Great Montreal Canadiens Russians: Alexei Kovalev

Our collective prayers have been answered, and the Montreal Canadiens drafted an offensive superstar from Russia, Ivan Demidov. So in honour of this outstanding feat, lets look at some notable Russians from the Canadiens' past, starting with Alexei Kovalev.

At times its hard to believe how recent the Russian invasion into the NHL was. Kovalev was a player I remember watching growing up, and only retired from the NHL in 2013, but holds some of the most important milestones of a Russian-born player.

Kovalev was drafted by the New York Rangers in 1991, 15th overall in the first round. This was the first time a Russian player was ever taken in the first round. And he made an immediate impact upon coming over to North America, scoring 38 and 56 points in each of his first seasons, and winning the Stanley Cup in his second year.

And that was another first. Kovalev was one of the first Russian players to have their name carved onto the Cup, along with fellow countrymen Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Sergei Zubov.

Kovalev was then traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and then traded back to the Rangers before making his way to the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens traded away a pick that turned into Bruce Graham and Jozef Balej to shore up their playoff run. Safe to say the trade worked in the Canadiens favour.

Kovalev underperformed to finish the regular season in Montreal, but had a great playoff with 6 goals and 10 points in 11 games. But that was always Kovalev's strongest suit, he always turned it up and produced in the playoffs. In 123 games he scored 45 goals and 110 points. Sadly, outside of the early Cup run with the Rangers, Kovalev never made it close again.

Kovalev spent 5 years in Montreal, not counting the lookout, and in 2007-08 he had the highest producing season for a Canadiens forward in recent memory and since, scoring at a higher point-per-game pace and finishing with 84 points.

Kovalev even, at points, wore the Captain's C while Saku Koivu was injured. He made the All-Star team in 2009, and even captained the Eastern Conference team. However, afterwards, he tested out free agency and ended up with the Ottawa Senators. I don't think the Canadiens were too broke up about it. Kovalev never reached those heights again.

For me I will always remember watching this game, and the part Kovalev played in the biggest comeback in Montreal Canadiens history. Kovalev scored the fifth and game-tying goal basically from the seat of his pants and had an all time celebration with his feet up above his head.

And that doesn't even mention his contributions off the ice. As a child, Kovalev had a heart condition, which almost forced him to give up hockey. But with his success, he raised money and produced media to help other children with heart conditions.

When looking at forwards, Kovalev has the most points for a Russian in a Montreal Canadiens uniform, and second most all time. You can probably guess who is first, but we will get to him. And in a short amount of time, Kovalev made his mark, and almost finished at a point-per-game in the playoffs in Montreal with 31 points in 33 games.