AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 31
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Looking backward and forward
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Time to look forward and backwards today.
First, backwards. The prevailing theory at the NHL is that by playing divisional rivals a million times, rivalries will build. Others say that can only happen through playoff series. It would seem to me that in the minds of Thrashers’ fans, and perhaps in the players’, that Toronto might be as much of a rival to the Thrashers as Tampa Bay or Carolina. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (Even though for Toronto its rivalries with Ottawa and Montreal make almost any other pale in comparison.)
If you agree, does it make that much harder to swallow Monday’s loss, even though it came at the end of a successful road trip? Is there a figure who causes the stomach of a Thrashers fan to burn with bile more than the goateed Darcy Tucker?
Now, forward, to a team that is much harder to hate and Wednesday’s game with Carolina. Has it surprised you that the Thrashers have not beaten this team while they have beaten every other team they have played at least once, except Toronto?
Last season the Thrashers had so much success against the ‘Canes, but this season, it seems the opposite. Does that make you take Wednesday’s game any more seriously than you ordinarily might? Certainly, Carolina has rebounded from its early doldrums and while the Thrashers might hold a seven-point lead, going three games into the eight-game series without a win could have implications for later in the season that would not help the Thrashers.
