Thrashers

By GaVaHokie

November 14, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this

Here’s an interesting article by Julie Robenhymer on Eklund’s site… she has Alex Kangas on her Hobey Baker list.

By ranallo10 (in AT)

November 14, 2008 12:30 PM | Link to this

Hokie — I don’t know if that’s exactly a good thing, seeing as White won the Hobey Baker. How many Hobey Baker winners have gone on to prominence in the NHL? Carle? Drury (the best I can think of)? Anyone else??

But hell, it’s always nice to have a talented player in the Thrashers system being recognized as being a solid player, even in college.

By B. Thenet

November 14, 2008 12:43 PM | Link to this

Didn’t Ryan Miller with the Hobey Baker?

If a goalies wins that award, it is generally a good sign. Not many top notch goalies end up coming up to the NHL through the NCAA these days

By Brendan

November 14, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this

Brett Sterling was a runner-up to the Hobey Baker.

By Bob

November 14, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this

Shocker. Lehtonen still hurt. I think stendec is right (God Bless Him!), I’m sick of defending Lehtonen, time is up with him, time to move on (.org)

By Midfield

November 14, 2008 1:25 PM | Link to this

Kovy’s interview to a Russian newspaper:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puckdaddy/post/Kovalchuk-respects-Semin-s-Crosby-critique-cons;ylt=AloIgVMDB8pNbtj1t8ddMPx7vLYF?urn=nhl,122160

By Jarndyce

November 14, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this

Hobey Baker winners with a significant NHL contribution (totally subjective and non-referenced):

2006 - Matt Carle 2002 - Jordan Leopold 2001 - Ryan Miller 1998 - Chris Drury 1997 - Brendan Morrison 1993 - Paul Kariya

There are others who have logged a bunch of NHL games, but these guys are the standouts from the list.

By the way, Miller is one of only two netminders to ever win the Hobey Baker…

By Joe the Plumber

November 14, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this

When did White win the Hobey Baker? Didn’t Brendan Morrison win it? Didn’t Paul Kariya win it? So many questions.

By The Other J.B.

November 14, 2008 1:36 PM | Link to this

Congratulations to Ilya & Nicole!

By Brendan

November 14, 2008 1:36 PM | Link to this

Look, folks. Has Kari Lehtonen lived up to expectations, as a 2nd overall pick? My answer is … no. He hasn’t. But I still wouldn’t trade him. I doubt the organization can get sufficient value in the return for Lehtonen. But Lehtonen still has value as a backup goalie, even if you don’t like him as the starter. Goalies develop at the rate that they do. Unfortunately, there’s just no getting around that part.

Which is why … back in 2002 … I screamed bloody murder … “Why are we investing in a goalie with this pick?; it’s going to take 5 or more years to develop him.” I actually wanted Bouwmeester, but knew we couldn’t get him without owning the #1 overall pick, which was held by Florida, in 2002. So, I naturally figured we’d fall into Rick Nash. But y’all know how that played out, Columbus traded up with Florida, and Atlanta accepted Jim Slater (30th overall pick) and another latter round inducement not to pick Bouwmeester 2nd overall. That’s precisely when I really started questioning whether Don Waddell was the best candidate to be our GM.

Well, here we are, six years later. We’re still waiting on Lehtonen to set the league on fire. We’re still waiting for Don Waddell to show us he can deliver deep runs into the playoffs, on an annual basis. Did we miss it?

By Midfield

November 14, 2008 1:38 PM | Link to this

The link did not come out right for some reason. You can find it on the Yahoo NHL view, though.

By GaVaHokie

November 14, 2008 1:45 PM | Link to this

Well, the Hobey Baker hasn’t been around all that long (since 1981)… but yeah, not a lot of notable people considering most phenom players bypass college. Here’s the list of players on Wikipedia. You’ll really love the 1987 winner. :)

By Midfield

November 14, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this

Goalie development is fine, but what’s there to develop? In case of Pavelec, he is far from being technically savvy out there, but the guy is a winner: he has a dominating presence in the crease and he is in the game mentally. Lehtonen is near perfect technically most of the time. But he is not in it all the time mentally. His Niittymaki hang up is just ridiculous. How do you develop from here?

By GaVaHokie

November 14, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this

Ugh, i didn’t like that Kovy interview at all… sounds like Hossa with the “we’ll wait until the contract is over in Summer 2010” approach.

Does that mean he won’t listen to extension offers?

