Thrashers

By mb

January 25, 2007 04:16 PM | Link to this

With two games each against the Isles and Flyers, along with tilts against the Devils and Sabres, I’d be a little disappointed with fewer than 8 points.

Glad to hear that Andy was back on the ice and that McCarthy will be back Friday night.

On a separate note re: the All Star game, hope the Atlanta committee took notes on how to improve over the Dallas game: - have your announcer introduce the players in fewer than 20 minutes - don’t play such lame music - encourage VS to learn the lesson Fox learned in its baseball coverage…the “innovative” camera shots/angles work better as replays than the do covering live action - keep the in-game goalie interviews

Oh, and an idea to spice up the shootout portion of the skills competition. Add an element of judging for the creativity of the attempt, with players getting 1 point for scoring and additional points for “flair.” And when two players tie in the accuracy contest, have those two continue until there is a winner.

Finally, enough already with Sidney Crosby. We know he’s the annointed golden child, but don’t go all Michael Jordan on us. I’m sure Bettman had to call the engraver to remove Crosby’s name from the MVP trophy so they could give it to Briere.

By bluelander

January 25, 2007 04:20 PM | Link to this

They need 10 points in the next 6 games to be a successfull home stand.

By David

January 25, 2007 04:42 PM | Link to this

I agree with ya mb on the camera angles. They were absolutely terrible. Music did suck, but that always happens with these all-star type things. I don’t remember the last time I enjoyed guest music…maybe the saints home opener..I guess. I don’t think the “flair” idea will work. Yeah they were tea bagging Sid all night..and i was cheering for him not to get a point all night. “Great Success!”…on to the home stand. I would say 8+ pts for it to be a strong homestand.

By Russian

January 25, 2007 05:13 PM | Link to this

I say: 1. Philly - 4 points We have to win this two games. No questions. 2. NYI - may be 4, but I think it will be 3 points. I think we are going to OT lose tomorrow. 3. Jersey - 2 points. We are going to win. 4. Buffalo - I hope, we will get 1 point. Now result is 4+3+2+1 = 10 points. This is my vision for 6 home games. I really like to see 12 points, but we will see tomorrow.

By Tony C.

January 25, 2007 06:21 PM | Link to this

Howabout a better director/camera operator for the “rail-cam”??? I thought the viewpoint for those shots was bad-a*, but that the guy doing the pointing of the camera and the cuts to and from it were crap. Also, interviewing Chuck Norris during the goal wasn’t the best either.

About the action: Selanne’s goal was sweet…what touch-and the patience he showed-exactly what you’d expect from one of the all-time best snipers (Yes I said all-time best, you know I’m right!) and howabout the St.Louis goal in the 1st??? how pretty was that?!!? Also when Havlat skated around the entire East squad in the 2nd just to see if he could do it was sensational…good action, VS needs to work on it’s presentation…whoever said something about the introductions was absolutely right!!!

We need to get 8-of-12 on the homestand.

LET’S GO BLUE !!!

By michael

January 25, 2007 06:43 PM | Link to this

The thrash need to get all 12 pts. Hopefully they will get at least 10 pts. We have a greusome road trip coming up so this homestand is very important. The standings are getting tighter, teams are catching up and playing better. This is where we will find out what kind of team we really are this year. Time to drop the hammer into 5th gear.

By Fred B.

January 25, 2007 07:00 PM | Link to this

I say all twelve. Why settle for anything less. Carolina is still right behind us and we should never be satisfied with our current position. How about home ice advantage throughout the playoff!!! GO THRASHERS!!!!!!!

By Bob

January 25, 2007 08:44 PM | Link to this

8 or better and it’s successful.

Great to hear McCarthy is back. Who sits, Coburn or Hnidy?

By David Lee

January 25, 2007 09:48 PM | Link to this

Please trade Kovy while he still has value. Thank you and I will hang up and listen.

By Tony C.

January 25, 2007 10:48 PM | Link to this

Trade #17???

What’re you smoking?

Seriously.

The guy has 20+ goals by the all-star break and it’s considered a “down” year??? At the same time he’s grown so much more responsible on his own end…the change in his game has been pretty remarkable given that this guy was -40 something just a few years ago. This year he’s on the ice with under 2min to go in 1-goal games. Give the guy someone else on his line that can finish and/or skate well enough so that he doesn’t have to stop and wait at the blueline for them to catch up…and you have a contender for the scoring title.

as far as the bloggers-getting-a-pass thing:

If they can provide the team (not the league) what the team considers appropriate content, I don’t see why not? I also like the one-game-at-a-time idea until the blogger in question proves their worth so to speak. I personally nominate myself. (mostly kidding, I wouldn’t let the free pass goto waste though)

LET’S GO BLUE !!!

