Well, this is it. The Thrashers are starting a week that coach Bob Hartley said could be the biggest in franchise history. The stretch from Wednesday through Saturday, three games in four days, will ultimately decide where this team finishes. So how are you feeling about the chances?

Hartley said his team has two options - to “turtle up” or to embrace these games and the excitement that comes with a season on the line. He’s confident that his players will rise to the occasion, although what’s he supposed to day - he thinks his team is going to choke? They played pretty well against Pittsburgh, and if they play a similar game against Florida/Toronto/Boston, you can probably count on two wins out of three which I’m guessing everybody would take.

Eric Belanger (more on him in a minute) made a good point, these games are probably more pressure-filled than the playoffs, because in the playoffs you can still lose one or two and it’s not the end of the world. The Thrashers are nearing a point where a couple losses in a row might be more than they can make up - at least as far as the division goes.

As for Belanger, he skated today although he said he paced himself a little bit out there. He suffered a little scare when his groin acted up in Pittsburgh, an injury he has some history with. He spent time on the injured reserve last year with the Kings because of a groin injury so obviously he’s being careful. Best case scenario is that the humid arena in Pittsburgh (and it was really humid in there) led to some cramping up.

It was good to see Jon Sim at the practice facility, even if he was in khakis and flip flops instead of skating. Considering he just had surgery to correct multiple fractures in his orbital bone he didn’t look that bad. Just a relatively small bandage and a shiner - I asked if doctors would have him ready to play sometime this year, and he said - “They’d better.” I’ll be sitting down with him on Tuesday for a Wednesday story to get more from his perspective, although it was interesting to hear Hartley say he thought the linesman should have stopped the fight earlier, which would have prevented Sim’s injury.

Practice report: Besides Sim, Greg de Vries was given the morning off for some extra rest, let’s not forget his face still has a bunch of stitches so it really isn’t that surprising. He’ll play against Florida, which I was wondering about when I saw McCarthy skating with Exelby - but there won’t be any lineup changes against the Panthers. Pascal Dupuis was still skating with Tkachuk and Kovalchuk, and the three and fourth lines weren’t (as usual) very clear. Maybe Boulton/Holik/Vigier for line No. 3 but that’s all subject to change.

Goalie rotation: Kari Lehtonen will start against Florida and Johan Hedberg will get the second game of the back-to-back when he starts against Toronto. No real surprise there, especially with the way Hedberg played against the Rangers. Both goalies are pretty close to the top of their games (the monkey puck goal notwithstanding) which is a good thing considering everything that is on the line this week.

Tonight’s TV: Darren Eliot and Billy Jaffe will be calling tonight’s game on VERSUS (w/ Joe Beninati) in a game I believe is a preview of the Western Conference finals (Anaheim vs. Detroit) - sorry Nashville. Although San Jose might have convinced me otherwise with its win over the Thrashers last week. I’ll let you know if I change my mind for good after watching tonight’s game.

Around the league: As if the Penguins weren’t scary enough with three of the best young centers in the game, the Pens are starting to get some goaltending. Marc-Andre Fleury shut out the Bruins on Sunday. Ron Cook says Fleury is the key to the Pens playoff success.

Hartley on bloggers: Lastly, I asked Hartley if the team’s streakiness was a concern, especially since the team has lost two straight and now would be a horrible time to go into one of those four or five game skids. He said he doesn’t look at any of that stuff. “I never get caught up in, what’s our record, what have we done - that’s for you and your bloggers. I don’t have time to lose.” So there you go, Hartley’s leaving it up to you decide if the streakiness is an issue.

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