AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February
February 2009
Blackhawk Letdown - NEW AJC BLOG LINK!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THE AJC BLOGS HAVE SWITCH PUBLISHING WEB SERVERS. RAWHIDE’S “ICEMAN BLOGGETH” CAN NOW BE FOUND HERE!
You guys know that I don’t do “moral victories” very well. Ls are Ls and they all count the same. However, Wednesday night the Thrashers took on a very good Chicago Blackhawk team and played them well from the first drop of the puck to the final horn.
Just came up short…dern-it!
Kari Lehtonen made a second straight strong start…following up Tuesday night’s 40 save on 41 shot performance with 25 saves on 27 SOGs. In that past two games he’s let up only three goals total and has posted a .956 SV%. Can’t ask much more outa your keeper than that!
Kaptain Kovy played like his jock was on fire against the Blackhawks. His power play blast was the Thrashers’ lone score of the night…and it tied the score at one each with a minute fifty-five left in the second.
Unfortunately, nine seconds later Kozzy wound up in the box for a tripping infraction…12 seconds after that, Chicago’s Jonathan Toews took advantage of the miscue with the Hawks’ second goal on the man-advantage.
But the excitement was quite over with just yet…in the closing seconds of the middle period, Kovy broke through the Blackhawks’ defense and was one on one with Nikolai Khabibulin…Kovalchuk’s initial shot was turn away, but he buried the rebound.
Unfortunately, it crossed the goal line a fraction of a second after the horn sounded.
Atlanta also had the misfortune of running up against a hot goalie in Khabibulin. He stopped 36 of the Thrashers’ 37 shots including robbing Bryan Little at about the halfway point of the third when the entire right side of the net was agape for the Atlanta forward.
The Thrashers did have their chance late in the game when the Blackhawk’s Patrick Sharp was sent to the sin-bin for hooking with a buck-seventeen remaining. Combined with Kari being pulled, it made for a 6 on 4 situation. However, Dave Bolland’s empty-net gimme iced it for the visitors.
Bummer….because the Thrashers played well enough to win on this night.
Ranallo10 (in USA)
Our good friend ranallo10 has made his way back across the pond…visiting back home from Austrialand. It was nice to have seen ya again, buddy!
I’d also like to say thanks to Carrie and Xi for introducing themselves last night…it was nice chatting with ya both!
The Times They Are A-Changing
Well…maybe not so much the “times” as much as the look and feel of this blog thingy. I’ve been informed that a new and improved format is on the way. Don’t really know what that means except that I’m going to have to learn how to operate a new publishing platform to keep this crazy thing rolling.
That plus I’ve been led to believe that there will be some new features at my disposal with this new format…so that’s exciting.
Kari Saves Thrashers Bacon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Thrashers have won only two games since the All Star break. Both times, it took Kari Lehtonen holding the opposition to but a single goal, allowing his skaters the time needed to squeak out just enough O-Fense to get the job done.
Last week, it was a 39 save performance by Kari that enabled the Thrashers to get by the New York Rangers 2-1 in a shootout. Lehtonen came within seconds of earning his second shutout of the season that night. Tuesday, it was a 40 save job by Kari that afforded his team the ability to beat Tampa Bay 3-1.
Things didn’t start off too swimmingly for Kari and the Thrashers as Gary Roberts put the Bolts up early at the 1:24 mark. It was the third shot on goal Kari faced in the game…he then denied the Lighting for the rest of the way, stopping the next 38 straight.
The Boys of Blueland killed off all five Tampa Bay power plays…including a pair of brief 5-3s. In the first, just seconds after successfully dealing with the first two man deficit…which lasted 38 seconds…Colin Stuart tied the game with a shorty, his first point since being called up from Chi-town.
At 2:02 of the second, the Slavanator took a feed from The Pevs Dispenser to give Atlanta a lead that they would not surrender. Kaptain Kovalchuk added an empty-net jobber toward the end to ice the game.