By ranallo10 (in AT)

November 14, 2008 2:25 PM | Link to this

1987…1999…2004…they all have played in Atlanta or Atlanta’s farm system at one point.

So basically a few diamonds in the field, but relatively little contributions to the NHL level (6 over 27 years with notable careers, in my estimation).

I was wrong about White though, I guess Krog was who I was thinking about.

By Midfield

November 14, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this

I don’t think that it’s a secret that if the team won’t show consistent improvement, Kovy will likely be looking elsewhere. As long as he does not stop playing like Hossa did last year, I can’t ask any more from him than that. I actually liked the segway about Semin: I am sick and tired of the NHL Sidney the Kid marketing campaign.

By Brendan

November 14, 2008 2:47 PM | Link to this

Hokie, sounds like a statement to ownership about the GM position. That’s how I interpreted it.

By Joe the Plumber

November 14, 2008 3:04 PM | Link to this

If we looked beyond the Hobey Baker winners and also looked at finalists, wouldn’t we also see current NHL stars like Rob Blake, Brian Rolston, Martin St. Louis, Jason Blake, Dan Boyle, Dany Heatley and Zach Parise just for starters?

By GaVaHokie

November 14, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this

If we looked beyond the Hobey Baker winners and also looked at finalists, wouldn’t we also see current NHL stars like Rob Blake, Brian Rolston, Martin St. Louis, Jason Blake, Dan Boyle, Dany Heatley and Zach Parise just for starters?

Yeah… Heatley was drafted in 2000, lost the Hobey Baker to Mike Mottau… went back to Wisconsin for one year, which Ryan Miller won the Hobey Baker during that season… interesting.

By ranallo10 (in AT)

November 14, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this

I simply interpreted that he didn’t want to talk about contracts, PERIOD. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’ll give us all several heart attacks come February and July 2010.

Early in the interview he stated that speaking one’s mind is to be respected, even if it’s not politically correct. He had nothing but good things to say about Atlanta, his hopes for the team, etc.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Kovalchuk wants to play in Atlanta, and see Atlanta succeed. The only thing he needs here is a competitive team, and he even states that he thinks this team as it’s built, simply needs chemistry to become a good team.

I didn’t say it…he did.

Joe The Plumber — That’s a fair point. I wasn’t trying to insinuate that all collegiate players, or quality collegiate players, would not make good NHL players. I was simply stating that of the Hobey Baker winners (not runners up), only a few have made a substantial impact in the league. Thus, winning the Hobey Baker in my mind doesn’t make the person a shoe-in for success at the NHL level.

Some skills do not transcend all levels of competition.

By Alan

November 14, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this

Does that mean he won’t listen to extension offers?

Sounds like mum is the word for now. Let’s win with him now, and worry about signing him later. If he sees promise of becoming a dominating force in the NHL, he will likely stay right here instead of jumping ship.

If he sees promise. Give it time. Like he said, there’s two years left on his contract, and he’ll not hear of anything about an extension offer until at least this coming July.

By WW5

November 14, 2008 3:36 PM | Link to this

trade letemin while some still thinks they can get something for him. letemin = letemgo

By Joe the Plumber

November 14, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this

Some skills do not transcend all levels of competition.

Don’t the skills of a goalie like Kangas transcend easier to the next level than the skills of all those skaters who won the award and didn’t do well at the NHL level?

Of the few goalies who were nominated besides Ryan Miller, haven’t guys like Dwayne Roloson, Ty Conklin and Steve Shields at least seen a number of games at the NHL level and except for Conklin didn’t the other 3 win at least one playoff series?

Besides those 4 I can’t name any others who were even nominated when thinking of American born/college goalies. But based on those 4, would you think that at some point Kangas will at least play a few games in Philips?

Did I ask too many questions that time?

By ranallo10 (in AT)

November 14, 2008 4:44 PM | Link to this

JTP — I would think it doesnt matter the player’s position, as no matter what they have to adjust from the collegiate level to the pro level. Personally I don’t consider collegiate hockey on par with junior level hockey, so I personally think the transition is more difficult for collegiate players, which means it’s harder to gauge how well a player will play at the NHL level ultimately.

However, I would think Kangas could see some time in the NHL, simply because most high level talent goalies do get a few games.

For what it’s worth, Steve Shields played a few games in Atlanta…not many people enjoyed those games, to my recollectiong.

