AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 20
Thursday, December 20, 2007
What’s Hossa supposed to say?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Had a pretty candid chat with Kari Lehtonen this morning and he said tonight is a huge game, not only for the team, but for him personally. It’s no secret confidence has been an issue after the rough start, then the injury, and I’d imagine a strong showing against the best team in the East would help that. I got the feeling around the room this morning that the Thrashers are pretty amped up to play the Senators. They’re coming off one of their best games of the season, and this is a good test to see where the teams stands. It’s a home game, they’re playing well and it’s not the second game of a back-to-back like Saturday’s game was. If they get blown out tonight, then it’s just safe to say the Sens are that much better than they are.
Good stuff from the Ottawa media today, who had Marian Hossa good and surrounded after the skate. Somebody this morning joked, “So does this mean we get a week’s worth of Marian Hossa rumors?” I didn’t see Bruce Garrioch, so maybe not.
Interesting stuff from Don Brennan, who also writes for the Ottawa Sun. One of my favorite things to do in Ottawa is get coffee and some breakfast at a little joint named Cora’s in downtown Ottawa and read the hockey coverage. It’s great food, and good reading. Today, I was stuck reading online and in the clips handout. Brennan wrote today about Hossa and his pending free agency. Hossa said the usual things. He likes Atlanta. His focus is on winning. It’s up to this agent, etc. But the interesting comment came from an unidentified player with the Senators: “What’s he going to say?” the player told the Ottawa Sun. “It would be tough to play at home if he says he wanted to go somewhere else. Take it for what it’s worth.”
It’s a great point. I guess Marian could say he doesn’t want to negotiate during the season any longer and that talks with the Thrashers are no longer an option. But that hasn’t happened, and I talked to Don Waddell about that possibility and he didn’t seem concerned about it. He said he continues to communicate with Hossa’s agent and he looks at that as a positive. But it’s important to keep that in mind the next time you hear Hoss say he likes Atlanta. What’s he supposed to say? He hates it here and can’t wait to leave?
Good stuff from Ken Warren at the Ottawa Citizen, who points out that the Senators aren’t a huge draw on the road in the U.S. In it, he talks about the attendance woes in the US and quotes Dany Heatley, who said this about the South: “It’s the southern U.S., and fans are used to weekend sports,” he said. “[The Thrashers] do well on Saturday, Friday nights. The problem is those mid-week games.” Now, I know some of you will get defensive, especially since it’s coming from Heatley, but the Thrashers aren’t exactly drawing like gangbusters on Tuesday nights. I’ve also been to a packed Turner Field on a Tuesday night, and the Hawks drew over 17,000 last night, so I know it’s not only a day of the week issue.
Last, John Paddock confirmed that Martin Gerber will start tonight. Ray Emery threw me for a loop, leaving the ice before Gerber today at the morning skate. Typically, the starting goalie is the first one off and the backup does the heavy lifting for the remainder of the practice. Under Bob Hartley, who wasn’t always forthcoming about who was starting in goal, that’s how you could figure out the starting goalie. Paddock was asked about Emery’s early exit at the media scrum and he declined to make a big deal out of it. If he’s not going to make a big deal out of it, I’m not going to either. But I certainly couldn’t imagine a scenario where Johan Hedberg would leave the ice before Kari Lehtonen on the morning of a Lehtonen start. Maybe Emery’s hip was still bothering him, or he had a lunch date. Who knows? I just thought it was interesting.
