AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > March
March 2008
Another big body from the AHL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tampa - My first impression of Jordan LaVallee is that he’s huge. Not Boris Valibik tall, obviously, but who is? LaVallee is thick and 6-foot-3, throw some skates on him and I hurt my neck looking up to him during an interview after the morning skate. He said he hadn’t been told who he’s going to skate with tonight, but the quartet of him, Brad Larsen, Todd White and Eric Boulton skated together this morning.
Three games isn’t much time to make an evaluation, but at least he’ll get a taste of the NHL. He said he found out yesterday morning from Larry Simmons, calling it the best wake up call he’s ever received. He arrived in Tampa last night around 9 p.m. and said he was wiped out from a day-long adrenaline rush. What are your expectations for him tonight?
Looks like Kari Lehtonen is in goal, although Don Waddell wasn’t there today to talk lineup. I’m assuming he’s scouting some of these college games going on right now. And no, not the NCAA basketball tournament. By the way, thanks a lot Wisconsin for screwing up my Final Four, that’s what I get for putting my faith in the Badgers.
I’ve been meaning to chat for a moment with Colby Armstrong who I really feel for right now. Pittsburgh has moved to the top of the East and the Thrashers fall has been about as dramatic. It’s interesting watching him after games, because most of the players are at the point where they’re showering and exiting minutes after the game ends. But you can tell the losing is wearing on Armstrong. After the Washington loss the other night, he just sat at his locker, cursing. He was obviously livid, which you have to appreciate even though the games are essentially meaningless. You have to remember, this is a guy who loves to win, and has been known to bust out a victory dance after wins. I’m guessing he hasn’t been doing too much of that since arriving in Atlanta.
He said he still keeps in close touch with his former teammates. He watched the game yesterday that pushed the Penguins to the top of the conference. I told him he needs to recruit a couple of the unrestricted free agents from Pittsburgh, especially if the Penguins sign Hoss and don’t have money to keep everyone. You don’t think a guy like 6-foot-4 Ryan Malone would be a nice fit in Atlanta? He’s exactly the kind of gritty player the Thrashers need. Or how about a d-man like Brooks Orpik. You can tell Armstrong desperately wants to win and is looking forward to a clean slate next season, as I’m sure most of the fans are.
Asked Ilya Kovalchuk if he planned on playing in the World Championships, and he said he hadn’t been contacted yet about it. But he said he’d take a week off after the season, and then “why not?”
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Machacek in the mix
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunrise — Don Waddell confirmed this morning that the team has signed Spencer Machacek, the Thrashers third round pick in the draft last year. The 6-foot-1 right winger is having a great season in this third year in the WHL and his Vancouver team is in the midst of a playoff run. The team got the signed contract last night.
Waddell wouldn’t say what the immediate plans are for Machacek because he wants him to focus on the playoffs. But I chatted briefly with Bryan Little and he said it was really beneficial for him to play in the AHL playoffs last season even if it was just for a couple games. He said it’s a big jump from junior to the pro game and that helped him realize it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Machacek does the same thing, although Waddell said that hasn’t been discussed yet. He also said that the team is in negotiations with Angelo Esposito, the forward prospect acquired in the Marian Hossa trade. Esposito has been strong since the Hossa trade, and Waddell suggested that he might have gotten an extra spark when he realized that he had a better chance of reaching the NHL quicker with the Thrashers than with Pittsburgh.
It sounds like they’d like to get a deal done there as well, although Don said that Esposito is in a different situation than Machacek because he still can play another year of junior. So we’ll see. But seriously, the Thrashers might as well go young next year, right?
As for the game tonight, no changes in the lineup. Alexei Zhitnik didn’t make the trip, again. I really think the handwriting is on the wall for him, don’t you? Kari Lehtonen gets the start in goal.
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Lehtonen’s outburst: Good or bad?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When there are a few days off between games, you tend to overanalyze, which I’m going to do today. I’ve been thinking about Kari Lehtonen’s outburst after Washington scored the game-winner the other night. He threw his stick down, kicked his blocker and made it clear to everyone in the arena that he wasn’t happy.
Then after the game, Lehtonen expressed his frustration that a win was taken away from him and that the effort in the third period was, ahem, horsepoop. Now, me as a writer, I love that stuff. Great quotes, some color during the game, a guy is angry and probably rightfully so. It makes good copy, not to mention fodder for the blog four days later. I asked Don Waddell if he had any issues with Kari’s public show of frustration, and he said he didn’t.
“I like seeing his competitiveness because he cares,” Waddell said. “Sometimes we keep our frustrations inside and that’s not always a good thing. I think it’s good sometimes for his teammates to see that. He’s battling hard every night to try to win. I’d much rather have a player in that direction than just live with it. Players know he competed hard and gave us a chance to win and we let him down.”
And Kari’s comments after the game, which didn’t endear him to some teammates, showed his frustrations even further. He admitted today that those were made simply out of frustration and he seemed to have second thoughts about how they came out. And making it even more compelling are the contrasting personalities of Kari and backup Johan Hedberg, who lost the game before and said simply, in so many words, “Cam Ward outplayed me, that’s why we lost.”
Obviously teammates might prefer to hear that coming from their goalie than Lehtonen’s comments. But in reality, both players were speaking the truth and how they felt. Simply put, Ward did outplay Hedberg. And Lehtonen probably deserved a win against the Caps. So do you have any problems with Lehtonen expressing his frustrations about the play in front of him publicly? Certainly you can understand it.
