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December 2005
How will fans greet Heatley?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There is sure to be a big crowd at Philips Arena on Monday when Dany Heatley makes his return to Atlanta. How fans will react, though, remains in question.
Heatley was warmly embraced when he finally returned to the ice after the horrific car accident that took the life of Thrashers teammate Dan Snyder. But now he will be wearing an enemy sweater.
Feeling that the memories were too painful to remain in Atlanta, Heatley asked for a trade last summer. Once the most popular Thrasher, the winger’s move left some fans who had supported Heatley feeling betrayed.
Considering everything, GM Don Waddell did well to get Marian Hossa, as well as Greg de Vries, from Ottawa in exchange for Heatley. But it was a deal the Thrashers were forced to make.
At least by the Thrashers not playing Ottawa until the day after New Year’s, Atlanta fans have gotten a chance to see how good Hossa is and for the team to start playing better.
But Heatley, back in his native Canada as he serves three years of probation, has been an instant success with Ottawa, which got off to the hottest start in the NHL.
Nearly six months after the trade, how do you feel about it? Will you cheer or boo Heatley?
I’m guessing that any negative reaction will be limited. But I don’t think that Heatley will given a big ovation, either.
Also, how do you feel about Heatley doing none of his community service in Atlanta, but rather all in Canada?
Lehtonen back but..
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It looks like Friday will be the day that Thrashers fans have awaited since, well, Oct. 6.
More than two and a half months since injuring his groin in the opening period of the season’s opening game, goalie Kari Lehtonen will return to action.
What do you expect? Lehtonen does appear to be one of those freaks of nature who can go long periods of time without playing and pick up right where he left off.
Are you afraid he might re-injure himself? He and team management seem pretty confident that won’t happen, but looking at his history it would be understandable if fans have concerns.
Buffalo has been one of the hottest teams in the league, so Lehtonen could get thrown into the fire. It’ll be interesting to see what coach Bob Hartley decides in terms of which goalie plays which games. The Thrashers have three games in four days: at Buffalo, off day, at Washington, then home for the big game against Ottawa.
Who would you play in which games?
When Disney on Ice attacks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Every February the Thrashers become an itinerant NHL team, leaving home for almost the whole month, save a few scant home dates.
But that’s nothing compare to what the Philadelphia Flyers, who play tonight against the Thrashers at Philips Arena, have to deal with. The Flyers are in the midst of an 11-game, 20-day road trip because Disney on Ice is currently occupying the Wachovia Center.
As many injuries as the Flyers have had – they’re missing Eric Desjardins, Keith Primeau and goalie Robert Esche) they still have one of the league’s better groups of forwards (Peter Forsberg, Simon Gagne, Mike Knuble, Michal Handzus, Sami Kapanen, rookies Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, etc., etc.). A lesser team might allow an 11-game road trip to sink their playoff chances. That probably won’t happen to the Flyers.
What do you think of this ridiculous circumstance, which is created in part by the need to compress the schedule so the league can interrupt its season for the lengthy Olympic break? Should the league – or Flyers’ ownership – be more concerned with competitive advantages/disadvantages by such an unusual situation?
Garnett good enough to stay?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Michael Garnett! Michael Garnett! Michael Garnett!
Can anyone say they expected this? Two straight shutouts, a franchise-record 149 minutes without a goal, soon to tie a record with 16 consecutive starts, and the owner of a 9-7-3 record. Never looked like that would happen — did it? — after his first NHL start, that 9-1 debacle against Toronto that seems like a million years ago.
With the Thrashers’ three more senior goalies being injured for a prolonged period, one of two things had to happen: Either the rookie goalies (and the team) would sink or they would swim. They have swum (if I have my tense right) right back into the playoff picture, only three points out of eighth, the spot currently occupied by Montreal. (Now for an aside: Talking to one Montreal writer last night, he applied a not-so-kind barnyard epithet about Les Bleus, Blancs et Rouges who are in danger of setting a franchise record if they lose their next game. They currently have lost nine in a row on the road, something they haven’t done since 1926. That’s mille-neuf-cent-vengt-six, in case there’s any French speakers, or readers, as the case may be, out there. So Montreal, which has won only 5 of its last 13 overall, appears to be in a free fall and has three more Southeast Division opponents awaiting it on this trip: Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina, so don’t be surprised if the Thrashers are in playoff position sometime next week.)
But I have digressed. I was leading up to my original question which is: Should the Thrashers keep Garnett on the team once Steve Shields or Mike Dunham get healthy or should they send him down? Has the rookie proven he deserves to stay?
