Spartak head coach Alexei Zhamnov explained why Ilya Kovalchuk did not go with the team to the match against Dinamo Minsk. His words are quoted TASS.
“Kovalchuk has a micro injury, nothing serious, but we did not take him here. He carried out the procedures and physiotherapy and returned to Moscow. You will see him soon. “We decided that it would be better this way, so as not to force it,” Zhamnov said.
On December 28, Spartak defeated the Minsk team with a score of 4: 1 as part of the regular championship of the Continental Hockey League (KHL). Goals were scored by Maxim Tsyplakov, Mikhail Maltsev, Pavel Poryadin and Shane Prince.
Kovalchuk signed a contract with Spartak in December 2023. He previously played for the Red and Whites between 1999 and 2001. Together with the club, he became the champion of the Major League.
In 2021, he won the Gagarin Cup three times as part of Omsk Avangard and decided to suspend his activities as a player.
In the National Hockey League (NHL), Kovalchuk played in Atlanta, New Jersey, Washington and Montreal.
Previously Lokomotiv hit Torpedo with eight goals scored in KHL play.