In case you were wondering how Ilya Kovalchuk is hanging in his KHL captain’s uni this season since he kicked Gary Bettman in the nut sack and bolted from the New Jersey Devils for his homeland Russia. Here’s the scoop.

Kovy’s KHL team SKA St. Petersburg has the best record in the KHL with 12-5 record and 36 points and his stats sheet sits near the top of his team, take a look….

He looks happy in his headshot too, you notice?

Kinda  the same look he had when he left Atlanta to get away from GM Don Waddell’s soup sandwich called the Thrashers and getting away from Bettman’s newest CBA agreement may have made the move easy.

Crazy how Kovy could have a “don’t let the door hit you in the ass” attitude towards the remaining $77 million that remained in his New Jersey Devils contract but hey, we give the guy a lot of credit going where his heart is….sort of….his mother shared a few figures regarding what the reality take home pay is for some athletes who are making $10M per season so maybe it was a financial decision. In an interview with her the week Kovy crossed the Atlantic for Red Square, mom spilled her guts:

“After the [NHL] lockout, there are a lot of restrictions….[players]  are underpaid 20% of their salary. The League takes it as escrow that may not be paid back if the NHL does not make profit….then there’s government tax of 50%. That means on paper you are being paid $10 million a year, but in reality it’s only $3 million. So the pendulum swung for Russia.”

Thanks for that insight, mom and holy crap on those escrow and tax figures!

Back to one of the baddest Russians to burn up a sheet of NHL ice, most of the media and fans expected Kovalchuk to return to Russia before his decade long contract expired but the most expected him to leave  around 2019 when his base salary was to drop from $7M per year to $4M per season…but after hearing mom’s explanation of the numbers surrounding Gary Bettman’s new deal with the NHLPA, makes financial sense for Kovy to get the hell out of Jersey.

So we know a lot about Kovy.  When Kovy decides he’s done with a team or area, hello Atlanta Thrashers fans, he’s gonna do whatever the heck he wants, so take that kick in the nuts as a statement from one of your league’s greatest stars, Mr. Bettman.