The following press release is from the Atlanta Thrashers:
The Atlanta Thrashers have named forward Ilya Kovalchuk as the team captain, according to Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Waddell. Kovalchuk, who has served as an alternate captain for the last two seasons, becomes the seventh captain in team history and only the fifth Russian-born and trained player in league history to achieve this honor (Alexei Zhamnov, Pavel Bure, Alexei Yashin, Alexander Mogilny). The organization elected to go without a captain for the first half of the season, utilizing five alternate captains (Kovalchuk, Colby Armstrong, Niclas Havelid, Slava Kozlov and Mathieu Schneider).
“Ilya has earned the opportunity to take a larger leadership role on this team and has grown into this position over his six-plus seasons as a member of the Thrashers,” said Waddell. “We’re very pleased, and excited for Ilya, that his fellow alternate captains approached us and felt he should be given the responsibility at this time. We’re confident that he’ll embrace it and represent the organization and his teammates appropriately.”
Kovalchuk, 25, was selected by the Thrashers first overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft and is the all-time franchise leader in games played (508), points (508), goals (269), assists (239), game-winning goals (33) and power play goals (98).
The native of Tver, Russia currently leads the Thrashers with 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists) through 42 games this season. He is tied for 13th in the NHL in assists and tied for 15th in overall points. He is also tied for second on the team with two game-winning goals and ranks fourth with five power play tallies.
The 6-1, 230-pound left wing shared the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy, the annual award given to the league’s top goal scorer, after scoring 41 goals during the 2003-04 campaign. Kovalchuk has scored a career-high and franchise record 52 goals twice (2005-06, 2007-08) and has received the Thrashers Most Valuable Player Award four times during his career. Kovalchuk was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2002, the NHL Second All-Star Team in 2004 and has been selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game three times (2004, 2008, 2009).
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