AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > September
September 2007
Kwiatkowski and Haydar clear waivers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nothing too exciting from today’s morning skate. Todd White was the only one who missed because he’s got some form of the flu that is suddenly making its way around the dressing room. But like Bob Hartley said, better now than in the middle of the season, like what happened to the Canadiens last year.
Hartley said Kari Lehtonen should play most of the game tonight in his final tuneup before the season starts. Then we can start the debate about who should start opening night - Moose or Kari. The last major decision of camp is the captain. Like I said yesterday in the comment section of the blog, they’re waiting until Tuesday to announce it because of some team function that evening. But at least now Hartley is admitting he knows who it is, so maybe I can wrestle it from him by then. It doesn’t help that the team is off on Saturday and Sunday, so instead of trying to get that piece of news on the sly, I’ll have to watch some college football and the NFL this weekend. Too bad.
In a mild surprise, Darren Haydar and Joel Kwiatkowski both cleared waivers. I thought maybe one of them would get picked up but that’s good news for the team’s depth. I think both can be helpful if there are injuries or one of the rookies can’t hack it. I didn’t even get to do my Kiwi is a rock star story. According to some of the Florida beat writers, Kwiatkowski did some touring with Cinderella or somebody like that and really is into rock music. Would have made a great off-day story, hopefully he’ll be back so I can get to it.
I was interested to see the overwhelming positive response to the choice to keep Little, Enstrom, Popovic and Sterling. I agree, there’s a ton of upside there, but also some question marks. So, are they an upgrade over who they are replacing on the roster from the team that broke camp last year? Let’s break it down.
Bryan Little vs. Niko Kapanen: You’d agree that Little is replacing Kapanen, right? Or maybe Metropolit. But for the sake of this argument we’ll say Kapanen. Last year, Kapanen scored six goals in 79 games. I think Little is capable of that. This one is easy. Upgrade.
Brett Sterling vs. Jon Sim/Scott Mellanby: This one isn’t so clear. You could argue that Eric Perrin replaces Sim, so let’s compare Sterls to Mellanby. There are a ton of things you can’t measure when it came to Mellanby. Bobby Holik called him the best captain he’s ever played with and Holik has been playing forever. He was a huge locker room presence, and let’s not forget that he was still useful as a big body on the powerplay. Mellanby scored 12 goals and 24 assists in 69 games, so I certainly think Sterling can eclipse those numbers. But when you’re talking about the complete package, on and off the ice, I’m going to have to say it’s a slight downgrade.
Mark Popovic vs. Shane Hnidy: Hnidy was the seventh D-man to open the season, then went on to have a good year for the Thrashers. I’d say that if the Thrashers can get a Hnidy-like season from Popovic, they’ll be happy. Popovic is the most NHL-ready player of all the four prospects so he’s certainly capable of replacing Hnidy. I’ll cheat and call it a wash.
Tobias Enstrom vs. Vitaly Vishnevski: Talk about different styles, these two are about as different as any two players can be. Vishnevski brings a physical presence to a defense that, outside Exelby, this current Thrashers blueline doesn’t have. But the Thrashers sorely lacked power play QBs and puck-moving d-men at this point last season, which Enstrom really addresses. Now, with Zhitnik, McCarthy and Enstrom, they’re pretty well-stocked. I think there will be times this season that the team will miss some of the toughness Vishnevski brought to the blueline, but Enstrom’s upside and potential to help the power play makes me think this swap is an upgrade. But not as much as you might think.
How would you break it down?
And then there were 22
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hope you’re ready for some rookies. The Thrashers made their final cuts this morning, and the four openings are all going to rookies. Bryan Little, Brett Sterling, Tobias Enstrom and Mark Popovic all made the team. Meanwhile Jordan LaVallee, Boris Valabik, Joel Kwiatkowski, Darren Haydar, Colin Stuart and Ondrej Pavelec were all optioned to Chicago (AHL). I’ll post more later after talking to Bob Hartley and the players, but I wanted to get this out there. What do you think of the decisions?
EDIT: Also, the Blackhawks claimed defenseman Karel Pilar off waivers, so the Thrashers lose some depth on the blue line..
Hartley happy with Little’s play
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First, I just wanted to thank everyone for the feedback on the ‘Between the Benches’ story. I appreciate it. For those who wanted me to ignore Bobby Holik and give away team secrets, there really wasn’t anything crazy said while I was there. Just your usual in-game comments like “We need to talk more” or encouragement like “Atta boy Moose.”
