AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > October
October 2008
New linemates for Kovalchuk
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Thrashers are practicing today in Newark at the Prudential Center, and they’ve got an interesting change in combinations.
Brett Sterling plays on the right wing with Jason Williams at center and Ilya Kovalchuk on the left. It’s interesting for two reasons: Williams gets to play center, and Sterling not only gets to play but gets a chance with a scoring line, which is where he needs to play.
That sends Erik Christensen to the fourth line, where he or Jim Slater can play center, and Eric Perrin and Eric Boulton are on the wings, and one of the four will be a scratch for Saturday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils.
My take: Why not? The Thrashers aren’t scoring goals and aren’t winning games, and both of those things have to change. Christensen has been struggling. Williams has been hot and cold. Sterling showed some spark when he played last weekend.
By the way, the other two lines stay the same: Slava Kozlov-Todd White-Bryan Little, Colby Armstrong-Marty Reasoner-Chris Thorburn.
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Opportunity for Oystrick, or Valabik?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday’s news that Zach Bogosian is probably out about six weeks with a broken leg didn’t immediately lead to a call up from Chicago. The Thrashers could conceivably stick with their current roster, depending on the play of Nathan Oystrick.
If Oystrick plays well, there’s no hurry to get another defenseman on the roster. So a guy with one career NHL game is about to become an everyday player. I’ll probably have more on him in Saturday’s paper.
Meanwhile, Boris Valabik played Wednesday night like a guy who smelled an opportunity. He had a goal, two assists and a plus-four rating as the Wolves blanked Providence 6-0. They were his first goal and assists of the season. Arturs Kulda is plus-six for the season.
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Major line shakeup in Blueland
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Injury news first. Defenseman Zach Bogosian is getting an MRI today after a left leg injury on his first shift in Tuesday night’s 7-0 blowout loss to the Flyers. Bogosian won’t be making the trip to New York and New Jersey for games against the Rangers and the Devils. The Thrashers haven’t called up anybody from Chicago to replace him. Nathan Oystrick steps in.
Now, the line news. The first line is back the way it was over the summer, with Ilya Kovalchuk, Erik Christensen and Jason Williams.
The other lines:
Slava Kozlov-Todd White-Bryan Little
Colby Armstrong-Marty Reasoner-Chris Thorburn
Eric Perrin-Jim Slater-Brett Sterling or Eric Boulton
The defensive pairings remain the same, with Oystrick joining Mathieu Schneider, Ron Hainsey working with Garnet Exelby and Tobias Enstrom with Niclas Havelid.
Enstrom was working with Hainsey and Kovalchuk during a power play drill in practice. Also, the Kozlov-White-Little line did what looked like a power play drill with Schneider and Oystrick.
My story will cover how the coach and the team reacted to Tuesday night’s drubbing.
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4 games in 6 nights = key stretch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tonight’s game against the Flyers looks like a key one for the Thrashers, who follow it up with hard-to-win games Thursday and Saturday at the New York Rangers and New Jersey and then a 5 p.m. home game Sunday against Florida. (The good news for the Thrashers is that Sunday game is the second of a back-to-back for the Panthers, too. Florida plays at Nashville Saturday night. Small advantage, Atlanta, which at least will be at home on Sunday.)
The Flyers are 11-0-1 against the Thrashers the last three seasons.
By the way, there has been Bogosian talk on the blog again. So:
Here are two key facts: 1) He isn’t being sent anywhere anytime soon, as coach John Anderson made pretty clear today. 2) It’s 10 games played, not 10 games on the roster, according to the CBA, which I have quoted on here before.
“A player aged 18 or 19 earns a year of professional experience by PLAYING ten or more NHL Games in a season.” — Page 52
And
“In the event that an 18 year old or 19 year old Player signs an SPC [Standard Player Contract] with a Club but does not play at least ten NHL Games in the first season under that SPC, the term of his SPC and his number of years in the entry level system shall be extended for a period of one year …” — Page 23
So Bogosian does not hit the decisive game tonight, which will be the eighth game he has played. A decision has to come after Thursday’s game, assuming he plays tonight and Thursday. And the decision appears to be a formality. Don Waddell emphasized to me in a conversation on Friday that just because Bogosian stays for a 10th game does not mean he stays with the Thrashers all season. It just means the clock starts toward free agency, and unrestricted free agency is far enough down the road that Waddell isn’t overly worried about when that clock starts.
