AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 21 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USBest win or most frustrating?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This blog would have come sooner, but evidently everybody in Atlanta left work at lunch today and it took me two hours to get home from the Thrashers practice facility. I take it a lot of Christmas vacations are starting today. Thankfully I’m not traveling until Sunday to cover the game in St. Louis. Hopefully the craziness slows down by then.
There’s not much more that can be said about last night’s win that hasn’t been said. It was a complete win - every line played well. The team got great goaltending from Kari Lehtonen, who will start again Saturday (and possibly Sunday if he keeps getting better). After the excitement of a good win died down, part of me started wondering - where has this effort been all season? Listen, I’m not going to get negative in the middle of a two-game winning streak in which the team is playing its best hockey of the season, but why does this team consistently back itself into a corner before playing good hockey?
Don Waddell wasn’t about to question the effort before last night, but I asked him about it this morning anyways.
Me: When you see the team play as well as it did last night, obviously you’re happy, but isn’t part of you like ‘where was that effort…’?
DW: No, we’ve seen the parity in the league. Have we given that effort every night? No. Sometimes the circumstances dictate it too. We really played well on Tuesday night, we had a lot of confidence coming out of Tuesday night heading into this game. We also had something - we’re 0-3 against that team, so we knew this would be the last time we’d see them during the regular season, so I think we wanted to prove something that we could play with them.
Me: So that’s the team amping up their effort, taking it to another level, wouldn’t you want to say, ‘Guys, do that every game?’
DW: We’re going to try, obviously. Sometimes too, games, you don’t get the tempo depending on the power play or the penalty kill. We were good, we didn’t get a penalty until the third period which enables you to get the guys all in the game. Sometimes they take their power plays and we take our penalties and that [fourth] line doesn’t get an opportunity to go as much. When we can play the fourth line on a regular basis, it gives our whole team a lot of energy.
Uh oh, what if the Lightning actually gets some goaltending? We all know Tampa Bay can score with anyone, but as long as goaltending was an issue, the Lightning would always be a flawed team. Evidently 21-year-old Finnish goalie Karri Ramo was sharp in his debut last night against Toronto. Here’s what he told the Tampa Tribune: “I wasn’t real nervous, I was kind of surprised,” Ramo said of his first career NHL start. “Wednesday night I got really good sleep and I didn’t stay up long, like it was kind of different than my first pro game in Finland. A couple of the first shots came and I started to feel pretty good. The first save is the hardest to make in a game, especially here, first game and guys are so much faster here so I feel that there was … just kept going, kept going and doing what I can.”
So who ultimately is going to be the best goalie from Finland in the Southeast? You know, that reminds me of a totally unrelated story. I was in Columbus covering the draft and the Thrashers selected Niklas Lucenius, a center from Finland. So I grab him after the selection and we’re chatting and I assumed every kid hockey player in Finland had a poster of Kari Lehtonen on his wall. That just shows my ignorance of Finland. So I ask him if he was excited to maybe one day play with Kari Lehtonen. And he goes, “Who?” He’d never heard of him.
If you’re traveling for Christmas, be safe. And have a good one.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By hud
December 21, 2007 3:35 PM | Link to this
Craig, Great job. Thanks for the excellent job that you do. Happy Holidays to you and your family.
By Buzilla Baby Blues
December 21, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this
Merry Kwanza
By J
December 21, 2007 3:58 PM | Link to this
I was wondering the same thing…where is that effort in every other game? Last night was just such a drastically different team than normal. Even Tuesday night we still got outshot significantly. To get 45 shots on the best team in the east…I just don’t get it. That’s the team I wanna see every night!
By Thrasher Ryan
December 21, 2007 4:00 PM | Link to this
Hey Craig—When you go to St. Louis, try to get an interview with Tkachuk, will ya? Happy Holidays, keep up the great work!