I know Darren Eliot was critical about Lehtonen during the postgame show, although I didn’t hear all of Eliot’s critique. Something about writing a story on deadline. So I gave Darren a call to see if he’d expand on his comments. He’s out in Arizona doing a VERSUS game tonight, and he said he understood Lehtonen’s reaction, but that doesn’t make it right:
“I understood the why and how. You can look at old Don Cherry tapes when I chased [now retired referee] Terry Gregson out to center ice… It was well-documented, I was a hothead. I fought teammates, I chased referees up the ice.”
But an older, wiser Eliot - someone I consider one of the brightest minds in hockey - thought Lehtonen’s response, during and after the game, was the wrong one.
“Let’s put it this way - when you’re older, you know it’s the wrong response. I understand the frustration. Did I do it in the past? Absolutely. It’s the wrong response because it sets you apart from the team.”
And something else Darren said really made sense to me. It might give opponents an edge.
“As soon as you start breaking sticks and shaking your head, the opposition says, ‘You know what? Keep going. He’s thinking of everything he shouldn’t be thinking of,’” Eliot said.
It’s all very interesting to me because one of Bob Hartley’s issues with Kari was that we didn’t see his competitiveness all the time. I don’t think Hartley always appreciated Lehtonen’s laid-back demeanor, especially after winning a Stanley Cup with Patrick Roy, who is anything but laid-back. We’re witnessing the maturation of a young goalie who still is finding himself within the team concept and it’s fascinating to watch as he continues to learn. But you have to wonder if it’s equally fascinating for his teammates.
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Kozlov: Everybody at fault for struggles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So, what to do with Slava Kozlov? He’s the focus of my feature story for Tuesday’s paper, which looks at his disappointing season. His numbers are down, nearly in half. But, as he points out, his playing time is down considerably. He’s getting half as much time on the power play as he did last year and almost no time on the penalty kill.
But is his lack of playing time a result of poor play or is his poor play a result of a lack of playing time? Anyone want to take a stab at that one? I didn’t use it in the story, but here’s was Kozlov’s explanation as to why his playing time was reduced under Don Waddell: “I think there’s a lot of pressure on Don. He was nervous, sometimes. It’s a quick decision. It’s like when you’re on the ice in front of the net, it’s a quick decision - pass or shoot. It’s the same on the bench, it’s not easy. My dad was a coach and coaches a junior team now. It looks like it’s easy from upstairs - ‘Oh, what a job,’ but it’s not. A head coach has to handle 23 players, everybody wants to play the power play, the penalty kill. It’s a lot of decisions. He was the GM and coach - it’s not easy.”
It’s a pretty diplomatic answer, I’d say. Unfortunately, Waddell wasn’t around to talk about Kozlov’s playing time. But I know in the past he’s said he hasn’t given up on him, which is good considering he’s still got two years left after this one. But Kozlov has bounced back from rough seasons before. If you look at a couple seasons in Detroit (36 points in 99-00, 38 points in 00-01) you see similarities to this season - including ice time.
But Kozlov has heard the criticism of the veteran players on the Thrashers this season, and I asked him to respond to people who say the underachieving veterans are the reason why the Thrashers have struggled this year: “When the team is going well, the whole team deserves the accomplishment. When things don’t go well, I think the whole team is in the basement, the whole team deserves punishment. I don’t agree it’s the veterans or it’s the rookies. In this team, we have lots of depth but we need to improve defense, offense and even goalie. Last year, the reason we were in the playoffs was the goalies played unbelievable the whole season. This year, it was good games, bad games, like everybody else on the team. You can blame the veterans, but it’s a package.”
Kozlov said he has no regrets about signing with the Thrashers again, and that all they really need is a superstar defenseman to contend. No problem, right?
“This team needs a foundation, defensively - like a [Zdeno] Chara or [Nicklas] Lidstrom. Good teams, they have one or two very good defensemen who can play 30-35 [minutes per game]. Like [Chris] Pronger on Anaheim - one of those guys. They’re hard to find, but that’s what we need. With our goalie, he can win a game by himself, but we have to help them. We can’t let the other team shoot 40-45 times.”
Kamloops update: Since the blog adopted the Mark Recchi-owned Kamloops Blazers, they’ve dropped their first two playoff games to the Olie Kolzig-owned Tri-City Americans. Recchi’s not giving up hope. “They were both on the road,” he pointed out today after practice. He said the goalie has been playing well - Kamloops goalie Justin Leclerc had 71 saves in two games. Sounds like the Blazers play the same defense as the Thrashers. Games three and four of the seven game series are on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Roy’s son apologizes: Bob Hartley’s favorite goalie, Patrick Roy, also has a team in the playoffs. His Quebec Remparts are playing in the QMJHL playoffs and evidently Roy’s son went bonkers and fought the other goalie, flipped off the crowd and said some inappropriate things on TV. He apologized for it all today. Naturally, it’s all on YouTube.
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Piling up interviews before the weekend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Had several conversations with players this morning since there won’t be practice the next two days. I had to pile up some information for a couple stories, including a long-overdue feature on Niclas Havelid. That reminds me, I know Havelid spends a lot of time on the ice in Duluth, especially in the summer. If you’ve ever seen him out there with the general public, or ever skated with him, please e-mail me at: ccustance@ajc.com.
But the most entertaining part was watching another reporter ask Bobby Holik some off-the-ice questions. She was asking a few players stuff like ‘who would play you in a movie?’ or ‘what’s your favorite recipe?’ Colby Armstrong is the perfect player for that kind of stuff and he seemed to have fun coming up with answers. Then she came over to Bobby, who warned, ‘I’m probably not the right guy to ask these questions to.” But to her credit, she fired away anyways. He ended up answering only a couple and passed on a majority, which is too bad, because I’d love to know who should play Bobby in a movie. Any thoughts on that one? Anyways, it was some great levity.
