AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 23
Friday, February 23, 2007
Practice update, trade talks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Busy time of year in these parts. The Thrashers didn’t practice too long, but there were a couple of interesting developments out in Duluth. First, we can end the speculation — Kari Lehtonen will be back in net for the Carolina game, although I’m sure you all assumed as much. But then again, we’ve learned not to assume anything, right?
There was an interesting twist to the Steve Rucchin injury saga. Yesterday he continued his work outs, and an injured foot that has been bothering him hadn’t shown any signs of improvement, despite all the time he’s missed with headaches, etc. So they got it X-rayed. Turns out he has a cracked bone in his foot and will miss another two weeks at a minimum. Hartley said the foot injury came out of left field, and he was as surprised as anyone when the doctor told him it was broken. Rucchin, well, he wasn’t so surprised. He said it’s been bothering him for awhile. So Rucchin’s upper body injury is now an upper and lower body injury. The guy with the middle body injury, Brad Larsen, should be okay to go on Saturday against Carolina. He’s been out with a groin, but he’s been practicing with the team, and if Hartley gets the final stamp of approval on Saturday, he’ll be back in the lineup.
Still a lot of chatter on the trade front. If recent play is any indication, the need might have gone from a center to a defenseman. Eric Belanger is really looking like a nice pickup and this team could use a shakeup on the blueline. But word out of St. Louis is that Atlanta is the front-runner for Keith Tkachuk, who scored his 20th goal of the year the other night against Minnesota.
Last night, I was joking with Rob Koch, the Thrashers PR guy, that it’s about time Anson Carter got traded. That’s how I know spring is coming. Well, right on cue, Carter was dealt to Carolina for a fifth-rounder, just in time for the big showdown against the Thrashers on Saturday night. Now I’m biased because Carter is a Michigan State guy and played there when I was covering the Spartans, but a fifth-rounder doesn’t seem like too high a price for a guy who scored 33 goals last season. There was a feeling that Columbus would hold off on making any deals until St. Louis (which seems to control the market) dealt Tkachuk and Guerin, but I guess that wasn’t the case. So maybe things will loosen up in the trade market. Columbus is believed to be looking to extend LW Fredrik Modin, but if those talks break down, he might be available. Defenseman Adam Foote is available, but he has another year (4.6M) on his contract and is slowing down. He’s a good leader and can kill penalties, but probably is more of a No. 3 or No. 4 at this point of his career.
Last thought: ajc.com is a big website with lots of space - there’s plenty of room for two hockey bloggers. The IceMan and myself are not in competition with each other, ideally our blogs compliment each other. He brings a perspective that I can’t, and gives a great forum to debate the Thrashers immediately after games. I don’t think commenting has to be an either/or proposition — comment on both. I know a few of you have been critical because he hadn’t posted in a while - I’m fortunate enough that blogging is part of my job description. IceMan blogs because he’s passionate about hockey. For that he deserves more slack than he’s getting. Alright, I’ll step off my soapbox and let you guys debate some of these trade rumors.
