AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 06
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Florida still battling
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just got done reading Dave O’Brien’s Braves blog, because I was looking for ideas to make this one better. If you haven’t read his entry yet today, he blogs about cruising central florida with a cigar under the shining sun. And just for a moment, I was jealous. I mean, here I am, just returning from a morning skate at frigid Philips Arena, and spending my afternoon booking 6 a.m. flights to places like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston - not exactly spring break hotspots in March.
But then I remembered something that we have here at the Thrashers blog, that they can’t get in the Braves blog — playoff hockey. Yeah, it’s getting close. There already has been an amped-up atmosphere at Philips Arena, and I expect that to continue tonight. The Panthers are calling the game tonight, the biggest of the year. One writer said Olli Jokinen called tonight’s game the biggest of his career. See, Florida is playing well, and some of the Panthers have gotten the idea that they aren’t out of the playoff hunt. They don’t care that they’d have to leapfrog Boston, Toronto, New York, Montreal and Carolina just to get the 8th spot — they still think they’re alive.
Do I agree? Nope, but then again I’m not behind Florida’s bench. This is a team playing with an air of desperation, and playing good hockey, so the Thrashers will need to continue playing at the high level they’ve played since the Tkachuk trade.
Like I told you yesterday, Eric Boulton is in tonight. I chatted with him briefly after the skate and he said it’s been tough watching - the guy is a competitor and wants to be out there. But the byproduct of the recent trades is more competition for playing time, which I know Bob Hartley enjoys. We’ll see Boulton on a line with Slater and Mellanby.
Eric Belanger skated this morning after getting Monday’s practice off. Everything was fine there, he said he was just getting a breather. Marian Hossa and Slava Kozlov didn’t skate this morning, but they have the option of skipping, and Hartley confirmed that is why they weren’t there. It also led to this exchange, paraphrased because I wasn’t taking notes:
Me: Hossa and Kozlov weren’t out there…
Hartley: It was an optional skate, they’re fine. I told Tkachuk and Zhitnik it was optional for them too.
Me: They didn’t take you up on the offer?
Hartley: I told them when they were already out there.
I also chatted with Brad Larsen, who as a few of you noted, seemed to play with a lot of energy against Carolina. He said he’s just now feeling 100 percent from his groin injury, and that the addition of Dupuis to his line has brought another dimension to that line. It’s opening things up a little more for Larsen and Holik — don’t be surprised to see a goal from one of them tonight.
Talked with Jon Sim for a few minutes, just wanted to get a feel for how the Tkachuk, Kovalchuk, Sim combo was working out. The line is still scoreless since Tkachuk came over (Kovalchuk’s goal was on the power play) — Sim said they’re getting chances (which they are) and also pointed out that they had a goal taken away (Sim scored, but the play was offsides) against Carolina. So he’s confident that things will be clicking soon.
Lastly, I got mustache growing tips from Garnet Exelby. Who needs cigars and Florida sunshine when you can get facial hair advice?