By dhj_1962

November 14, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this

if Atl can keep improving under a new system and a new coach, make the playoffs this year, win the first round, and do the same next year, maybe go deeper, retain the whole team, unless they can pick up a good ufa or rfa, Kovy will stay. alot of ifs aint it. hossa reminds me of charles barkley, jumping from team to team to try to get a championship. not very respectable in my view, but, i guess chuck don’t care what i think while he is counting his mi$$ions.

By Joe the Plumber

November 14, 2008 5:00 PM | Link to this

For what it’s worth, Steve Shields played a few games in Atlanta…not many people enjoyed those games, to my recollectiong.

Did you know that when Steve Shields played for Atlanta we had numerous goaltenders play for us that season inlcluding Lehtonen, Dunham, Berkhoel, Garnett and when they had played Shields for those half-dozen games or so he was broken down and injured as these were the last games of his career? Is that really how you want to gauge the potential success rate of a Hobey Baker finalist at the goalie position?

By Brendan

November 14, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this

Ladies and Gentlemen, your attention please. I give you Tampa Bay Lightning owner Oren Koules at his finest, Bolts fire Head Coach Barry Melrose

By Nikita

November 14, 2008 6:27 PM | Link to this

Awesome!

By Mike Knobler

November 14, 2008 7:06 PM | Link to this

I read the Kovalchuk interview as being consistent with past Kovalchuk interviews. Basically, he says, he’s a Thrashers player now, and he’ll deal with the other stuff down the road. Nothing very new there, though I did think it was an interesting interview.

By ranallo10 (in AT)

November 14, 2008 7:52 PM | Link to this

Is that really how you want to gauge the potential success rate of a Hobey Baker finalist at the goalie position?

I simply stated that one of those goalie finalists played for Atlanta, and had some bad games in Atlanta. I never stated nor meant to insinuate it had any bearing on the potential of a Hobey Baker finalist as a goalie.

Brendan — There is absolutely NO surprise Tampa would do that.

By Brendan

November 14, 2008 9:01 PM | Link to this

There had been whispers about a Melrose firing for 10 days or so. But, they’re paying Melrose a LOT of money. They could have waited a bit longer. The Bolts are only 2 games under .500, NHL-style. But I digress.

What I was hinting at was this comment, “Very safe,” said Koules, when asked if Barry Melrose’s job might be safe in the upcoming season.

Koules runs his team … like it’s a “fantasy” league. He trades Boyle for Carle. Then moves Carle to the Flyers. I mean, it strikes me as irratic behavior. Very reactionary. He seems to have ZERO patience. It’s going to be an interesting year. I do wonder if Koules remarked that most hockey publications had his Lightning ranked somewhere between 12th and 14th in the Conference for this season. It’s almost as if … Koules thinks Tampa is headed to the CF or the SCF. He’s just going to have to more patient than that. He did a major roster overhaul in the offseason. It takes time for a team to gel. Time that he’s not willing to give them. Hey, Barry Melrose is collecting a sweet paycheck … to catch up on the Flintstones and the Jetsons. A rough day for him … is meandering down the driveway in his slippers, still sporting a bathrobe, to collect the mail. I’m sure his check his “direct deposited” for him. So, no worries there.

Ahh, Oren Koules. You will be a delight to watch throughout the season. He’s building some karma … probably not the good kind.

By Brendan

November 14, 2008 9:23 PM | Link to this

Hey, isn’t Tampa still paying Feaster, Tortorella, and now Melrose … to NOT do ANYTHING for them? And they’re paying Brian Lawton, too! If there were a “salary cap” for paying people NOT to work for you, the Tampa Bay Lightning would be over it.

By stendec

November 14, 2008 9:39 PM | Link to this

Thrashers up 3-1 in third period. Stay sharp Moose! Bring it home guys! Extend that winning streak.

By stendec

November 14, 2008 10:28 PM | Link to this

Five consecutive victories! Congratulations Moose. Way to hang on. Congratulations guys. Way to bring it home. Fantastic suck-it-up showing. Keep up the great work. Thank you all!

Also, in case any apologists missed it:

Thrashers goalie What’s-His-Name did not participate in the Friday morning skate (whatta surprise) and remains out with a bad back (hiccup). He last played Oct. 30. A(n alleged) groin strain last season kept him out more than a month. A groin strain three years ago kept him out more than two months (did team get partial salary refund?). Do the Thrashers conclude they have a fragile No. 1 goalie? (Ya think?). “It’s not a concern at this point (genius at work here), especially because we’re dealing with something he’s never had before (a perennially injured goalie with issues?),” Thrashers general manager Dumba++ Whateinhell said (in his usual confused manner). “We’re in a good situation because we have two very good alternatives [in Moose and Pavs].” No date has been set for WHN’s return (how about never?) and coach John Petrino would not rule out the unlikely possibility WHN could play on Sunday at Philadelphia (if this loser puts that quitter in goal then fire his sorry a++ on the spot).

