AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > October > 19
Friday, October 19, 2007
Pavelec on his way to Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, Kari Lehtonen was placed on injured reserve because of the groin injury suffered in the first period of the Rangers game last night. Just got done chatting with him, and it seems like his spirits are okay. It really helped that he was probably playing his best game of the season when he got hurt, so at least now he has that to build on.
“That was huge,” he said, saying if it would have happened during the New Jersey game it would have been miserable. Johan Hedberg will get the majority of the work in Lehtonen’s absence, but expect to see some of Ondrej Pavelec, who was called up from Chicago today.
Pavelec showed he could play at this level, talent-wise, during a strong training camp. But as we know with young goalies, the mental side is just as important. He’ll join the team in Atlanta today then fly with them to Tampa Bay. Do you think the 20-year-old rookie is ready?
There was some grumbling about the referees in last night’s game, especially the hit on Tobias Enstrom that sent him crashing into the boards. What’d you guys think of the calls last night?
As for the coach search, and I’m sure we’ll be beating this to death on blogs, with stories, etc. but it’s still really early. Don’s focus right now is on coaching the team and getting things turned around. Once the team hits the road and he has a little more time to turn towards candidates, he’ll do so. Look for him to interview, two maybe three guys, after all is said and done.