By LAC

January 25, 2007 11:13 PM | Link to this

Following the 6 home games…

We have 6 TOUGH on the road… Colo/Vanc/EMD/Flames/Ott/Carolina…

That will make or break us, this is WHY we HAVE to improve the center position ASAP…

After the Feb road trip… we have only 6 more road games the entire season… We will need at least 100 points to win the SE and I do not see 90 being enough to get a playoff spot.

Remember Carolina already went west and lost their cookies, we cannot afford to, so two scorers isa MUST !

By UpperDeck4Life

January 26, 2007 08:03 AM | Link to this

I would like to see 10 points from the home stand, but I could stand 8. We have got to get those points on this home stand just in case we have a rough road trip. My thoughts on our division standings are that if we can make it through that road trip while remaining in first place, that we will keep it though the rest of the season.

It is good to see Sutton and McCarthy(Havelid has really missed playing with Sutton since he went out, not playing as well as he did last year), but the question is…..who is going to sit? This will give us 8 defenseman on the roster.

By Bob

January 26, 2007 09:12 AM | Link to this

Coburn and Hnidy are the two that sit for McCarthy and Sutton.

Only question is who sits tonight as McCarthy is back in. My guess is Coburn. Which is too bad as now we can’t send him back down or he’d get picked off the waiver wire for free. Hnidy probably sits when Sutton is back in.

I would guess that Waddell will move a dman for that center we need. I wouldn’t mind him moving Coburn, I’m underwhelmed by him and we have Popovic and Valabik in the pipeline. Coburn may bring some value in return as he was drafted fairly high and is a good skater.

By Hip Czech

January 26, 2007 09:17 AM | Link to this

Come on AJC…I’ll grant you that in your eyes the Thrashers merit somewhere between college football recruiting and high school volleyball, but at least get the schedule right!

Next: at Islanders

8 or 9 points would be great for this homestand, hopefully we get points in each of the NYI and PHI games and maybe split with NJ and Buffalo.

Carolina is starting to get the pieces in place also, rumor is that Kaberle will be back tonight. Should be a great stretch drive!

By Russian

January 26, 2007 11:16 AM | Link to this

Did anybody hear any Rumors about trade? I am wondering, what our GM is thinking???

By Hip Czech

January 26, 2007 11:30 AM | Link to this

on the A-S game…I loved the in-game with Turco, that was priceless. I think Brodeur maybe was a little distracted by it, but Turco handled it well. Rolston splintering the microphone that Brodeur had was pretty cool also (as was Emrick’s lame excuse for thinking that was the puck).

If we need a local music thing make it Collective Soul!

Is it true that only FULL season ticket holders are going to be able to get their hands on tickets? I hope not, as a partial season ticket holder.

By Hip Czech

January 26, 2007 11:39 AM | Link to this

CBS has an article about Forsberg saying that ‘several’ teams have inquired about him. It does not mention any specific teams though.

I would be worried about Forsberg, the guy is a foot injury (among others) waiting to happen.

By Matt H

January 26, 2007 11:41 AM | Link to this

I’m gonna go with most of the board and say 8 points will net an “S” for Satisfactory. I expect maybe a game or two of some turbulence while they work Steve and Andy back into the line-up. After that, there should be no excuses, and they really should start the season back up with an “E” for excellent. Chemistry-wise and statement-wise.

The All Star game itself was great, with some big annoyances sprinkled around it.

Loved: Marty Turco’s smart mouth, Marty St. Louis’ mastery, Marian Hossa’s savvy, some great saves by Kari in the Youngstars game, mic problems futzing the Nat. Anthem bimbettes.

Liked: High-scoring pond hockey, the camaraderie, Ovechkin playing it up for the camera at every on-ice interview.

Disliked: Too much color, not enough play-by-play (quit talking over my Effing goals!!!), Crosby/Bettman/ everyone else circle-jerk (I love Sid too, but, jeez, give it a rest), every band/singer they pulled from a local bar to perform.

Hated: Interviewing Chuck Norris (OVER A GOAL, NO LESS!) so he can plug his lame fight show on VS, trying to get too many on-ice interviews players who obviously were trying to enjoy the game and ignore the annoying on-ice interviewer (if I were Ryan Miller, I would’ve hit that guy with my cellphone), not showing the Handshake Line at the end in full, the National Anthem by Brunette Country Star Barbie(TM) and Skipper(TM), “O Canada” by rent-a-Celine Dion.

Go Thrash!

By Matt H

January 26, 2007 11:45 AM | Link to this

I’ll second that, Hip Czech. I think he’s too much of a liability, and we’re not that desperate for a savior (yet, anyway).

By Craig Custance

January 26, 2007 12:41 PM | Link to this

I’ll blog more about it later, but Coburn is sitting tonight.

By Bob

January 26, 2007 01:16 PM | Link to this

That makes sense as Coburn is the same style as McCarthy, being a good skater, somewhat offensive, pun intended.

Hnidy is more Sutton’s style, so he sits when Sutton is back.