But Tuesday, make no doubt… it was the Kari Lehtonen show. These two points have his name stamped all over them. 17 of the 41 shots taken on him came in the final period…the Bolts took the first nine in that 20-minute frame. Kari’s biggest save come with just over eight minutes remaining as he turned away a penalty shot from last summer’s first overall draft pick.
It’s A Southern Thang!
The win snapped a five game losing streak to Southeast Division opponents for the Thrashers. Atlanta is 6-6-2 now against their division-mates. However, it was only the second road win inside the Southeast.
Thanks Mr. Kamal
As I’ve stated before, I’m away on business down in Miami. How’s the weather you ask? Well… it was sunny and warm with a slight breeze Tuesday. Tonight’s low will only be about 69 and Wednesday is supposed to be mostly sunny and 78. But, if the Divine Mrs. R asks, it’s rainy, blustery and miserable…got it!
Anyway, I was not successful in finding a sports bar that carried the NHL package…go figure…so I simply listened to the call of The Grand Kamalian via internet stream. Not a bad back-up plan at all!
You know, for my money, Dan Kamal is one of the best radio guys in the sport. I always get a clear mental picture of what’s happening and the colorful way he describes the action is absolutely brilliant. Also, the man is doing this solo for the most part but he carries the load professionally and always gives a great performance.
Great guy too, that Dan Kamal…last summer after the open house, he came over to chat with me as well as the pair of friends that had joined me there. He just could not have been more gracious with his time and even walked all the way to the cars with us…chattin’ Thrashers hockey all the way with us.
And I have to be honest…that he said this little forum was a regular read of his was an honor indeed for yours truly.
Anyway…thanks, Dan, for bringing me a little closer to home Tuesday night and for all ya do!
A Few Quick Shots
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My apologies for being a tad tardy with this posting…I spent last evening with the Divine Mrs. R and the two tax exemption after the game…seeing as I have to wing my way to Miami this afternoon for a few days. Then…I was having some issues with the publishing website today…..blah, blah, blah….
Anyway…I would like to first mention what a pleasure it was to have met Jackie along with her daughter Erin at the game yesterday…as well as Tom, the “lurker”. Also, I had the pleasure of meeting face to face our own Nikita. And it was nice it was to have seen Eileen and SA again after far too long since we were last able to chat.
And now, about the game…
Another Nitty-Gritty Loss To Philly
Someone verify this for me, but I do believe that Nittymaki is a Finnish word that means, “Beater of little brown birds”. If not that, then something close to it I’m sure… because Antero Nittymaki is now 13-0 against our Atlanta Thrashers after the Flyers’ 3-2 win at Philips Arena Sunday afternoon. Philadelphia has taken the last 14 straight between the two clubs.
Mike Knobler reports that the only streak similar is the 17-0 mark that Chris Osgood has against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nittymaki could match that by sweeping the Thrashers again next season.
Sunday, the Flyers net minder stopped 29 of 31 shots that Atlanta was able to get off on him.
Four of Nittymaki’s thirteen victories this season have come against the Thrashers and he’s 13-4-4 overall with 2.48 GAA and .921 SV%. In the two games played in Atlanta this season, Nittymaki and the Flyers beat the Thrashers by a combined score of 10-2.
Pierre McGuire On The Flyers Hex On The Thrashers
This morning, Pierre McGuire was a guest on XM’s “Hockey This Morning”. When the subject of Philly’s domination of the Thrashers, he basically stated the obvious…that Philadelphia was “better” than Atlanta. “Better” position by position.
Well…(DUH5).
But, even when Atlanta was skating their way to 97 points and a division championship in 2006-’07…and Philadelphia was on their way to the worst record in the NHL with 56 points…the Flyers still managed to sweep the Thrashers that year.
Helping Or Hurting
So…is playing Mathieu Schneider these days helping or hurting the cause in regards to showcasing him for possible trades?
With only a buck-thirty two elapsed in Sunday’s game, Schneids was sitting in the sin-bin for a holding call…caused because, well, he was just flat-out beat by a Flyer crossing the blueline. Later in that period, Jeff Carter scored the games first goal after Schneider had pinched too far up and was caught out of position…leaving the Flyer wide open and Todd White was not able to close the gap.
