A quick glance skyward during the national anthem at Madison Square Garden Saturday night will remind Ottawa’s “AK27” of goals he has accomplished.
Far beyond the Stanley Cup banners and roof of the storied old building are where his future ambitions await.
Before departing for New York and the Senators’ opener against the Rangers, the multi-faceted Alex Kovalev spoke of how he’d love to follow the path being travelled by Canadian billionaire Guy Laliberte.
On Wednesday, the Cirque de Soleil founder joined Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams on Russia’s Soyuz TMA-16 rocket booster.
Laliberte paid an estimated $35 million US for the trip to the International Space Station, where he remain stay until Oct. 11
“It would be a great feeling to experience,” said Kovalev, who was told of Laliberte’s plans years ago by a friend who trains astronauts — and has been a little envious since.
Kovalev, who has both his plane and helicopter pilot licences, hopes for the same opportunity some day.
“I don’t have the time right now,” he said. “You’ve got to train a few years before you go up there. But it’ll probably be done after I retire, if it’s still a possibility. The health is going to be important. I’m really into doing it.”
Just as he is into playing the saxophone and scuba diving.
“I always try different things in life,” said Kovalev. “You have enough fingers in your hand to name what I didn’t try, with everything I’ve tried. I’d like to continue to try different things.
“That’s why I’ve got the sticker on my plane. (It says) ‘Life is to live it.’ ”
On his Bucket List was to win a Cup, something Kovalev checked off in 1993-94 as a key member of the Blueshirts’ only championship team in the last 70 years. Kovalev scored 21 points in 23 playoff games after 23 goals and 33 assists (along with a career-high 154 penalty minutes) in the regular season.
“It’s just nice to go back there to where we won the Stanley Cup and had some good years,” said Kovalev, a Ranger from 1992-99 and 2002-04. “I never thought the crowd was so excited at the beginning of the season there, it’s always kind of more towards the end.
“They have a different team, few interesting guys they added this year. It’s always been exciting (in New York). They make it look nice for opening nights.”
At the same time, Kovalev would like nothing more than to spoil the party for fans who once cheered him.
“For me, on a new team, it would be nice to get that first goal out of the way, so people don’t think ‘is he going to score a first goal for the new team?’ ” said Kovalev. “And I think the win is really important. The way you start the season, that’s the way the season is going to go. You get that first win and the confidence is going to go up.”
In the crease
Drop the puck, already. That thought will be going through goalie Pascal Leclaire’s mind should Game 1 introductions and other such ceremonies run on at MSG. “I think the only difference is you’re kind of hoping the pre-game stuff won’t be too long,” Leclaire said when asked about the anxieties of heading into a season opener. “You’ve just got to make sure when it starts you’re ready. You can’t be in la-la land. It counts now.” Leclaire hopes to play a good stretch of games before getting his first night off, if only to get a rhythm going. But he isn’t looking too far ahead, either. “We’re playing Toronto in a few days (Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre), so I kind of watched a little bit,” he said of Thursday’s Leafs-Habs opener. “Not too much. If I watch too much, I start to think too much. Try to watch the power plays and tendencies. But really, I kind of watched a movie (Thursday) night.”
To the point
With the arrival of Matt Carkner and Erik Karlsson, Chris Campoli is far removed from being the new guy on the blue line. And he’s played just 25 games for Ottawa. Along with being Carkner’s regular defence partner, Campoli will line up beside Karlsson on one power play unit, with Filip Kuba and Ryan Shannon manning the points of the other. “I feel good about this team,” Campoli said. I think we can do a lot of good things here. I’m ready to contribute to that. I’m really excited about my opportunity.”
