AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > March > 02
Sunday, March 2, 2008
FAT PENGUIN!!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Uh, what was that you said, Rawhide…fat penguin”?
Yeah, I said “Fat Penguin”. I just wanted to say something that would … break the ice!! HA!
I used to use that line many moons ago to approach chicks, (of course that was before the divine Mrs. R came into my life). It was about as successful as the Atlanta Thrashers were this weekend…it got me close, but never enough to close the deal.
You wanna hear something else funny? OK…the other night I was driving around north Cobb County listening to the Thrashers game on the radio…! HA, HA!!!
OK, here’s another one for ya. Three Friday’s ago, the Atlanta Thrashers won an exhilarating game in New Jersey that put them two games over .500 for the first time all season and put them right at the top of the Southeast Division and the team looked poised to finally make a serious push toward repeating as division champs and enter the post-season on an upward swing!
HAHAHAHA…Oh wait. That is actually what has happened.
Since that time the Thrashers have lost seven consecutive games, the last three in overtime. Instead of vying for the #3 seed in the conference, we are sitting in the #14 position two points closer to the bottom then to the division leading Hurricanes.
Seven straight losses. Ask Bob Hartley what happened to him after six this season.
Given the fact that Atlanta’s chances of still playing after the first week of April are about as good as my chances were of getting in more then 2 sentences with the ladies I used the “Fat Penguin” line on, let’s take a look at just what this whole ’07-’08 NHL season thingy is cracking up to be.
If the team continues on it’s current course, (assuming it snaps the losing streak), it is going to wind up with 79 points. That would be 18 points less than it produced last season. In fact, the last time the Thrashers finished a season close to that type of points production was the year prior to the lockout, the fifth year of their existence, when they tallied 78 points.
But wait, back then, there was no guaranteed second point being doled out in games with a shootout. Games ending after a five-minute overtime stayed a tie. So, if you wish to gain a true appreciation for just where the team is right now in comparison to back then, remove the shootout points an you’ll find something even more un-good. To date, Atlanta has eight such points, thus they would have a 21-31-1-14 record for 57 points to show after 67 games. That would project out to a final record of 26-37-2-17 for 71 points.
Folks, they played well enough for 74 points in their 4th season of existence. That would be the ’02-’03 campaign that saw then-coach Curt Fraser begin the year 8-20-4-1 at the helm and it finished with Bob Hartley going 20-14-5-1 after he was hired in January of 2003. The Thrashers finished in 11th place in the conference that year. (They had finished dead last in the league with 54 points the year before that, their third season).
Since that time, the team then finished the ’03-’04 season with 78 points in 10th place, then there was the lockout season, then the ’05-’06 season when they ended 2 points shy of post-season with 92 points and finally last year they finished with 97 points which was the 6th best in the conference but, due to winning the division, wound up the 3rd seed.
Let’s re-cap: After amassing 39 then 60 points in their initial two seasons, the Thrashers then earned point totals of 54, 74, 78, 92 and 97. Now they are heading toward 79.
Wait, there is more…
Right now the Thrashers have scored 41 goals less then they’ve let up. That would put them on pace for a -50 goal differential. That compares to the -58 of…why, ‘02-’03…that season just keeps popping up, doesn’t it?
In fact, if we track from the third season of play, the GF/GA stat goes from -101 to -58 to -29, (lockout), +6 to +1 to this year’s projection of -50.
So, both the points total and goal differential stat show steady improvement for 4 seasons then a sharp drop-off.
“But Rawhide, but Rawhide…the offense has only produced 178 so far”. Why, that’s very astute of you my friend. However, there are 10 teams who have scored fewer. But seven of those teams right now hold playoff positions and an eighth, Phoenix, is only three points out. Oh, and none of them have a negative goal differential save St. Louis and Columbus.
Why is that? Because those teams that score less than we do who are probably playoff bound play defense well…that’s why! And that’s how teams get into, and advance throughout, the playoffs.
“But Rawhide, but Rawhide…team defense is a team concept. Aren’t our forwards responsible for that too”? Again, excellent point! However, strong, dependable defenses begin with…strong, dependable defenders.
And this organization has never seemed to grasp that reality.
Only this year, the defensive concerns were coupled with the lack of a true #1 center and a coaching change that was never followed up with the always-important naming of a new head coach.
Some would call this “four step forward then five steps back”. Truth be told, this is more like five steps forward then…step onto a Marta bus, pay your fare, go to the Marta train station, grab a transfer, take the train to the airport, hop a big ‘ol Delta jet to San Francisco, grab a connecting flight to Tokyo, Japan, hop a train to Osaka, hail a cab to the out-skirts, pay the cabbie, (tip well), head to the sidewalk…THEN take five steps back.
And that’s no joke!
Oh look…there goes the divine Mrs. R….”Hey…FAT PENGUIN”!
SMACK!
Ugh, still doesn’t work!
