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Sunday, February 24, 2008
Thrashers In An Un-Good Place
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hard To Get Happy After That!
Things started off well enough as Atlanta weathered being out shot by the Toronto Maple Leafs 12-5 in the first period, (Actually, allowing only 12 shots was a mighty improvement over the past couple of games). They even took a 1-0 lead into the first break thanks to a Mark Recchi power play goal. But the Leafs scored three unanswered goals, one by Mats Sundin, another by Alexander Steen, (who just signed a 2 year, $3.4 million contract extension), and then the last when Nik Antropov notch the 100th goal of his career.
Toronto ended the season series with Atlanta 3-0-1.
Rubbing a little salt in the wound, Florida scored a game-tying goal with 4 seconds left in the 3rd against Philadelphia and then won it in overtime. That leaves the Thrashers in 4th place in the Southeast Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference…just one point ahead of Toronto in the 14th spot.
Obviously, the frustrating 3-1 loss to Toronto leaves Don Waddell and the Thrashers in an un-good place, to put it mildly. If you simply look at the standings, you’ll find Carolina 7 points better than Atlanta, Washington and Florida a single point better. It’s true that the Hurricanes have two less games remaining on the season than do the hometown Thrashers, however even if they were to win those two it still leaves 3 points to gain.
Impossible? No. Especially considering the Canes will go the rest of the way without their captain Rod Brind’Amour. However, if you include the game in which he suffered the injury back on Valentines Day, they have gone 4-1-1 since. That displays the type of team character that simple stats can never show. Plus, just last Thursday Atlanta could have pulled to within one single point of the division leading Hurricanes with the two games in hand. To go from a possible 1 point deficit to being 7 out in just 48 hours…well…
But it’s not just the points now, it’s that there are 3 teams to climb over in the division and 5 in the conference. Not the place you want to be in going into the last week of February.
And Now…The Waiting
The odds are that Saturday’s game in Toronto will be the last time we see Marian Hossa in a Thrashers’ uniform. Depending on whom you listen to, he could wind up anywhere from Montreal, to Detroit, to Ottawa, to Boston, to somewhere out west…or remaining right here. One of the things Hossa has stated regarding his situation with the Thrashers organ-I-zation is that he wanted to see what direction it was heading in before signing. That he has not signed…and will not sign…indicates that he feels as though the team is not on the right track.
Personally, I can’t say that I blame him. After all, it has been over 4 months since Hartley was released and the team is still no closer in replacing him. Yes, it’s clear the ownership put this in Waddell’s hands to make right it’s woes…but if you’re Marian Hossa and you don’t even know who the coach is going to be, and now the there are clearly questions about who the GM will be…how can you make any intelligent decision on which way the team is heading?
Playoffs? You Kidding Me? Playoffs?
“If we cannot beat one of the worst teams in the conference, then we do not deserve to be in it”. Those were the words of Atlanta Thrashers captain Bobby Holik shortly after his team’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs when asked about the playoff implications.
Good point.
Other Odds & Ends
Wasted in the loss is the fact that the defense held an opposing team to only 25 shots on goal. In fact, Atlanta was NOT out shot by a team for the first time since…oh heck, I can’t remember, was it the 4-2 loss to Edmonton on the 20th of January? The two squads split evenly the 50 SOGs in the game.
Alexei Zhitnik did not dress for the game in Toronto. That is the third game this season the defender did not play. The Thrashers record in those games? 0-3-0 being outscored 11-4. However, in only one of those games were the Thrashers out shot.
If the Atlanta Thrashers fail to earn a regulation win Tuesday in Montreal or Thursday against the Islanders, then they will finish the month of February with one win not needing overtime. That’s right…one. It came in Washington on the second day of the month.
Last season, the Thrashers lost 28 games in regulation. So far this year they’ve lost 30…and there is are 5 weeks yet to play.
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