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Armstrong checked for concussion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thrashers forward Colby Armstrong took the ice about 20 minutes into practice today after getting tested to see if there were any lingering effects from the hit he took from Zdeno Chara in Saturday night’s loss to the Boston Bruins.
The test involved Armstrong reacting to words, shapes and patterns on a computer.
“I feel really good right now,” Armstrong said. He felt woozy after the hit, got up and made a beautiful centering pass that Slava Kozlov converted into a goal. Then Armstrong felt woozy again. He played the rest of the game. He said he didn’t feel very good on Sunday but didn’t know if that was from the hit or from a lack of sleep.
“He’s fine,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said.
When Armstrong wasn’t on the ice, Brett Sterling practiced in his place alongside Kozlov and Erik Christensen. Once Armstrong was able to skate, Sterling worked in with the Eric Boulton-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn line.
Something to look for: When Marty Reasoner was out for much of the game at Detroit, Anderson used Jason Williams at center. Anderson liked what he saw. “That’s an experiment that’s not over with yet,” Anderson said.
Anderson also is considering making some changes to the defensive pairings. The even-strength pairings have been Ron Hainsey-Garnet Exelby, Tobias Enstrom-Niclas Havelid and Mathieu Schneider-Zach Bogosian. One possible move: Hainsey-Bogosian.
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How bad are they?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eight games into the season, the Thrashers are 2-4-2 and on their second three-game winless streak. Last season’s team was 1-7 at this point.
Many picked this team to finish last or next to last in the NHL. It looks a little better than that.
Five of the games have been decided by a single goal, and another was a two-goal margin only because of an empty-netter.
So the sky isn’t exactly falling on the Thrashers. They’re looking like a below-average team that for a period or two a night can play with anyone but for a period or two a night looks overmatched.
It would be so much easier if you could call out a player or two as being responsible for all the team’s shortcomings. It doesn’t look that way to me. I’ve read all kinds of stuff on this blog about Ilya Kovalchuk disappearing; the guy has three goals and six points through eight games while being the focus of every opposing defense. Kari Lehtonen? He has looked good to excellent. A stat for non-believers: He faces more shots per game than any other No. 1 goalie in the league and has a save percentage that places him in the top half of all goalies.
Colby Armstrong, Jason Williams, Erik Christensen? Armstrong has a three-game point streak and is a hard-working two-way forward. Williams has two goals through eight games, on pace for the kind of season the Thrashers want from him. Christensen picked up his third assist Saturday night and put more shots on net than any of his teammates. Yes, the Thrashers need goals from him. It would take a lot of those, though, to make this a playoff team.
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Moose loose tonight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Johan Hedberg gets his first start of the season in net as the Thrashers play their eighth game, at Boston. It will be interesting to see how he does after sitting out so long; his only action of 2008-09 aside from 3:37 at Florida when Kari Lehtonen lost a contact lens.
Hedberg, who appeared in 36 games last season, is likely to get a lot less action this year.
Thrashers coach John Anderson said Marty Reasoner is available for today’s game. Anderson declined at a 5 p.m. meeting with the media to say which skaters he’ll scratch from tonight’s lineup.
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Hockeytown welcomes you
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First things first, and that’s who’s playing tonight. Beats me. John Anderson switched from his usual policy and in an interview after today’s morning skate said he wouldn’t reveal tonight’s lineup. This game is the first of back-to-backs, but he didn’t make any changes last time in that situation. He did say everybody is healthy and able to play if needed, and I didn’t notice anyone missing.
Spoke with Brad McCrimmon and Marian Hossa, both of whom pretty much said they’ve moved on from their time with the Thrashers with no lingering hard feelings. McCrimmon does have lingering home ownership in the Atlanta area; anybody in the market for a house?
Spoke at length with Don Waddell, who is pleased with the team’s showing through six games and gave a very optimistic description of where the Thrashers are and where they’re headed. He said during the season he lets Anderson call the shots on how to use the players, though they discussed it before the season. So the decision about when to give Johan Hedberg a chance in net is coming from the coaches (aside from that contact lens situation Lehtonen had in the first period at Florida).
