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Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The Good, The Un-Good And The Ugly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, as I was sitting on a big-‘ol Delta jet preparing for take-off, I closed my eyes and silently lifted a quick petition to The Great Thunder Maker In The Sky. I think it went something like, “Please Lord, don’t let this long metal tube with wings attached to it and packed full of highly-flammable jet fuel fall out of the sky whilst rocketing it’s way toward Miami and explode in an a fiery inferno that would render my physical body charred beyond recognition to the point that not even Bruce, my dentist, would be able to identify it”.
You know, the basic flyer’s prayer.
Anyway once done, the older gentleman sitting next me nudged my arm and said in a kind, fatherly way, “Don’t worry son, you aren’t going anywhere until it’s your time”. To which I responded, “Fine…but what if it’s the pilot’s time”?
He didn’t say a word to me for the rest of the flight.
And now, the latest GU&U:
The Good
Sitting Near The Top: After all that has happened this season, the Thrashers find themselves a mere point away from the top of the Southeast Division. That’s one teeny-tiny point away from the third seed in the playoffs. One good run of games, say an 8-2 tear, could put us on top with some distance from the rest of the pack. All you can ask for going down stretch is to have a chance…and it’s good that we do.
Kari Lehtonen: Don’t look now, but Kari’s string of strong starts since the All Star Game has moved him to #15 in the league in SV%, (.916 to be precise). That is a thousandth of a point behind Martin Brodeur and Martin Biron and two thousandths of a point behind five others. If you consider his work in his past five starts, he has a 1.40 GAA and a .956 SV%. Very, very good.
Ilya Kovalchuk all but carried this team on his back during the first half of the season. If the Thrashers are to see post-season action again this year, especially if it takes winning the division to do so, then the young goalie will have to “Kari” the team to the “Finnish” line. (Sorry).
SOGs Down: The Thrashers have played two consecutive games giving up only 28 shots on goal. The way rubber has flown in the face of Atlanta net minders this season… this is a minor miracle. This good trend needs to continue.
The Un-Good
Sitting NEAR The Top: Yes, you see that correctly. I placed this in the “Good” section as well as the “Un-Good”. Why? Simple…while it is, indeed, good to be in this position the fact is we have been saying that since the beginning of the New Year. Yes, it’s good to be in the thick of a division crown race again…but truth be told, a team playing slightly better would be running away with it right now.
In fact, the top four teams in the Atlantic and Northeast divisions would be leading the Southeast right now. 11 of the 15 teams out west could be leading the Southeast right now. I know much of the record has to do with the unbalanced scheduling, but look at it this way…had the Thrashers simply won one more game each of the first four months of the season, then they would hold a 7 point lead over Washington right now. Only Detroit enjoys a greater cushion between a 1st and 2nd place team.
Oh, and right now, the team that looks the most like the one ready to take charge is the Caps…the team we play next.
The Chances That Waddell Is Employed In Atlanta Next Season: Un-Good. If the Thrashers don’t make the playoffs The Don is gone for sure, (some may choose to place this in the “good” section). How the Marian Hossa deal is handled, or mishandled, could determine DW’s future here regardless of whether or not the team makes the post-season.
To be honest, I’m really getting a queasy feeling in my gut right now, (and it’s not from the little Cuban Cafe I had lunch at down here on Monday). It has more to do with the fact that I believe more and more that the closer we get to the trade deadline, the more Waddell is going to be feeling the pressure to move Marian. However, if seen by others as dealing from a position of weakness, we could be getting offers based on the “Hey, it’s better then having him walk and then you have nothing” side of the road.
That would be un-good.
Don’t get me wrong…I’m not a card-carrying member of the Don Waddell Hater Club. And I still would rather have Hossa sign and stay. But that is looking slimmer by the day and the clock is ticking…
The Ugly
Richard Zednik’s severed carotid artery that was accidentally caused by Olli Jokinen’s skate in Buffalo Sunday leaving a trail of blood as he left the ice defines the word “ugly” more than anything I can think of right now. Sabres fans saw this same thing almost 2 decades ago when Buffalo goalie Clint Malarchuk took a skate blade to the throat.
As gruesome as the scene was on the ice Sunday, I certainly am glad that Jessica Zednik is able to be with her husband right now and what she witnessed in the TV was not as heartbreakingly ugly as it might have been.
I’m sure as she stepped on the charter jet to Buffalo Sunday night she was saying a prayer or two herself.
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