AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 26 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USBack At It, Blueland
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK kids…We’re blogging in bed again this morning, so be mindful of the flannels as you sip your coffee and don’t slop any milk from your bowls full of Sugar Puffs! Puckjunque…nice reindeer slippers!
So, I hope Christmas brought you all the wonderment and blessings you desired and that you’re hearts are filled with love, peace, and…. Oh, OK, I’ll cut the crap. I hope you got all the goodies and gifts that you wanted or, if not, you’ll be able to exchange them for something that you like better.
Me? Let’s see, I got some DVDs…The Green Mile…The Producers, (funny flick)…Patton…Apparently the word hasn’t gotten out that I already sit around too much on my fat a-…Oh look, Schindler’s List! How festive!!!
Anyway, as I was saying, I hope Christmas was good for you and that you’re well rested. Because, you see, it’s time to put down that 14th helping of pumpkin pie and the Chunky Fruitcake Surprise that you’re Aunt Mildred UPS-ed you from Rochester and return your attention to our Atlanta Thrashers!
The Thrashers play four games between Christmas and New Years. Tonight the season resumes in Columbus, Ohio as we pay a visit to the Blue Jackets. Their 15-14-6 record has earned them 36 points, which is good enough for 4th place in the Central Division and 11th in the Western Conference. Columbus scores an average of only 2.40 goals a game, but only gives up 2.34 which is 5th best in the NHL. The Blue Jacket’s power play is struggling at only 14.1% but their penalty kill is the league’s 4th best at 86.3%. So, scoring a lot of goals against this team might be as tough as chewing that fruitcake.
Returning from the Christmas break we find our Thrashers still riding high on a 4 game win streak that put them one game above .500. They will play tonight attempting to go two over the break-even mark for the first time all season. A victory, combined with a Hurricane loss to the Rangers, will also bring them to just 2 points behind division-leading Carolina and allow them to pull into a tie for first tomorrow by beating the Florida Panthers. Yes, that’s what I said…the Thrashers could be on top of the division tomorrow night! How’s would THAT be for a late Christmas present?
Now, here are some reading assignments for you guys while I surf the Internet after Christmas sales ads…
The recent play of the Thrashers is good enough to move them up seven places in SI.com’s Scott Wraight’s Power Rankings.
Outdoor hockey in Buffalo…Gimmick or greatness? Espn.com’s Scott Burnside and Damien Cox hash it out.
Speaking of outdoor hockey, here is how they converted an NFL field to a hockey rink.
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Comments
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By Russian
December 26, 2007 8:15 AM | Link to this
Damn, it is wednesday today. Time to come back to work. It is always hard to do after 4 days Holiday. Well I can handle this. I checked Jackets stats, look like Nash is a biggest scoring leader. If we cover him, we are going to be OK. I guest lines will be the same for game today. I think we can win tonight, I just looking forward to see a good game. :-)
By Alan
December 26, 2007 8:19 AM | Link to this
THN’s power rankings have Atlanta jumping from 26th to 15th. I wonder how ESPN and TSN will have us ranked after going 4-0-0 and knocking down the Sens.
By Buzilla Baby Blues
December 26, 2007 9:03 AM | Link to this
fa la la la la laaaaaa la la la la
By kracker
December 26, 2007 10:07 AM | Link to this
Happy Holidays RH & Thrash fans everywhere
Santa brought me a new Thrashers watch….well, he let me order it from NHL Shop but it seems like a Christmas present. The late present that I want is 6-8 more points before we visit Caneville.
By stendec
December 26, 2007 10:18 AM | Link to this
Post Merry Christmas to all! Just a few more hours until puck dropped. Getting primed! Wonderful to see professional team headquartered in Atlanta put forth effort. Vast majority of time anyway! Hope to see Thrashers extend winning streak. Time to play like defending champions! Flames were never world-beaters here but had the finest theme song of any Atlanta professional sports team. Ever! Anyone agree? Oh well, everyone enjoy the game. Happy New Year Thrasher watchers! Squa Tront.
By Rawhide
December 26, 2007 10:23 AM | Link to this
Got some great news for everyone! Manley just dropped me a line….first, he said thanks again to everyone for the kind package and card sent to him…second, he will be on R&R this weekend and his family will fly over to Europe to meet him there for it, (I will not disclose location).
Third….he indicated that his return home will be mid-January…so, who’s up for a welcome home party combined with a Thrasher viewing???
By Thrasher Ryan
December 26, 2007 10:31 AM | Link to this
Rawhide & Co.—I hope everybody had a splendid Christmas. Now it is time to get back to work. These next 10 games are CRITICAL. I was hoping for 7-3; that’s not asking too much is it RH? I know this team can do it. New Mission = Win 7 out of next 10.
