IMAGE INFORMATION
EditAlexei Vyacheslavovich Kovalev / Алексей Вячеславович Ковалёв - Born February 24, 1973 in Tolyatti, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union is a Russian retired ice Hockey right winger.
- Super Series 1991 Winner with Dynamo Moscow
3 wins, 2 loses, 2 ties vs NHL teams.
- Soviet Championship League Winner 1990, 1991, 1992 with with Dynamo Moscow.
European Junior Ice Hockey Championships Silver Medal Winner 1990, 1991 with Soviet Union.
- World Junior Ice Hockey Champion 1992 with CIS National Ice Hockey Team (Soviet Union).
- Winter Olympics Gold Medal Champion 1992 with Unified Team / CIS National Ice Hockey Team (Soviet Union).
- NHL President's Trophy Champion 1994 with New York Rangers.
- Stanley Cup Champion 1994 with New York Rangers.
- Prince of Wales Trophy Champion 1994 with New York Rangers.
- 2002 Winter Olympics Bronze Medal Winner with Russia.
- 2005 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships Bronze Medal Winner. Kovalev was named Best Forward at tournament by directorate.
Kovalev made his NHL debut with New York Rangers on October 12, 1992 vs Hartford Whalers, also scoring his 1st NHL goal vs Sean Burke at 12:09 of 2nd period at Madison Square Garden in a 6-2 Rangers win.
Kovalev scored his 1st NHL hat-trick vs Andy Moog of Boston Bruins on December 27, 1992 at Madison Square Garden in a 6-5 Rangers win. His 3rd goal was the game winner.
Kovalev played in 1316 regular season NHL games, scoring 430 goals (70 GWG / 8 OTG), 599 assists with 1304 penalty minutes and 123 NHL playoff games, scoring 45 goals (7 GWG / 1 OTG), 55 assists with 114 penalty minutes.
Kovalev played in NHL All-Star Games 2001, 2003, 2009.
1st Russian player to be a captain of an NHL All-Star Team - 2009 Eastern Conference All-Star Team.
MVP at 2009 NHL All-Star Game.
Kovalev represented Soviet Union/CIS/Unified Team/Russia 71 times, 19 as a junior, scoring 17 goals, 11 assists with 30 penalty minutes and 52 times as a senior, scoring 20 goals, 14 assists with 64 penalty minutes.
NOTE
Kovalev became the 1st player born in Russia to be selected in the first round of the NHL Draft when the New York Rangers took him with the No. 15 pick in 1991 and holds the NHL record for most regular season games played by a player born and trained in the Soviet Union with 1,302.
One of the 1st four Russian players (along with Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Sergei Zubov) to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
