AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 20
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Predicting an opponent
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Anybody with kids has heard the saying - ‘when the baby sleeps, you sleep.’ It’s a pretty sound strategy, one my wife and I use with our son Cal. Well, the life of a beat writer is kind of like that. When the team is off, you’re off. Monday was a scheduled day off, and today was an earned day off, given by Bob Hartley to the players thanks to the recent winning. So there’s not much to report, we’ll go back at it Wednesday morning at practice.
But because I’m slightly obsessed, someone who already got in trouble with his wife for spending my time off reading TSN.ca, I wanted to take a look at the standings, and handicap the Thrashers most likely first-round opponent. I’d like to hear who you all think the Thrashers are going to play - and who you’d prefer.
So here’s my top three most likely opponents, then I get to put my son down for a nap:
The favorite: The Rangers - This team is playing really well, and gave the Thrashers all they could handle on Friday night. If not for some outstanding goaltending from Johan Hedberg, they would have won that game. Since Feb. 24th, the Rangers have exactly one loss in regulation, and that was a close one to Ottawa (my Stanley Cup sleeper). Henrik Lundqvist has been outstanding — in his last three games (Atlanta, Boston, Pittsburgh), he’s allowed three total goals.
The runner-up: Tampa Bay - I’d like to see this series, because it’d be great as far as rivalry building goes for the Thrashers. Oh yeah, plus I’d rather travel to Tampa than New York. The goaltending issues are starting to catch up to the Lightning, who have a HUGE game tonight with the Islanders. But of their final nine games, only two are on the road and there’s a chance that the second one (at Atlanta on April 7) will mean a heck of a lot more to the Lightning than it will the Thrashers.
The darkhorse: Toronto - There’s another big game to watch tonight as the Leafs playing against New Jersey. Suddenly, the Devils have to worry about Pittsburgh after it looked like they basically had the Atlantic wrapped up. Let’s also remember that there is some bad blood between these two teams because of Cam Janssen’s hit on Tomas Kaberle. If Toronto can win this game, and it’s not out of the question considering New Jersey’s March struggles, the Leafs are right in it.
So who do you see the Thrashers playing in round one? Who do you prefer?