By Brendan
December 21, 2007 4:23 PM | Link to this
I completely agree with Craig on this topic. It is utterly frustrating to see and know that this team can play at this level of focus and intensity, but not do it with anything resembling “consistency.”
On the NHL Channel’s “On the Fly” recaps, analyst Dave Reid characterized Eric Boulton’s goal as “taking out the trash.” Actually, I thought that was a pretty good read, quickness, and skill for a backhand shot. Not what I would describe as a “tap in” from inside the crease, on a poorly-played rebound.
Reid would go on to say that probably none of the Southeast division teams will make the playoffs aside from the division winner. I could even let some of that slide if Reid hadn’t earlier in the year implied that Kovalchuk didn’t try as hard under Hartley as he does for Waddell since Waddell doesn’t make him play defense.
Huh? I can’t think of any part of that assertion that’s true. Reid doesn’t watch much Thrashers hockey. Analyst Gary Green is much kinder to the Thrashers, in general, and Don Waddell in particular. Green always refers to our GM as “his friend.” Neil Smith, former Isles GM, is typically “fair” to the Thrashers. Pollard seems objective, as well. But you “On The Fly” watchers out there … keep your eye on Dave Reid and tell me if you don’t notice how slanted his comments are about the Thrashers.
By Bob
December 21, 2007 4:23 PM | Link to this
Festivus for the Rest of Us
They can’t bring that effort every night over a 82 game season, and Waddell is right about being to roll all 4 lines, PPs and PKs often break that up too much. The key to me is Zhitnik and Holik both played better, and Kari stepped up. If all 3 can consistently bring that play every game, that’ll help a lot.
I hear we get those little Santa hats again tomorrow.
Merry Christmas all.
By Brian
December 21, 2007 4:26 PM | Link to this
Craig - I second the motion for the Tkachuk request, it would be interesting to hear his thoughts on the team & city.
By Brendan
December 21, 2007 4:36 PM | Link to this
When are the Feats of Strength scheduled? We’ve already put up the Festivus pole, and Stendec pinned a photo of Kari Lehtonen to it as part of his “airing of the grievances.”
Merry Christmas to one and all!
By Craig Custance
December 21, 2007 4:57 PM | Link to this
Brian: I’m sure I’ll grab Tkachuk for a minute or two before the game.
Bob: I understand that, you can’t play like that every night. But a little consistency would go a long way with this club.
By Alan
December 21, 2007 5:15 PM | Link to this
I ride MARTA and C-Tran home from work, which takes me about 2 1/2 hours on a good night. So I get home and sit down just in time to see the start of the third period. As I’m watching the game, watching White’s goal, and Kari’s top notch goaltending, I wondered to myself… what the hell happened to my Thrashers? It was as if they went from LA Kings caliber to no less than NJ Devils caliber with a couple of simple line changes. I think in many ways, this team played better than they did against Tampa Bay. For that, I’m quite happy. I’m not wondering where they’ve been all season, though. I’m wondering if they’ll keep it up. I want to see more of it! I want to see more gutsy blocks, hard checks, and top notch netminding. Thrashers, if you’re out there listening, keep in mind the way you all played last night is what I expect from you all. If you all have any hopes of making it to the playoffs, that is the kind of hockey you need to play. Dominate the other team for a full sixty minutes. I think this is what every fan expects of their team.
Happy Holidays to all! Looking forward to another Thrashers victory tomorrow night. May the Hockey Gods smile upon us once again!
By wristshot
December 21, 2007 5:22 PM | Link to this
I was really impressed with Slater last night. I’d love to see him play the pest role every night. How did his head look at practice today?
By R. Stroz
December 21, 2007 6:13 PM | Link to this
I think we should name the fourth line the Balboa line.
By Craig Custance
December 21, 2007 6:26 PM | Link to this
wristshot — Slater had stitches and his nose was pretty swollen. But he said he ran into Cody Bass while getting stitched up and Bass was getting his hand looked at. He thought it was broken, so I guess Slater wins that exchange. Slater got stitches because hit head hit the ice.
