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DEL.ICIO.USThrashers wake up from nightmare
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Several words came to mind when this Thrashers’ roster was put together this summer, and none of them were the following: Uninspired, underachieving, lazy, lousy, defenseless, powerless, dirty and cheap.
Several words came to mind after a 2-5 start. See above.
They lost at home to Toronto, 9-1. They were shutout three times in five losses. Over four straight defeats that followed the signing of Ilya Kovalchuk, they had as many players suspended for various acts of thuggery (two) as they had goals. (The opponents had 22. Goals, not suspensions.) The power play, expected to be the league’s best, went 0-for-25.
On Thursday, the Thrashers lost at home to Tampa Bay, 6-0. This was what Don Waddell said early Saturday: “That loss was the hardest loss I’ve suffered as a general manager. I wasn’t happy how we lost that game. You can talk about goaltending all you want, but we also have to help him. We have to score some goals. Once we got down a goal or two, we packed it in.”
Quitters.
Sorry. Forget that word.
Two nights after the Tampa Bay game and the day after coach Bob Hartley tried something completely different — an 8 a.m. practice the morning after a night game — the Thrashers did something as improbable as looking so comatose with such a skilled roster.
They beat New Jersey, 4-3. They did it by falling behind, 3-1, then scoring three straight goals off of the Devils’ perennial All-Star goalie, Martin Brodeur — who was outplayed by a kid making his second NHL start, Adam Berkhoel.
This was Waddell after the game: “It’s like we just won the Stanley Cup.”
The Thrashers have had losing streaks before. But they have never had losing streaks in a season with such a talented roster that is accompanied by such high expectations. There is losing, and then there is getting smacked.
Before Kovalchuk played his first game, the Thrashers were 2-1 and coming off consecutive wins over Washington by a combined score of 15-2. The fact they couldn’t keep a goalie together with duct tape almost seemed a relative afterthought.
“We lose our two goalies and Kovie comes in, you think that might be a fair trade,” coach Bob Hartley said. “We just lost our game. You lose a game or two, then you start pressing. You start asking tons of questions instead of just playing the game.”
Said Marc Savard, who scored the tying goal Saturday, “These last four games have been the worst time in my life. It seemed like we had nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.”
You don’t learn about a team during routs of the Capitals. You learn about it during losing streaks. Good teams work through problems, and Thrashers weren’t doing that. They were, in another word, pathetic. Even Bobby Holik, the veteran center signed largely to lead the team through times like this, looked invisible.
Worse, a veteran-laden team had shown no composure, no discipline. The final minutes of blowout losses had deteriorated into a string of brawls, elbows and high sticks. Two players, Andy Sutton and Eric Boulton, were suspended. Two opposing coaches had basically referred to the Thrashers as cheapshot artists and/or cowards. Toronto’s GM even crashed Hartley’s post-game interview.
The breakfast with Bob practice seemed to get everybody’s attention. “Bob made us realize our hockey life is pretty simple,” said Ronald Petrovicky, who scored twice in the third. “We have to win. He tried to make us think about what we’re doing and how fortunate we are to play this game.”
Still, there was Saturday’s goaltending matchup. The Thrashers had Berkhoel, whose primary qualification was that he had a healthy groin. It’s not a good sign when the head coach gets all of his goalies together two weeks into the season, asks who’s healthy and only one guy can raise his hand. Or leg.
The Devils had a three-time Stanley Cup-winner, two-time Vezina Trophy winner and eight-time All-Star. The Thrashers had somebody who won in their professional debut last season — against Augusta in the East Coast league.
“Yeah, this was just a little bit bigger,” he said later, laughing.
They’re still only 3-5. But at least a few adjectives are on hold.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Thrashers / NHL
Comments
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By Jim
October 23, 2005 08:31 AM | Link to this
There is obviously a greater “mental” aspect to hockey than most professional sports. Why do many good hockey teams go through “funks” every now and then? I’m sure that there are many reasons but the coach obviously has to handle the mental side of the game almost as well as the physical. Good story. We all learn more from adversity, let’s hope that this lesson strengthens the team for the rest of the season.