Ate lunch at the Hockeytown Cafe, and sat not far from team photos of Detroit’s Stanley Cup champions, two featuring a very young-looking Slava Kozlov. He wasn’t the only current Thrashers star on display. Over the door at the entrance to the restaurant is a photo of Mathieu Schneider, Brett Hull and Jason Woolley holding the stick with which Hull scored career goal No. 732, passing Marcel Dionne for third on the all-time list. Schneider and Woolley assisted on the goal, which came Dec. 8, 2003 at Anaheim.
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Williams helps forwards ‘win’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thrashers coach John Anderson likes to keep practices fun while getting the necessary work done, and he seemed to achieve both by ending today’s workout by dividing the team in half and having a contest.
One team consisted of the forwards, aside from the fourth line and Brett Sterling and Mike Hoffman. The other teams consisted of the fourth line, Sterling, Hoffman and the defense. They practiced breakaways, with the team with most of the forwards trying to beat Johan Hedberg and the team with the defense trying to beat Kari Lehtonen.
The result shouldn’t surprise you. The forwards are forwards for a reason, and Lehtonen is the No. 1 goalie. My No. 1 star of the “game” honors go to Jason Williams, who scored twice, including the winning shot. His teammates mobbed him in over-the-top celebration, but they had reason to be happy. The other team, the defense, had to do a back-and-forth across the width of the ice skating drill.
I’m going to take this opportunity to type something about Williams. On my previous blog, kracker noted that Williams is one of the Thrashers’ most accurate shooters. Part of shooting accuracy is the shots you choose to take, and Anderson describes Williams as a “whites of their eyes” shooter. His game is to shoot in close to the net. Incidentally, the other right wingers have been accurate, too. Six of the nine shots Colby Armstrong has taken have been on net, and two of those went in. Chris Thorburn has hit eight of nine on net. So all of the Thrashers’ right wingers — including four-goal scorer Bryan Little — are getting at least two-thirds on net. The team as a whole is at 58 percent.
One tough thing for Williams is that he plays on a line with penalty killers. That limits the amount of ice time for him, especially in games when the Thrashers keep getting sent to the box. So far, Anderson has chosen to use complete lines most of the time on power plays rather than mixing and matching his forwards, so Williams isn’t getting special teams time, and that cuts down on scoring chances.
By now you’ve probably noticed the story about Mike Hoffman, who is headed home to Boston for a day and then will join the Chicago Wolves. Hoffman fully expects to be back in Atlanta once he’s healthy enough not just to play but also to fight.
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Behind the personnel moves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s more than one way to figure out what a coach is thinking. Asking him is the most direct, but it’s not guaranteed to give you complete information. There are bound to be things a coach doesn’t want to say. With John Anderson, one thing already is quite clear; he’s not into ripping players in the press. The closest he ever gets is referring to something a player did without referring to the player by name.
So it’s worth considering personnel moves.
For example, as disappointed as Anderson sounded Tuesday night after the overtime loss at Tampa Bay, he hasn’t made any line changes for today’s practice. To me, that suggests he looked at the tape and saw more to like than he did in the midst of another frustrating game.
I thought there’d be a chance Brett Sterling would be out there in an attempt to add some scoring power to one of the lines other than the top line, which seems to be the only one generating much offense. Instead, Mike Hoffman and Sterling are working in at the wings with the Eric Boulton-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn line. It’s good to see Hoffman on the ice as he recovers from the broken hand.
The fact Oystrick has gotten just one game and Sterling none suggests to me Anderson hasn’t seen lapses involving lack of effort. Benching a player sends a message; not benching a player sends one, too. Anderson doesn’t want any of these guys thinking he has lost confidence in them.
Another thing to notice is that Anderson has stuck with Kari Lehtonen through the first six games. That’s got to be a sign that he really likes what he’s seeing. There have been stretches in just about every game where Lehtonen has carried the team.
That said, the Thrashers face one of their toughest back-to-backs of the season Friday and Saturday at Detroit and at Boston. Anderson used identical lineups in the team’s first back-to-back, a home-road vs. Washington and at Florida, but this one could be an opportune time to give Johan Hedberg a game in net and get Sterling and/or Oystrick a chance.
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Have a Kahlua, perhaps
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s story about the naming of the Greek Gods line got me thinking, and that’s always a dangerous thing. What would you call the scoring line of Ilya Kovalchuk-Todd White-Bryan Little?