Maybe when I left in the third period, all the nastiness came out. The only chirping back and forth between the two benches came when there was some yelling in the direction of Nashville’s Shea Weber. You have to remember, this was a preseason game, so it’s not like it was the first-round of the playoffs.
Speaking of which, the best anecdote from between the benches came from the September 4 issue of The Hockey News. Darren Pang told a story to THN about the trash talking between Sean Avery and Ilya Kovalchuk during the first round of the playoffs. After Kovalchuk turned the puck over, Avery shouted “That’s why you’ll never be a winner, Kovalchuk…You’re a greedy hockey player.”
Keith Tkachuk’s response shows why he was so well-liked in Atlanta. He said: “Ilya, don’t worry. We don’t have to kill him, his own teammates will.” It’s a great anecdote from an interesting story written by Mike Brophy in the Hockey News.
John Kincade had some great stories about his time between the benches while doing the games for SportSouth last year. He’s disappointed he won’t be doing it this year, and it’s easy to see why he’ll miss it. He told me about some of the confusion on the bench when the last game of the regular season went into overtime. The players started asking him if he knew who the Thrashers would play in the playoffs if they won or lost in overtime.
Here’s what Kincade said: “Bobby Holik started asking me questions during the timeout. ‘If we win this do we play Tampa or do we play the Rangers?’… Literally, Bobby Holik is like ‘What’s the situation, now?’ I’m like freaking out - Bob Hartley is going to throttle me if I don’t shut up. All I’m trying to do is comment on the play. When the players started engaging me in conversation, I was like ‘Hartley is going to literally kick my backside.’”
For those of you looking for some nuts and bolts breakdown of last night’s game, which obviously my story didn’t provide. Ben Wright did a nice job breaking it down on atlantathrashers.com.
I liked what I saw from the penalty killers. Pascal Dupuis and Jim Slater looked great together, it makes me wonder why Slates wasn’t used more on the penalty kill last season. Bob Hartley was really pleased with Bryan Little’s play, so if you’re looking for some idea of who is getting an inside track to one of the two open forward spots, that has to bode well for Little. Like I mentioned in the comments section of the last blog, if the shootout had gone any longer, Little was taking the fourth shot.
Defenseman Karel Pilar was cut this morning so the battle on the blueline is down to Tobias Enstrom (who apparently goes by the name Toby), Mark Popovic, Boris Valabik and Joel Kwiatkowski.
Lastly, if you were waiting for the Atlanta Thrashers Season Preview on SportSouth, it will air on Saturday at 10:30 p.m., so set your Tivos.
Big night for Little, Stuart
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was going to blog about the battle for two defensive openings, but I’ll save that for later in the week. There’s plenty to talk about today without getting into that.
First, Kari Lehtonen won’t dress tonight. Johan Hedberg will start in goal and Ondrej Pavelec will back him up. But Kari is slated to start on Wednesday against Florida, his preseason debut. He said he’s completely pain free as well as discomfort free. That’s a good sign, so he’ll get some minutes against the Panthers but don’t expect him to play the entire game.
Brad Larsen is close to returning. He’s been skating with Ray Bear the last couple days and that means he’s pretty close to returning to practice. Hartley said he expects Larsen to be ready for the regular season.
We talked earlier in training camp about how Hartley has set aside four games for most of the players competing for openings, and tonight is a big one for some of the young forwards. This is game No. 4 for Colin Stuart and Bryan Little, and game No. 3 for Jordan LaVallee. Hartley reiterated a lot of what I wrote about in Monday’s paper, that he’s looking for this young guys to seize this opportunity. “The games keep getting bigger and bigger,” he said.
I chatted with Little for a couple minutes after the morning skate and he realizes the magnitude of tonight’s game.
“I kind of feel like it’s my last shot,” he said.
He can’t complain about his line. He’ll be playing with Ilya Kovalchuk and Stuart tonight, and I told him that Kovy is a guy who can make him look good. Little’s answer? “He can make me look good, I just have to keep up with him.” Good point.
Tobias Enstrom will be playing in his third game, in what has been an up and down camp for him. He looked great in Nashville, then was inconsistent against the Blues. He’ll be paired with Karel Pilar who also needs a good showing in his third game of the preseason.
