Kovalchuk returns to face his former team

By foxsports
Published

By John Manasso
FOXSportsSouth.com
Dec. 17, 2010

The comparisons are difficult to avoid.

The New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk enter Philips Arena on Saturday standing 14th among the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference.

The team with which Kovalchuk would not sign a contract extension last season, the Atlanta Thrashers, have gone 10-2-2 in their past 14 games and are one of the surprises in the East. They sit one point out of first place in the Southeast Division and a comfortable sixth place in the conference, seven points ahead of ninth-place Carolina.

A trade cannot be judged in full in one season