So I decided to throw it out there for wiser heads than mine, but not before jump starting the discussion with a suggestion of my own: the Kahlua Line, as in Little White Russian. It’s 6:59 a.m. as I type this at Hartsfield Jackson while waiting to board my flight to Tampa, so maybe I’m, um, Kahlua-less, but it’s my best idea. What’s yours?
While you’re thinking, here’s another tale about a named line involving a current Thrashers personality. It was 1979-80, and the Toronto Maple Leafs had a combination of Rocky Saganiuk, current Thrashers coach John Anderson and Laurie Boschman, who combined to score 60 goals in the season’s final 55 games. They called them the Kid Line.
“Then the next year we couldn’t score a goal,” Anderson said. “We went from the Kid Line to the Skid Line.”
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Sterling might get a chance
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Brett Sterling skated with Slava Kozlov and center Erik Christensen today, suggesting he might play on that line when the Thrashers take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. Sterling is the only healthy Thrashers player who hasn’t appeared in any of the team’s five games.
Colby Armstrong, who has been on that line, is hurt but will make the trip, Thrashers coach John Anderson said.
Anderson is happy with the Ilya Kovalchuk-Todd White-Bryan Little line — who wouldn’t be? — and the Eric Boulton-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn line but still sees room to experiment with the other two combinations.
The Tampa Bay game should be action-packed. The Lightning are the only team in the NHL that allows more shots per game than the Thrashers (36.6 to 34.6).
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Top line clicks in much-needed victory
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday night was a good one for Todd White, Bryan Little and Ilya Kovalchuk, who are looking more and more like a line that ought to stick together for awhile. White made good passes that led to goals for both of his linemates, and these guys created several other chances, too, in a 3-2 shootout victory over Buffalo.
Kovalchuk not only scored on a breakaway and in the shootout but also made a good play backchecking against Daniel Paille in the third period with the Thrashers still clinging to a 2-1 lead.
Want a couple of downers?
1) This team still can’t maintain its first-period intensity. “I thought the last 40 minutes, we carries most of the play,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said, accurately.
2) The 0-for streak on the power play has reached 21.
No. 1 is far more serious. No. 2 looks a bit like bad luck after a night in which the power play generated some solid chances.
Want some reasons to feel good about the home team?
1) Bryan Little. He told me thought he whiffed on the shot he scored on tonight. Maybe that’s just a sign of a guy who can do no wrong at the moment. He sure gives this team a spark.
2) Kari Lehtonen, who has covered up more than his share of defensive breakdowns. The save percentage (91.9) isn’t the best gauge of his effectiveness. Look at the quality of the chances he has faced.
3) Ron Hainsey.
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Armstrong back with Christensen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thrashers coach John Anderson today reunited former Penguins teammates Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen by switching Armstrong to the right wing of that line from the right wing of the line centered by Marty Reasoner. Jason Williams swapped places with Armstrong. It’s the third line of the season for Williams, who began the year working on the right wing opposite Ilya Kovalchuk on the top line.
Kovalchuk-White-Little
Kozlov-Christensen-Armstrong
Perrin-Reasoner-Williams
Boulton or Sterling-Slater-Thorburn
Defenseman Mathieu Schneider didn’t practice with the team today. Anderson and Schneider both said Schneider was just getting a rest, and Schneider said he is healthy to play Saturday night against Buffalo.
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Bogosian is back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thrashers coach John Anderson is sticking with Kari Lehtonen in net and with the 12 forwards he has used in the first three games. The only lineup change tonight against the New Jersey Devils is that Zach Bogosian reclaims his spot on the defense after one game in which he was replaced by Nathan Oystrick.
I just filed a quick update about Slava Kozlov returning from an injury he suffered in practice on Wednesday.
Like Anderson, Devils coach Brent Sutter is sticking with the goalie he used in the first three games. Martin Brodeur has allowed only five goals, 1.64 per game.
In other hockey news, the Blackhawks apparently have fired Denis Savard and are replacing him with Joel Quenneville.
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Power play becomes job No. 1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fixing the power play was the theme of today’s practice. In the latter part of practice John Anderson tried a look he hadn’t used. He moved Ilya Kovalchuk to the point, paired him with Ron Hainsey and added Slava Kozlov to the rest of Kovalchuk’s line (Todd White and Bryan Little) as forwards. I’ve seen Kovalchuk rotate up to the blue line with Hainsey going low, but this was the first time I saw a power play unit with four forwards.