Right now, I would much rather see him viewing the game from the press box and allowing Oystrick to have more starts.
Ice Hockey…Its Easy As One-Two-Three
Someone needs to let John Anderson and his Thrashers know that the NHL still plays all of their games with three 20-minute periods. The first 40 minutes are not “warm-up” time. Since the 4-2 win against Montreal back on January 20…the Thrashers have exactly one goal in the first two periods during the last seven games.
In those seven games, Atlanta has been outscored 18-1 in the first two periods.
Congrats Ilya
Saturday morning, the Kovalchuks welcomed Philipp into the world. All accounts are that momma and baby are doing just fine. He is Ilya’s second child…joining three-year old sister Carolina.
“He’s a big boy”, the Thrashers captain said of his boy, “hopefully we’re going to give him a stick pretty soon”.
Hey Ilya…can he play defense?
Oh No! We’re On The Power Play!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The New Jersey Devils came up short in Atlanta’s Philips Arena. By “coming up short” I mean, they were able to net two short-handed goals which helped them power their way to a 5-1 victory.
Yup…the Devils went 1 for 6 on their power plays…and 2 for 7 on ours.
The Devil’s first short-handed tally came while Mike Rupp was serving a goalie interference penalty halfway through the first and New Jersey up 1-0 already. John Madden took a drop pass from Patrik Elias and… BOOM …blasted it past Kari Lehtonen’s glove.
The second came 8 minutes and 8 seconds into the second with the score 4-1. Brian Gionta really didn’t even need the other three teammates on the ice for this one as he beat Rich Peverley on the face off, beat the Peever to the puck behind him, then beat Kari for the goal…three “beats”, all by his lonesome.
After Gionta’s shorty, Kari Lehtonen’s evening had come to a forgettable end. After two stellar starts, Kari was able to stop only 19 of the 24 shots that he faced. Johan Hedberg finished up the final 31 minutes and 52 seconds turning away all 7 shots that he faced.
Hmmm…Kari faced 24 shots in 28:08 and Moose only had to deal with 7 in 31:52. I wonder if Lehtonen has a serious case of “defense-envy” this morning.
Anyway, it got to the point where we were screaming for the Thrashers bench to decline any penalty whistled against the Devils. But I guess we don’t do that in hockey…do we? No.
The best penalty taken by a Thrasher Friday was when Mathieu Schneider took a boarding call in the third period. It happened about a minute or so after Bobby Holik took a seat in the sin-bin for interfering with Hedberg, thus taking the Thrashers … OFF the POWER PLAY!
Some of us in section 119 stood and cheered…it was such a relief! Don’t wanna give up a third shorty in one game, eh?
Nice work, Schneids.
Scenes From A Taco Mac Restaurant
A bottle of red, a bottle of white…it all depends upon your appetite.
I’ll meet you anytime you want…in our Taco Mac restaurant.
So, I’m hangin’ out with my buddy Glenn at the Taco Mac at Philips before the game last night. Glenn’s a Ranger fan, but somewhat tolerable nonetheless. RStroz…bullhorn in hand…joined us there as well. We were sharing a chunk of the bar with this chap from Toronto, Jason, who was attending his first ever regular season NHL game last night.
Yes, you read that right…first time ever at an NHL game for someone from Canada. And here I thought it was a national law that by age 13 each and every native Canadian is mandated to have attended at least one NHL game and declare a blood-oath allegiance to one of the six teams from their fine country… the Leafs, Sens, Habs, Flames, Oilers or Canucks.
Go figure.
Anyway, I’m just as pleased as can be that we down here in Dixie were able to help introduce this fine lad from the Great White North to the NHL experience. He seemed to have had a good time.
While there, JZ…not J(Z)…introduced himself during the conversation at the bar and I did enjoy making his acquaintance. Same is also true for Braveheart and the lovely Beth as well.