By GSU-Lee
December 21, 2007 6:43 PM | Link to this
Merry Christmas Craig and all, and Craig, what do the scouts or DW think about that goalie for Tampa? is he supposed to be pretty good? If they got a goalie, they would be pretty tough.
By Darren
December 21, 2007 6:48 PM | Link to this
Ramo did have a great game last night, but he wasn’t exactly lighting it up in the AHL. Even his stats from the Finnish league weren’t that great.
In fact, he’s never had a winning record in his pro career.
By comparison, the real Kari came in and went 4-0 with a 1.26 GAA and a .953 save percentage in his first bit in the NHL.
When I see Ramo do that, I’ll be impressed.
By Darren
December 21, 2007 6:51 PM | Link to this
And Merry Christmas to all blog posters, lurkers, and welcome readers.
And Pucks.
By LAC
December 21, 2007 7:32 PM | Link to this
Phil Esposito got garbage goal all his career, and I agree the press in Canada just cannot MOVE on and accept the fact NHL hockey IS in the Southeast USA.
These people need to get over it or withdraw ALL the teams in Canada and form the Canada Hockey League, then they can ALL talk about great Canada is after EVERY game !!!!!!
Be tough against MTL and look for a tired St.L team Sunday Will See the Blueland Folks in St.L.
By Tony C.
December 21, 2007 8:05 PM | Link to this
Wow LAC…I…agree with you 100%
CC-Ask Klee if he’s consciously being “meaner”…last night the whole team had edge, but lately I’ve seen Klee stepping up the “nasty”…I just want to know if it’s something he’s made a point of.
GO BLUE !!! #17 STILL OWNS YOU
By ToF
December 21, 2007 9:50 PM | Link to this
LAC Its incredible to see how incredibly arrogant some of our fellow fans to the north can be. I’ve gone round for round before, and they never have any facts.
Last night was little more than a few players flipping their give a !@#$ switches. Thank you Bobby Holik (even though you tried to give the game back in the last minute). Thank you Alexi Zhitnik (insert biting comment showing that I don’t tust you quite yet).
By Sara
December 21, 2007 10:35 PM | Link to this
Craig nice article on Slates - let’s hope your mojo gets him going tomorrow night.
ToF you’re the second person I saw that made a disparaging comment about Holik’s late penalty last night. That actually wasn’t a bad penalty - he tied up a guy right in front of the net that otherwise would have probably knocked in a rebound. That was one of those penalties that’s worth taking. Now, as for the rest of Holik’s penalties…
By Nate
December 21, 2007 11:01 PM | Link to this
Brendan - Totally agree. Dave Reid’s comments make me wanna punch a baby in the face. Ok, not really, but I do get frustrated with his lack of Thrashers’ knowledge and the backhanded commments. Gary Green is my favorite on there, if for no other reason, because that’s my dad’s name.
By kracker
December 21, 2007 11:29 PM | Link to this
Merry Christmas Craig and everybody!
I agree that they can’t play to that level every game but I also think a more consistent effort should be there as many games as they can bring it. We realise that on some days you just can’t get out of your own way. If I knew how to prevent those days I would be rich and could probably buy a team.
I just scored a ticket from the nasty nest for tomorrow, after the last two games I had to go back :)
GO THRASHERS!!!
By stendec
December 22, 2007 12:25 AM | Link to this
Hi Craig. Merry Christmas. Getting pumped up for later tonight (and Sunday). Now is no time for Thrashers to take backward step! Want to see KL continue to stay focused. Like to witness continued improvement when shorthanded. Do not know what to expect from PP! Know Hossa unhappy but that is no excuse for his lack of all-out effort. Aggravating. Smiled when blogger came on as KL with special message to me. Nice Christmas gift! Genuinely care for this team. Hope to live long enough to see Thrashers skate around rink (Philips Arena) with Stanley Cup. Where is that Ghost of Christmas yet to come? Squa Tront!