As for me, I’ll be doing the game from between the benches tonight which I’m really looking forward to. I just got off the phone with John Kincade about his experience doing sideline reporting there during the playoffs and he said it’s the best access in sports. I’ll be doing a first person story on it for Wednesday’s paper, so keep an eye out for that.
No news on the captain, but I now know where Bobby Holik stands on the upcoming presidential primaries. So I have that going for me.
You pick the final two forwards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Thrashers are off golfing today in their annual charity golf tournament. Well most anyway. Bob Hartley said Kari Lehtonen would get some ice time today to continue to work the sore groin. Right now the target is for Lehtonen to start Wednesday’s game against Florida, and Johan Hedberg will start on Tuesday. Last year Lehtonen said he played a game and a half of preseason action. So if he’s ready to go Wednesday, I’m guessing he won’t play the entire game, and if all goes well he can play the entire preseason finale on Friday.
Expect a captain announcement sometime here soon. Don Waddell did a Q and A with the fans who attended Saturday’s morning skate. A fan asked about captains, and Waddell said to expect an announcement within 24 hours. I asked Hartley about it that night and he said he wasn’t in a rush to name a captain, saying there are more important issues going on right now. That was still his stance yesterday, but there should be news on that coming in the near future.
Outside of Lehtonen, there are still two Thrashers left who haven’t played in the preseason - Slava Kozlov and Brad Larsen. Kozzie said he’s anxious to go, but Larsen’s back is still an issue. He’s working out, but not skating. I think at this point you can’t rule out a trip to the IR, but there’s still time here. There’s a week between the last preseason game and the first game of the season.
So for now, let’s assume there are only two openings at forward. Who do you see getting those final two spots?
You figure there will be 13 forwards on the opening day roster:
1. Hossa
2. Holik
3. Kozlov
4. Kovalchuk
5. White
6. Perrin
7. Dupuis
8. Larsen
9. Slater
10. Thorburn
11. Boulton
12. OPEN
13. OPEN
That leaves these guys fighting for the two spots: Sterling, Haydar, LaVallee, Stuart, and Little. I could also see LaVallee or Stuart playing on the checking line if Larsen’s back issues continue to be a problem. I think Sterling is the closest of any of these players to being a lock to make the roster. While some players have been reluctant to shoot, I don’t think that’s been an issue for Sterling. Kovalchuk told him early on in camp that if he had the chance, shoot the puck and Sterling said that really helped him get comfortable during training camp. I think it’s showing in his play, I’d be really surprised if he doesn’t make the team. Right now he’s tied for the team lead with seven shots.
On the opposite side of the spectrum is Bryan Little. He definitely has the ability, which he’s shown but if he’s going to make the team, it’ll have to be in a scoring role. I can’t see the Thrashers keeping him around to play 7 minutes a game on the checking line. In a perfect world, he would show that he’s ready to center Hossa and Kozlov, you bump Bobby Holik to the third line and call it a day. But right now, he’s not there. Granted, he’s not seeing the ice time Sterling is, and he’s not skating with big names, but he knows that’s something you earn which I think he did with solid play as the game went on against St. Louis. Little will center a line with Kovalchuk and Stuart on Tuesday. Haydar is a tough one. He’s done everything a player can in the American League and this is a crucial camp for him. He said he’s willing to adapt to any need the Thrasher have. “I’ll play goalie to play here. It doesn’t matter where they put me, I just want to be here,” he said.
Lastly, I got a strong response for the opening to take Ice Man’s place. I’m compiling a list to send up the chain of command, but there are some strong candidates. Maybe we need to do an American Idol like audition and let you guys decide. But it looks like we’ll have a worthy replacement.
Groin sidelines Lehtonen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some injury news out of Duluth — Kari Lehtonen’s groin issues are back. He’s missed practiced this week and won’t play on Saturday in the home exhibition opener. He’ll practice with the non-game group on Saturday to test it out, so there’s a chance the injury isn’t too serious.
He wasn’t available after practice, but I’m scheduled to chat with him this afternoon to get an update on his progress. We’ll get a good feel for how serious the injury is after he practices on Saturday. If he steps on the ice and after five minutes can’t go anymore, then it’s bad. If he’s just having some soreness he can work through, then the news isn’t so severe. I’ll keep you posted on what I hear.
Slava Kozlov, who missed practice on Thursday, was back at it today. Hartley assured me that he’s just pacing Kozzie, so there’s nothing to report about him. Here’s the lineup for Saturday’s game against St. Louis:
26 - 16 - 18
17 - 12 - 53
50 - 44 - 38
23 - 11 - 43
77 - 28
41 - 22
47 - 5
1
33
I’ll edit those numbers into names this afternoon when I have time, right now you’ll need your decoder rosters. Also, Hartley expects Keith Tkachuk to make the trip for the game, that should be fun.
So how concerned are you about Kari?
Enstrom set to make debut tonight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tonight, we’ll continue to see the debuts of some of the Thrashers rookies battling for spots on the roster. In my opinion, none will be more important than Tobias Enstrom. This won’t be his first game in a Thrashers jersey because he played in Traverse City, but this will be his first NHL action.
He showed strong passing skills and was comfortable with the puck in Traverse City, we’ll see how that translates to the NHL game tonight. Nashville is a big, physical team, so this should be a good test for the smallish Enstrom, who is officially 5-10.
“This is what I’ve been looking forward to the whole time,” Enstrom said after Thursday’s morning practice. “Of course I’ll be a little bit nervous, but mostly it’s going to be fun.”
Hartley said the Traverse City experience was good for Enstrom and his adjustment to the North American game.
“Now it’s adjusting to NHL speed and the execution,” Hartley said. “He’s a great passer, a a great skill guy. Now it’s going to be interesting how his size will come to play in the NHL. Tonight, we’re going to get some good answers from him.”
Looking at how practice was broken up, we’ll likely see the season debuts of Bobby Holik, Eric Boulton, Jordan LaVallee, Steve McCarthy and others. Like I mentioned in today’s story, Ondrej Pavelec will start in goal.
It’s interesting for me to see the feedback about the goalie situation. Kari Lehtonen will make his debut on Saturday at the home opener, and so will Marian Hossa. Expect those two, and most veterans to play three games, towards the end of the preseason to get some timing for the regular season. I didn’t see Slava Kozlov on the ice today, but Hartley had already done his media scrum, so I’ll try to find out Kozzie’s status tonight.
But as for the goalie situation, most fans are looking at is as a positive. Hedberg can push Lehtonen, and I think that’s the intent here. I’m not saying Kari took games off last year when he knew he was starting a bunch in a row, but I think pressure from Hedberg should be a positive. But I also think ultimately, like say, by the playoffs, you’d like to have a clear cut No. 1. Like Hedberg said, it should be interesting. Anybody want to predict who will be the opening game starter in goal in 2009?
Lastly, shoot me an e-mail if you’re interested in replacing the IceMan as the fan blogger.
Heading out of Hockeyville
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Toronto — All in all, a successful road trip for the Thrashers to open the exhibition season. You had to like what you saw from the Kovalchuk-White-Sterling line. I’ll give Brett Sterling credit, he was looking for his shot. It’s obvious he doesn’t need too many scoring chances to put points on the board. After the game, Bob Hartley commented that Sterlilng was born with an ability to score goals. You can’t teach that. He’s also a physical player for his size, he wasn’t pushed around out there. White looked good in his first game with the Thrashers. He almost scored a short-handed goal, creating a turnover while logging minutes on the PK and forced Joey MacDonald to make a nice save.
In the early auditions for the spot on Kovalchuk’s line, Sterling retained his position as the favorite to end up in that spot. In Bryan Little’s preseason debut, he was mostly skating with the younger guys, so it was hard to get a feel for his game. He looked fairly comfortable out there and I like how he pressured the puck. I’m curious to see how he’d look if he was given an extended chance to play with a couple veterans, but he’s going to have to earn it.
In our quest to predict the captain, the following players wore an ‘A’ last night: Ilya Kovalchuk, Todd White and Garnet Exelby. I’m in the camp that thinks Kovalchuk should get an A this season.
For those who were pleased with the small number of shots on Pavelec in game one, that number grew last night. Johan Hedberg faced 29 shots in a solid season debut for the veteran.
If you want to read more on the whole Hockeyville experience, Evan Grossman has a good story on NHL.com.
Other stuff I’m reading while waiting for my flight back to Atlanta:
Nice start for Thrashers, Pavelec
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
St. Louis en route to North Bay — Ah, I’m blogging from an airport, it must be hockey season. Everyone was in good spirits last night after a 3-1 win over St. Louis. The team flew out of St. Louis last night, and is already in North Bay. It was a nice win in that the Blues played a lot of regulars, the Thrashers not so much. Paul Kariya scored the first goal of the preseason for the Blues and Keith Tkachuk got the assist. Meanwhile, Marian Hossa was in Atlanta and Ilya Kovalchuk in streetclothes.
But you have to give credit to the guys who did play. Bob Hartley liked the effort. We got a look at what Eric Perrin can do. When I saw him in training camp, I was surprised how small he was. But he definitely doesn’t play small. He’s quick, and his second goal (I believe) came on a great move to shake a Blues defender. I didn’t mention it in the game story, but I thought Pascal Dupuis looked good too. The third member of that line, Brad Larsen is banged up. He has a bad back. Hartley had a great line about it the other day, saying he saw a trainer working on Larsen’s back, cracking it and twisting it and he thought they were Ultimate Fighting. Glad to see Bob in midseason form.
Ondrej Pavelec looked great in goal. He kept the Thrashers in that game after St. Louis took an early 1-0 lead. Then he preserved it with a couple nice saves in the third period. Johan Hedberg said he was really impressed with Pavelec’s confidence in what was only his second game of NHL action. Don Waddell said he’s getting tons of calls from GMs looking to trade for the young goalie because they think he’s NHL-ready now. Last night, didn’t do anything to change that opinion.
Tonight, we’ll get our first look at the White, Kovalchuk and Sterling line. It should be fun. Evidently the arena in North Bay seats like 2,000 people and the whole town tried to get tickets. Should make for a better atmosphere for hockey than we saw last night, where there was an announced crowd of 8,000 and change. It didn’t help, I’m sure, that the Rams hosted the 49ers in a big divisional showdown that afternoon.
It was good to see Tkachuk. After post-game interviews, he was hanging outside the Blues locker room and Kovalchuk was chatting with him. Later Hartley stopped by to say hello to the big fella. How would Tkachuk look on the wing with Kovy and White? Now that would be a line.
Alright, we’re boarding. I’ll get to your comments when I land in Toronto.
Thrashers kick things off - without Rucchin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, it started. The Thrashers are in full swing of things right now at the IceForum in Duluth. They’re sporting their new practice jerseys. They’re selling their new Rbk EDGE jerseys, and there will be a big press conference later talking about the new jerseys. But you REALLY don’t care about any of that, now do you? How about some lines, it’s never too early take a look at those, now is it?
The team handed out rosters, and on that were some lines for the two teams practicing, Team A and Team B. Hartley has been working primarily with team A and was true to these lines during practice. So first, here they are:
TEAM A
Kovalchuk - White - Sterling
Larsen - Perrin - Dupuis
LaVallee - Little - Haydar
Pospisil - Krog - Deveaux
Crabb - Hamilton - Machacek
Zhitnik - Havelid
Valabik - Popovic
Kwiatkowski - Lewis
Lehman
Comment: I like the Kovalchuk line a lot. White gives Ilya the playmaking center he never had last season and Brett Sterling is put in a position to succeed. The checking line of Larsen-Perrin-Dupuis is interesting just because there’s no Bobby Holik (who is skating with Hossa).
TEAM B
Kozlov - Holik - Hossa
Boulton - Slater - Thorburn
Stuart - Giroux - Schultz
Bartovic - Holzapfel - Fretter
Exelby - Klee
Enstrom - Pilar
Oystrick - McCarthy
Denny - Fahey
Comment: The Hossa line has scoring pop and responsible defensive players. I like that mix as well. The Slater line is full of grit and could be fun to watch. I think the defensive pairings are interested. I thought maybe you’d split up Exelby and Klee and put each one with a younger defenseman.
Obviously you don’t see Steve Rucchin’s name out there. He failed his physical - despite being in great shape, he’s still getting headaches when workouts get strenuous. Things don’t look good for Rooch, but Waddell will get into that more during the 1 p.m. presser.
Hossa update and captain news
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Traverse City — It’s off to the beautiful Flint airport to head back to Atlanta. Before I go, I wanted to offer up a little news and some wrap-up from the prospects tournament. The Thrashers play one more game today, but like Bob Hartley before me, I’m bailing early. Gotta get ready for the real training camp.
The communication between the Thrashers and Marian Hossa’s camp continues in an attempt to get him signed to an extension before the season starts. There hasn’t been a formal offer from the team, but it sounds like they could whip one up real quickly if there are indications from Hossa that he’s ready to sign. All signs point to a possible deal in the four-year range. If he gets Joe Thornton-type money, that would put the total around $28-30 million.
The advantage, from the Thrashers perspective, is that by keeping the contract under five years, GM Don Waddell wouldn’t need unanimous ownership approval. He said ownership would support a 3-4 year deal. From Hossa’s perspective, a four-year deal would mean he’d likely have another big contract in him before he hangs up the skates. We know he’s concerned about winning a Stanley Cup, so keeping a deal under five years would give him a chance to hand-pick a team while still in his early 30s.
“We’ve been talking. We’ve thrown numbers around,” Waddell said after the Thrashers win against Tampa last night. “If they were looking for a formal offer, we would have one quickly. I wouldn’t say we’re at that point yet.”
Expect a captain soon
One of the biggest voids at the upcoming training camp will be the leadership hole created by the retirement of captain Scott Mellanby. Mentally, I’ve already penciled in Bobby Holik in that role, but Waddell said a final decision hasn’t been made.
But expect a captain to be named fairly quickly once camp opens.
“There are some meeting that need to take place with individual players,” Waddell said.
Top three performers
We’ll have a Bryan Little story in the paper for Wednesday, but I wanted to list my top three performers from prospect camp to give you guys an indication of who played well in the three games I attended.
Bryan Little - Despite what the team was saying, I was skeptical that he could make the Thrashers out of training camp. I’m still skeptical, but not as much. He’s a complete player and showed an ability to finish, scoring four goals in the three games I saw. I’m really interested in seeing how he does against NHL-caliber talent.
Spencer Machecek - I liked this kid. He wasn’t afraid to mix it up in front of the net, and it’s no surprise that the three goals I saw all came from the same spot, to the right of the crease. He’s headed back to Vancouver (WHL), but the Thrashers could have done a lot worse with their top pick (third round) in this year’s draft.
Chad Painchaud — You know, I don’t think he scored a goal in any of the games I watched, but it seemed like good things always happened when he was on the ice. He’s ticketed for Chicago (AHL) where I think he could be in for a strong season.
Honorable mention: Tobias Enstrom, Grant Lewis, Riley Holzapfel, Mike Hamilton
Live game blog: Thrashers vs. Lightning
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Traverse City — Here we are for tonight my final game of the NHL Prospects Tournament. The Thrashers will play one more game on Tuesday, the opponent depends on the records of all the teams. But I fly out of Flint in the morning to get ready for the big training camp, so this is it for me and the live blogs. Tonight, it’s division rival Tampa Bay. Three things to watch:
1. Ondrej Pavelec is back in goal, will he impress the folks from Chicago?
2. Can Bryan Little keep up his goal-scoring pace (three goals in the first two games)?
3. Who will emerge as another scorer (Chad Painchaud perhaps) besides Little?
Alright, more after the first intermission…
EDIT: 7:13 p.m.: Thrashers 2, Lightning 2 (first intermission) - The Thrashers jumped out to a fast start, taking an early 2-0 lead. Riley Holzapfel started things off, converting a Chad Denny pass. Holzapfel has had a solid tournament, but that was his first goal of the tourney. He had a great assist in the first game against the Red Wings, although the official boxscore gave it to Enstrom. Spencer Machacek scored the second goal, from nearly the identical spot in front of the net that he scored against the Red Wings. Right now Machacek joins Little as the only Thrashers player with more than one goal.
EDIT 7:54 PM — Lightning 4, Thrashers 3 (second intermission) - Rough one for the Thrashers. Lightning get a pair of goals just a few seconds apart to erase a 3-2 Thrashers lead in the period. The Thrashers goal came when Mike Hamilton knocked in a rebound on a Tobias Enstrom one-timer. Here’s what I like about Enstrom on the power play — his shot from the point isn’t overwhelming, but it’s always on net. For those who watched Kovalchuk’s one-timer sail over the net too often on the Thrashers power play, you realize the importance of getting an accurate shot from the point, and getting those second chances. Hamilton, who now has two goals in the tournament, was a Thrashers draft pick in ‘03 but wasn’t signed and is a free agent.
EDIT 9:02 PM — Thrashers 6, Lightning 4 (final) — Thrashers pick up their second win of the tournament, battling back to beat the Lightning. Machacek briefly tied Bryan Little for the team lead with three goals, knocking down a puck in mid-air with his glove, then smacking it past the Tampa goalie. I say briefly because shortly after that Little got his fourth goal of the tournament, a one-timer on the power play. Maybe that longshot chance to make the NHL out of camp isn’t so long anymore. Little has been pretty impressive. He’s showing great hands, good skating and he’s finishing. Scott Lehman scored an empty-netter to ice it. Also, don’t be surprised to see Hamilton get an invite to Thrashers camp.
Live game blog: Thrashers vs. Rangers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TRAVERSE CITY — Alright, we’re about to get things started in the second game of the prospects tournament. Here are your lines:
Game: Thrashers vs. Rangers, 3:30 p.m. Saturday
Holzapfel - Little - Pospisil
Painchaud - Hamilton - Machacek
Golicic - Fox - Stoez
Dubuc - Duschesneau - Alphonso
Kylda - Enstrom
Lehman - Postma
Denny - Lewis
Three things to watch:
1. Can Bryan Little keep up his impressive offensive output after two goals in game one?
2. Tobias Enstrom continues his adjustment to the North American game.
3. Our first look at goalie Dan Turple. Oh yeah, we’ll also see how Alex Bourret looks against his former team.
I’ll get an update in the first intermission if my laptop battery makes it that far.
EDIT: 4:09 P.M. — Thrashers 1, Rangers 1 (first intermission) — Arron Alphonso scored his first goal of the tournament early in the first period to give the Thrashers an early 1-0 lead. The Rangers answered late with a goal, but Turple looks solid in net for the Thrashers. They were outshot 15-6 in the period mostly because the Rangers were on the power play a ton. Tobias Enstrom saved a goal with a nice play, clearing the puck out of the crease late in the period. The Thrashers will have to stay out of the penalty box if they want to stay in this game.
EDIT: 5:11 P.M. — Rangers 3, Thrashers 2 (start of third period) — Bourret scored on a wrister to give the Rangers the lead heading into the final period. Hamilton scored Thrashers only goal of the period. Shots on goal at the 16:33 mark of the third: Rangers - 25, Thrashers - 13. Alphonso left the game with an injury .
EDIT: 6:07 PM — Rangers 5, Thrashers 3 (final) — The lone highlight of a rough third period was Bryan Little’s third goal of the tournament, which came on a nice snapshot. Thrashers are now 1-1 in the tournament.
Live game blog: Thrashers vs. Red Wings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TRAVERSE CITY — They’re about to drop the puck here in TC, and there’s actually a standing room only crowd for tonight’s game between the Thrashers and Red Wings. The games are played in a great setup here about ten minutes from the Bay in an arena called Center I.C.E.
For those keeping track, this is also the home of the Traverse City North Stars, of which league they’re affiliated with, I’m not sure. Here are your Thrashers lines:
Holzapfel - Little - Pospisil
Painchaud - Hamilton - Machacek
Dubuc - Fox - Alphonso
Anderson - Duchesndeau - Stoesz
Denny - Kelly
Kulda - Lewis
Lehman - Enstrom
Ondrej Pavelec is starting in goal.
EDIT: 8:08 P.M. — After one period of play, the Red Wings are leading the Thrashers 1-0 on a fluky goal that was eerily reminiscent of Sean Avery’s goal on Johan Hedberg in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs. I don’t have to remind you what happened on that goal, but on this one, one of the Red Wings sent a puck around the boards and Pavelec went behind the goal to play it. Once again it took a funny hop off the boards and this time barely crossed the line. If you take away that goal it was a evenly played first period. Pavelec looked solid in goal, making a great kick save on a Red Wings short-handed rush early on. The Wings took advantage of a Grant Lewis turnover at the blueline for that rush during a pretty ugly Thrashers power play.
As far as scoring chances go, it was pretty quiet for the Thrashers in the first period. Bryan Little snapped a wrister that sailed just wide, and it took a nice save from Detroit’s Vicari to prevent a Painchaud goal midway through the period. Stoesz was the most physical player on the ice. His gloves went flying at the 14:10 mark and nearly got in another fight in the waning seconds for the period. More to come during the next intermission…
EDIT 8:56 p.m. — Red Wings 2, Thrashers 1 — This afternoon Don Waddell talked about Riley Holzapfel’s hockey sense and his feel for the game. He showed a little bit of Waddell was talking about, setting up the Thrashers only goal of the game so far. Somehow he spotted Spencer Machacek camping out just to the right of Vicari and snapped a pass across the ice right on his tape for an easy goal. Later in the period the Red Wings answered to retake the lead on what looked like a soft goal on Pavelec. I’m on the other side of the ice and don’t know if he was screened on the slapshot, but regardless, he didn’t make the save. It’s been pretty even - Bryan Little picked up his play in that period, showing his playmaking skills. Right now, the Thrashers are outshooting the Wings 18-17.
At the 9:10 mark there was a fight, and not surprisingly it was Stoesz dropping the gloves against Detroit’s David Jarram. Both got their licks in pretty good, Stoesz landing a bunch of rights, then he finally wrestled Jarram to the ice. More to come after the game…
EDIT 10:15 p.m. — Thrashers 3, Red Wings 2 (final) — A great finish for the Thrashers who got two third-period goals from Bryan Little to start the tournament off with a win. They had to kill a 6-on-3 for the final 1:12 to hold on to the win. The Thrashers picked up the pace offensively in the final period with Little, Holzapfel and Chad Painchaud all getting quality looks.
“We were down a goal, our motivation was to come back and win it,” said Little who said nerves played a big part in the choppy play in the first period.
In the wild final minute, as six Red Wings tried to tie it up, Pavelec made two nice saves to preserve the lead.
“Pavelec was awesome,” Little said. “Those last 30 seconds felt like five minutes. We were just srambling around.”
The Thrashers are back at it on Saturday afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. game against the Rangers. I’ll be back online then with updates.
Ready for Traverse City
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just wrapped up booking the last of my travel plans for Traverse City. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I also pitched a few stories to my editor that I’m hoping to do while in TC.
For me, the most interesting will be a look at Tobias Enstrom. Think about how the roster has changed since Enstrom signed in early June. At the time, it looked like he could coast to a spot on the blueline. Since then, guys like Steve McCarthy, Karel Pilar, Ken Klee and Joel Kwiatkowski have all signed, which makes you wonder about a couple of things. First, would Enstrom have come over from Sweden if he knew there would be so much competition? And second, are those veteran signings a reflection that maybe the team isn’t as confident in the young D-men as they publicly appear?
Waddell said the Kwiatkowski had options as to where he would sign and picked the Thrashers because he thought it gave him the best chance to compete for a NHL spot. So does that mean Kwiatkowski sees weakness in the Thrashers defense? So many questions.
Waddell addressed some of that by phone the other day. Speaking for Kwiatkowski, he said that it wasn’t a reflection of a perceived lack of talent, just an observation that he’d be competing against younger players. All things being equal, I guess you’d prefer taking on an inexperienced player versus a veteran.
The GM also refuted the theory that the signing of all these veteran defenseman is an indication of a lack of faith in youngsters like Enstrom, Mark Popovic, Nathan Oystrick and company.
“Just the opposite,” he countered. He said it was more about being prepared for injuries and making sure the team had depth.
That’s why this Traverse City trip is so important for me. I’ll get to examine Enstrom, Chad Denny and Grant Lewis — all prospects expected to help the defense in the near future. Not that I’m some great evaluator of hockey talent, but at least I can start to form an opinion of some of the young defensemen that isn’t based on information coming from the organization.
No update on Marian Hossa contract negotiations. After signing Kwiatkowski, Waddell said he expected to touch base with Hossa’s agent in the following couple days. Throw in a holiday weekend, and I’m guessing things didn’t get too far. But Waddell gave some pretty good insight into the next big negotiation — Kari Lehtonen. As you know, Kari will be a restricted free agent after this season and a few of you have noticed a trend of teams locking up their RFAs a little early - most likely to keep away teams like Edmonton who aren’t afraid to target restricted free agents.
Waddell said that once the season starts, conversations with Lehtonen’s agent will turn towards a new deal. But it won’t be because he fears some third team swooping in signing the talented young goalie. In fact, he’s hoping somebody does. That would mean a contract would be done and all he’d have to do is approve it.
“All I have to do is say yes,” Waddell said. “We have lots of room under the cap.”
So it looks like the Thrashers would be ready to match anything the Edmontons of the hockey world would throw at them in regards to their talented young goalie.
Lastly, did you guys see this? The Dallas Stars took a shot at the NBA in their ad campaign with a billboard that said “The only things our refs shave is the ice.” Ouch. I’m guessing the Falcons hope the Thrashers ad campaign this season doesn’t hit below the belt.
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