Glenn the Blueshirt and I then made our way to the game and…well, we’ve already discussed that train wreck.
During the game, Glenn…the Ran-JUH fan… and I were treated to being in the same row as The Heat Meister and the lovely Gretchelby along with Marco and his girlfriend Polo…just kidding, Sara. Hockey Biltong and the adorable Mrs. Biltong were just behind us with friends while The Blueland Chronicle boys settled into their regular first-row upper deck seats just above us. Sean Grace and the wonderful Mrs. Grace cheered from just in front of us. Nix to the right of me… Goose to the left, who came over to share with me his hockey insight, as I always look forward to.
Post game, back at Taco Mac… waiting for The Grand Kamalian to make his Grand Kam-entrance with Darren Eliot…a young lady approached Glenn and myself. She told us that we looked like two true hockey fans that we must have the answer to her inquiry.
Obviously…the lovely lady is a fine judge of character, indeed.
Seems she had the game program with the autograph in it that wins one lucky fan a special prize from the Customer Relations counter. You know, I always wondered if anyone ever really won that thing. But her problem was that, not being a regular Thrashers attendee, she knew not where that magical Customer Relations place would be.
I guided her back into the concourse, introduced her to a personal friend of mine who works security there, got her in touch with someone at the desk and…ta-da…Brandi now has her fabulous prize package.
Meanwhile, back in the confines of T-Mac, listening to Kamal and Eliot…as The Hockey Wench and Rose from The Thrashers 411 sat up front to listen…Der Warme Meister and I just shook our heads at one another… at a loss for words over the latest entry in the debacle that is the Thrashers 08-09 season.
So…why do I tell you all this?
Well, for one…I really didn’t want talk much more about yet another horrific loss. But really, let’s go back to Jason…the gentleman who came to Georgia to attend his first ever NHL hockey game. Actually, as I stated, he was “introduced to the NHL experience”…Atlanta Thrashers style. It’s where the entirety of fun and enjoyment expands well beyond the game itself or team…and is completed by those who make up the body of Blueland.
Oh, make no doubt…the game can be exiting to watch, even when the team’s Suck-O-Meter spins off its axis all season. But the people that make up Blueland are some of the best people around…and they are what make the NHL experience what it is in these parts.
And I’m glad Jason got to experience that for the first time…here.
A bottle of red, a bottle of white…whatever kinda mood you’re in tonight.
I’ll meet you anytime you want…in our Taco Mac restaurant.
More Fun With Numbers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Recently I’ve been having some fun with numbers and statistics as it relates to the “progress” of the Don Waddell managed Atlanta Thrashers. Last week, I discussed with you how the team compares with the other 29 NHL franchises as it relates to last season’s performance and their progress this year…or lack thereof. Earlier in the week, I shared with you a study on the Thrashers’ overall team defense during their existence of 8-plus years.
Today’s topic simply depicts how the Thrashers have faired compared with the rest of the league since they began play almost a decade ago. Below are the rankings of the 30 NHL teams listed from the most successful team to the least successful since the beginning of the 1999-’00 season. This includes all regular season games that have been played through February 3, 2009…when the Thrashers last played. It lists the overall Points Winning % since October of 1999 as well as the amount of playoff appearances each team has made in the eight complete seasons during this sample.
As was the case with the previous two exercises…the numbers are very un-good if you’re a Thrashers fan.