Shooting blanks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Thrashers continue to play their best hockey of the season, earning a point on Thursday to earn a point in their sixth straight game, a franchise-record.
Nonetheless, the Thrashers surrendered five goals to the team that ranked last in the Eastern Conference in the 6-5 shootout loss. In three of the past six games, they have played well defensively, allowing two goals or less. In the others, they have given up too many power plays, which is their Achilles’ heel.
But now to the point. The shootout loss was their fourth of the season against no wins and their second, in particular, to Washington. In 13 attempts, they have only scored twice. Steve Shields was in goal for one, Mike Dunham for one and Michael Garnett for two.
Coach Bob Hartley always says in the shootouts the advantage goes to the goaltender. The Thrashers have lost three of those shootouts to top goaltenders: Olaf Kolzig, Jose Theodore and Nikolai Khabibulin. But on Thursday, they lost to Brent Johnson.
What do you make of the Thrashers’ inability to win the shootout and do you think this loss of points will hurt them come playoff time? (They drew within four points of Toronto on Thursday.)
Olympics plus or minus?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Thrashers will have four players in the Winter Olympics. Is that good news or bad?
Rookie goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who hasn’t played since the first period of the season opener, was named to the Finnish team Thursday as a backup to Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff.
Lehtonen returned to practice fulltime this week and could be back in net for the Thrashers by next week. Obviously, Finland thinks his groin problems are in the past.
But does the experience that Lehtonen will get in the Olympics override the risk of injury for the Thrashers? They desperately need Lehtonen healthy if they are to finally make the playoffs.
The other Thrashers who will be playing in the Olympics at Turin are Marian Hossa and Peter Bondra for Slovakia, and Ilya Kovalchuk for Russia.
Where’s Tech talent?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech is making its ninth straight bowl trip, but that distinction hasn’t prevented the Jackets from rarely having a highly rated recruiting class.
This season the Ramblin Wrecksters have don't have any commitments from an AJC Super 100 player and only has one four-star (five is tops) Scout.com recruit in cornerback Laurence Marius of Key West, Fla.
Do the recruiting-niks keep under-rating the players Tech goes after or do the Yellow Jackets need to step up their recruiting efforts and profile?
.500 there for the taking?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Thrashers can get back to .500 by winning Thursday’s game at home against Washington (15th in the East) and Friday’s on the road at New Jersey.
How do you rate their chances?
They’re 2-0-1 against Washington this season (only a shutout loss on the road) and 2-0 against New Jersey, which isn’t nearly the team it used to be. The Devils rebounded nicely from Larry Robinson’s announcement earlier this week that he was stepping down as coach; they won their first game with general manager Lou Lamoriello as interim coach against the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Do you think these two teams in somewhat a state of disarrary are ripe for the picking?
Olympic surprises, thoughts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You probably know general manager Don Waddell named the U.S. Olympic roster on Monday. What do you think? It looks like the injured wrist of Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller cost him a spot on the team.
Brian Leetch, although he’s back now, missed some time with an injury and did not make the team. Derian Hatcher, who certainly doesn’t have the mobility of Leetch but does have the strength to deal with the likes of Dany Heatley, Vincent Lecavalier, Jarome Iginla and other powerful Canadian forwards, is a slightly surprising choice. Chris Chelios also made the team at defense with the younger Paul Martin left off.
Keith Tkachuk (broken hand) is perhaps the most surprising choice at forward. He was suspended by the St. Louis Blues for showing up to camp out of shape, but since has played fairly well. There’s some good speed at center (Scott Gomez, Brian Rolston, Chris Drury) and Craig Conroy is an excellent two-way player but those names don’t quite compare to Lecavalier, Thornton and Sakic, do they?
What do you think of the team and how do you like the Americans’ chances? Certainly, Canada must be the favorite. Russia, always a wild card, the Czech Republic, owner of perhaps the tournament’s best goaltending, and Sweden, now that it might have a bona fide star in goal in Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, will have strong teams.
Finland, runner-up at the World Cup, is always a good dark horse. Let’s just hope they don’t play that boring, slow-it-down-and-try-to-win-2-1 style.
Reasons to smile
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Throughout this hockey season — we’re only about two weeks away from the halfway point — much of the talk has been about how down everyone is about the Thrashers, how hard it will be to come back and make the playoffs.
The question now is, how much confidence do you have that they’re on the right track — one that will take them to the playoffs?
