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Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Thrashers still show potential in loss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
It says something when a narrow loss to the best team in the league isn’t good enough any more.
It says something when a franchise that is 0-for-life in playoff runs can fire 31 shots in the last two periods and doesn’t fall back on a moral victory like, well, “At least we fired 31 shots in the last two periods.”
The Thrashers aren’t there yet. But they can see there.
“Playing with the best teams, you don’t get points for that,” Bobby Holik said Wednesday night. “You’re not really playing with them until you can beat them.”
Earlier this season, the Thrashers went into Buffalo to face the Eastern Conference’s best team. They won. This time, they played host to Anaheim, which leads the NHL in wins, points, power-play goals and opponent humiliations. They lost 2-1.
They weren’t good enough to beat the best team in the league. But they are good enough, finally, to play more than 82 games.
The Thrashers are 18-9-5. They remain in first place in the Southeast Division, leading Carolina by seven points. Of course, that means nothing in December. But the lapses notwithstanding, it would seem they have the resilience — and the goaltending — to avoid a collapse over the next 50 games.
They went 12-3-5 in the first 20 games. When everybody starting planning for April, they lost four straight. When everybody panicked, they went 6-0-1 with five straight wins. Then they made the mistake of believing they were really good again. They lost at Tampa 8-0. They lost at home to Pittsburgh, 4-3 in overtime.
“I coached a Stanley Cup team in Colorado, and I know over 82 games you go through adversity in different ways,” coach Bob Hartley said. “We still have some learning to do. But one of the biggest qualities of this team is the leadership. It allows us to step back in form.”
It should be noted that the Thrashers are doing this despite missing two of their regular defensemen, Andy Sutton and Garnet Exelby. They also were minus captain Scott Mellanby against the Ducks.
Some cracks were evident early. Two early penalties led Anaheim to outshoot the Thrashers 14-4 in the first period. The Thrashers controlled the play thereafter, outfiring the Ducks 31-18.
They hit a couple of goalposts. They learned what it was like to shoot at a wall named J-S Giguere, who’s at or near the top of every goaltending statistic, except maybe for bad rebounds. They failed to score on their first six power plays, until Niko Kapanen tied it 1-1 at 11:49 of the third off a perfect pass from Ilya Kovalchuk.
And then … “A bad read and we leave one of the best scorers in the NHL wide open,” Hartley said. “That’s not acceptable.”
Less than a minute after Kapanen’s goal, defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski got caught out of position, leaving Teemu Selanne alone in front. Selanne buried his second goal of the game and 19th of the season.
“When we tied the game, maybe we should’ve been a little more careful,” Slava Kozlov said. “We got sloppy. It would’ve been nice to beat Anaheim.”
They went from a five-game winning streak to an 8-0 loss in Tampa Bay. That’s not a slap of reality, it’s an anvil falling on your head. In consecutive losses to the Lightning and Pittsburgh, the Thrashers allowed 12 goals on 81 shots and gave the opposition 12 power plays (resulting in four goals).
They were undisciplined in the neutral zone and sloppy in their own end. They failed to get the puck in deep and failed to forecheck. If you’re a novice to hockey, think of combining gasoline, dynamite, a barn and a blowtorch.
This game was a partial bounce back. Also a sign that they’re not falling apart.
“We have to make sure we’re not like a roller coaster, going up and down,” Marian Hossa said. “We’re trying to establish a winning track again.”
Almost … there.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Thrashers / NHL
Iverson’s not the answer here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
It’s not going to happen. Well, if you go by what Hawks coach Mike Woodson told our Sekou Smith the other day, we’re not going to see A.I. dribbling in the ATL for the hometown team.
Good.
No, great.
Maybe you’ve heard that perennial All-Star Allen Iverson wants out of the Philadelphia 76ers sooner than later, but here’s the problem: Who can play with the guy? Two of his buddies, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett, want him to come to their respective teams, but if Iverson goes to the Denver Nuggets (Anthony) or to the Minnesota Timberwolves (Garnett), you’ll see a friendship end in a hurry.
Iverson is selfish. His supporters like to counter by saying that he plays so hard during games as a little man, even though he doesn’t like to practice. (“We’re talking about practice. Not the game, not the game, not the game.”). By not practicing, Iverson may not hurt himself, but he damages the ability of his team to develop chemistry – if there is such a thing with Iverson.
The only franchises that should seek a trade for Iverson are ones that need all the help they can get to pack their place after years of dwindling attendance.
Uh-oh.
Message to the slew of Hawks owners and general manager Billy Knight: Put your hands above your heads and slowly move away from the phone.
Permalink | Comments (75) | Categories: Hawks / NBA, Terence Moore
