AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > October > 05 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USNot a banner night for Thrashers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
If we can conclude anything about the Thrashers’ season opener Friday night, it’s this:
Banner nights. So overrated.
Banners can’t skate, can’t score and can’t check. It’s possible banners can struggle clearing the puck out of the defensive zone and take minor penalties because, like, the Thrashers certainly excelled in those areas Friday.
Game one: Washington 3, Thrashers 1.
They were hoping to build momentum off winning a division title. Instead, they reminded everybody what went wrong in the playoffs.
“The crowd was here, everybody expected great things from us,” Slava Kozlov said. “Unfortunately, we were a little bit sloppy in our own zone and it cost us a couple of goals. We tried to push it. We got one goal. But it was tough to come back.”
There are 81 games left. The only thing the Thrashers did was eliminate any chance of going undefeated. The bigger issue is the way they played. A team shouldn’t go through training camp and the preseason, then open the year at home with such a dud.
The roster has been reshaped with undersized but speedy players. But the team looked merely undersized and overmatched. Speed was supposed to create a better forecheck, a better breakout, more offensive pressure.
There was none of that against Washington.
“I don’t think we had two shifts of a sustained forecheck,” Bobby Holik said.
“We took too many penalties,” Kozlov said, “because they kept beating us one-one-one in the corners.”
Even goalie Kari Lehtonen wondered what was going on early, as his teammates struggled to get the puck from the Capitals and clear the defensive zone. It led to early breakdowns, penalties — Washington had seven power plays, scoring on one — and a 2-0 lead.
“There are times when I try to get guys going,” Lehtonen said. “I think we were not all there when they got the two goals. After that we started playing. But that’s not the way we’re supposed to do it. Everybody should get upset, and I’m sure everybody is upset.”
Openers generally have not been kind to the Thrashers. This makes three straight losses, and six of eight overall (four of five in Philips Arena).
The organization’s hope was that Friday would be different. Never before had the team been coming off a playoff season. Never before had there been a pre-game video tribute, toasting the previous year’s successes. Never before had their been a banner raising.
Down, 2-0? Yeah, that’s happened.
The Thrashers’ only goal was scored by rookie Bryan Little, who flipped home a rebound at 14:54 of the second period. They then killed off a two-man disadvantage for 1:45 and appeared to be gaining momentum. But they failed to convert a power play early in the third, and the Capitals increased the lead to 3-1 when Viktor Kozlov tipped Mike Green’s point shot by Lehtonen at 5:27.
It was difficult enough for the Thrashers to score one goal. Three wasn’t going to happen.
You looked for positive signs. None came from Todd White. Signed in free agency as the new No. 1 center, White looked like a No. 3. Or 4. He fanned on a pass on the power play to end a scoring threat; lost control of the puck and failed to get off a shot with an open net; passed up an open shot in the slot, then passing behind Ilya Kovalchuk; and lost the puck on a rush down the right wing. And all that in the first two periods.
“We weren’t as sharp as we’d like to be, and emotions and all of that stuff — it’s no excuse,” Holik said. “We’re professionals. We gave them the lead in the first period and couldn’t come back.”
Tonight the Thrashers are in Tampa. No banner, no home crowd, just a road game. Can’t be any worse.
Permalink | Comments (26) | Post your comment | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Thrashers / NHL
Comments
By BeachGaBulldog
October 6, 2007 12:04 AM | Link to this
I was in Atlanta the whole time the Flames played there. When they left, I was done with hockey in the ATL. The Flames were exciting and I was a HUGE FAN, of not only them, but a HUGE NHL FAN. The Trashers have been a joke from Day 1. I hope that they fold their tent and dissolve. I lived in Atlanta until a few years ago, when I moved to another town that has a good NHL team, and I am a HUGE FAN of them. KEEP LOSING TRASHERS! YOU ARE GREAT AT IT!
By Paul Hamilton
October 6, 2007 12:06 AM | Link to this
Same old Thrashers. The team is really trying to sell this speed idea making up for the lack of defense. I love the Thrashers, but I honestly don’t see how this team is supposed to be better than last year. They have a long way to go if tonight was any indication of the year ahead.
By R. Stroz
October 6, 2007 12:11 AM | Link to this
Todd White is this years Kapanen, but he costs more. White’s name should be Charmin!