Certainly, the team’s 4-0-1 mark in its last five games is encouraging. In the last two, they’ve played about as well as they can defensively, which is truly the key to this team. Again, in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Florida, they received only two penalties. When they do that, wins are almost automatic.
In addition, Kari Lehtonen is going through his first full practice with the team. How optimistic are you about Lehtonen and his return?
I haven’t seen him this positive — his body language; he’s smiling a lot again — probably since the first few days of camp. I think he genuinely believes they’ve found the problem with his ailing groin and that it will be fixed correctly so he won’t have to worry about a recurrence of injury.
He talked about how an athlete has to trust his body. He seems to have regained that trust, which had obviously abandoned him over the last two and a half months.
Strong 2005 finish needed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Thrashers could have all their injured goalies healthy by New Year’s. How much that really matters may depend on the rest of 2005.
After Thursday night’s dramatic win at New Jersey, the Thrashers have six games remaining this month. They are as important as any that will be played later in the season.
The Thrashers took five points out of possible six during their three-game homestand, beating Columbus and Detroit around a shootout loss to Chicago. They built on that with the 3-2 overtime victory Thursday night vs. the Devils. Atlanta has four home games remaining in December, plus a return trip to New Jersey and a game at surprising Buffalo.
How many points — out of a possible 12 — do you think the Thrashers need the rest of the month to not drop out of playoff contention?
Player sale in New Jersey
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Of the many teams affected by the NHL’s new salary cap, perhaps no team has felt the new economic structure as much as the New Jersey Devils, whom the Thrashers play tonight.
To get under the cap, the Devils had to trade a pretty good player, winger Jeff Friesen, to Washington virtually for nothing on the eve of the season. Soon, the Devils will confront more cap troubles.
Winger Patrik Elias, who is only a few seasons removed from finishing third in the league in scoring, will come off the long-term injured reserve list. For now, while Elias is recuperating from hepatitis, the Devils have to pay Elias’ $4.18 million salary, but it does not count against the cap.
But to activate Elias, the Devils will have to clear room for him. Most likely, that means getting rid of two pretty good players for almost nothing.
What would your choices be? Here are some options:
*Center Sergei Brylin ($1.52 million), a winner of three Stanley Cups in New Jersey and a standout two-way player, is rumored to be among those being considered. He is tied for second on the team in goals with 8 with Viktor Kozlov and Scott Gomez.
*Viktor Kozlov, a center, makes $1.748 million.
*Right wing Jamie Langenbrunner ($1.655 million) was among those rumored to be on the chopping block when Friesen went to the Capitals. He’s having a very solid season with 5 goals and 12 assists and is plus-2.
*Rookie center Zach Parise ($703,000) could be sent to the AHL and has only 4 goals and 4 assists in 29 games.
*Veteran Richard Matvichuk ($1.368 million) is tied for the team lead among defenseman in plus/minus with an even rating.
*Vladimir Malakhov is the Devils’ second-highest paid defenseman at $3.6 million and has the team’s second-worst plus/minus rating at minus-8.
Do you think the Thrashers should pursue any of these players? They don’t have much room under the cap and they’re vying with the Devils for one of those final playoff spots. Do you think New Jersey would deal a valuable player to the Thrashers? They dealt Friesen to Washington to avoid sending him to a possible contender.
Electrifying win, or troubling?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For those fans who watched Tuesday’s 7-6 win over the Red Wings, it is a game they won’t soon forget.
After the game, coach Bob Hartley joked about how “Blueland� is the most exciting place in Atlanta, but he also voiced his displeasure at the way the team blew a four-goal lead in the third period.
Having twice seen this team blow four-goal leads this season (although they rallied to win on Tuesday, thanks to Patrik Stefan), it seems almost no lead is safe.
So my question is: What do you make of Tuesday’s win? Was it exhilarating to see the Thrashers finally beat the Red Wings, or do you feel like someone who has won reprieve from the electric chair? Would that have happened if the Thrashers had any of their three more experienced goaltenders in the game (Kari Lehtonen, Mike Dunham, Steve Shields) instead of Michael Garnett?
The Thrashers have won 5 of 6 points. Is this the beginning of a run that gets them back among the top eight teams in the conference or is it more of the same ol’ — an inconsistent team that can score (and allow) goals by the bucket full?
Popovic called up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Thrashers have called up defenseman Mark Popovic from Chicago of the AHL to fill Andy Sutton’s spot, with Sutton being ill from the flu. Popovic was acquired during the offseason for pugilist Kip Brennan (who was acquired for Jeff Cowan).
Coach Bob Hartley said today after the skate that he wants to give Popovic a good look. With Jaroslav Modry struggling, the Thrashers could use a good skating defenseman. Hartley said he likes Popovic’s vision and his skating ability, two of the most important assets for a defenseman with the new rules. (Two most important things for a defenseman with the new rules: Get the puck first and get it out of the zone fast.) Popovic might also get some power play time.
The 6-foot-1 Popovic, 23, is a former second-round pick (35th overall) who had only played one NHL game prior to this season. What do you think his chances are of developing into a dependable player on the blue line or just providing some relieft along the backline?
Surprised by Wings’ success?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Detroit, which visits Philips Arena on Tuesday for the first time since the 2002-03 season, is always a big draw. Last week Thrashers general manager Don Waddell said about 16,000 tickets already had been sold for the game, so don’t be surprised if it’s a sellout.
For the last 15 years, the Red Wings have pretty much been the gold standard of NHL franchises. Today I was talking with Bobby Holik and Jaroslav Modry and they spoke with reverence about playing against Detroit when they could field a five-man all-Russian unit — Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, the Thrashers’ own Slava Kozlov and Igor Larionov – and how skillful those players were in possessing the puck.
To some, the Red Wings have been a surprise this season. Look at their top three leaders in points and they’re all young players: Pavel Datsyuk, Jason Williams and Henrik Zetterberg. But they still have that core of veterans: Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Chelios, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Tomas Holmstrom, who, with the exception of Chelios, were there for all three Red Wings’ Cups in the ‘90s.
In the past, the Red Wings certainly managed well, but they also had one of the league’s top two payrolls. Are you surprised that in the salary-cap era, the Red Wings have been able to maintain their standing as one of the league’s top teams?
Waddell feeling the heat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Obviously, the tenure of general manager Don Waddell is a hot-button issue among fans and understandably so. He is the architect of this team and has been the most powerful force in the Thrashers organization for seven years now.
I understand the fury of fans who are disappointed by the team’s performance. (As a 14-year-old, I wrote a letter to then-New York Rangers general manager Phil Esposito excoriating him after he traded my favorite player, Walt Poddubny, in what seemed an endless litany of trades that did nothing to make the team better; alas, I never heard back.)
But for those who are so vehemently against Waddell, do you really think ownership would fire him in midseason? Doesn’t that seem meaningless? What possible change could that result in that would make the players suddenly start playing better — other than the possible brief satisfaction for those in the anti-Waddell camp? Besides, a general manager search takes time and it’s not like someone would instantly step into the job and make a wiz-bang trade that would get the Thrashers to start winning games.
Like it or not, Waddell is the general manager and has the support of ownership. From a fan’s perspective, to root against the team so that the general manager gets fired — as someone suggested yesterday — seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face, especially with 52 games to play.
To debate this issue seriously, let’s try to make a pro and con list of his moves. I’ll start with a list of what I think are Waddell’s best moves in regard to the current team. (I’m going to leave out the Heatley trade, which I regard as a special circumstance; if a player asks for a trade he’s not going to be happy or productive in his current environment. Waddell would never have traded Heatley if Heatley hadn’t made the demand.) Here goes:
*Drafting Ilya Kovalchuk.
*Acquiring Marc Savard for Ruslan Zainullin (who has never played in the NHL).
*Hiring Bob Hartley as coach.
*Acquiring Slava Kozlov for three draft picks who ended up being Joakim Lindstrom, Jeff Deslauriers and John Adams.
*Acquiring Niclas Havelid for Kurtis Foster.
*Acquiring Andy Sutton for Hnat Domenichelli.
*Drafting Garnet Exelby.
I’ll leave the rest up to you.
New chance for Stefan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tomorrow night, the Thrashers host the team with the second-worst record in the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets. This is a team missing its best player, Rick Nash, its best young defenseman, Rostislav Klesla, and its No. 1 goalie, Marc Denis, all because of injuries.
If this isn’t the recipe to end a five-game losing streak, I’m not sure what is.
But, this is the NHL and they’re all professionals, so who knows, especially the way the Thrashers have been going.
Patrik Stefan, after receiving the least amount of ice time on the team in recent games, is getting another chance from coach Bob Hartley. He’ll skate on a line with Marian Hossa on the right and Slava Kozlov, moving back to his familiar left wing after about five weeks at center.
Before Stefan injured his abdominal muscles, he had played pretty well between Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk. Since coming back, he mostly has been relegated to fourth-line duty where he is ill-suited to playing with the likes of Eric Boulton. He had one of his best games in recent memory on Tuesday in San Jose, as he used his speed to his advantage.