I waited out Alexei Zhitnik, who was the last one off the ice, although he doesn’t have a lot to say right now. He said he hasn’t spoken to anyone on the team about his future, but expects to have a better idea in May. He really didn’t want to comment on not making the recent road trip, other than to say he spent the time with his family and staying in shape. He appears to be working hard, and yesterday Kari Lehtonen commented that Zhitnik was on fire in practice, scoring from anywhere. Zhitnik jokingly called it a Hall of Fame practice. Do you think we’ll see him the rest of the season?
Caught up with a disappointed Erik Christensen who said he just plans on hanging out with the team the rest of the season. His knee doesn’t sound like it’s in great shape, especially when he described what it does when he gets in and out of a car. I felt bad, because he said he was just getting to know everyone and now he’s feeling kind of detached from the rest of the team. That’s got to be rough, because it’s obvious Christensen and Armstrong love hanging out with the guys at practice and afterwards. Some players are gone immediately after practice, those two love to hang out.
Niclas Havelid won a community service award, so I talked to him about that. Congrats, Nic. Also, Scott Mellanby will be in town tonight for Autism Awareness night, a great cause he’s passionate about. Hopefully I’ll have a minute to speak with Mel. Man, this team misses his leadership, that’s for sure.
Mark Recchi is part owner of the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL and his team is taking on Olaf Kolzig’s Tri-City team in the first round of the playoffs, so they have a sidebet going. I asked if he made an motivational speeches for his Kamloops team, and he said nope, that’s what the coaches are for. Sounds like Recchi’s team is the underdog, so we’ll officially adopt the Blazers in this blog. Here’s the pre-game breakdown on the official Kamloop’s team website. First game is tonight.
After being a healthy scratch, Garnet Exelby is back in the lineup for Kiwi. Kari Lehtonen will start in goal.
Lastly, a few of you have asked my opinion of Scott Burnside’s ESPN article on the Thrashers. I think you’d be really hard pressed to argue any of his points. I’m not ready to call Kari Lehtonen a bust just yet, because this has been a tough year for him, but that’s a small issue in an otherwise well thought out column. Scott really was spot on in identifying the issues facing this team. I also thought the anonymous comments from GMs were pretty telling. I have a ton of respect for Scott as a person and a reporter and that column made a big enough impact that people were still talking about it two days later at the arena today. What about you?
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Christensen likely out for the season
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Got confirmation of something I suspected, and that’s the fact that Erik Christensen is most likely out for the season. Don Waddell wouldn’t come out and say he’s 100 percent done, but doctors don’t want him skating for the next ten days. That means he’d be off the ice until March 30th, and that would leave only the final three games.
At that point, there’s no reason to get him back out there. Here’s what Waddell had to say: “He’s probably not going to play the rest of the year. I’m not saying 100 percent, but it doesn’t look like it.”
But Waddell said he saw enough of Christensen for him to feel good about him being one of the top centers going into next season. “There’s a job there for him,” Waddell said. I know it was brief, but did you like what you saw enough from him to feel good about penciling him in as a top two line center? I think ideally, you bring in a free agent to center a top line with Kovalchuk and then let Christensen and Little compete for the second line job. I still think you could put Little on the wing and it’d be okay. I’m assuming Todd White will be the No. 3. But let’s get through this season, right?
I know most of you have weighed in, but what are your early thoughts on Boris Valabik? Obviously, it wasn’t the start he was looking for, although he didn’t get a ton of help from teammates. I seem to remember Slava Kozlov coasting behind the play when Carolina had a 2-on-1 in which they scored. Kozzy has done that a couple times now recently. The team isn’t rushing to judgment on Boris. “We’re committed to playing him,” Waddell said Thursday morning. “Even as the game went on you could see him doing more things, more confidently with the puck. We’ll stick with him.”
For a Sunday story, I’m picking a few Thrashers who still have a lot to play for. Who would you say these final couple weeks are most important for? I’m thinking you start with Kari Lehtonen. He doesn’t want to go into another summer on a bad note, not to mention the fact that there are going to be contract negotiations. Bryan Little is another one who would like to play well down the stretch and cement his spot next season. To a certain extent, Mark Recchi too. Which player do you think as the most to play for the rest of the season?
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Valabik won’t play against Philly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today was Boris Valabik’s first practice after getting called up from Chicago. He’s a big body out there, that’s for sure. He practiced with the team then spent some one-on-one time with Brad McCrimmon after the morning skate. The plan is still to sit him tonight, and I’m guessing he’ll make his NHL debut against Carolina.
He said he’s been told he’ll get a lot of ice time so he can get an idea of the speed at the NHL level. He still expects to play in the AHL playoffs when Chicago gets to that point.
I asked him how Ondrej Pavelec has been doing in Chicago and he said he’s playing really well right now. The two are roommates and friends and evidently Pavelec was giving Valabik a hard time for being called up after Pavelec was. If both of those players pan out for the Thrashers, that would bode really well for the Thrashers future. Five years from now, who do you see as the better pro?
Speaking of goalies, Kari Lehtonen will start tonight against Philly, a team that has owned the Thrashers for awhile now. Last time the Thrashers were here, they lost in Bob Hartley’s last game as the Thrashers head coach. Now that seems like a lifetime ago. Was that even this season?
