Ilya Kovalchuk isn’t going to China, may have won war with coach

Ilya Kovalchuk has had a rather eventful postseason for SKA in the Kontinental Hockey League. 

He was benched for playoff games by SKA coach Sergei Zubov, and stripped of his captaincy. That led to speculation that Kovalchuk could return to the NHL, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly started answering questions about how that would work. SKA reportedly offered Kovalchuk $1 million to terminate his deal on April 1, but the two sides agreed to wait on addressing his future. 

Oh, and then it was reported that Kovalchuk would sign on with the KHL’s new expansion team in China (!). The joke at the time was that he’d rather play for Mike Keenan on an expansion team in China that suit up for Zubov again with SKA.

Except it appears he won’t have to. According to Aivis Kalnins of One Puck Short, Kovalchuk said he’s staying for one more season with SKA.

“I have a contract with SKA for one more season,  It will be a pleasure and I will be happy to represent them for the reminder of my contract.”

BUT CHINA!?

“China? What China? They don’t have a hockey team there just yet.”

Huh.

The next twist in the story could involve Zubov, as apparently there’s strong talk that while Kovalchuk stays, his coach may not return:

So, it looks like the Kovalchuk situation may be resolved in a completely new way: the superstar will stay, the coach will go. Unheard of.

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) March 31, 2016

And ...

The Kovalchuk story keeps writing itself, Kovi will stay, coach won't.

— Aivis Kalniņš (@A_Kalnins) March 31, 2016

If a Russian player gets a Russian coach fired in Russia, is it still a hockey cliché?

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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