.693 - Detroit Red Wings (8 playoff appearances)
.631 - New Jersey Devils (8)
.619 - Dallas Stars (7)
.612 - San Jose Sharks (7)
.610 - Montreal Canadiens (4)
.607 - Ottawa Senators (8)
.597 - Colorado Avalanche (7)
.585 - Philadelphia Flyers (7)
.572 - Vancouver Canucks (5)
.562 - Toronto Maple Leafs (5)
.560 - Buffalo Sabres (4)
.559 - Boston Bruins (4)
.541 - St. Louis Blues (5)
.539 - Calgary Flames (4)
.539 - Edmonton Oilers (4)
.533 - Anaheim Ducks (4)
.528 - Carolina Hurricanes (3)
.528 - Minnesota Wild (3)
.527 - Washington Capitals (4)
.523 - Nashville Predators (4)
.516 - New York Rangers (3)
.508 - L.A. Kings (3)
.498 - Phoenix Coyotes (2)
.491 - Pittsburgh Penguins (4)
.485 - Florida Panthers (1)
.484 - Chicago Blackhawks (1)
.479 - Tampa Bay Lightning (4)
.448 - New York Islanders (4)
.436 - Columbus Blue Jackets (0)
.429 - Atlanta Thrashers (1)
Note: Columbus and Minnesota began play in the 2000-’01 season, one year after Atlanta. Nashville began play in the 1998-’99 season, one year before Atlanta.
As you can see, for the most part, the years have not been kind to the Blueland faithful. This is even more apparent when you compare Atlanta’s numbers to the three teams that entered into the league at about the same time as did the Thrashers…the Preds one year before, the Wild and CBJs the year after.
Columbus: True, the Blue Jackets are still yet to even qualify for the playoffs, but they have a better points winning percentage than does Atlanta… and have done so even though they are a year younger. Also, the CBJs are on the upswing of late and are currently in the thick of a playoff race with a record of 24-22-5.
The Thrashers are currently…not.
In the same year that Atlanta qualified for the playoffs with 97 points, Columbus netted 73. Last season the Thrashers fell to 76 points while the CBJs improved to 80. So far this season the Thrashers have 41 after 52 games, (on pace for 65), while the Blue Jackets have 53 points after 51 games, (a pace for 85 points).
So, the two teams seem to be heading in polar opposite directions…and, given those numbers, Atlanta is not the one “heading in the right direction”.
The Wild: Ahhhh yes… Minn-EE-Sooo-TAH. The team that not only qualified for the playoffs in just their third season of play, but advanced to the Western Conference finals that year just for good measure. In seven complete seasons, three times they have seen action after 82 games and are in a position to do so for the fourth time in eight seasons.
And again… they currently own a PW% almost a hundred percentage points higher than Atlanta’s.
Nashville: The Predators only have one more year of play under their belt than do the Thrashers, however they have an overall winning record of .508 in their nine-plus seasons… and .523 since Atlanta kicked things off in ’99. After losing records in each of their initial five seasons, the Preds have qualified for the hunt for Lord Stanley’s Cup in each of the next four years…playing at a .607 PW% clip in those seasons. That averages to 99.5 points since the year prior to the lockout.
Hmmmmm…now THAT sounds like a five-year plan to me.
Also, the high water mark for Atlanta is a .591 PW%. Minnesota and Nashville have played to higher levels twice.
So, given all that…answer me these questions:
Of the five teams that have made it to the post-season two or fewer times since 1999… Phoenix, Atlanta, Chicago, Florida and Columbus…four of them currently hold, or are within a point or two of, a playoff spot in the standings. So obviously, improvement can be seen from some of the teams that not sipped from the post-season waters of late.
But can you guess which one of the five teams mentioned is not in the playoff hunt this season?
Next…if the Blue Jackets are successful in their quest to go to the playoffs for the first time this spring…and if they can muster up enough effort to win just one game while there…there will then be only one franchise in the NHL that has zero playoff wins.
And can you guess which team that would be?
And lastly…of the teams listed above with the ten worst records since 1999…NYR, L.A., PHX, PIT, FLA, CHI, TBL, NYI, CBJ, and ATL…nine of them have come to the conclusion in the last few years that, in order to drastically reverse their losing ways, a change had to be made in the general manager’s office. All have done so since the 1999-’00 season, eight since the lockout year.
So, can anyone guess which would be the one and only team in this group that has… despite the less-than-stellar record of the past decade… chosen to remain with the same GM?
I’ll give you a hint. The answer to all three questions would be the team that has all of 256 wins in 708 regular season games… and 0 in 4 post-season games… since opening day in October of 1999.