Chatted with Toby Enstrom for a few minutes and he said he’s been a little frustrated with his play the last couple games. Neither Enstrom or Don Waddell think he’s wearing down, but you have to think maybe that’s a factor. Let’s not forget this is first full NHL season. His ice time is down a little bit, but that’s mostly because the Thrashers haven’t spent a lot of time on the power play lately, not because Waddell is trying to manage his minutes. The 21:19 he played against Washington was the least amount of time he’s played since Feb. 2. Remember though, Washington is pretty big, I wonder if that was part of the reason. Anyways, he’s a minus-6 in his last three games. And a minus-10 in his last ten. On the bright side, he’s one point away from setting a franchise record for points from a defenseman. That’s pretty impressive for a rookie, although he said he’d trade it all for a few more wins.
Valabik coming; Christensen out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m going to rush through this blog because I hear there’s some green beer waiting for me up the street here in Philadelphia. Happy St. Patty’s Day everybody, one of my favorite holidays of the year. Brings back some great memories from my days in East Lansing, but you guys don’t want to hear about the Glory Days.
Some news for you: Don Waddell said he’s planning on making a call to Chicago today that will result in the promotion of Boris Valabik. Don said he didn’t think it’d be a good idea to throw him into the mix against Philly, he’d rather let him get a couple practices under his belt first but expect to see his promotion announced today or in the morning. I’m as curious as you are to see how he’ll do at this level. I haven’t seen him play much, but that hasn’t stopped me from making my own rushed, uninformed opinion of his game.
In the meantime, Mark Popovic will be in the lineup against the Flyers since Ken Klee is a little banged up. Klee didn’t practice today, but I don’t think it’s anything major. Mark Recchi took the morning off. Oh yeah, I haven’t mentioned it, but Alexei Zhitnik didn’t even make the trip. They figured Popovic was the extra defenseman in case something happened, plus they anticipated calling up Valabik, so Z stayed home. It’s amazing how much things can change in one year, eh?
Spoke with a disappointed Erik Christensen today, and things don’t look to good for him. Waddell said Christensen has a sprained MCL and he’ll be out at least a week. It’s similar to the knee injury Marian Hossa had right away with Pittsburgh. Obviously, they’re not going to rush Christensen back, since the games are essentially meaningless. He seemed pretty down about it though, especially considering all the playing time he was getting.
Todd White will be back in the lineup, but look for Jim Slater to move up to fill in for Christensen. I don’t know if Slates or Eric Perrin will center that line, but it sounds like White will ease into things on the fourth line and play some special teams to get his minutes. He practiced Saturday and today and said his shoulder feels as good as it’s been since he re-injured it in practice.
I can see White’s role changing a bit next year. The team hasn’t ruled out bringing Bobby Holik back, and likes Bryan Little and Erik Christensen on the top two lines (assuming a No. 1 center isn’t brought in). If Holik doesn’t come back, then White could be the No. 3 center, but White also said he’s not against playing on the wing which he did in the minors and in Ottawa. But I’d be surprised is he’s penciled in as the center on Kovalchuk’s line again next season. Where do you think the ideal spot for White is? And who are you pairing Valabik with?
Big, physical line pays off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Where did that win come from last night? I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong about the Kovalchuk-Holik-Thorburn line. I didn’t see them scoring a bunch of goals. I wondered if Bobby could keep up with Kovalchuk, but that wasn’t an issue. I have my doubts as to whether Bobby Holik will return next season, but Thorburn is under contract. Where do you see him fitting in? He’s shown a willingness to be physical and some offensive flair. I think Don Waddell is fixing a mistake that you can’t go as small as he did this season.
I even heard that the Devils were willing to move Brian Gionta in a deal for Marian Hossa, but Waddell had concerns over the size of the team if your big return for Marian was the 5-foot-7 Gionta. He’s a great player, don’t get me wrong, but when you factor in the fact that you’ve already got smallish players like Todd White, Eric Perrin, Slava Kozlov and presumably Brett Sterling all in the mix next season, that wouldn’t be a good fit.
Big and fast, now that’s a different story. I think the Thrashers should and will continue in that direction this off-season. I’m curious about a quick straw poll - for the right price, would you bring Bobby Holik back next season? Maybe a one-year deal for $2.5 million? And would he still be your captain? He’s shown this season he still has a lot to offer, although not at the price he was being paid.
Another interesting thing about last night’s game is the fact that Kari Lehtonen wasn’t sharp and the Thrashers still won. Honestly, when was the last time you heard that? I asked him what it meant to get a win on a night he didn’t play particularly well, and here was his answer: “It means a lot, sometimes it’s the other way where they’ve been letting me hang in there, but this feels so good. I have to thank the guys for the effort tonight. Especially the last period.”
It was funny to watch him sort through that sentence because you could see he didn’t want to throw his teammates under the bus by saying there have been nights when they hung him out to dry, but he didn’t exactly let them off the hook either with his “letting me hang in there” comment.
I know some of you get riled about about the perceived pro-Canadian bias of the Toronto media and some of the anti-Southeast division stuff that’s out there. How about this? Friend of the blog, Luke DeCock has done some serious reporting and came to the conclusion that Canadian teams get a break when it comes to suspensions.
Here’s a snippet from the story: “A News & Observer analysis of NHL discipline since the 2005-06 season found that almost one-third of the suspensions handed down were assessed for offenses committed against Canadian teams, which represent only six of the league’s 30 franchises — but are the six most visible.”
Give it a read, it’s interesting stuff. Nice work, Luke.
Shaking things up for the Flames
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don Waddell is shuffling up the lines a little bit for tonight’s game against Calgary. Slava Kozlov is going to skate with Bryan LIttle and Mark Recchi. Ilya Kovalchuk is going to be on the left side with Chris Thorburn and Bobby Holik. The second (or whatever number) line with the new guys remains the same.
