Ilya Kovalchuk: Winning the Stanley Cup is the toughest thing in hockey

New Jersey Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk reminisced about his greatest achievement to date and spoke about his future ambitions in an interview to the Star-Ledger.

«With the national team I won two world championships. The one we won in OT in Canada was a big one. We hadn’t won in 15 years. I was fortunate. I scored that goal, too. It’s probably, for now, my most exciting moment. But I’m only 28 years old. Maybe all the good things are in front of me,» Kovalchuk recalled.

«To me winning the Stanley Cup is the toughest thing in hockey. When you play for the national team it’s a big honour and the Olympic Games are probably up there, too, because it happens once in four years. But the Stanley Cup, after that long battle in the playoffs, that’s definitely one of my main goals. That’s the reason I stayed here. I feel like Lou Lamoriello and ownership always put a team together that can compete for the Cup every year. That’s the kind of environment in which I want to play,» the Russian star concluded.