We can split these 10 up into 3 groups. 3 games, 3 games, & 4 games. Staring tonight, we want to win AT LEAST 2 out of the next 3. 3 out of 3 would be great, but 2 out of 3 is acceptable.
From Dec. 31 to Jan 4th, we play 3 games. Again, we are gunning for 2 out 3. Thru 6 games, we would be at 4-2.
From Jan. 6th -12th, we have 4 games. ALL OF THEM IN “OUR HOUSE”. Win 3 out of 4 and you come to the grand total of 7-3. That would be awesome. I think most of us here would agree that this team has “the talent” to get this done. The question is, can they? Good luck, Thrashers.
“You can do it!!!” The Waterboy
By Thrasher Ryan
December 26, 2007 10:36 AM | Link to this
Third….he indicated that his return home will be mid-January…so, who’s up for a welcome home party combined with a Thrasher viewing???
That seems to be right about the time we play Pucks N Snots’ Wings in Motor City. Hmmm…
By J
December 26, 2007 10:38 AM | Link to this
I didn’t realize that we could possibly be in first place as soon as tomorrow!!!! But, to do so, we’ve gotta root for the Rangers??? Oh well, I used to be a Rangers fan before the Thrashers won me over, so I can go back to my roots. Hopefully I don’t have to root for Avery at least.
Nash has been struggling lately, which means the whole Columbus team has been struggling, so this is avery winnable road game. Any word on their or our goalies tonight (and tomorrow?)
I just realized I’m gonna have to miss next Friday’s Carolina game (my to-be 2nd missed home game of the season) and I’m not happy about it. Damn weddings, why don’t people understand that they should save weddings for baseball season????
By Brian
December 26, 2007 10:42 AM | Link to this
Rawhide - sounds like you should have your “pucksnsnot invitational” with special guest Manley…
By Thrasher Ryan
December 26, 2007 10:47 AM | Link to this
Rawhide - sounds like you should have your “pucksnsnot invitational” with special guest Manley…
I 2nd that…
By Take Everything, Give Back Nothing
December 26, 2007 10:48 AM | Link to this
ThrasherRyan - 7 out of 10 would be nice…but that’s still conceading 3 losses! Have you forgotten the Rawhide Credo???
“This is OUR home ice, these are OUR fans. You will NOT have a good time tonight! We will pressure you. We will attack your net! We will pursue you, hunt you down and hit you so hard your parents will be sorry they even MET! We will chase down every puck. We will knock you down and laugh when we make you cry like little girls! We don’t care what your record may be or from where you came! When you play your next game, whether that is tomorrow…the next day…or the day following, you will still feel what we did to you tonight!
We do this because this is OUR ice!
Because THIS is Thrasher hockey!
These are OUR fans!
THIS is BLUELAND”!
Granted, it refers to home ice…but it’s how the Thrashers should approach ALL games!!!!!
7 out of 10? Nice…..but we should view every game as winnable!!!
WE WANT ALL TEN!!!
By Rawhide
December 26, 2007 10:54 AM | Link to this
J - Damn weddings, why don?t people understand that they should save weddings for baseball season????
Yeah!…Wazzup wid dat? I mean isn’t JUNE supposed to be the wedding month?
As for the goalie situation, I guess you’ll find out when I do…were it me, I’d start Kari tonight…go with the hot-hand and all that…then start Moose tomorrow night. After that, we play two weeks of games every other night. Stay with the #1 goalie during that span of games. Next back-to-backer is 17th and 18th.
Brian & ThrasherRyan - It’s a great suggestion…I’ve asked Manley to let me know when his actual return date is. If it jives with the 15th, then I’ll see if he’s up to it. Otherwise, we may schedule it for later in the month.
By Manley
December 26, 2007 11:47 AM | Link to this
Rawhide—sorry, I may not have written clearly. I return here to beautiful Mesopotamia in mid-January after spending some time in Europa with my family, but I will not have internet until then so hope to find the Thrash in division lead. Sorry about that—really wish I could be there to see a game. Good news is, if we make the Cup finals I’ll make it back to Georgia in time…
By Manley
December 26, 2007 11:55 AM | Link to this
I am listening to the WJC USA vs Kazakhstan and during the 2nd intermission they interviewed Sergei someone-or-other about Russian hockey in general and asked him who Russian fans thought was the best or most popular current player. The first name out of his mouth was Kovalchuk, then he said Ovechkin. Of course, he then said probably Ovechkin is first and then Kovalchuk. At least Kovy is getting some love somewhere.
