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Saturday, September 20, 2008
Day 1 impressions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Any of you who were at the season’s first practice might wonder the reasoning behind the way John Anderson divided the players into two groups. I certainly did.
Think of the message Anderson sent when camp opened with Ilya Kovalchuk, Slava Kozlov, Erik Christensen, Tobias Enstrom, Colby Armstrong and Bryan Little working out on one ice surface and Anderson teaching on the other. (The groups switched ice surfaces midway through, and the coaches stayed in place.)
And imagine the impression Anderson made by putting top players like Ron Hainsey, Eric Perrin, Jason Williams, Niclas Havelid and Todd White in the non-Kovalchuk group.
Anderson is clearly not playing favorites or focusing on the top guys to the exclusion of the kids who have an outside shot at best of making the team. (“Team Two,” the Kovalchuk group, does have most of the scorers, or so it appears.)
Saturday was about beginning to install Anderson’s system. Don’t look for lines to emerge until after the third exhibiton game, which is Sunday at Detroit. If you’re curious, though, here is who worked with whom on the first day:
“Team One”
Eric Boulton-Eric Perrin-Spencer Machacek
Toomas Pospisil-Todd White-Joey Crabb
Brett Sterling-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn
Brad Larsen-Grant Stevenson-Matt Anderson
Chad Painchaud-Ryan Kaip-Jason Williams
Defensemen: Ron Hainsey, Niclas Havelid, Ken Klee, Nathan Oystrick, Boris Valabik, Paul Postma, Arturs Kulda
“Team Two”
Ilya Kovalchuk-Riley Holzapfel-Myles Stoesz
Slava Kozlov-Angelo Esposito-Matt Siddall
Colin Stuart-Bryan Little-Colby Armstrong
Jordan LaVallee-Erik Christense-Danick Paquette
Joe Motzko-Marty Reasoner-Matt Hoffman
Defensemen: Garnet Exelby, Tobias Enstrom, Zach Bogosan (sat out with a hip flexor strain), Jamie Rivers, Scott Lehman, Grant Lewis, Chad Denny
Goalies: Dan Turple, Kari Lehtonen, Chris Carrozzi
BTW, Matt Anderson, who played in Chicago last season, replaced Carter Bancks on the camp roster. Bancks, a junior player who was on a tryout agreement, earned the camp invitation by the way he played in Traverse City but couldn’t take advantage of it because he broke his foot.
Everybody reported for camp at an acceptable weight and performed up to standard on preseason physical tests and measurements, Anderson said. Among the highlights: 6-foot-3 defenseman Chad Denny had a 31 1/2-inch vertical leap, Anderson said. In VO2max, a measure of fitness/endurance, Kozlov had a 69, Anderson said. Maximum oxygen uptake is measured in mililiters/kilogram/minute, and a 69 is similar to what you’d see in an elite bicyclist, swimmer, speed skater or rower.
The Thrashers also measure players’ flexibility and count how many pushups and pull-ups they can do. Eric Perrin did 80 pushups in a minute.
Anderson gave a lot of credit to former Thrashers coach Bob Hartley for emphasizing conditioning and fitness so much that it had become part of the team’s culture.
He added his own novelty to the team culture, a team dinner on the eve of the opening of camp. There will be other team-building functions, too, as Anderson tries to make sure the players don’t go their separate ways every time they get off a plane. One carryover from his days as coach of the Chicago Wolves: There will be a pig roast, with assistant coach Todd Nelson as chef.