By Josh
October 6, 2007 12:21 AM | Link to this
Holik was the worst player on the ice as usually, White did nothing, Sterling did nothing which offsets Kovy as usual, Hossa and Kozlov were invisible, Havelid was garbage, Klee and Exelby were decent, Enstrom is okay, penalty kill will be better, power play is still garbage, everyone played individual games tonight and not as a team. Very dissapointing! I don’t like saying early games are big but they NEED to win this game in Tampa, because then they have Ottawa, Jersey, Buffalo, NYR, wins will be hard to come by!
By Bob
October 6, 2007 12:35 AM | Link to this
C’mon, fellas. Where’s the pep rally now?!
It’s one game, but man, do we look just small or what? This might be a long year, folks.
By Josh
October 6, 2007 1:22 AM | Link to this
I guess the ownership didn’t want to squeeze out a measly 2 million to keep Belanger and Hnidy because they are going to miss that
By silverpork
October 6, 2007 1:41 AM | Link to this
Wow, one game and you’d think the world was coming to an end. Lighten up. We were terrible, but we’ve got 81 more.
By Scott
October 6, 2007 3:17 AM | Link to this
One game and you guys are already done with the team? What a joke.
By Amerrybrit
October 6, 2007 5:51 AM | Link to this
They should have never had a banner raising ceremony before the first game, particularly after how they lost in the playoffs last year. I would have raised the banner in the middle of the night during the off season.
By Tony C.
October 6, 2007 6:21 AM | Link to this
How bad did Klee look he leads w/PIM=6:00??? Two hooking,,,
Is there a bag of Lucky Charms to go fast again?
By Toronto Tom
October 6, 2007 7:42 AM | Link to this
Finally, a way to sell game programs! Who were those guys in the powder blue jerseys last night? When is SOMEBODY going to realize that Waddell is simply a horses*$? GM who is laughed at in serious hockey circles and a terribly poor judge of judge of talent (how’s that Patrik Stefan pick working out, anyway?) who parlayed an internship in Detroit into a lifelong job under this clueless Thrasher ownership group, laughingly called the “Atlanta Spirit.” Who is he, the Pope? FIRE WADDELL!!!!!
By wristshot
October 6, 2007 7:47 AM | Link to this
I was glad to see nothing’s changed with Slater’s game. Five minutes of ice time with four of those spent in the box because of stupid penalties.
On the positive side we were really moving the puck well on the PP tonight and our PK looked amazing. Enstrom looks to be the QB we’ve been looking for on the PP. Bryan Little really seems to have a good hockey IQ and a nose for the net.
It seems we’ve tried to mold our team after last year’s Sabres, small and fast, but without the skill at center they possessed.
By T-Bone
October 6, 2007 9:05 AM | Link to this
A new season begins where the last season left off. With all the new faces we still suffer the same serious flaws. 40 shots surrendered to 29 taken, inabilty to clear the puck, inability to possess the puck. It all leads to too much time in our defensive zone where only bad things can happen. I agree with Bob, this could be a very long season.
By Another voice
October 6, 2007 10:08 AM | Link to this
Yup, that sure was a dud. A real bad one too. I see an 0-2 season start after the game in Tampa tonight where the Lightning are 14-5-1 at home against the Thrashers.
By JayBird
October 6, 2007 10:23 AM | Link to this
Wow, what a horrible game. We were outplayed in every aspect of the game and couldn’t get anything going. Todd White is horrible. He looked worse than Krapenon, if that is possible. The smaller, quicker theory was shot down almost immediately. Washington was able to win pucks in the corners all night long and we didn’t have an answer. Kari had one of his typical Jekyll and Hyde games. Sterling didn’t impress me but I thought Little looked pretty good flying all over the ice. Our defense looked awfully slow and lost. Havelid looks like he is continuing his crap play from the end of last year and even Exelby struggled. Just an ugly night!
I am trying to be optimistic and chalk up the bad performance to opening night jitters. We will definitely see tonight what this team is made of.
By Krust
October 6, 2007 10:30 AM | Link to this
I have been a defender of Waddell, but not any more. Waddell you are a MEAT HEAD, DEAD FROM THE NECK UP!
By Jen
October 6, 2007 11:02 AM | Link to this
I know he’s popular, but why doesn’t someone point out that Ex was on the ice for all three goals, that his big hits left him out of position and the caps in control to score two of the goals and that he looked anything but qualified to man a penalty kill unit?
It is time for someone to teach this guy that defense is about more than hitting. If you can’t force a turnover the hit doesn’t help.
By five_hole
October 6, 2007 12:52 PM | Link to this
First, did anyone else notice how much smaller the seats were? I know my butt hasn’t grown that much since the playoffs last year.