Oh yeah, the USA is killing Kazakhstan 4-1 with like 5 minutes left with a SOG differential of 31-8!
By Rawhide
December 26, 2007 12:03 PM | Link to this
How cool is THAT…we are getting updates from Iraq on USA hockey!!
USA!..USA!..USA!
OK, thanks for the clarification, Manley! We will stand down at this time!!! Still, it’s wonderful that you’ll have the time with your family!!
By Buzilla Baby Blues
December 26, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this
My wedding is going to be during baseball season
By Jsmooth
December 26, 2007 1:09 PM | Link to this
BUDAJ!!!!!!! (that’s Boo-die!) The reference to Kazakhstan (does anyone truly know if this country exists?) makes me think of the Avalanche goaltender with the splendid last name! Makes you want to shout it out with emphatic enthusiasm! Who else in the NHL is from that country? Anze Kopitar? Looks like a burgeoning hockey factory if you ask me. Time for the boys in Blue to win another nailbiter 3-2 thanks to Kari’s stellar goaltending once again…statement game for KL against the league (was for awhile) leader in GAA (LeClaire). Would be nice if our Pascal scored on their Pascal tonight. Go Birds!
By Rawhide
December 26, 2007 1:30 PM | Link to this
Zilla - Very considerate of you, indeed!!!
JSmooooth - FYI…I give you, Kazakhstan. Not to be confused with Krygyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan or Alabamastan.
By kracker
December 26, 2007 1:39 PM | Link to this
RH I think all the weddings should be scheduled between the NHL Entry Draft on June 20-21: and the Free Agency Signing period that begins on July 1.
That is nine whole days, including two Sundays, which is plenty of time to hold a few weddings. If guys have to rent something they can use it multiple times, thus saving money to spend on the wives and gfs or buy another sweater.
All this stuff has gotta be in the Hockey Etiquette Handbook where it talks about things to do in the Summer. (I can’t seem to find the Handbook right now….)
By puckjunque
December 26, 2007 1:40 PM | Link to this
Okay, lets have some Amens please!..
Bow your heads, hands joined on keyboards
Oh Heavenly Father, Thank you for listening to our prayers and for keeping the Thrashers healthy and strong. We are very pleased with the progress they are making and we ask that you continue to guide them to be in position to shoot the puck more and score more goals. Please lead the Thrashers to dominate and kick the blue jackets a$$! AMEN!!
By Thrasher Ryan
December 26, 2007 1:44 PM | Link to this
AMEN, PJ! I smell a 4-2 Thrashers victory!!!
By Rawhide
December 26, 2007 1:45 PM | Link to this
A-FREAKIN-MEN!!! Well stated, PJ!
Now, let’s go Crush Columbus!!!
By J
December 26, 2007 2:06 PM | Link to this
I looked up Kazakhstan too, didn’t find any NHLers. Kopitar is a Slovak I believe (as is Budaj). When I googled it, Nick Antropov of the Leaves comes up as a Khasakapaskitanian, but wikipidea says he’s from Ust-Kamenogorsk, U.S.S.R. but its got a little Kazhak flag next to him! So confused!!!!
By Nix
December 26, 2007 2:15 PM | Link to this
Amen, PJ!
Let’s go, Thrashers!
By Buzilla Baby Blues
December 26, 2007 2:34 PM | Link to this
July 19th. Just after you window closes, but not bad. And it wasn’t even my idea
By Jsmooth
December 26, 2007 2:59 PM | Link to this
AMEN, PRAISE GORDIE HOWE!! Thanks PJ for the rousing petition to the hockey gods for strength, health, consistency and a 5th WIN IN A ROW!!! C’mon boys, get ‘er done!
RH — too funny, thanks for the geography lesson! I can’t believe Alabama thinks their so important now that they can add a “stan” to the end of their name! Perhaps it should be Alabamasabanstan! Oh dear, I really am THAT bored at work.
J — thanks for checking on that but now I’m as confused as you! And God bless you…you make some strange noises when you sneeze! I wouldn’t mind seeing Kopitar in a Thrashers jersey some day…how about Kozlov to Kopitar to Kovy for the one timer!? Uh oh, that line would not work well at all.
By J
December 26, 2007 3:07 PM | Link to this
Yeah my allergies are going nuts with this 0.0004 inches of rain we got this week!
By Brian
December 26, 2007 3:29 PM | Link to this
Jsmooth, J & Rawhide - so which country was Gymkata based out of???