When team tires of wins just stick What’s-His-Name between pipes.

Winning run will quickly become a thing of the past!

By Brendan

November 15, 2008 12:13 AM | Link to this

The Atlanta Thrashers are now on pace for 82-points. Michael B. Shapiro, sweetlew, and Thrashers27 all had 82-points in the preseason projection. They are probably smiling right now.

Nice finish. Way to deny Carolina points while taking BOTH points for Atlanta. Lehtonen had never defeated Philadelphia’s Antero Niittymaki in the NHL. Will we see that matchup?

By kracker

November 15, 2008 12:25 AM | Link to this

Five-in-a-row! Do we intrerrupt the recent Flyers string of wins to set a franchise record? Stay tuned, boys and girls, Sunday at 3PM will tell that tale.

It’s getting very interesting in Blueland…

And kudos to Mike (?) for changing the current poll question to reflect the latest win for the five game streak. I’ve been voting ‘win streak’, of course, cause I think these guys are getting it now. The Thrash winning without Kovy scoring? Wow…

Anybody catch the Anderson comment a week or so ago when he said this team has taken longer than any he has ever coached to “get” his system? Maybe they have it now…..maybe…

By Brendan

November 15, 2008 1:47 AM | Link to this

The NHL TV “On the Fly” Boys have been kind to the Thrashers tonight, calling “John Anderson an emerging story out of the Southeast division.” They actually credited the Thrashers with “balanced scoring.” The analyst took a swipe at Kozlov, saying “it must be his ‘contract year,’ because Slava Kozlov is back. Actually, Kozzie’s got another year left on his deal after this one. Buttttt, if you figure that the Thrashers can re-sign Kozlov on July 1, 2009, if they are so inclined, then yes, this could be thought of as a ‘contract year.’

They picked on a Kovalchuk a bit, saying “his arms must be tired” from taking seven shots on net, with no goals. They said, “Atlanta’s had a rocky road to start the season, but can set a new franchise record with a win in their next game.”

By Mike Knobler

November 15, 2008 2:54 AM | Link to this

kracker Thanks, but I can’t take credit for the poll questions. (I wouldn’t have said the Thrashers started 2-9. It was 2-7-2, which is somewhat different.)

Excellent game by Johan Hedberg. Good game by the Thrashers in not making the kind of breakdowns that turned into 2-on-1s and breakaways in almost every game earlier in the season. (Huge credit to Tobias Enstrom for his breakaway-ending check after Ron Hainsey had a slip-up or got knocked over at the blue line.)

The offense wasn’t as sharp as it had been, but the team came closer to playing mistake-free than I can remember.

By David

November 15, 2008 3:15 AM | Link to this

That last goal was pretty stuff. I watched it on replay at least 5 times because the passing was so nice. Good stuff.

By Kaat

November 15, 2008 7:07 AM | Link to this

Thanks for the On the Fly recap, Brendan — I missed it.

Kozlov very seldom gets the respect he deserves and that’s a shame.

By dhj_1962

November 15, 2008 7:40 AM | Link to this

KEEP MOOSE IN GOAL, DON’T CHANGE LINE UP, DON’T CHANGE JOCK STRAPS EITHER….STAY OUT OF THE BOX SUNDAY…FIRE PUCKS AT THE NET AND PICK UP THE CHANGE…IS IT TIME FOR KOVY TO HAVE A BIG GAME???? I HOPE SO.

By Alan

November 15, 2008 8:12 AM | Link to this

Anybody catch the Anderson comment a week or so ago when he said this team has taken longer than any he has ever coached to “get” his system

Nope, didn’t hear that… but considering that he’s dealing with a bunch of players who’ve played the game under our old “system” — supposing you want to call it that, it really comes as no surprise to me that it’s taken a while for our guys to grasp it.

What worries me is when Schneider is healthy again, where does he get penciled in, and will he be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of the system?