I asked if this was a demotion for Kovalchuk, since I always viewed Kozlov playing in that spot as a demotion, but Waddell said his goal is to try and get balanced scoring during 5-on-5. I’ve always liked the idea of a two top scoring lines and a classic third checking line, and that certainly doesn’t exist now, but we’ll see how it goes tonight. At least they’re mixing something up, it’s not like the other lines were clicking.
I do like the Christensen, Armstrong and Perrin line - at least how they’re playing right now. I’m curious what you guys think - yesterday Don said he was content with how this team is set up at center for next season. Do you agree that a top three of White, Little and Christensen would work? Then maybe you bring in a free agent right winger and a couple high-priced defensemen. I get the feeling that the blueline will be rebuilt through a trade. If you look, the list of available free agent defensemen isn’t exactly that deep and it’s only going to get thinner as deals get done before July 1.
Joel Kwiatkowski wasn’t claimed off waivers, so he can be sent to Chicago if the Thrashers decide to call up someone else. They have two moves left - who would you call up with those two? I’m still waiting for Mark Popovic to get an extended look, but I think the team already has an idea of what he brings to the table. The Thrashers most successful stretch of the season came in the fall when he was getting regular minutes, but it doesn’t look like he’s part of the plans for the future. He’s an unrestricted free agent after the season and he’s kept a positive attitude through it all.
I spent a few minutes talking to him after practice yesterday, and you have to appreciate his attitude: “I’m a positive guy, I’m a good soldier, no matter what happens I’m going to be positive around the team. I’m here to get better every day whether or not I’m in the lineup. That’s the attitude I take, and I’ll do it with a smile on my face because hey, I’m playing hockey for a living.”
And he said that, despite the sporadic playing time, it’s been a good year for him: “The biggest thing is I know I can be a player in this league and I feel great. Hopefully I’ll get an opportunity in these last few weeks to prove to Atlanta and everyone else in this league that I belong in the top six on any team.”
But the fact of the matter is that the defense needs some new players. If you trade/waive Zhitnik, let Steve McCarthy and Mark Popovic walk, that gives you three slots to work with. If you can sign or trade for a legit top two guy and then add another top four guy, things might turn around. At least defensively.
Couple things of note tonight: Mark Recchi plays in game No. 1,400. That’s a heck of an accomplishment. And the players will be wearing the green St. Patrick’s Day jerseys in warmups to be auctioned off. I still think they should wear them during the game, just like the home whites they wore during the White Out. Oh wait.
Levenson backs Waddell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Interesting stuff from Atlanta Spirit co-owner Bruce Levenson this morning. First, I want to give him credit for giving me over an hour of his time and not ducking any tough questions. We spanned a ton of issues, from the disgruntled season ticket holders to the future of Don Waddell. I’m not giving away too much here, because it’ll all be in a long Sunday Q and A.
The biggest news out of it is that Waddell’s job is safe. Levenson said that he doesn’t believe the team is too far away from where it needs to be and that tearing things down this summer would be very short-sighted. He realizes firing Don Waddell might be a popular move for some angry Thrashers fans but he said ultimately that decision would be a mistake.
Your thoughts?
He hinted at some organizational changes, which you’ll read about when the whole thing is put online - most likely on Friday. And said his biggest mistake was letting Waddell coach and be the general manager the entire season. “It’s impossible for a guy to do both those jobs, in my judgment,” he said. It was refreshing to hear somebody in the organization actually say they made a mistake, that’s something you don’t hear very often around the Thrashers.
Report from Carroll Rogers: Carroll is covering the game tonight and she attended the morning skate while I talked to Levenson. She said Johan Hedberg is starting in goal and there won’t be any other changes to the lineup. Todd White is out for the white out and Alexei Zhitnik continues to sit.
Do you bring Zhitnik back?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ll say this much. Covering Thrashers practice is infinitely more entertaining when Jeff Schultz joins me. Well, that, and when there is a gigantic Thrashers bobblehead sitting outside the lockerroom. But that’s another story.
I know some of you ride Schultz pretty hard because he’s critical of the Thrashers, but he’s looking pretty smart right now. Along with some fun give and take from some of the players, Schultz’s visit provided a great exchange with Don Waddell in which I’ll share with you now. I don’t want to give away too much, because I’m sure Jeff is using it in his column, but here’s a sneak peek:
Schultz: If you sit down with owners and they say, ‘we’re disappointed, we expected more,’ what do you say to them to justify coming back?
Waddell: I don’t think I need to justify anything to them. They’re smart people.
Schultz: What does that mean?
Waddell: They know our situation out here.
Schultz: Which is?
Waddell: You’ve seen it.
Schultz: Tell me.
Waddell: There’s lot of things. We didn’t have the start we wanted to have. It started right there.
Schultz: And?
Waddell: That’s it. There’s lots of things. But I’m not going to sit here and talk about that with you.
It was high entertainment. It ended up being more like a word association exercise than an interview.
I’ll leave the rest for his column, which I’m guessing will be a little more entertaining than my feature on Alexei Zhitnik. But Z is an issue to, on a lot of levels. He’s a reminder of a young defenseman prospect in Braydon Coburn who got away. That trade is looking worse and worse with every game Zhitnik watches from the press box.
On top of it all, not only did the Thrashers lose one of the few legit defensemen in their system, they’re on the hook for Zhitnik’s $3.5 million salary next year. Waddell is saying Zhitnik is in the plans for next year, but I’ll be surprised if he’s on the team next year. Even if they have to put him on waivers and hopes somebody claims him, I think that’s a better option. And if I’m another team, I’d take a chance on the veteran defenseman who would be out to prove the Thrashers wrong and earn another contract. You?
I asked Don the other day if the general manager in him was secretly hoping that the Thrashers lose some of these games to help the chances of landing a top three pick in the draft. He promised that wasn’t the case.