The Thrashers are 0-for-7 on the power play in their last two games, the overtime loss at Florida and Tuesday night’s 4-2 loss to Minnesota.
Kozlov left the ice after a puck caromed off the crossbar and hit him in the midsection. We’ll see how he is on Thursday.
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Wild defense challenges Anderson’s offense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thrashers coach John Anderson prefers his players to skate the puck across the blue line, but tonight that message changes a bit. The Minnesota Wild makes a living off defense, specifically the neutral zone trap. So Anderson’s message to his team is, I’d rather have you chip the puck forward and make the Minnesota players have to turn to get it than to have turnovers that can lead to offense for the Wild coming the other way.
This is a night for patience and for taking advantage of what might be limited opportunities.
BTW, in case you missed my story posted today, Nathan Oystrick is playing tonight in place of a healthy Zach Bogosian. Anderson said it’s all about giving Oystrick a chance to play.
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Another Little line change
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bryan Little is on the move again, still at right wing but now skating with Ilya Kovalchuk at left wing and Todd White at center. Jason Williams has replaced Little on the line with Slava Kozlov and Eric Christensen.
Little started the season opener on a line with Eric Perrin and Marty Reasoner, so he’s averaging better than one line per game played as Thrashers coach John Anderson seeks the best spot for him on this team.
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Good start but room to grow
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Admit it, if someone had told you the Thrashers would have three points in the standings after opening against Washington and then playing at Florida, most Thrashers fans would have taken it, no questions asked.
But there are some questions to ask. Such as what happened to Atlanta about midway through Saturday night’s 3-2 overtime loss to Florida? The Thrashers were outshot 18-5 in the third period and 4-0 in overtime, and those numbers were in keeping with the way things looked on the ice. It wasn’t like the Thrashers were shooting and going wide of the net, or spending a lot of time in the attacking zone passing the puck in search of the perfect shot. (By the way, those five shots came in a third period during which the Thrashers were on the power play three times.) Second game in as many nights isn’t much of an excuse when your opponent is in the same situation.
Did anybody else notice it seemed to be a tough night for Tobias Enstrom, especially in the first period?
I know Niclas Havelid has four assists through two games, but have the Thrashers had a more effective and useful player than Ron Hainsey? He has a goal and two assists, the second on a brilliant pass to set up Jason Williams’ goal Saturday night. Hainsey led the team in ice time with about 24 minutes Friday night and then played almost 28 minutes on Saturday, with key roles on the penalty kill and the power play. Hainsey doesn’t play a very physical game but plays a very intelligent one. Two games in, I’m questioning those pundits who said the Thrashers overspent for him when they gave him $22.5 million for five years.
Did anybody have a good view of the play where Ilya Kovalchuk got called for diving? I missed the replay, and in live action I didn’t see it as a dive. The referee spent a long time talking to Kovalchuk about it, and Kovalchuk at one point stood up from his seat in the penalty box and demonstrated his view of what happened. I didn’t get a chance to talk with Kovalchuk after the game. I got stuck waiting for and then riding in a slow elevator and was lucky I got down in time to speak with Kari Lehtonen and Williams.
It’s 1:37 a.m., and I’ve got a 7:30 flight, so I’m going to catch some sleep.
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Thrashers lead division!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, so the headline of this blog entry is more than a little tongue in cheek. But it hasn’t been often that the Thrashers have been 1-0. How rare is it? Well, it happened only twice before.
So enjoy it, Thrashers fans. Enjoy the fact you’re leading not only Florida, Washington and 0-2 Tampa Bay in the standings but also have a better record than the defending Stanley Cup champions in Detroit.
Here was John Anderson’s message at the morning skate: Don’t get satisfied. Don’t look at the back-to-back games to open the season and decide that winning one and losing one is an OK start.
Anderson made an interesting choice for tonight’s game: Same personnel as last night, with neither Brett Sterling nor Nathan Oystrick thrown in for their fresh legs, and Kari Lehtonen back in net. It’s a go-with-your-best message, telling his team he’s serious about trying to build on Friday night’s victory over the Capitals instead of seeing that success as taking the pressure off for tonight’s game.