By Heath
October 23, 2005 09:06 AM | Link to this
Me and my family are huge Thrashers fans. But when I started seeing all the “top” aquisitions the Thrashers were signing during the off season, I became wary of what this season could bring.
Take a look at any “dream team” whether it be the Yankees, the U.S. Olympic basketball teams, the Lakers (Shaq and Kobe)… the list goes on and on. You will very rarely see a time when these teams win it all.
Chemistry is the intangible that all teams need to win the championship. The Thrashers were just starting to get some chemistry going when Kovie came in. Then we had to start all over. You can look for Kovie to be complaining before the season is over. He wants the puck and will have a hard time playing with all the stars on this team.
It’s a long season. Hopefully Bob Hartley can get these guys playing together. It still seems shaky to me.
By Braydan
October 23, 2005 11:04 AM | Link to this
Great win for our guys, on a side note did you guys happen to see the attendance for the Predators last night? 12,000 people and the team is undefeated how lame is that. Imagine the Thrashers were undefeated we’d sell out everynight. Kovalchuk played well last night and hopefully we can put a string of wins together. Glad it’s still early… go thrashers!
By briton
October 23, 2005 09:22 PM | Link to this
I’m just glad that the team finally decided to help out the kids in net! What is even more disgusting than the fans coming down on a couple of kids from the minors is to see the way the other guys on the team rolled their eyes at them. I’m pretty sure I didn’t miss something, before last night the team was outscored 22-2. Neither the offense nor the defense was doing a thing, but go ahead and blame the kids who the team decided to rely on in a pinch.
But when people decide to do their jobs, look you get a win. It’s nice to see the team work together to both help out a little on defense and puts up some goals. I hope this is a sign of things to come.
I don’t know if Berkie and/or Garny went to see Coach Pyle Friday night. If either of them did then they know that there really are a lot of people in Atlanta that care, are rooting for them, and are very proud of them! Talk about being thrown into the fire, way to go boys!
By misterman
October 24, 2005 10:44 AM | Link to this
What do you think about Atlanta packing up and moving if attendance continues to fall? Yes, they had an ok turnout the other night. But, you cannot give away so much, and succeed as a business. Your honest opinion please.
By misterman
October 24, 2005 10:46 AM | Link to this
What is your opinion of Atlanta packing up and moving after the season is done, seeing as where attendance numbers are headed. Yes, they had a decent turnout the other night, but you cannot continue to give away free tickets and succeed as a business. Your honest opinion please….
By Jeff Schultz
October 24, 2005 10:54 AM | Link to this
I don’t think we’re anywhere close to something like that happening. The real test for this market will come when the team is in a playoff race and/or playoff games. If that comes and nobody shows up — or season tickets don’t pick up the following season, then it will become an issue. But you can’t judge hockey support in a bandwagon city like this based on five non-playoff seasons. Also, realize that it’s not like there’s a lot of markets to move to. Portland and Houston are probably the most likely destinations for teams at some point, buy they’re hardly a sure thing. JS
By gretschdrum
October 24, 2005 01:23 PM | Link to this
Hey JS,
On another note, I heard that Hossa was not at practice today, Monday the 24th. What gives?
By B
October 24, 2005 02:05 PM | Link to this
There are several other franchises that need to be packed up and moved before the Thrashers. Like another poster said, Nashville is coming off of a playoff season, is undefeated, and is drawing about 12,000 per game. That’s pitiful. See also Carolina.
No one, even hard core fans, is gonna pay to see the team get beat 9-1. Look at the attendance when the team is on a winning streak.
