They said it couldn't be done.

They said the Devils never were serious contenders to sign Ilya Kovalchuk -- but they did.

The NHL -- and an arbitrator said the Kovy contract was "offside" -- but Lou Lamoriello said he'd make it "onside" and he did.

Now, after two remarkably agonizing months, The Rapid Russian finally is secure in the knowledge that he is after all a member of John MacLean's team.

As part of a convoluted deal hammered out by the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association, Kovy can wear his number seventeen in the red, white and black instead of the Siberian Polar Bears or whatever Russian club was after his John Hancock.

Credit New Jersey's high command -- Lamoriello and co-owner Jeff Vanderbeek -- with a special brand of perseverance and grim determination.

It was that sticktoitiveness that enabled them to slug through the muck and mire of NHL red tape to ultimately turn what seemed like an endless Fantasy League game into reality at The Rock.

With Kovy in the lineup, alongside the likes of Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and David Clarkson, the Devils now boast an arsenal that should make them serious Stanley Cup contenders.

That, however, will depend in large part on the moves Lamoriello will be compelled to make in the next weeks to bring his club safely into the Salary Cap zone.

What this means -- just as it did early in July when the Ilya Follies began -- is that the likes of Bryce Salvador and Dainius Zubrus, among others, could be boarding an Amtrak Express for NHL parts still unknown.

Larrupin' Lou has had plenty of weeks to blueprint these moves while finding trading partners who no doubt will have interest in some of the appetizing Devils.

The Maven has experienced many a bizarre contract challenge but The Kovalchuk Saga goes down in my book as the longest, most confusing of all-time.
   
In fact, it reminds me of a book I once wrote, "Strange But True Hockey Stories."

"Keeping Kovy" is the strangest chapter of all -- but true!

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