Anderson is aware of his team’s struggles last season in the second of back-to-back games. He has addressed it head on.
That doesn’t mean he’s ignoring the issues of back-to-backs. For example, he gave Mathieu Schneider the option not to take part in this morning’s skate, and Schneider took him up on it. Schneider’s not hurt; he’s just 39. Nobody in the locker room will begrudge Schneider the morning off, Anderson said.
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Let the season begin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Went to my first morning skate of the regular season. First things first. Bryan Little will play tonight. The lines and pairings are exactly what they were in practice on Thursday. Brett Sterling and Nathan Oystrick are scratches, with Mike Hoffman on the injured list and, Dan Kamal tells me, making an appearance as the radio color man. Can you get AM 680 reception inside Philips? It might be fun to hear it tonight.
Here’s two little tidbits that didn’t fit in today’s story about Ilya Kovalchuk. One, he has an unofficial reserved parking space. Other guys park head in or back-end in, but Kovalchuk has a space where he can park parallel to the building, in a way that the car won’t get scratched by someone else getting careless while opening a car door. Can’t say I blame him, with those wheels. Two, I asked him how he decides whether to drive the Mercedes or the Bentley. Whichever one has more gas in the tank, he told me. I laughed. He said he was serious. The recent gas shortage made no exceptions for hockey players, even ones who scored 52 goals last season. The good thing about it, Kovalchuk said, was that it cut down on traffic.
John Anderson and Bruce Boudreau exchanged a hug and some conversation during the Thrashers warm-ups. Anderson struck me as both excited and maybe a tad more nervous than on a regular day. Of course, he may be like that on every game day; I have nothing with which to compare it.
Drop that puck.
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College cadets visit Thrashers’ practice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You never know what will happen when you show up at a Thrashers practice.
North Georgia College and State University cadets Andrew Weaver and William Leighton came to the Ice Forum in their army uniforms and got a tour of the practice facility from none other than Thrashers right wing Jason Williams. They were surprised when Williams made the offer.
“He’s a really genuine guy,” said Leighton, a Thrashers fan from Washington, D.C.
Weaver, from south Florida, said he usually goes to see the Florida Panthers. But he had never met a hockey player before Thursday. He and Leighton brought Thrashers jerseys with them and left with autographs, smiles and some new connections with Atlanta’s NHL team.
Back to the nuts and bolts …
Coach John Anderson is deferring one opening-night lineup decision until the morning skate before Friday’s game against the Capitals. He wants a last look at how Bryan Little is recovering from a hip pointer. Little, for his part, said Thursday that he felt better than he did Wednesday, and Wednesday he said he’d be ready to play.
“If he can go, Little will probably go,” Anderson said. “If he can’t, [Brett] Sterling will be in.”
Here is how things looked in practice on Thursday.
The forwards:
Kovalchuk-White-Williams
Kozlov-Christiansen-Armstrong
Perrin-Reasoner-Little or Sterling
Boulton-Slater-Thorburn
On defense:
Enstrom-Havelid
Schneider-Bogosian
Hainsey-Exelby
Oystrick
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Little could play in Friday’s opener
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bryan Little’s parents are traveling to Atlanta from Cambridge, Ontario, for Friday night’s season opener against the Washington Capitals. Fortunately, it looks as if their son will be able to play.
Little returned to practice on Wednesday and said the hip injury that had been bothering him appeared to have healed. “I felt really good today,” the forward said. “We’ll see how it feels [Thursday]. I’m hoping to play Friday.” Little got hurt in one of the early exhibition games, and it nagged him the rest of the exhibition season. Saturday night he felt so bad he decided he needed to take some time off to get completely healed.
Goalie Johan Hedberg was back practicing on Wednesday, too, after missing Tuesday’s workout with a toe injury. Hedberg said he’s good to go.
Forward Mike Hoffman’s broken right hand will keep him out until mid-October. For now, he can’t even shake hands. He said he could be back in practice about Oct. 18 and possibly ready to play a week later, depending on how the hand feels. The timing is annoying after the success Hoffman has had in camp. The question is whether the Thrashers will keep him on their roster once he’s healthy or send him to Chicago.
“It really hasn’t been fully talked about yet,” Hoffman said. “I won’t be able to fight for awhile. I can still do what I need to do.”
Hoffman signed with the Thrashers this summer as a free agent.