Shhhh…Don’t Wake Up Kari
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shhhhhhhhhhhhh…be quiet. Be very, very quiet. Kari’s asleep.
Actually, the boy is absolutely unconscious right now. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want him to wake up… to snap out of this little trance he’s in right now… until, oh…spring-ish.
Since John Anderson had to pull out a cane and yank Kari off the ice last Thursday during that debacle of a first period, Lehtonen has rebounded rather nicely…don’t you think? He faced 40 shots on goal in Carolina Saturday night…turned away 38 of ‘em, including the final 19 of that game. Unfortunately, none of his teammates could match his determination that night and the Thrashers were blank 2-zip.
He followed that up by turning away 39 of 40 Rangers shots up in The Big Apple Tuesday night…including the first 37 he faced. This time, however, his skaters found a way to not waste Kari’s performance and came away with a 2-1 shootout win, thanks in part to Joey Motzko’s first goal since being called up from Chicago a few days ago.
Motzko’s tally, from Reasoner and Armstrong, broke the scoreless deadlock at the 6:26 mark of the third period. It was a very workman like effort from that line…indicative of the night’s work all around.
Kari lost the bid for his second shutout of the season by just 11 seconds. It was the 38th Ranger shot of the game. Prior to Markus Naslund’s game-tying goal, Lehtonen had gone 101:20 without being scored upon…making 57 consecutive saves. In the past two games, Kari has face 80 shots and has allowed by 3 goals, (.962 SV%).
That, my friends, is doin’ it!
Undaunted, Kari then stopped both New York shots in overtime then help his team skate away with the second point in the shootout.
He and the rest of the Thrashers now will have a couple day off before the Devils come down to Georgia Friday night…the team Kari and Co. blanked 4-0 the last time they hooked up.
Let’s hope Kari remains totally unconscious ‘til then and continues his lights out play.
Until then…Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….
Kovy’s Miss…Fugiddaboudit!
Now…a lot has been said about Kaptain Kovy ringing the puck off the iron when attempting to salt away the game with an empty netter. In fact, as I type this up, the NHL On The Fly boys are yackin’ about just that play. But folk, Kovy drains that 999 times out of a 1,000…last night just happened to be that night. I promise you, no one feels sicker about than he does.
And come on…it isn’t anywhere near the choke-job served up a couple years back by the very first draft pick selected by Don Waddell and the Atlanta Thrashers. So, let’s keep it in perspective…shall we?
Speaking Of Steffie’s Gaff…
Believe it or not…I traveled an hour in the early morning to be able to see with my own two eyes Patrik Stefan’s infamous whiff. It also almost led to my untimely demise.
If you ever catch me at a game…ask me about it.
There Is No “D” In Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve discussed the problems regarding the Atlanta Thrashers’ defensive play quite a bit over the past several days. Of course, when the team goes two consecutive games giving up 20 and 21 shots on goal in the first periods of play, and allows a total of 40 SOGs like they did in Carolina Saturday, that sort of drives the conversation in that direction.
But the truth of the matter, as so many of us who have followed this team throughout the years already know, is that poor defense has accompanied this team since day one.
Let’s review the historical data and compare this year’s version of the Atlanta Thrashers with those of the past, shall we?
1999-’00:
3.82 GA/G, (28th)* …31.0 SA/G, (27th)* … 80.3% PK, (24th)*.
2000-’01:
3.52 GA/G, (29th)… 32.4 SA/G, (30th)… 77.9% PK, (30th).
2001-’02:
3.51 GA/G, (30th)… 35.5 SA/G, (30th)… 81.8% PK, (25th).
2002-’03:
3.46 GA/G, (30th)… 31.6 SA/G, (27th)… 81.6% PK, (25th).
2003-’04:
2.96 GA/G, (25th)… 29.4 SA/G, (23rd)… 85.1% PK, (T-8th).
2005-’06:
3.26 GA/G, (24th)… 30.3 SA/G, (18th)… 72.2% PK, (T-25th).
2006-’07:
2.94 GA/G, (15th)… 31.5 SA/G, (25th)… 79.8% PK, (26th).
2007-‘08:
3.24 GA/G, (T-30th)… 33.9 SA/G, (30th)… 78.8% PK, (27th).
2008-’09, (to date):
3.55 GA/G, (30th)… 32.5 SA/G, (27th)…75.4% PK, (29th).
*Only 28 teams in NHL in the 1999-’00 season.
