AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 19
Monday, February 19, 2007
One last stop on road trip
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As I write this, the team heads to Carolina to try and get that top spot in the division back. They’re tied with Tampa Bay, but have played more games. A couple things of note at practice — J.P. Vigier skated and was at full strength. They will activate him from the IR today, if they haven’t done so already. Eric Belanger didn’t practice, but the team let him go from Ottawa to Carolina to get some of his personal stuff in order. There’s nothing easy about being traded (twice!) in the middle of the season. Plus he’s got two little kids, and some stuff (like his car) that needs to be moved to Atlanta. So that’s why Eric Boulton was skating witih Kozlov and Hossa. Boulton is feeling better, by the way. Flu bug has moved on.
Let’s see, what else. Brad Larsen didn’t practice as expected. Bob Hartley said he won’t be going on the IR, he’s day to day with a lower body injury. The team is being kind of coy with this one, especially after its transparency with Vigier’s groin injury. I’m not sure why one is a secret, and the other is for public consumption, but I’m trying to get to the bottom of it. The Thrashers drop a few games, and suddenly I’m dealing with the iron curtain.
Steve Rucchin didn’t practice as his injury continues to linger on and on and on. For the record, the Thrasher’s haven’t won a game since he was hurt (not counting the Colorado game in which he was injured).
Since I wasn’t able to respond to a couple comments yesterday, I’ll do it here:
Jenn: I’m not sure I was dressing anything up. I don’t know if you were talking about Hartley’s comments or something I wrote, but you won’t get an argument out of me that the team is playing like garbage right now.
Bobo: I think you nailed it, and that’s what we’re going to address in the morning paper. If this team wants to get back on track, it starts with No. 32.
Lee: Realistic trade options? I don’t want to rule anything out at this point. I think Trade speculation is funny, we can try to guess all day, but then something like Belanger getting traded twice in two days happens, and I don’t think anyone saw that coming. Despite the Belanger trade, this team still needs another center and speed on the PK. You’ll see more teams willing to deal as we get closer to the 27th.
Bob: As far as Waddell working hard to bring enforcements — I guess that was an assumption. He’s in Naples right now with every other GM in the league, and has collected a ton of frequent flier miles recently scouting players all over the continent. I know he realizes that this year is different than past years, and he will make another move if it’s an impact player that can make a difference. With most GMs, you can predict their tendencies based on how they’ve responded in the past — the Thrashers are different. They’ve never been in this situation before - so you can’t judge how they will respond with how they have in the past. I’m reserving judgment until I see how this team is made up on Feb. 28th.
B. Thenet: Your response to Hartley’s deal or no deal quote should have been my follow-up question. I wish I would have thought of it at that time.
Lee: Larsen is day to day. He’s out for Carolina, but we’ll see from there.
Services »