By kracker
December 26, 2007 3:44 PM | Link to this
Buzilla July 19th is good, that works. The free agant signing frenzy will have died down a bit by then and you will be ready for some nice married R&R bliss. Y’all going somewhere exotic, like Destin?
By J
December 26, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this
Is anything better than wikipedia???
Gymkata is a 1985 film filmed in Yugoslavia and starring Kurt Thomas as Jonathan Cabot, an Olympic gymnast who combines his gymnastic ability with ninjutsu to enter a deadly competition in a fictional country, Parmistan.
By Brian
December 26, 2007 4:08 PM | Link to this
J - oh yeah, Parmistan…
By Waffleboy
December 26, 2007 4:22 PM | Link to this
Kovalchuk is now two thosand points behind Ovechkin in the All-Star voting. I know he can’t make the top three, but he deserves to be ahead of Briere and Ovechkin. I know you’re all doing everything you can but we have to get out the vote! Voting ends on January 2nd. Vote for Kovy!
By Boulton's Bruisers
December 26, 2007 4:26 PM | Link to this
Gymkata is a good one. But Killer Klowns From Outer Space is better.
By J
December 26, 2007 4:31 PM | Link to this
I think I voted too much, they blocked the site at work!!!!! :(
By Brian
December 26, 2007 4:56 PM | Link to this
Boulton’s Bruisers - never heard of it, it sounds a bit like Spaceballs?
By PJ
December 26, 2007 5:05 PM | Link to this
Brian - Parmistan is where Parmesean Cheese comes from so it must be near Italy. Be careful Rawhide, you are awfully close to mocking my people!
By Thorburn's Thugs
December 26, 2007 5:18 PM | Link to this
Brian - I like the movie “Tron”.
By Rawhide
December 26, 2007 5:27 PM | Link to this
PJ - “Your people”….Oh, dude…uh…I mean dude-ette…thats , like, way out there in Cahl-i-FOR-nia….huh-huh!!
Fer SHURRRRrrrrrrr!!!!
Brian - I see your “Swartz” is as big as MINE! But do you know how to handle it???
By Waffleboy
December 26, 2007 5:50 PM | Link to this
Brian-Here’s all you need to know about Killer Klowns. The movie’s tagline: “In space no one can eat ice cream.” Classic.
By J
December 26, 2007 6:09 PM | Link to this
mmmmmm, an Erin Andrews sighting on AJC!!!! Can’t she come back to the Thrashers? Please?????????????
By erock
December 26, 2007 6:20 PM | Link to this
Where is Custance??
By stendec
December 26, 2007 7:27 PM | Link to this
SOMEBODY TELL KL CHRISTMAS IS OVER! Terrible goal! Soft as marshmallow. Thrashers in hole against team which allows goals grudgingly. Just awful lapse in concentration. Mind wandering again! Cannot afford to allow ANY more. Hope offense up to challenge tonight. KL may be due for one of HIS nights. Come on Blue!
By Brian
December 26, 2007 7:38 PM | Link to this
stendec - once again we are being terribly outshot, Kari is keeping us in this game. He made 2 great kick saves while we have yet to have a legitimate scoring chance. I am not annointing him as the second coming of Hasek/Roy/Brodeur, but why is it that no matter what type of goal is scored on him you feel it is a soft goal? Wait for the scoring judge to come out, the puck might have been tipped in front in which that was in no way a soft goal.
By stendec
December 26, 2007 8:07 PM | Link to this
Brian. I see. KL is a F+++++G star! Think he could have looked any more dazed and clueless on second goal? What a loser! Unfreeze ice. KL cost Thrashers this one. Pity. Points needed! Streak nice while it lasted. MOOSE TIME!
By 12345
December 26, 2007 8:16 PM | Link to this
Looks like we are heading into the FOG again… This game looks BAD.
We play so well… Then look as if we don’t have a clue at what we are doing.
Two goals… weak to say the very least !
By BigBill
December 26, 2007 8:19 PM | Link to this
Come on guys…Where IS the effort tonight ?
Florida is here in town just waiting !!!
By Russian
December 26, 2007 8:37 PM | Link to this
I guest they had a good Christmas! They were not moving at all. Bad game. We are not going come back. I think we are going to loose this game. :-(
By stendec
December 26, 2007 8:40 PM | Link to this
Hey Waddell. Stop the bleeding! Please play Moose against Florida. KL is in LaLa Land again! First goal marshmallow. It WAS NOT tipped or redirected, sorry apologists! Second one was vintage KL goal. Nowhere near F+++++G net! A sad end to a nice run. GO BLUE!
