AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 19
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Can Lehtonen steal one against Ottawa?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thought maybe I’d see an optional practice today, but everyone is out there. Big stretch coming up here — three games in four days. But the guys had a lot of spirit today in practice. A big win will do that for you. Now comes the big test.
The Thrashers haven’t beaten Ottawa yet this season and get one more chance on Thursday. It would help if they’d stop spotting Ottawa huge leads then try to come back in the third period. As bad as the loss the other night in Ottawa was, if Toby Enstrom doesn’t hit the post on the power play, that would have been a one-goal game in the third period. But the Thrashers were clearly outplayed on Saturday night and it can’t happen again if they want to beat the best team in the East.
For one night, the new combinations worked. Yes, it helped the Thrashers were playing a horrible road team in Tampa, and I’m becoming convinced that the Southeast is BY FAR the worst division in hockey. Quick, find me another division where every single team has been outscored this season. No other division in the East has anybody with losing records. The Southeast has three (Atlanta, Tampa and Washington). So can you defend the Southeast? Good luck with that. But if the Southeast were any better, the Thrashers wouldn’t still be in the thick of it, so it has that going for it. But you had to like what you saw from all four lines last night. Lots of scoring chances for Hossa, almost instant chemistry between Recchi and Kovalchuk, and the quietly reunited Greek God line had good shifts. Chris Thorburn was an assist away from a Gordie Howe hat trick.
Simon gets 30: Chris Simon got the largest suspension in the history of the NHL for an on-ice incident. He stepped on Jarkko Ruutu over the weekend, and is paying the price. The amount seems about right to me. Here’s an interesting read from the National Post, that defends Simon.
No lineup changes: Not that you expected any changes, but the Thrashers will stick with the same lineup for the game against Ottawa. I’m still in the ‘Play Kari until he works things out camp’ as well as the ‘Play Zhitnik until he works things out camp.’ This stretch is an opportunity to do both. Lehtonen played well on Tuesday night and was pretty solid in relief of Johan Hedberg in Ottawa. But this is a big test for him. It’s been awhile since a goalie stole one for the Thrashers, it would be huge for this team if Kari stole one against the Sens.
Roster freeze: Since I’m admittedly not an expert in the CBA, Don Waddell clarified the roster freeze, which starts at midnight tonight. The team can call up anybody from the AHL during the roster freeze and send them down. And at some point, probably will. The roster freeze is primarily for waivers and trades. And no, Waddell doesn’t expect to make any call-ups from Chicago today. Not with the way the team played against Tampa.