By J
December 22, 2007 12:48 AM | Link to this
Just remembered something I wanted to ask from the game last night. In the final minutes, the Thrashers were killing off a penalty. Whats to stop them from playing with 18 guys on the ice, maybe even 2 goalies? Sure its a penalty when they control the puck, but with 18 people to play defense, they could do a pretty good job of not allowing any good shots without taking control of the puck. And even still, you can only play 2 men down at any time. If anything it would help kill off some clock!
By kracker
December 22, 2007 1:03 AM | Link to this
J Surely you jest? I don’t think there is any circumstance where a team can have more than 6 players on the ice at any time (or 4 or 5 players if the team is down a man or two by penalty.) Why, they call a ‘too many men on the ice’ penalty if the changing players are just a second too slow. Or did I totally misunderstand your comment?
By J
December 22, 2007 1:24 AM | Link to this
No, i’m being semi-serious…I’m sure there’s a valid reason why teams don’t do it. I realize it’s a penalty, but they don’t stop the play until the team with too many men touches the puck. If the whole team gets on the ice to play defense and does not touch the puck, wouldn’t that be an effective way of killing the clock in the last minute?
By stendec
December 22, 2007 1:29 AM | Link to this
J. Point well taken. If enough teams did it then NHL would take action for future. Would be especially effective for team two men down in final minute or closing seconds. Guess time would be put back on clock by game reds. Something to ponder. Bizarre. Merry Christmas.
By Jim
December 22, 2007 9:32 AM | Link to this
Dittos for many of the previous posts. You do an excellent job of keeping us informed with a touch of humor. Thanks. HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
By kracker
December 22, 2007 10:47 AM | Link to this
haha, OK I see your point, that would be funny…and a fight would almost surely break out. Besides, I think some sort of hockey honor would prevent this from being tried.
By Brian
December 22, 2007 11:14 AM | Link to this
J - first of all, they wouldn’t drop the puck until there were only 4 men on the ice. For something that blatant, fines & game misconducts would be issued. You can’t put 18 men on the ice when 3 are in the box and 10 are in the dressing room.
As well, all the other team would do is tap the puck immediately to us and the clock would stop (teams do this already when a penalty is called on a short-handed team to get more time on the 5-3).
By BuzzEng
December 22, 2007 11:37 AM | Link to this
Craig - nice article on Slater. It seems to me that both Hossa and Slater do a better job pounding in rebounds than trying to finesse a shot. Hopefully, the higher shot count against Ottawa will continue and they will fill the net. Sure would be nice if it happens tonight - I’m in Quebec with my in-laws for the holidays. It goes without saying they’re all Canadiens fans and I’m getting tired of their “Who are we playing tonight? Atlanta? Do they even have a team in the NHL?”
By Tom
December 22, 2007 8:04 PM | Link to this
HEre is a b*** to Sports South.
The new graphics look cool but do not put t hem up during the play. They take up a third of the screen and you can not see the play.
And that really sucks.
By Brian
December 22, 2007 9:43 PM | Link to this
Tom - I will get to your’s in a second…
MY BIGGEST COMPLAINT is that every tv production crew always has to ruin things with some innovative camera angle (as if I want to watch from behind the QB, behind the net, etc. with no peripheral vision). Case in point, Kovvy scores a beautiful goal but no one outside of Philips saw it because we had to have some stupid camera angle from ice level.
By Brian
December 22, 2007 9:51 PM | Link to this
Tom - what is worse is that they don’t show them all at once. They have to have a moment before opening faceoff with all 4 lines on the screen at once and then you can see who is on which line. If you wait to do that until a line comes on the ice, you don’t get to see who’s on the 4th line until 5 - 10 minutes into the game at least. Then you might have forgot what it looked like for the 3rd. Given the number of changes we have had and hockey teams in general always juggle the lines, who wants it that way. However, given it has been 7 years before they finally did this, I was ecstatic a month ago when they first did it. Hopefully they will catch on to this, but I doubt it will be anytime soon.