“No, no, no — we’re going to get a good player. If we keep that pick we’re going to get a good player where ever we pick. We want to finish as high as we can,” Waddell said.
It sounds like he’s more than willing to deal one of those two first-round picks if he can land a player who can help immediately, especially someone a couple years away from free agency. What do you guys think? Should the Thrashers use those draft picks as assets to deal or add two prospects from a deep draft?
Waddell still says the team isn’t to the point where they will call up any AHL players. He said they only have four recalls and have used two of them. If it were up to me, I’d give Boris Valabik a look and I’d like to see what Jordan LaVallee can do, but that’s just me.
White injury worse than suspected
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For those of you who still care about the remaining games, Johan Hedberg will start in goal tonight and Todd White won’t play against his former team. Evidently, when he hit the ice against the Islanders in the game in which he lacerated his elbow, he also hurt his shoulder. The elbow is healing just fine, but the other day in practice White was hit by a teammate and that messed up his shoulder again.
He didn’t think it was anything that would keep him out for too long, but that’s the reason why he’s been in and out of the lineup. He said it really hurt to take faceoffs the other night, and for your No. 1 center, that’s no good.
Don Waddell had a meeting after the morning skate, so he wasn’t available to the media. He’ll address the media at 5 p.m. today, so I might get more information on White’s status then. But the big thing is White doesn’t want to make it worse than it already is. I give him credit for trying to play against Carolina, since it was a big game, but considering Bryan Little was logging most of the minutes on the top line by the end of the game, maybe he should have sat.
The talk around the arena this morning was about the big season ticket holder Town Hall meeting tonight with Don Waddell. I requested access to the event since I think it would be a good story if some of the season ticket holders express their frustrations, but that request was shot down before I could even finish the question. So let me know if anything exciting happens, will ya?
One season ticket holder was angry enough to share his frustration with YouTube.
Since Waddell hasn’t addressed the media yet, I can’t say for sure, but it looks like Popovic and Zhitnik will be sitting tonight against the Wild. They were on the ice the longest after the skate. I’m guessing Little will continue to play in White’s spot on the top line.
Since I posted the blog yesterday kind of late, I haven’t had a chance to respond to some of the comments. Let me do that now:
Nikita: I agree that Holik’s contract gives him more scrutiny. No, I don’t think he’s been awful this year and at times he’s been one of the Thrashers best players. I love what he brings to the team, they could use more physical players like him. The argument I was trying to make was that at $4 million, the team isn’t getting the best return for the investment. I like Holik a lot as a player and a person, but if you have a limited payroll, he’s not a luxury you can afford at that price.
R. Stroz: My line of questioning concerning McCrimmon was two-fold: Was he offered the job, and if not, why not?
Tony C: Thanks for listening. I wish there was more appetite for hockey on the radio in Atlanta, because I really enjoy doing it. I could talk hockey with Odgie all day.
Moo: Those are good questions. I’ve asked about a fathers trip like a lot of teams have done and I think they were looking into doing one around the time Bob Hartley was fired and then it just didn’t seem appropriate. But this team certainly could use some sort of team building exercise.
GSU-Lee: Re: Kovy and the media - I have zero issues with dealing with Ilya. I think he was annoyed about the summer question yesterday, but for the most part he’s willing to work with you. He’s not going to sit around and shoot the bull, and he’s one of those guys who if you’re not prepared he doesn’t want to deal with you. But if you ask good questions, he’s not afraid to speak his mind. Just look at his quotes after the Carolina game. My only issue with him is his quick exits after games that make me send a PR guy to get him. But once you do get him, he’s usually pretty good, plus he has the potential to be even better - just look at how personable he was during the All-Star game. I just think he gets bored with it all sometimes.
Hockeyfan: I’m hearing that Don Waddell insisted on a first-rounder from interested teams regarding Bobby Holik.
Barry: That is true about the 5 D-men, and I’m pretty sure Popovic is restricted, although I have to check that. It’ll be interesting to see how that is handled this summer, because you can’t come back with the same six guys. You just can’t.
Sam: I don’t necessarily think a guy has to have played in the NHL to get respect from the team. Bob Hartley won a Stanley Cup and never played in the league. That said, it certainly helps. I think McCrimmon has the respect of the team, and the fact that he played a ton and was good is part of the reason.
dj: I hear what you’re saying about McCrimmon and the defense, but it’s not like he’s been working with Pronger and Lidstrom back there.
todd: Wow, I never thought of Clark Howard as a solution. Maybe he could put together a winning team on a smaller budget.
Big Al: that’s Kozlov’s defense. His playing time has been sporadic and he’s having trouble getting in the flow of the game. But at the same time, there’s a reason he isn’t getting consistent playing time.
Eileen: I do kind of feel for the new guys, this is a tough spot to be thrown into. But so far, they’re handling it well.
Smoothie: I think some of the frustrations with White are misplaced. Talk to some of the players with the Wild and they miss his two-way contributions immensely. The problem is, he was sold as a the big free agent, play-making center to play with Kovy and that’s not fair. For what he’s being paid (just over $2 million) he’s doing what he should be doing. I’d like to see him as a second-line center with a new right winger and Slava Kozlov and see what happens next season. Then plug a new No. 1 center with Kovalchuk and Recchi.
joyaman: Sounds like you have a better understanding of my job than a lot of people. Thanks for the input.
jjwane: Easy on the all-caps buddy.