First the good. I was really impressed by the play of Little, Perrin, Engstrom. Bryan played up to the level of his hype. Engstrom may get pushed around a lot, but he’s fast, smart and has a good shot.
As far as the veterans go, Slater impressed killing penalties. Slava is Mr. Consistant. Ilya had a good game. Kari did’t stand on his head but played a good game, given the lack of support in front of him.
Now for the bad. Did anyone else notice the stomach on Holik? Which would explain why he was so s-l-o-w. Why on earth did we sign White? Hossa was pretty much invisible last night (other than 1 good backcheck).
By JayBird
October 6, 2007 2:29 PM | Link to this
Five-hole, it all depends on where you seat as far as seat size. The lower level seats seem wider than the upper level…at least to me. The club seats are a different story, of course.
Jen, I did say that X struggled and I was trying to be kind because I do like him. He and Klee were out of position when they both hit the player behind the goal. Just an all-around terrible effort!
By Rawhide
October 6, 2007 2:55 PM | Link to this
OK, I slept in this morning,….trying to get over last night,….mowed the yard,….cleared the head.
Was last night really that bad? Yup.
Are the Thrashers really THAT bad? I don’t think so.
Every once in a while, you have one of those games where everyone is flat. passing sucks,….defenders are simply chasing players.
Last night we had one of those games….on opening night, ungood.
There were a few bright spots.
Little’s first ever goal, Enstrom played well. PK was not awful, (killing two 5-3s normally will give a team a boost), and we actually got the puck on-net during PPs.
All is not lost, a win in Tampa will go a long way to soothing some nerves….
(Look there is me whistling past the graveyard again)…..
GO THRASHERS- POP THE BOLTS!!
By NASCARfan
October 6, 2007 4:06 PM | Link to this
FIRE DON WADDELL YESTERDAY!!!
By Tim
October 6, 2007 5:03 PM | Link to this
FIRE DON WADDELL YESTERDAY!!!
What for? For losing opening game? Wow, firing 15 GM after one game must be something hilarious to see then!
By Get Your Mind Right!
October 6, 2007 5:14 PM | Link to this
The thrashers are too small up front we have midgets going up against big d men. the thrashers have no toughness, grit or snarl this team is too european this is still the nhl somedays you gotta dump and chase, finish your checks and when the battle in the corners and drive to the net. Why eric boulton is on this team is beyond me i look forward to his 4 fighting majors for the whole year. the trashers will have problems this year again. no one is going to be scared of this team because they have speed…so does ottawa,rangers,flyers,hurrianes, sabers, penguins, they have size and speed.
By five_hole
October 6, 2007 6:35 PM | Link to this
Jaybird, I’d like to be able to say I know the difference between the seat sizes between lower-level and upper level. I can afford the hamburger & fries seats; not the steak & baked potato seats. I’ll take your word for it. However the same section seems smaller now than it did during the playoffs last year.
Rawhide did point out our excellent PK and that was a plus. I personally wasn’t overly disappointed with the PP (even though we didn’t score) I saw pretty good pressure in their end, a lot of attack time and decent shots from the point. That the shots weren’t on net is something that will improve (I hope) over time.
By stendec
October 6, 2007 6:42 PM | Link to this
Falcons on ice! Thrashers played without guts, courage, desire, fire or hope. Looked like chumps not champs! Sori Letemin up to same old sorry tricks. Big guns should start regular season sometime in October. Ding ding! Wake up. Disgusting debacle. Fans deserve much better! Management kept wrong damn players. Oh, when on power play, SHOOT THE DAMN PUCK! Pretty passes are worthless.
By Brendan
October 7, 2007 2:12 AM | Link to this
I know some fans love to dump on Jeff Schultz, but I think this is a pretty “fair” article. And yes, many of you said Jeff would be back with another article if the team laid an egg. And you’re, at this very moment, thinking, “Told ya!!”
But truthfully, this wasn’t a stellar opening night performance. Jeff wrote about what actually happened. He didn’t fabricate some 5-1 “thrashing.”
Folks, when the Thrashers whoop somebody this year, and they will, at some point, Jeff just may surprize you with a glowing review of that game. Stay tuned. But keep in mind, if that 7-1 “throttling” of some unfortunate team comes amidst a 10-game stretch where the team goes 2-6-2, don’t get angry that Jeff Schultz points out that the team is 2-6-2 in its last 10-games.
It’s not like Jeff Schultz has said, “There’s no way this team climbs out of the cellar this season. I’d be surprized if they hit 60-points.” That’s being negative.