By Brian
December 22, 2007 10:01 PM | Link to this
Yes, I know it was Kozzy…
By Scott
December 23, 2007 2:15 PM | Link to this
CC Any update on Hossa’s contract, before their last skid you’d hinted that they were close.
All anyone know any site with reliable, up to date, all star voting updates? I’d be grateful for a link or even a schedule for when the league releases interim results.
By Scott
December 23, 2007 2:24 PM | Link to this
Suggestion on Slater’s first goal.
I know hockey players are superstitious. I’m not sure if this would be considered bad form, but there is a certain #17 on the team who is very adept at lighting the red light and I notice that he always tucks the back of his sweater into his pants (he will even take the time to take off his glove and tuck it back in during a stoppage of play if it comes untucked). My suggestion is “Jimmy, tuck in your sweater in back and see what happens.” If it works I guarantee we will have 18 thrashers with their sweaters tucked in before too long.
By Tom
December 23, 2007 6:20 PM | Link to this
Brian
I concur. And watching the game against the Blues the graphics are gone. Thanks Sports South…
By Russian
December 23, 2007 6:49 PM | Link to this
First period 0:0. 11 SOG Thrasher and only 5 Blues. Not bad for back to back game. Let’s Thrasher make a GOOD Present for me. :-)
By Russian
December 23, 2007 7:38 PM | Link to this
Kovy is monster. If it is good pass, it should be goal. 29 goals for Kovy. :=) I am more worry about Hossa. Look likwe he is in holiday mood already, or he f*** the team and wants to trade. He made lot mistakes, no good passes. He did not shoot puck ay all. Come on Hossa, play it for us or leave. :-(
By Brian
December 23, 2007 7:41 PM | Link to this
Tom - I thought that too, but I realized this isn’t the regular Fox Sports South, this is the old Turner South. I wonder if that has anything to do with it???
By Tom
December 23, 2007 8:26 PM | Link to this
Awesome goal by Hossa in OT…
Not a bad week for the Thrashers, eight points.
By Russian
December 23, 2007 8:33 PM | Link to this
That is it. 4 win in Road. This is a good Christmas present. Hossa is son of Gun, played all game for 50% his skills, but show off on OT. ONly 9 sec. he needed top score Goal winning. OK everyone, MArry Christmas!!!! I am a good Mood right now. See you every one back at Wednesday.
By Brendan
December 23, 2007 9:16 PM | Link to this
“On the Fly” Analyst Dave Reid is manning the desk tonight. Let’s see if he has ANY praise for our Icebirds. It’d be a welcome change if he did. They are on a 4-game winning streak.
By rj
December 24, 2007 3:20 PM | Link to this
On one play late in the game I saw the white team lined up on their blue line to slow the blue team’s entry and told the wife to change the game back to the Thrashers !!!!
IT WAS THE THRASHERS !!! Ya HOOOO. Keep it up !!!
By Matt & Mark McRae
December 24, 2007 4:58 PM | Link to this
UPDATES
Slater 36GP 0G 5A 5 -7
Klee 35GP 0G 4A 4 -2
Larsen 26GP 1G 2A 3 -7
Zhitnik 36GP 0G 2A 2 -13
Holik 36GP 3G 9A 12 -12
By Jsmooth
December 26, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this
CC* — okay Custance, party’s over. Time to come back to work and provide us with an update! Who’s betwixt the pipes tonight for the Birds and BJ’s?? Do we need to send Rawhide out to Philips to get a report from Don??
In all seriousness, I hope you had a pleasant and relaxing holiday respite. But perhaps you should remain MIA until we lose again! ;-)
By Craig Custance
December 26, 2007 6:35 PM | Link to this
Kari in goal tonight, and Nash is out (sick) for CBJ.