By Terry
October 24, 2005 05:59 PM | Link to this
So what if Nashville got 12,000 people only? Nashville is no where near our status as a city. They are small market and we are a big market. The NHL should have never gave Nashville a franchise because the city just isn’t viable. Atlanta is great media and sports market guys the thrash isn’t going anywhere. Do you really think we wont sell out if we were undefeated? C’mon guys this city loves a winner. I still think that Cities like Houston and KC should get a team or even portland.
The hurricanes are located in Raleigh.. why? Raleigh is another small city. I’d like to see both of those teams move to Kansas city and Houston.
By Andy
October 24, 2005 06:41 PM | Link to this
Right off the bat Saturday night it appeared they had some jump in their game. I like the line combos. They all seemed to click. I am looking forward to the re-match w/Tampa next Saturday night. We owe them one.
By Brad Johnson
October 25, 2005 09:42 AM | Link to this
Nashville is a better market than Atlanta. The atmosphere at the Predators games is far better than the Thrashers. I have been to both. Nashville just needs to have one-tenth the corporate support that Atlanta has. One half of the seats at Philips are corporate seats and boxes. And the number of individual (non corporate) season ticket holders in Nashville is higher than Atlanta.
Size of the city helps Atlanta as well. Atlanta metro is almost 4 times as large as Nashville. So by that logic you should sell 48,000 tickets when Nashville sells 12,000.
Bottom line is that Nashville will wake up to the Predators if they continue to play well, and I’ll take the Predators over the Thrashers any day.
By Alan
October 25, 2005 11:27 AM | Link to this
Gotta agree that Nashville is a better market than Atlanta — I think we’re far more likely to see the Thrashers move in the next 10 years than we are the Predators. I, too, have attended games in both cities, and the passion shown by the Nashville fans was immense, even greater than Braves fans at a playoff game. Then again, that might not be a fair comparison, since the Braves can’t even seem to sell out their playoff games…. At any rate, the Thrashers have only significantly outdrawn the Predators once, despite having three times as many people to draw from, and it’s far too early to tell how this season will go.
Like Jeff said, Atlanta is a bandwagon city when it comes to sports. Atlanta sports fans are notoriously fair-weather. Hockey teams survive primarily on gate receipts and can’t afford to depend on fair-weather fans. Teams in other sports have cash flows they can fall back on to make it through lean years, but hockey teams need to put butts in seats to survive. If the Thrashers, like the Braves, can only sell out consistently when they go deep into the playoffs, their days in Atlanta are numbered unless the NHL can break out the way the NBA did in the ’80s and generate those fall-back cash flows.
As for Nashville, remember that they haven’t played a tough opponent yet. Over the first four home games their attendance is also up significantly from that of the two previous seasons. Winning games and increasing attendance with little increase in payroll — I’d say Nashville is headed in the right direction. Based on statements from their GM in previous years, they’re likely to break even at worst. Meanwhile, while Thrashers attendance is also up, they’ve significantly increased payroll AND they’re looking far more like the Thrashees than they ever did their first year in the league. If they keep that up, watch attendance drop and the Thrashers lose a bundle.
By Colten
October 25, 2005 07:10 PM | Link to this
WOW two preds fans comming and posting on these boards. I was on your forum and I seen the topic that says “Atlanta fans are lame” good stuff… NOT… No one cares about nashville and you guys couldn’t even get a decent crowd for a team that’s undefeated. Your team should really be moved to houston or kansas.
By jade
October 26, 2005 01:00 PM | Link to this
How about Winnipeg? We don’t even know whether or not Houston, Portland or Kansas City would even support a team or not. Winnipeg knows what we lost and we’re ready to support a team when given one. Go Jets Go!
By Prime Time
October 29, 2005 09:33 PM | Link to this
My balls itch.
By JetsFansSuck
October 30, 2005 03:27 AM | Link to this
No the jets wont support their hockey team and I live in winnipeg. This place had sections missing whenever the team didn’t play good. Houston would do fine, but Atlanta likes a winner so they are staying. Pretty good crowd tonight considering they are off to such a dismal start. I love centre ice gooooooo Thrashers. If you win them… more will come!