“He’s pretty smart with it,” coach John Anderson said. “He’s certainly big and strong, doesn’t make a ton of mistakes and he’s 6-foot-20, right?”
The roster has it 6-5, 250.
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Injury updates from Tuesday’s practice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s good news from Thrashers practice, where Jason Williams, who was injured, was out there practicing. He told me he will be able to play Friday night in the season opener and sat out of Saturday night’s game only as a precautionary move.
Bryan Little, also injured, wasn’t out there, though. He’s day to day with a hip pointer. Johan Hedberg missed practice with a toe injury and is day to day. Forward Mike Hoffman is out 10 days with a hand injury.
The lines, by jersey color:
Blue: Kovalchuk-White-Williams
Orange: Kozlov-Christensen-Armstrong
Yellow: Perrin-Reasoner-Sterling
Red: Boulton-Slater-Thorburn
I’ll have more on the change in the first line in my story this afternoon.
All seven defensemen are here.
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Beat writer short circuits; Thrashers finalize defense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While I wait to hear back from Ondrej Pavelec’s agent and Thrashers GM Don Waddell, I wanted to blog about two things: Why I haven’t blogged in awhile, and the Thrashers’ roster.
So, there I was Wednesday night, watching the Thrashers lose yet another exhibition game, when my computer locked up. That’s unusual but not unheard of, but it was just the start. The thing wouldn’t reboot. I’d push the button, and it would whir, and then … nothing. Total hard drive failure. Fortunately, Mark Bradley was there and had finished his column, so I was able to write on his machine.
Two days later, I was given a new computer, but our tech people couldn’t recover any of my data. And, of course, I hadn’t backed up anything in ages. If you’ve ever lost all your data, you know what a drag this is. If you have never lost your data, you don’t want to know, so BACK IT UP. One of the pieces of data I lost was the password that lets me post blogs from my computer. I had to get somebody else to post this one for me. They’re getting me a new password, but it might be a while.
Enough about my computer issues. Congratulations to Nathan Oystrick, who has made it to the NHL for the first time. He survived today’s cuts, and the Thrashers are down to seven defensemen, the number they plan to carry. Oystrick beat out Boris Valabik, who never seemed to live up in camp to the expectations people had for him. I spoke with Oystrick Saturday night, when it looked as if he would make the team. He told me people in the past had questioned his drive and that he was happy to have shown he’s passionate about doing what it takes to play in the NHL. He said he made it a priority to arrive for camp this year in the best possible condition.
There might be one more player to be cut among the forwards, but how soon that cut is made will depend on the health of center Bryan Little and right winger Jason Williams. For now, though, the choice to keep Brett Sterling and Mike Hoffman seems to make sense. Sterling has a chance to help the offense, and Hoffman not only has a huge body but knows how to use it.
What do you think of the roster, and the cuts today of Joey Crabb, Colin Stuart and Valabik?
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Thrashers’ odds, and some odds and ends
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I just got an e-mail from a pr guy for Bodog. Thrashers are 100-1 to win the Stanley Cup. That ties them with the Los Angeles Kings for the biggest longshot. Frankly, I’m surprised the odds aren’t longer. They list the Red Wings as 10-3 favorites. I’ve seen 5-1 from other sources. (These lines are, of course, for informational and entertainment purposes only. This blog does not encourage betting for or against the Thrashers.)
Thrashers are listed as 50-1 to win the Eastern Conference, the same odds as the New York Islanders and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Meanwhile, back to reality. I noticed at today’s skate at Philips Arena that Zach Bogosian’s locker is next to Mathieu Schneider on one side and Ilya Kovalchuk on the other. Bet that wasn’t a random result.
OK, how many of you thought Mike Hoffman would be among the 30 players still listed on the Thrashers roster a week before the season? Hoffman, who isn’t playing tonight, was signed as a free agent the day the team also signed Grant Stevenson (playing tonight) and Junior Lessard (sent to Chicago). Here’s what John Anderson likes about Hoffman: He’s 6-5, 240 and isn’t scared to use that body.
When Hoffman skates by, “the wind almost blows you over,” Anderson said. “He’s certainly tough, too. He fought [Nashville’s] Kelsey Wilson. That’s frightening. He looks good out there. He seems to be picking up our systems well. We’ll see what happens.”
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