Has Kovalchuk's fight changed fans' attitudes?

The only reason I did was because I thought of him highly before. Kovy is a beast, and he proved it last year to me. Toughness and strength, I realized how strong he was when he fought McCabe (Kovy for Atlanta, McCabe for Florida). So I always thought he was a gamer.

I love Kovy. Great post though.

I WILL WATCH THIS FIGHT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

Because of the fight, but more importantly because he was the first man in to start tussling with Rinaldo. It was a clear demonstration of his loyalty to his teammates and to Parise specifically. I already believed he had become a complete team player: assists, backchecking, etc.

As to his point production, that confirms that he’s a Kovalbeast and that he’s a team player, making assists when others expect him to shoot. I.e., with Volchenkov two weeks ago or lots of drop passes to Elias, Parise, etc.

Liked him a lot before it. Plus he had a pretty decent fight last year or the tail end of his 1st if I’m not mistaken.

Which fans ? In my opinion “true” Devils fans knew way before this fight that Kovy was “trying” to do his best at the minimum. On the other hand I’m 100% certain that from a national perception and for all the “national hockey medias” too, it’s a real a accomplishment. Sincerely I said it earlier that I wouldn’t be surprised if Kovy would get a lot of love from even his worst detractors with that perfect knock-out ( Russians can’t fight because they’re lazy, greedy, selfish, etc, etc).

In short, his point production is a pure coincidence with that spank. When he’s taking a shift, Ilya Kovalchuk is making his team better and as a Devils fan I care just about that.

Last season, i despised kovy.
His high pay an low production, with the fanned shoot out attempt made infuriated me.
But this season he has been amazing, and as pdb put has taken his play to “another level” (please dont kill me if i misquoted that). He has really impressed me and he is now one of my favorite devils.

Though like many others, it’s because I already thought highly of him. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the fight and that he jumped in to protect his teammate, but I thought he was a team guy before this. People who thought this guy wasn’t laying it on the line every night before this weren’t watching closely enough. I do think this will bring a lot of the more casual fans around on him though, which is good, because I won’t have to hear (as much) nonsense about how he isn’t worth his contract anymore.

Also, because I never get tired of posting this .gif:

I really think the media, and simply the dollar amount on his contract, put a lot of weight on his shoulders and into the minds of fans. I have always had a very high opinion of Kovy. I have always noticed that he was a real team player. People who know anything about his career prior to coming to the Devils will agree that he has become a much, much better hockey player since he joined the Devils. He as stepped up to learn how to play hockey in a way that he was not familiar with, becoming a more defensive player, passing the puck instead of shooting (sometimes too selflessly IMO), and has always stood up for other players. It has been great to watch him become one of the most well rounded players in hockey, not just an offensive jugernaut, which is what I think most Devils fans were expecting, but he can also play defense from time to time, and knock a guy out when called for. Fans get frustrated with him even though the coaching staff has made it a point to make him a Devil instead of trying to make the Devils his support group. If he were less of a player, it would not be working at all. At some point, and obviously I hope it comes this season, this is all going to click and pay off, and we may be seeing that happen now. Fans need to have patience. I mean come on, the guy came to NJ and was forced to play a completely different game, learn it all in record time, and keep the fans happy while he did it. I have to say I have been and am still very, very, impressed with Kovy.

So, although I applaud him for his behavior with/in this fight, I in no way think it makes him any better than he already is. I’ve kind of been waiting to see him do his signature toss and pop, as he has not really had the chance in his previous, and so few, fights.