As you can see…the Thrashers defense has been historically un-good. Even more troubling to me is the fact that the most recent two years resembles too closely the first few seasons.
Also…
Outside of 2003-‘04’s PK%, not once has the Thrashers crack the top half of the league in any of these team defensive rankings.
Of the nine seasons, 5 times the Thrashers have had the league’s worst GA/G stat, one other time it was second worst. True, three of those times came in the team’s initial four seasons…but two have come in their most recent seasons, this year included.
Only twice have they allowed fewer than 3 goals per game and the “high water mark” was the 2006-’07 season in which the 2.94 GA/G was 15th best in the NHL.
Only once has Atlanta had a season’s SA/G stat below 30, (2003-’04), and the best ranking in this area was 18th in 2005-’06 when they allowed 30.3 SA/G. Three times they have been dead last in the shots-against stat…one other time they were second to last…eight of nine seasons the Thrashers have ranked 23rd or lower.
During the 2003-’04 season, Atlanta had the 8th most effective penalty kill when they were successful 85.1% of the time. Outside of that, 24th has been the highest ranking that they have managed here, and they accomplished that in their inaugural season.
Now, has there ever been a time the team ever showed progress in their defense? Well, actually…yes there was.
After icing the league’s worst defense in 3 of the first 4 seasons of play, Atlanta then began to show some improvement from the blueline. In 2003-’04, the fifth season, the Thrashers had the 25th ranked defense when it came to goals scored. Year six, 2005-’06, they were 24th best and in year seven, 2006-’07…the playoff year, their ranking was 15th.
After the 2001-’02 season, in which their 25.5 SA/G stat was at the bottom of the league, the Thrashers then iced the 27th ranked defense in regards to shots against the next year. In 2003-’04 it improved to 23rd, then 18th in 2005-’06.
So, as you can see, there has indeed been a time in this team’s history when actual, real-life measurable progress could be seen from the defensive corps of the Atlanta Thrashers, (2003-2007).
These years were also known as the Bob Hartley era. You know, a lot of us said back on October 17, 2007 that the wrong guy was fired that day. Just sayin’…
Since that time, the defense has turned in quite the opposite direction. Atlanta has finished last year with the highest GA/G stat, the highest SA/G stat and the 4th to worst PK.
They are following up that performance with the worst GA/G stat yet again so far this season, (0.31 GA/G higher than last year)…the 4th highest SA/G stat, and a penalty kill that has dropped to second worst, (from 78.8% to 75.4%).
Players have come and gone… coaches have come and gone… over the past decade of Atlanta Thrashers’ hockey. But there is one thing that seams to have made Atlanta home throughout… below par defensive play.
And I’m trying to remember…what else has been a constant with this organ-I-zation since day one?
Hmmmm…?
Is There Anyone Here Who Knows How To Play Defense?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kari Lehtonen should pick up the phone first thing Monday morning and contact a good lawyer. The reason? To sue for lack of support and abandonment by his teammates.
In the past two games, the Thrashers goalie has taken to the ice only to find that the other skaters wearing brown birds on their chest are still in the locker room mentally. Because the defense in front of him has been so ill prepared to start the past couple of games, Kari has taken more rubber to the face than a possum on GA-20.
Thursday night against the Islanders, he lasted for only 13 minutes and 10 seconds. In that time, he faced 15 shots…surrendering 4 goals. New York then took another five in the opening period after Johan Hedberg relieved him and had 30 by the end of the second.
20 shots on goal in the first and 30 after two periods. Pretty tough to play any worse that that, right?