Waddell addresses some of the issues
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry for the late blog today. I’ve been working on a story trying to pinpoint the Thrashers collapse during this losing streak, and containing that to the space I’m allowed was certainly a challenge. I mean really, how do you explain the fact that teams spend three-quarters of the game in the Thrashers zone in only two paragraphs? Ultimately, the four problem areas I highlighted were: 1. Lack of accountability, 2. No bang from your big contracts like Holik, Kozlov and Zhitnik, 3. Not enough core players and 4. Defense. Which one do you think is the biggest issue and what do you think I left out?
If you’re looking for insight about the game against the Wild, I don’t have much. My reporting today was more big-picture, trying to get at the root of some of the problems. I had two interviews end abruptly when Ilya Kovalchuk and Don Waddell both walked away in mid-interview. I was trying to get answers from Waddell about Brad McCrimmon and that didn’t go particularly well. “It’s not an issue,” was all Waddell said before ending the conversation. And I didn’t even get to ask why Todd White didn’t practice. Oh well, what are you going to do?
I’d heard that Kovalchuk told Russian reporters that he thought some teammates left early for summer vacation. He denied that he said that, and then hit the showers before I could ask other questions. Some of the other Thrashers were a little more forthcoming in discussing the issues. Garnet Exelby was really good and honest. He said this about his play this year: “It’s been up and down. I’m certainly not happy with where I am and how things are going.”
Bobby Holik and I got into a philosophical discussion because I’m contending that yes, he does raise his play with the magnitude of the game - but the opposite is also true. His play declines as the importance of the game declines. I’m not suggesting he’s mailing it in or tanking it, just that his level of play reflects the importance of the situation. And if the Thrashers games are now meaningless… He disagreed. But it was an interesting discussion regardless.
Before bailing after the McCrimmon questioning, Waddell was really good about addressing everything else. He said that the trade deadline was a huge distraction for the team, which now raises the question - did he hurt this year’s team by waiting so long to trade Marian Hossa?
Waddell on the distraction: “There’s no doubt in my mind the trade deadline was a big factor for a week to ten days. It’s a poor excuse, these guys are all paid professional athletes to perform.”
Naturally, since I asked him on multiple occasions before the deadline if it was a distraction and he denied it, I wondered why the story changed.
“I’m not giving these guys excuses, we dealt with it at times. I addressed it with the team because I knew it was a distraction. There was no reason for it to be a distraction, that was the problem,” he answered.
I asked about the underachieving big contracts, like Zhitnik, Holik and Kozlov - to which Waddell responded: “I don’t single out guys - to me it doesn’t matter if they make $4 million or $500,000, you expect the same thing when they come to the rink,” he said. “Saying that, there are definitely guys that we expected more from. We got it at times, we got it in doses but no solid dose. That’s a concern. That’s a big reason why we’re in the spot we’re in right now.”
Since he wouldn’t do it, I singled out Kozlov and Waddell responded with: “The frustrating part is that in Kozzy’s case, he knows he can be better. It’s not like we’re asking a fourth line guy to contribute to us, we’re asking a guy we believe can. We’re aware of it, we’ve talked about it, talked to [Kozlov] and certainly we’re not giving up on him.”
I think accountability is an issue, but Waddell said it’s more of a respect issue on the team. He said there isn’t enough respect among the Thrashers players. “If a guy is having a bad night, you have to pick him up instead of hammering him further into the ice. You can say whatever you want about coaches doing this or coaches doing that, but the end result is if you look at good teams and look at the respect factor they have for each other… that’s something that is a factor here that I’m aware of. We’re aware of.”
And on the lack of a strong, core of homegrown talent? “We made a little bit of a philosophy change a few years ago to sign some of the older players and obviously that’s going to take away the opportunity for some of those things to happen. But I also think we’re at a good juncture of the franchise where a lot of the young kids, in their RFA days, now have an opportunity to grow together.”
Pretty good candid stuff. That is until inquired about why McCrimmon isn’t the head coach. “It’s not an issue,” he said. “I’m done talking about it.”
No youth movement just yet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Good passion on the blog comments yesterday. Nice work.
Lots of questions about the lineup today, Don Waddell said he’d dress everybody for warmups and go from there. Todd White wasn’t sure if he was going to play, but Waddell said White was cleared to play after practicing yesterday and skating today so he’s a go. The question is defensively. Now that there are eight defensemen, it’s going to come down to who is healthiest and playing the best. At this point your guess is as good as mine.
Waddell said it’s too early to think about seeing any AHL call-ups in the lineup. “We have 23 guys here, we’re going to keep going with the guys we’ve got now,” he said. “We’re not giving up anything.”
So those of you pining to see Boris Valabik and/or Brett Sterling will have to wait.
Some of you have been critical of Waddell’s choice to try and continue to contend right now, and keep the Holiks, Recchis and Hedbergs around, rather than deal everybody at the deadline. You cited Waddell’s comments in his press conference the day after the trade that inferred Waddell turned down first-round picks to keep the team in tact. This Waddell quote, from atlantathrashers.com, is probably the one that started it all: “”If I had been giving up I would have traded Bobby Holik and a few other free agents. We have a lot of games left to play,” Waddell said. “We went on some good stretches this year- we went 11-4 at one point. We need to go on a good run. There’s no doubt about it. But you can’t hold back at this point. But if we were packing in the season we would have looked at a much different deal. We could have got a couple first round picks possibly.”
I was surprised to hear that since, from what I was hearing, the market for some of the Thrashers veterans wasn’t first-round picks. Waddell confirmed as much today when I asked him to clarify the market for some of the other potential UFAs.
“Not first rounds for those guys, I don’t know if I said first round. You could have gotten draft picks back. Draft picks, but mid-round,” Waddell said. “To me, it wasn’t worth it. Those assets were much more important than to pick up a third or fourth round pick.”