By Russian

January 26, 2007 01:34 PM | Link to this

And Jimmy will center between Slava and Hossa. Not bad idea! I like Slater, he is good and fast skater. Only one thing, he could not finish his job, just put a puck in the net. I think he is going to be OK tonight.

By Hip Czech

January 26, 2007 02:18 PM | Link to this

an article on ESPN regarding Forsberg’s possible suitors

Interesting Buccigross puts the Thrashers at #7 and sites their need for defense instead.

By Brendan

January 26, 2007 03:59 PM | Link to this

I see ten (10) points for the taking. We’ve owned the Devils over the last half-dozen meetings. The Islanders give us some trouble, for some reason. Perhaps we lose a point there. There’s no excuse for not getting four (4) points over the Flyers. And then there’s Buffalo. I don’t know what to expect there. Maybe a regulation loss. Maybe a win? I’d settle for an OTL. We’d better come away with eight (8) points, as the Thrashers head out on a six-game road trip, out West, after that. All six of those road trip cities are well within the hunt for the playoffs. The SE division lead isn’t big enough for an extended losing streak. The points get harder and harder to come by as the season progresses. Luckily, Atlanta had a great October and November.

By Brian

January 26, 2007 04:01 PM | Link to this

I would rather have a C. I think most people here see that as the more obvious need for having a better team, but I think our D will be better as players get healthier. Not that I’m the biggest fan of Sutton, but when you add in Sutton, McCarthy and Exelby now you are talking about an improvement. Where is the help at C going to come from other than a trade?

Looking forward to a big win tonight, hopefully they will play well on a weekend home game.

By Hip Czech

January 26, 2007 04:02 PM | Link to this

There is a rumor on a Nashville message board that the Predators traded Zidlicky, Upshall, and Zanon for Forsberg and Rathje. Supposed to be a press conference at 4…anybody verify this?

By Hip Czech

January 26, 2007 04:07 PM | Link to this

Forget that last one…sorry folks that was a bad source

By Russ

January 26, 2007 04:13 PM | Link to this

The way they’ve been playing lately, I’d sit both Devries and Vishnevski before Hnidy when Sutton returns. Devries seems to be one of coach Hartleys’s favorites, but I haven’t seen why in the year and half he has been with the Thrashers. Vishnevski started the year pretty strong, but when Sutton went down he didn’t handle the extra ice time very well at all.

I think it would be crazy to even consider Forsberg. He would eat up all the cap room and probably play about 10 games the rest of the season. I had proposed trading Coburn and possibly a third round pick for Leopold and Turgeon from Colorado. I have always liked Leopold. He has been injury plagued this season, but is still young and has proven himself as a solid puck-moving defenseman at the NHL level. Turgeon is not getting many minutes right now because the Avs are going with a lot of young centers, but his point production isn’t too bad considering the low ice time he is receiving. Maybe he could center Kovy’s line??? Leopold is restricted at the end of the year, so hopefully the Thrashers would sign him long term and Turgeon will be unrestricted and strictly a rental player. I think this would be attractive to Colorado because they haven’t gotten much out of Leopold this season due to injuries and they might be willing to gamble on Coburn finally living up to his draft position …and he is still signed cheaply for one more season.

By Brian

January 26, 2007 04:26 PM | Link to this

Is this the year that we get a rental player? I can see maybe Nash, Buf or Anaheim renting someone, but the Thrashers? Let’s just get in this year and rent someone next year.

By FatherFocker

January 26, 2007 04:41 PM | Link to this

We need to win 80% of hour home games so I’d say 5 of the next 6 home games must be WINS. I want us to win the division so badly cuz i hate biting my nails in late march fighting for that last playoff spot. It’d be nice to make the playoffs convincingly. And to see a thrasher banner hang over philips.

By Tony C.

January 26, 2007 05:43 PM | Link to this

Russ-

I like that idea!!! it just begs the question:

how fast is Turgeon?

and also question b: Colorado would want to trade their puck-moving D-man for a poor position-playing super fast blueline rookie??? DW would have to sweeten that pot extensively, I think. But that’s one of the most plausible scenarios we’ve seen in this blog.

Big game tonight-I wonder if we get Dipietro? Either guy we need the regulation 2 pts.

LET’S GO BLUE!!!

By Mark

January 29, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this

The Thrashers should be winning all the games at home but a recurrance of simple blocking and tackling keep showing up. Bad puck handling, not enough shooting and mental breakdowns. Too much passing on the power play again, they are trying to be too fine. Bang the puck at the goal and get a rebound, I can’t remember the last goal I saw the Thrashers score like that, but Carolina does it 5X/game. Does Nic Havlid know where the end of the stick is??? Ilya is a scorer not a passer, enough of this decoy crap. I hope this 5 on 3 shutout situation doesn’t lead to missing the playoffs. Hey Bob, how do you lose at your packed house to the worst team in the conference, do this much in CO, (when winning the cup)??? Did you make that team or was it already there for you, I don’t see any leadership coming out of the box…