Uh…no. Saturday night, Carolina launched 21 SOG in the opening period and had 32 by the second intermission.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Thirty-two shots on goal in 40 minutes of play? Oh, for the good old days when it used take an entire game for an opposing team to get off 30+ shots on the Thrashers goal!
IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO KNOWS HOW TO PLAY DEFENSE?!?!
sigh….
Anyway…against Carolina, however, Kari came ready to play. He looked like this time he was ready…mentally prepared even… for the inevitable onslaught of flying biscuits inside of his kitchen. It was as if he has finally accepted the fact that he simply is not going to be the beneficiary of solid defensive play in from of him on a consitent basis.
Not from this team at least…not anytime soon.
In Atlanta’s 2-0 loss to Carolina, Lehtonen turned away 38 of 40 shots. The two that got passed him were the result of Atlanta’s defense getting caught with their pants down…allowing Canes’ skaters to move in 1 on 1 on Kari. The first time was on a Thrashers power play as Schneider and Kozlov were beaten. The second one saw Bogosian racing to try and catch up to the play. Both situations occurred in the first.
Lehts shut them down the rest of the way, giving his team a chance to get back in the game. Unfortunately, the Thrashers were not able to solve the mystery that was Cam Ward and the Carolina defense all night. You know…the same type of conundrum that they faced in Dallas Tuesday night with Marty Turco and the Stars.
But even though his teammates could not find there way in front of him, Lehtonen continued to battle and the puck was not able to find it’s way past him. At one point in the second, after stopping yet another Carolina shot taken from close in, Kari tossed the puck to the ice in disgust.
I have the distinct feeling that instead of tossing it down on the ice…he really wanted to shove it firmly up one of his defender’s…well…uh, somewhere that sounds similar to “ice”.
Last summer, Kari was signed to a one-year deal. Many felt this was because Don Waddell and the Thrashers organ-I-zation wanted this season to be the one in which Lehtonen took this full-time gig and finally ran with it once and for all…or be run out of town. Well, if indeed we’ll see the Thrashers and Kari part ways this summer…it may be a non-contested divorce from Lehtonen.
Now…About That O-Fense
Atlanta was not able to match the Hurricane’s first period shot total of 21 as they were allowed but 19 shots for the entire game.
The Thrashers have now been shutout in two of the three games since the All Star break. In fact, in the nine periods played in this week, they have been held without a goal in eight. All four goals scored in the past three games came in the third period of Thursday’s loss to the Islanders. Going back to the Philly game just prior to the All Star Game, the Thrashers have score goals in only two of there last twelve periods.
What’s that old line by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first ever head coach John McKay back in 1976 when he was asked about the execution of his team?
“I’m all for it”.
Nasty Nesters Take Wing To Carolina
Sally Cersosimo and 150 of her friends made their way out of the Nasty Nest in Blueland and winged it to the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Funny…I thought birds fly south for the winter.
Anyway…it was quite the showing and it’s just too bad that the team couldn’t show up with as much fire and passion that Sally and Co. did.
Must Be The Hour
Mike Knobler’s recent blog…in which he discusses the Thrashers’ play of late…is titled, “Worst Stretch Of A Bad Season”. As always, it’s very well delivered.
However, upon forst glance, I thought the title read…”Worst STENCH Of A Bad Season”,
It would have worked too.
Fragile And Scared And Embarrassed…Oh My!
“Fragile”: A word used twice by John Anderson to describe his Thrashers team in the post-game interview. It’s a word used to illustrate this team’s mindset too many times over the past two seasons. In fact, if you created a drinking game using the words “fragile” and “Thrashers” being used in the same sentence…we would be snot-faced for the better part of the winter.
“Scared”: A word used, I believe, by Darren Eliot about the way this team is approaching games now. It should be a word used to describe the way some of these players feel in regards to their job security here…or the way the general manager who has overseen this mess for too long now feels about his job.
“Embarrassed”: The reason given by Eliot as to why this team is playing “scared”…as in, they are scared of being embarrassed out there.
Fragile…scared…and embarrassed. These are not three words that you want used to describe your hockey team.
