AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 20
Friday, April 20, 2007
Hossa rumors and offseason talk
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First lets address the Marian Hossa rumors. I spoke with Hoss yesterday and he said he has nothing any more serious than the usual assortment of injuries everybody has after a long season. I think many people assumed something was wrong because the Marian Hossa we saw during the season wasn’t the Marian Hossa we saw in the playoffs. He wasn’t driving to the net as effectively as we’ve seen.
John Kincade mentioned on the air that he wouldn’t be surprised if Hossa had surgery. I don’t think he said he was having surgery. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has surgery, but the team assured me that there currently are no surgery plans. In fact, Hossa is mulling over an offer to play in the World Championship in Russia, although he didn’t seem too enthused about the idea yesterday. If he was having surgery, I don’t think he’d even be considering it.
I addressed it a little in today’s story, but a few of you asked which of the young players I expected to get a shot next season. Don Waddell specifically mentioned Bryan Little, Brett Sterling and Colin Stuart as three players he thought might get a look. Little hasn’t signed yet, but he’s close.
I imagine they won’t bring back all of the blue liners who aren’t under contract for next year — Sutton, McCarthy, de Vries, Exelby and Hnidy. Mark Popovic will likely fill one of those spots, and I know the team has high hopes for Boris Valabik and Tobias Enstrom. The team needs a speed upgrade, and going young will certainly help.
Here are the answers to a few of your questions from yesterday:
Shane: I don’t think Don is having any regrets over the deals he made. There’s a pretty good chance that this team wouldn’t have made the playoffs without those trades, and that would have been even more of a disaster than the sweep. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dupuis and Belanger back, and Zhitnik is signed for the next two seasons, so that wasn’t a rental. The only trade you could question is the Tkachuk deal, and he delivered everything he was brought in to do. Plus, I’m guessing Don will find a way to get some of those picks back.
Kari’s Karpets: From what I understand, a deal with Little is close to being done, where they’ll go from there I’m not sure.
Mass: Interesting take on Sutton. While I believe he likes it here, I really can’t see him taking a big hometown discount to stay. Guys work hard for one maybe two chances at free agency - you can’t blame a guy for wanting to take full advantage and cash in.
AT13: No, I don’t think Tkachuk will be back.
Thrashersfan33: I would be surprised to see Metro back here. As he left, he said ‘I’m not one of Bob’s guys.’ Last I checked, Bob isn’t going anywhere.
David: I asked Mellanby who he thought should replace him as captain, and he laughed. He said he wasn’t going to touch that one, that he’d leave it to the coaches. It’s an interesting debate though — Captain Kovy?
Geneen: I appreciate the comments on the Kozlov story. Don has said he’s interested in bringing Kozlov back, although Kozzie’s answer when I asked him if he was coming back was interesting: “I’m flexible,” he said. Kozzie loved playing in Detroit, you have to wonder if they offered him a deal, if he could turn it down. One of the reasons he signed with Atlanta the last time his contract was up was because Detroit never made him an offer.
Lastly, with the season over the Thrashers blog won’t be updated quite as frequently. I just don’t have that much to say. So thanks to all of you who have helped the blog grow with your insight and comments. I look forward to making this an even more popular hockey destination. This is really an enjoyable part of my job.
— Craig
