Alex Kovalev's next goal is simple: To bring the Stanley Cup to Ottawa.

Kovalev signed a two-year contract Monday with the Senators after five seasons in Montreal. His departure means the Canadiens have parted company with the three players they expected would be their top line last season, Kovalev, Chris Higgins, who was traded to the New York Rangers, and captain Saku Koivu, who wasn't offered a contract and remains a free agent.

Speaking to the hockey media on a teleconference from Russia, Kovalev said he signed with Ottawa "because it happened so quick. Everything happened so quick, and we didn't have much time to respond in the other direction."

In other words, it's his business -- and Montreal is definitely in the rear-view mirror. After thanking the Canadiens fans for their support during his five seasons in Montreal, Kovalev said his focus is now on helping the Senators win the Stanley Cup. But he's aware that Montreal fans circulated a petition to urge the team re-sign Kovalev and Koivu, and that they rallied outside the Bell Centre on Sunday on his behalf.

"I definitely appreciate it," Kovalev said of the fans' support. "I can't find the words to say to the Montreal fans. They always gave me a lot of support. It's just hard to accept it that this happened in life. I'm sure they understand why it is happening. We always have to choose what is best for our lives and our families."

Kovalev, 36, said he believes the Senators have a team good enough to win the Stanley Cup -- and that's why he signed with them. The Senators played in the 2007 Stanley Cup Final, losing to Anaheim in five games, but were bounced in the first round in 2008 and missed the playoffs this past season.

"Ottawa is a pretty good team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup," Kovalev said. "I think I can bring something that was missing to help the team be competitive for the Stanley Cup. They have always had one really good line, year after year, but I think, maybe, I can be part of creating two or three good lines so we can be successful in the playoffs. I'm not a big believer that one line can do all the damage."

It was a frustrating news conference for Kovalev, a 16-year NHL star, who twice had to answer "why he's hard to coach," rather than focusing on his 1994 Stanley Cup-winning performance in his second year with the New York Rangers; his heroic performance in Pittsburgh when he carried a faltering franchise on his back; or his tenure in Montreal where the team twice led the NHL in power-play success.

There was no mention of how he sheltered and rallied his shaken countrymen at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey when the team was shattered by the atrocity at Beslan on the eve of the tournament. Nor was their mention of the millions he has raised for cardiac research. Kovalev was kept off the ice for two years as a youngster for treatment of a heart condition.

Kovalev led the Canadiens in scoring in three of his five seasons in Montreal -- including 2008-09, when he had 26 goals and 39 assists for 65 points. He had 11 power-play goals and four game winners. He also led the 2001-02 Penguins in scoring. He has twice been his team's second-leading scorer and twice the third-leading scorer.

In 1,151 NHL games, Kovalev has 394 goals and 547 assists for 941 points, with 1,200 penalty minutes. Kovalev has 122 power-play goals in his career and 61 game-winners. He has 44 goals and 54 assists for 98 points and is plus-5 in 116 Stanley Cup Playoff games, with 10 power-play goals and six game winners.

Kovalev was the Rangers' third-leading scorer in the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 9 goals and 12 assists for 21 points in 23 games. He and teammates Sergei Zubov and Sergei Nemchinov were the first Russians to have their name engraved on the Cup.

Given his accomplishments, it wasn't surprising that Kovalev disagreed with questioners who asked why he is hard to coach.

"I don't know where it comes from," he said. "When coaches say something to me, I just listen and don't say anything back. Maybe they think I don't care and I'm hard to coach, but if you argue with the coach, maybe they don't think that way? I don't know why people think I'm hard to coach. I'm always looking to do what the coach wants me to do. I always want have some communication, some understanding with the coach to tell me what I'm doing wrong.

"I'm not trying to be the superstar or be the hero," he continued. "I'm just going to do my part, what I do best and help the team win the Stanley Cup. I'm not trying to compete with anybody on my team. Ottawa has a lot of good players. I'm not really competing with the players I'm playing with."

In answer to a similar question, he said he didn't think he was a difficult player to coach.

"I always compete the best I can," he said. "It comes from all these things I've learned over the years, sometimes you have to be more aggressive and sometimes more relaxed. It depends on the situation. 
"There's a feeling about me that I only play when I want to play. I always play the best I can, whether I'm on the first line or the fourth line, with young players or old players. Sometimes, I try to do too much, think that I can change the game. I try to do what is successful, sometimes it works and sometimes not. I always play hard."

As for the criticism?

"It's just part of the life, that's the way I look at it," Kovalev said.

Kovalev said the Senators "looked more like a complete team" after Cory Clouston was named coach on Feb. 2. After losing their first four games to the Canadiens, the Senators beat Montreal home and away in the teams' final two meetings.

Kovalev said he would be returning from Russia to his home in Greenwich, Conn., in about a week and then will fly to Ottawa to meet his new coach.

"I'm not a young guy anymore, so I want to win another Stanley Cup," Kovalev said. "Whenever I join another team, I say that is my goal -- to win another Stanley Cup."