By Sara

November 15, 2008 8:22 AM | Link to this

Well that was fun! For a team that said they were too good to lose to a bad Thrashers team, they’ve now done it twice in a row. I love kharma. :)

How about Kovy trying to take Wallin’s?? head off after the retalitaroy slash on Slater? That was fantastic, along with his great save along the blueline for the PP goal AND his awesome play at the net defensively to clear the puck away from the crease in the waning minutes of the third period. I mean, when’s the last time you saw Kovy on the ice in the waning minutes of a one-goal game where we actually had the extra goal (looking for a hat-trick notwithstanding)?

And the scoring out of the third and fourth lines is brilliant. Exactly what we need. (What was all that pre-season kvetching that no one would score goals besides Kovy?)

What truly amazes me is this five game winning streak despite the fact the Thrashers still have much room for improvement overall. They had trouble clearing the zone last night (although Carolina has traditionally been very aggressive on the forecheck - it’s my favorite thing about that team…we should take some pointers). The PP was absolutely awful again. 0-5 on regular PP opportunities and they nearly blew a complete 2-min 2-man advantage. The PK still needs some work as well.

But the team is playing so much better as a team. The chemistry is really developing nicely and they are generally moving well up and down the ice as a five-man unit. And it looks like the fundamental clinics Cunneyworth put together are paying off. Perrin picked a corner on his shot, Boulton’s pass was jaw-dropping. It really makes you wonder what all these boys have been taught for so long (or not taught I suppose).

Even as optimistic as I was coming into this season, I didn’t expect it to be going this well this soon. I am so proud of the guys and the coaching staff.

BTW, the Carolina guys mentioned Coach had the team and their families over for a luau this week. That had to have been interesting!

By Get The Puck Out

November 15, 2008 10:07 AM | Link to this

Now how many of you said Moose was washed up? Think maybe this might get the trade rumors fired up again? I don’t know about anybody else but i think the goalies we got playing now are the least of our worries. Get the power play going and keep the defense tight and the goals will come. Heck if even Bolts can improve we might just have a chance!

By dhj_1962

November 15, 2008 11:59 AM | Link to this

anyone who knows hockey knows KL has more talent than Moose or OP at this point, but winning is everything and Moose and OP have been winning. it will be intresting to see how the TEAM acts when(or if) KL gets back in net

By kracker

November 15, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this

Nice note about the luau Sara. That’s a fun team building, bonding, etc. exercise. I doubt BH ever had everybody over to his house during a long layoff. They are different coaches with different ways they relate to the team but I bet JA’s way won’t grate on the players after a while. I can see why players “want” to win for Anderson. They must genuinely like him and want to play for him as one of the boys rather than fearing the iron fist.

Hartley was pretty effective for a while, then it all went sour. That wasn’t all his fault for sure but a smoother, less caustic coaching style would have, IMO, built better long-term success from the Thrashers division win and playoff appearance. Perhaps they had to fall all the way to the bottom to get these coaches on board.

By Tony C.

November 15, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this

eah but you get the sense that Coach is more of an avuncular uncle type than “one of the boys”…

Certainly SlavaMatic’s remarks after coach’s @ss-chewing after yet another poor 2nd period against NYI (i think) would suggest that the realtionship it’s very clear bout who’s calling the shots.

I get the feeling that when this coach starts hollering at the boys, that it is way more effective because they do like him so much.

Anybody figure out a non-centReIce way to watch the game sunday??

By kracker

November 15, 2008 5:54 PM | Link to this

Yean Tony, that seems to nail it pretty good. The players like and respect Coach so when he talks or yells at them they don’t resent it. It has to be done the right way like you are saying, much like Coach Smith has the Falcons playing hard. Those players like and respect Smith. I suspect some of the same players only liked Jim Mora but he was a bit too much of a friend to them, not enough of a coach.

Anyway, it’s back to the road to get the Philly monkey off our back. Surely this time we can make it six straight.

By kracker

November 15, 2008 6:23 PM | Link to this

I don’t see the game on the Center Ice listings for tomorrow. Only the Melrose-less Bolts-Canes tomorrow on CI at 3PM. Probably be a 3 point game :( Anyway, if neither team is doing the game on TV, I don’t think there is any way to watch it.

By Hockey Biltong

November 16, 2008 11:10 AM | Link to this

Why wouldn’t the reffs let Valabik fight??? And it took the whole two minutes of five on three to score a goal. It was agonizing watch that play out.

By Jlh

November 16, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this

kracker,

My Center Ice shows the game at 7:00 tonight