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Report: Ilya Kovalchuk contract grievance hearing will ‘definitely’ take place Wednesday

New Jersey Devils Re-Sign Ilya Kovalchuk

Ilya Kovalchuk of the New Jersey Devils poses for photographs during a media opportunity announcing his contract renewal at the Prudential Center on July 20, 2010 in Newark, New Jersey.

Bruce Bennett

Contrary to earlier reports, it appears that the Ilya Kovalchuk contract rejection grievance hearing will take place Wednesday in Boston rather than Tuesday. The news comes from Tom Gulitti.

The hearing to decide the grievance about Ilya Kovalchuk’s rejected contract will definitely begin Wednesday in Boston.

Kovalchuk’s mother, Luba, reportedly told Sovetsky Sport that the two-day hearing would begin Tuesday-according to Puck Daddy’s Dmitry Chesnokov. But I have confirmed that the hearing will definitely begin Wednesday and be held in Boston. A ruling is expected Friday or Saturday.

Luba Kovlachuk said that her son delayed his return to Russia to attend the hearing.

Gulitti’s been the best source (in my opinion) of information on this situation, so if he says it will “definitely” happen than I’d say it’s likely true. That means that we might have to wait until the early part of the weekend for the news, but we should still go into next week with the knowledge that Kovalchuk will either be an official New Jersey Devil or the two sides would need to hammer out a new agreement.

It’s still pretty hard to believe that the Kovalchuk saga is now past the 30-day mark, but the good news is that we should see it come to an end reasonably soon. Unless, of course, the arbitrator rejects the contract and Kovalchuk inexplicably has a change of heart.

If that happens, reach for the Tylenol because this one might never end.