AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 22
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Thrashers should be well-rested
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Interesting matchup tonight with former teammates Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin facing off with their new teams. San Jose didn’t skate this morning because they played last night in Chicago (a 4-1 win over the Blackhawks). The Thrashers however are well-rested, coming off a pair of off days and a practice on Wednesday.
I asked Bob Hartley how you balance giving guys a deserved time off, without losing some of the momentum gained over the strong recent play. He said that without fail, players are more focused when they come back from two days off, plus they appreciate the rest - especially this time of year. Monday was scheduled as an off-day, Tuesday was a reward for the recent winning.
The Thrashers could be looking at another two-day rest next week. They’re off on Sunday, and as we speak have a 10 a.m. practice scheduled for Monday, but there’s a chance that could get canceled as well. We’ll see how the team plays tonight after the layoff, but Bobby Holik said yesterday (I think it was Holik, don’t hold me too it) that it’s crucial that this team gets to the postseason with some energy. You don’t want to expend every last ounce of effort just getting there, then be exhausted once you get there. The schedule is certainly in the Thrashers favor in that department.
Dan Kamal pointed out this morning that after tonight, the Thrashers will have more road games left than home games. But even when there are two straight road games (Sat vs. Pitt. and Wed. vs. Florida) there is plenty of time off for rest, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about that, despite the fact that the team is playing lights-out at home.
Also chatted with Hartley this morning about Steve McCarthy, who was a hot topic of discussion on yesterday’s blog. Really nothing has changed there. McCarthy continues to ask for extra practice work with Brad McCrimmon to stay sharp. Hartley also said that other than one game, the defensemen who are playing have all done well and don’t deserve to sit. (I’ll let you figure out what one game he was talking about). He did say he’ll get McCarthy in the lineup before the playoffs:
“My plan is to definitely play him before the end of the season,” Hartley said. So there it is, we haven’t seen the end of Mac this season.
Like I said yesterday, Slater is in the lineup. He’ll likely skate between Mellanby and Vigier, if Larsen skates with the Holik/Dupuis line. But as we know, once the game starts, it’s like a blender and anything can happen.
Around the league: Interesting to note that Todd Bertuzzi will make his debut with the Detroit Red Wings tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. If he’s healthy, and we know that’s a big if, that could turn out to have as big an impact in the playoffs for the Red Wings as the Tkachuk/Zhitnik trade has had during the regular season for the Thrashers… Flyers forward Todd Fedoruk is doing fine after taking a knockout punch in the head from Colton Orr on Wednesday night. The Rangers neurologist Claude Macaluso told the AP that Fedoruk was awake, and there were no neurological problems. He was just having some issues with short-term memory. I’d probably want to forget a punch to the face too. Here’s the knockout punch on YouTube:
