AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > October > 06
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Too early to panic?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What a whirlwind few days. First there’s the cramming to get everything ready for the start of the season. Then the Commissioner comes to town and was kind enough to sit down with a group of us at the AJC (good Q and A by Tim Tucker on the topic, if you haven’t seen it). Then there’s the banner raising. Then a game. Then a flight to Tampa. Then another game. And now we have to figure out what’s wrong with the Thrashers. Can I exhale yet?
I wanted to get an updated blog up because due to a death in my family I have to take an emergency trip to Detroit so I won’t be able to update for a few days. So here are some thoughts to stir discussion and after that I’m leaving regulars like Brendan, Rawhide, Buzilla and the 45 Bobs in charge for a couple days.
First let’s get to the losses. There’s a lot to be concerned about in every facet of the game. The Thrashers scoring chances have been nil. Two of their three goals came on great individual efforts — one by Kovalchuk setting up Little in game one, and Hossa in game two. You just aren’t seeing the Thrashers spending a lot of time in their opponent’s zone. And when the Thrashers do get a shot off, it either misses the net altogether or the goalies have been able to make a clean save. You’d like to see the same lines get time to develop some chemistry, but I honestly can’t blame Bob Hartley for trying to mix things up and find the right combination, can you? I can’t tell if this is a product of so many new faces playing together or just the makeup of the team. You?
Secondly, I like the Commish. There, I said it. I know you guys booed Gary Bettman when he did his awkward intermission interview the other day at Philips Arena, and I understand why. There was the lockout and the brutal TV deal and all the other missteps the NHL has seemingly taken. But this is the second time he’s given us an extended period of time for a sit-down interview and he’s self-effacing, personable and pretty funny. I just wish he’d admit that the NHL has to be on ESPN, but he didn’t deny reports that the two entities are talking, so I’m confident that will get done. Other interesting things from the interview — I’m suddenly convinced the Vegas is going to get an expansion team. Bettman sounded hopeful that the Nashville situation would work out, but he didn’t count out expansion. He basically conceded that a pro sports team will eventually be in Vegas, so why not hockey? Although from the sounds of it, you wouldn’t be able to bet on the Vegas team at the sports books. Now if we could just get the league to put Las Vegas and Atlanta in the same division and keep the unbalanced schedule, we’ll be alright.
I know some of you wonder who in hockey reads these blogs and all your comments. Some of you have even accused players of commenting under assumed (or middle) names. I was surprised to hear that the Commish was entertained by all the comments on Jeff Schultz’s column for opening day. He said he pulled up ajc.com while flying into Atlanta to check out some of our hockey coverage and he liked the passion of the Atlanta hockey fans in their comments to Jeff. Although, in my opinion the passion was misplaced. I thought it was a great column, but then again I’m biased, aren’t I? But there you go, you guys impressed the commissioner.
Alright - have at it. Fix the Thrashers problems. And don’t count out a trade. I would have said Nashville might be an interesting place for the Thrashers to look, since the Preds have some defensive depth, but the Shea Weber injury thins them out a little bit. Is it too early to shake things up?