I think that quote makes a lot more sense. So does that change things for you? Is a third-round pick for a Holik or Recchi better than nothing, or were the Thrashers better off giving the remaining players a chance at making the playoffs?
I was forwarded this link by an angry season ticket holder - 65 percent off Thrashers tickets in a deal with travelzoo.com. I share it for two reasons - one, that’s a pretty darn good deal. You’re welcome. And two, it supports the contention from angry season ticket holders that they get undercut throughout the season. I’d say that’s a valid complaint. But wouldn’t you rather see empty seats around you filled rather than see the team refuse to offer deals then have a half-empty arena?
Abrupt end to practice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just when you think there’s nothing to write about, the Thrashers get kicked off the ice at practice. Thanks Beast. Thrashers coaches must not have liked what they saw in one of the final drills of today’s practice because it was abruptly ended. I’ve got some good player reaction for the story for the paper, so I’ll make you wait, but it doesn’t seem like a good sign that, in a practice before the game against first-place Carolina, the team isn’t sharp enough to satisfy all the coaches.
Before it ended though - Ken Klee, Niclas Havelid and Todd White were all healthy enough to practice. Havelid said he got an x-ray done on his hyperextended elbow and there is no ligament damage, so he’s ready to go. Todd White wasn’t so sure. He practiced but said he would wait until the morning to see how things felt. Don Waddell said, regardless of if White plays or not, Bryan Little will still be in the lineup. Waddell was non-committal about how the lineup would look for the Carolina game.
Interesting night in hockey tonight if you have the Center Ice package: Sidney Crosby returns to the lineup for the Penguins game against the Lightning. Out west, Peter Forsberg is expected to play against the Vancouver Canucks tonight in Denver. It’ll be fun to see if the Penguins make the leap with Crosby’s return and the anticipated return of Marian Hossa to the lineup.
Good discussion yesterday about lottery vs. playoffs. I didn’t have a chance to jump in and respond, but let me now:
Alan: Good points. I wouldn’t be surprised if Recchi is back next season, he wants to return plus the team obviously likes him as evidenced by his quick promotion to alternate captain. I’m not so sure about Dupuis. I think this team will address defense and maybe look to continue to get bigger and more physical at forward. That’s not Dupuis’ game. But it might be a little early to speculate there.
Fuego: I think if the team loses on Wednesday and falls out of the race, you might get your wish for a look at some of the young players, especially on D.
Shoot it: I think they would have been thrilled to build around Kovalchuk AND Hossa. But ultimately that became Marian’s decision and he wasn’t ready to commit to being a part of it.
Buzilla: I’m with you. I think it’s hard to judge Valabik until we see him get an opportunity on the ice in the NHL.
Brendan: So, are you now officially in the Fire Waddell camp?
Better for Thrashers: Playoffs or lottery pick?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kind of a bizarre weekend. After the Hossa trade, I was talking to one of the Thrashers and we were saying how strong the team would be in the shootout with the pickup of Erik Christensen to go with Kozlov. Then, naturally, the Thrashers go out and lose two consecutive shootouts - without scoring a goal.
I really thought it was curious that Slava Kozlov didn’t get the call last night in the shootout. Waddell said he was trying to mix things up after getting shut out in Boston, which I understand. But no Kozlov? I would have loved to ask Slava his thoughts on the decision after the game, but he declined to speak to the media.
The team is playing relatively well, but they still sit at No. 14 in the 15-team Eastern Conference. You have to love the NHL - the Thrashers have now lost seven straight but are officially 3-4-3 in their last ten. That’s why there’s just a spark of hope for Wednesday’s game against Carolina. It comes down to that game. To keep that sliver of hope alive, this game can’t go overtime. It can’t go into a shootout. The Thrashers need a good old-fashioned regulation win. I’m not even sure what one of those is like.
Interesting to talk to people in Pittsburgh, where there seems to be a mixed reaction to the Marian Hossa trade. I don’t think it helps that Hossa isn’t playing. If he had a couple goals already, I’m sure it’d be different. The talk right now is whether or not the Penguins can sign him. They have a lot of young talent now that will get expensive pretty soon. I’m sure Evgeni Malkin is going to want to get paid, and what are they going to do in goal? Plus, do you really want to spend most of your cap on three forwards - Hossa, Crosby and Malkin? Actually, if you’re going to do it, that’s not a bad three.
Ray Shero made the trade with hopes of signing Hossa. He compared it to the Gary Roberts deal last year. If you remember, Roberts waived his no-trade clause and was dealt from Florida to Pittsburgh. He enjoyed the stretch run and re-upped with the Pens. It’s an attractive option - there’s a ton of young talent, sellout crowds and new arena on the way. But boy, I’d be surprised if Marian didn’t test free agency. He’s come this far in the process.
There were a ton of signs for Colby Armstrong and Christensen at the game, and both were cheered loudly during intros. Armstrong was the first visiting player I’ve ever seen get huge cheers when an assist was announced. At one point, the scoreboard flashed ‘Thanks for the Memories’ for Armstrong and Christensen. One Pittsburgh media member found that interesting considering it was Mark Recchi’s first game back in the building as a visitor since the 2003-04 season, but he didn’t get any mention. All he did, it was pointed out dryly, was lead the team to a Stanley Cup and score 500 goals.
So I’m curious - are you guys rooting for a miracle run here at the end of the season, or would you prefer to see some call-ups like Boris Valabik and Brett Sterling get some ice-time to see what they can do? What do you think would be more beneficial for this team long-term - another playoff trip for more postseason experience, or a lottery pick in which the Thrashers get grab one of a group of talented young defensemen?
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