Do you think this change can help spark a turnaround and, if not, how significant would you rate it if the Thrashers lose to the Blue Jackets and fall seven games under .500?
Big guns have been quiet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Tuesday the Thrashers sank to their lowest point of the season — a five-game losing streak that leaves them six games under .500.
How surprised are you by this? Thrashers coach Bob Hartley has pointed out that while the team’s third-and fourth-liners have been producing — Brad Larsen had his second goal in three games on Tuesday and Patrik Stefan was among the team’s most energeticskaters on Tuesday — the team’s best players are not playing their best.
Ilya Kovalchuk is now without a goal in his last four games and has just one point in that span (he has been a minus in every one of those games).
Marc Savard has the same offensive production and also has been a minus in all four games. On Monday, his penalty resulted in a power play goal that tied the game. On Tuesday, it ended a power play as the Thrashers were trying to rally from a two-goal deficit.
The goaltending, by rookie Michael Garnett making his seventh straight start, was ordinary.
What do you think are at the roots of the current spate of losing and where do you assess blame? (I know there are plenty here who would like to debate Don Waddell, his draft history and the Dany Heatley trade, but regardless of those, this team was supposed to be much better. Try to stick to the 20 guys who are on the ice every night.)
Shaking up the defense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tonight, Bob Hartley has changed the second and third defense pairs. He is breaking up Greg deVries and Jaroslav Modry, who were both minus-4 on Monday night.
Garnet Exebly is likely to get more minutes and will be paired with de Vries. Modry will be demoted to the third pair with Shane Hnidy.
Do you think it will make a difference?
Playoff math doesn’t add up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve been doing some math lately to figure out what the Thrashers need to do to make the playoffs. It’s not a pretty picture.
Plenty of the season is left, 55 games or two-thirds to be precise, but the Thrashers enter the day 10 points out of the final playoff berth. That’s no small margin. So if they win five in a row, then they’re back to Square One.
Meanwhile, if they play the rest of the season the way they did in their record-setting November, they’d still miss the playoffs if Tampa and Toronto kept playing at the pace they have all season. So, basically, they need one or more teams to completely fall apart, the teams that are ahead of them like New Jersey (which will soon get back star winger Patrick Elias) not to get hot and they need to get pretty hot themselves.
Part of the problem is that the teams that those teams they’re chasing — Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Toronto — are pretty hot right now while the Thrashers are stuck in another goal-scoring drought.
At this point in the season, how bullish are you on the Thrashers’ chances to still make the playoffs?
Havelid, Ducks face reunion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Saturday, Thrashers defenseman Nic Havelid will play his old team, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, for the first time since being traded at the 2004 draft for Kurtis Foster. Havelid played for the Ducks for five seasons, his first five seasons in the NHL.
At present, the deal looks like a steal. Havelid ranks sixth in the NHL in minutes per game and is a team best plus-4. Without question, he has been the team’s best defenseman all season despite being the Thrashers’ fourth-highest paid at his position.
He is not flashy, but supremely consistent on a group that is not always so. Does it surprise you that Havelid has emerged as the team’s best defenseman and perhaps one of its most important players? Do you think he will make the Swedish Olympic team?
An ‘oh wow’ trade
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I know this will be a third day in a row without a Thrashers’ top, but forgive me. There’s not a whole lot to say. They’re playing well and mostly healthy, except for the usual goalies. I’ll return to the Thrashers tomorrow.
It’s not often that a blockbuster trade comes around and even rarer when they wow you. Last night I was watching my NHL Center Ice package when somebody on TSN, I believe, came on and announced that there was a blockbuster trade.
My attitude was, “Wow me.� When I heard Joe Thornton had been traded, I nearly fell over. That was a pretty big stunner, especially with all of the drama surrounding whether he would re-sign in Boston this past offseason. He did and his contract, with its $6.33 million average, was, I believe, the fourth largest signed by a forward after the lockout (Jarome Iginla, Vincent Lecavalier and Ilya Kovalchuk all average more).
I know that in the preseason I had picked Boston first or second in the East and right now they’re floundering. What do you think of the trade? Do you think it will awaken Boston from its losing ways? Do you think the Sharks, who lost in the seventh game of the Western finals in 2004, got the better of this deal? San Jose (which sent Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau in the deal) was struggling, too.
Does this suddenly make them one of the best teams in the west or is their blue line too weakened by the loss of Stuart and Mike Rathje, who signed with Philadelphia before the season?
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