By stendec
December 26, 2007 8:51 PM | Link to this
Santa. I know it is past Christmas. Please, PLEASE do not let Thrashers get shut out. AGAIN! Against an untalented chump squad. The team has KL under contract. No additional punishment is necessary. Thank you.
By J
December 26, 2007 8:52 PM | Link to this
Jeez, 2 periods into a game after a holiday break and you guys wanna dump everything that’s been working? You can’t win em all. IF that first goal wasn’t tipped, that wasn’t definitely a bad goal. But you can’t win if you don’t score. For us to be 0-2 with 0 shots on the PP is ridiculous!!!!
But the game isn’t over yet, lets get on the board, I can’t let LeClaire get a shutout, especially for fantasy hockey purposes :)
By stendec
December 26, 2007 9:09 PM | Link to this
Thanks Thrashers for a truly Falcon-like mail-in uneffort! **Truly pathetic. If you did not want to try you should not have traveled to Columbus. Embarrassment from start to finish! WHICH team was without its TOP player? SHEESH!
By stendec
December 26, 2007 9:22 PM | Link to this
To get shut out by an untalented team without its best player is totally unacceptable. THERE ARE NO EXCUSES! The two soft (YES SOFT) goals allowed by KL did not help. First one drained every drop of energy from Thrashers. Starting goaltender must carry mates some nights. KL will never rver be able to live up to that role. PURE GARBAGE! Keep it up guys. May have opportunity to get that shutout record yet! Pure puke.
By dj
December 26, 2007 9:34 PM | Link to this
When ever you play a position as goalie, you can then tell what are soft goals stendec. The 2nd was the fault of slater looking around, i hope he saw the blonde in the 2nd row. The first was ramped off of toby’s stick. I hate it when defensemen do that to me. You can’t judge the angle of the shot or speed and really it was just lucky. But, you should never play bad enough to let a lucky goal beat you.
By LAC
December 26, 2007 9:47 PM | Link to this
Really poor effort tonight…
Low shot total as well…
Would like to see an additional scorer soon !
By J
December 26, 2007 10:11 PM | Link to this
Oh well, at least Carolina lost!!! Even though I don’t blame Kari for this loss (you can’t win if you don’t score, and you can’t score if you don’t get any decent shots!) I bet Moose starts against the Rats.
By Emily Litella
December 26, 2007 10:25 PM | Link to this
Kari SUCKS!!! Send him back to Chicago…..no, Gwinnett!!! Just send him packing!
He’s terrible!! He let in two goals and cost us the game!
TWO GOALS!! He sucks the hole outa my BUTT!
He’s aweful! He’s…..
Oh wait….he let in two goals and we won in St. Louis….and he let in two goals and we beat Montreal…same with Ottawa and Tampa Bay…..
He was “GREAT” those games, wasn’t he?
Oh, well…that’s completely different…
Never mind!
Back to you, Chevy…
By PJ
December 26, 2007 10:33 PM | Link to this
Rawhide- Okay, California is like West, Ukraine is like East. Like I totally remember this from school and stuff.
By Rawhide
December 26, 2007 10:40 PM | Link to this
PJ - Whatev….
By Nix
December 26, 2007 10:46 PM | Link to this
I am not an expert on goals but the two Kari “let” in didn’t seem soft to me. Either way, we didn’t manage to score, and ultimately, that’s how you don’t win. Our passes were sloppy, we got out-hussled, and their D totally shut us down. I mean, seriously - Kovy didn’t get a shot on goal until 1/2 way through the 3rd period, did he? To me, that says a lot more about their defense than it does about our goaltender. Hopefully, they’ll go back and watch what the BJ’s D did right, and figure out how to beat it when we’re up against similar Ds in the future.
By Russ
December 27, 2007 8:26 AM | Link to this
I have reviewed each of the 122 goals the Thrashers have allowed this season, and I have come to the conclusion that all but 5 have been “soft” goals. That’s right, if not for soft goals the Thrashers would have only given up a total of 5 goals in the first 37 games. That is pretty air tight defense being played by the blueline and the forwards. Therefore, the blame for only being a .500 team all has to fall on the goalies shoulders. If the Thrashers can trade for an NHL quality goaltender they will only allow one goal approximately every 7th game, the rest will be shutouts. Sounds like if the Thrashers can improve in goal they should run away with the Stanley Cup.
By The Janitor
December 27, 2007 9:29 AM | Link to this
Yeah, I’m back at work…no long Christmas break for me.
Scat ya’ll….Rawhide’s got a new blog and I need to sweep up in here!
By Scott
January 2, 2008 10:07 PM | Link to this
I say no posts til after midnight. Vote for Kovalchuk and then vote some more. 1 goal, 3 assists - he is amazing