with beer. You realize right away what these people do when they write about the NHL," Kovalev told the Russian newspaper.
"I am annoyed when people write (nonsense). Figuratively speaking, to earn 50 dollars they are ready to make up some garbage. But they show that they're doing their job."
Senators GM Bryan Murray had seen enough of Kovalev by the trade deadline and shipped the veteran forward to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a conditional 7th round pick.
In Pittsburgh, Kovalev finished with a measly two goals and seven points in 20 games. Kovalev believe he didn't fit into the system of head coach Dan Blysma.
"Everything was fine. I had played for Pittsburgh before. The atmosphere doesn't change there. But my style didn't fit with the game coach Dan Byslma was implementing. There is nothing else to explain it with," Kovalev said.
Kovalev became an unrestricted free agent July 1. The longtime NHL forward said he received offers from two NHL teams but was concerned about job security so he decided to leave for the KHL.
"I didn't want to spend my summers sitting on travel bags. I realized that I will not get a contract longer than one year in North America. Atlant gave me a two-year contract," Kovalev said.
