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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Kari’s Not A Kid Anymore
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last winter I posted a little piece in which I took it upon myself to have a little fatherly sit down with Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen. This was right after the 2-1 loss to Vancouver in which the deciding goal was scored while Kari was on his back looking for an interference call. It turns out the stick that was in his face belonged to Eric Perrin and he even admitted later he could have handled the situation better.
Said Lehts of the play, “I was complaining a lot because I thought it was their player’s stick, I was wrong. Sometimes things like that happens”.
Now, I wasn’t blasting him because I thought he was incapable of the full-time starting job or that this single play was indicative of what we had come to expect of him on a regular basis…quite the contrary. I absolutely see him possessing the God-given talent to be Atlanta’s franchise goalkeeper for years to come. Certainly he has shown flashes of why the organ-I-zation picked him second overall in the 2002 NHL entry draft.
But it’s just at times the kid…well…has acted like a kid. To me, this was one of those times and it really stood out. It was early February, the Thrashers were still in the race… chasing Carolina for the Southeast Division crown. We needed a win, the score was tied 1-1 deep into the third and the defense, for once, was in the processes of holding a quality team to less than 30 shots on goal.
We needed the man between the pipes to simply hold his ground.
I’m sure we can cite more games like this one…and we could also discuss the blue-dyed hair that Kari sported just prior to the 2007 playoff series with the Rangers. Oh, it’s OK to have some fun and be light-hearted when you’re entering into the first playoff series that you…and your team…will be playing in. But you also have to back such jocularity with your performance.
11 goals against with a 5.59 GAA and .849 SV% in two games isn’t exactly backing it up.
This season is going to be a major test for the Finn who will become 25 in November. Although he was given a nice raise this summer, the contract is good for but one year. So he has every incentive to perform at the top of his game.
But that’s for him. The Thrashers needs a big year from him for the good of the team as well.
Even though I think the defense should do better than last season, there are just going to be times when the Thrashers are going to need Lehtonen to steal a game for us…games like the one played in D.C. just five nights prior to that one against the Canucks. That night, Kari turned away 36 shots…18 in the third period alone. This on a night when his team managed to muster up only 13 shots themselves for the entire game. The young net minder held the Caps at bay and bought time for his offense to finally score at 11:34 of the third. And while Todd White was credited with that game winner, and Marian Hossa notched an empty-netter with 40 seconds left…it was Kari Lehtonen who won that game.
The victory pulled Atlanta into a first place tie with Carolina at 56 points and left Florida and Washington trailing the two with 53. It was a huge win at the time.
The team will need more of those type games this winter. They will also need less of “Blue Hair” Kari or “Flopping on the Ice Looking For a Call” Kari.
Actually…none of it.
The Thrashers have to see more of the Kari Lehtonen during the 2006-07 regular season…the “34-24-9 with a 2.79 GAA and .912 SV% in 68 games” Kari Lehtonen. The big number there…the 68 games. See, to have the season he needs to have…we need him to have… he has to actually be IN the net, not nursing a groin injury or such. This means he needs to be doing anything and everything he can right now to be in the best shape of his life come training camp.
In fairness, he had far more good games last season than not. It’s really tough to gauge exactly how effective a goalie is when he’s facing 36-38 shots per game on a regular basis. However, I look for the blueline to surrender fewer shots, even if by just a little.
I do not subscribe to the train of thought that he is not worthy of the trust placed in him by this organ-I-zation. I do see Kari as the solid man standing in front of the net stealing goals from the opposition, stealing games for the team and, in doing so, creating the energy and excitement that transfers to the skaters in front of him to work harder.
But Kari must take this responsibility seriously this season.
If he does so…the Thrashers will undoubtedly do far better than some may predict.
Here…I Have Some More Stuff For You
Chris Thorburn is a big fan of new assistant coach Randy Cunneyworth.
If you happen to see someone in a Canadiens jersey picking up trash alongside a highway in Canada, chances are it’s Montreal’s Ryan O’Byrne.
Tomas Holmstrom used his time with Lord Stanley’s cup to help in the christening of his cousin’s daughter.
Terry Frei of ESPN.com sees some bargains in the players who recently had their contracts bought-out.
Allan Muir notes that the unrestricted free agents weren’t the only ones cashing in this summer.
Ross McKeon sees the 1-year deal given to defenseman Jay Bouwmeester by the Florida Panthers as the beginning of the end of that relationship.
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