My sports idol

Ilya Kovalchuk
Striker SKA.

Russian professional ice hockey left winger and alternate captain of the St. Petersburg club SKA of the Kontinental hockey League. Kovalchuk is a graduate of the Moscow "Spartak", which he debuted at the professional level in 1999 and then for two seasons played for the team in the Premier League. At the NHL draft 2001 selected in the first round under the General 1-m room club "Atlanta Trashers". Was the player "Atlanta" for the next nine years, until February 2010 was not traded to the "new Jersey Devilz". After four partial seasons spent in the "Devils", has decided to finish his career in the NHL...

The first official international competition for Kovalchuk became Junior world championship 2000. On tournament Russian national team among players under the age of 18 years has managed to reach the final, where her opponent was the team of Finland. The Russians were considered the favorites in the playoff, because in the group stage won a landslide victory over the Finns with the score 5:2, however, the team under the leadership of Andrew Pyatanova lost to the rival with the score 1:3. Thus, the Russian hockey players became silver medalists of the competition, and Kovalchuk for the first time in his career won the international award.

The next international tournament, where played forward, was the youth world Cup 2001. Despite the fact that the Russian team had a strong squad and was the favorite of the tournament for the Russians was unsuccessful — the team at the home world championship has occupied only 7-e a place. Kovalchuk, considered to be one of the most talented young players in the championship, held the championship at a low level. The performance of the striker at the tournament like a lot of unnecessary deletions and multiple fights, as well as a lack in his game teamwork.