Said SKA Vice President Roman Rotenberg to SovSport: “Ilya negotiated everything on his own. All respect should go only to him. Our club couldn’t participate in the negotiation as a matter of fact. But Ilya came to an agreement with the Devils management and Lou Lamoriello, who should also be given respect. He heard Kovalchuk and let him go from his team. “This is a serious thing. Because a player with a superstar status, having a record contract came up and said ‘You know, I want to go home. To play in Russia, to live close to my family. To be closer to people and my fans.’ Ilya Kovalchuk is a real hero in this situation. A hero of Russia, I think. These are not loud words, but the reality. A man, who didn’t let anyone down. Didn’t screw anyone up. A true patriot. What other words can there be? “I wouldn’t want to go into the financial details. But I will repeat one thing: Ilya didn’t do it for the money, but for Russia.”
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 14:19:53 +0000