To this day, Alex Kovalev is the last player for the Canadiens to have scored more than 80 points in a season. They used to say he was lazy, can you imagine?
Well, turns out, it was true, and he's opened up about why. Alex Kovalev had an addiction, and he's come clean about it.
It's hard to believe that such an electrifying player could sometimes not sleep, but that's indeed the case. His laziness didn't stem from a lack of effort, but rather from a lack of sleep.
You might think drugs or alcohol were involved, but no. The former #27 was addicted to video games.
"When I woke up in the morning, I'd have breakfast while playing a game. Sometimes, I'd be late for practice just to finish a level. After practice, I'd play for another 5-6 hours, eat, and play some more later." - Alex Kovalev
When gaming starts causing tardiness, it's a problem, especially in professional hockey. In his case, it was the Super Nintendo. Kovalev never traveled without his games.
"It was really bad for me. I reached a point where it was affecting my game. I wasn't sleeping, forgetting things I needed to do on the ice. It was almost like you weren't there mentally at all and couldn't remember what you'd normally do." - Alex Kovalev
The problem escalated even further when gaming intruded during matches. Kovalev wasn't thinking about the game; he was thinking about the virtual world.
"At first, I thought it was just fatigue and that I needed to sleep more. Then, I realized that sometimes on the bench, I was thinking about the hockey game, rather than the actual match. That's when I realized it wasn't heading in the right direction." - Alex Kovalev
He eventually managed to quit gaming. He unplugged the console and left it aside.
