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Friday, August 1, 2008
A Blueland Without Kovy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Kincade of 680 The Fan…the home of your Atlanta Thrashers…recently opined that the Thrashers should just go ahead and trade Ilya Kovalchuk right now. Apparently the co-host of The Buck and Kincade show feels like the team is just going to get “Hossa-ed” by the Russian forward anyway, so why not deal him away now…get more bang for the buck while ya can. Don’t wait for the trade deadline two seasons from now…the value for him is at its peak now.
Now, this is not the first I’ve ever heard of just such a notion. In fact, I’ve even read one or two of you state much the same thing for much the same reason as Kincade does.
But, I just gotta be honest with you here…when I first took a gander at this story, my head started pounding and I think I felt a blood vessel burst in the back of my eyeball! I mean really…a Blueland with no Kovy???
And you thought the tickets reps had a tough job now?
Don’t get me wrong, my near stroke wasn’t because I think Kincade is off on some mindless rant. No, no, no…he knows a thing or two about hockey and the NHL mind you. Plus he even makes a logical, reasoned argument for just such a move. So, I have no beef with the man preaching this sermon. If nothing else, it makes for good discussion.
It’s just the thought of such a thing happening, the possibility that it could even be discussed seriously…well …just Gawd almighty! I think I’d rather consider having bamboo shoots run up under my nails…or having electrical wires leading from a car battery clipped to my…um…ears.
Or, worse still, sit through an entire sales pitch by a time-share salesman, (which is a practice I believe the Pentagon is considering replacing water boarding with).
Would it be a bold move, as John claims it’d be? Sure…sure it would. But would it be “bold” like Michael Dukakis puttin’ on that helmet and having pictures taken of himself riding around in that tank? I’m sure someone told him that was a brilliant idea at the time.
See, unlike Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk isn’t just an Atlanta Thrasher… he IS the Atlanta Thrashers right now. He is the man to build an O-fense around. One cannot give up and send him away simply because they’re afraid he might walk in two years. Besides, the players you’d get in return…are THEY going to make this team their own? Are THEY going to arrive in Atlanta all smiley-like and giggling ‘til they puke because they just left Montreal or Calgary or Minnesota or Colorado or New York or Boston to play for the Waddell/Spirit Group-led Thrashers?
Sha-RIGHT!
I promise you…those players, no matter how good they might be, are far more likely to “Hossa” our butts down the road than Kovy is.
Nope… I simply must disagree with Mr. Kincade on this one. Oh, I understand his logic…his reasons. I even agree with the past history he bases his opinion on. But I just think that the Thrashers simply must continue to make Kovalchuk their franchise player…not just in word but also in deed. Make him the captain this year, allow him the input to what the makeup of his line should be, pay him what needs to be paid, make whatever deal is needed to bring in the center and/or other talent that will compliment him and his play-making abilities. And as tough as that last task seems to have been lately, it’ll be a far more difficult to replace the player and talent that is Kovy. So, they simply must continue with that effort.
In short, do everything humanly possible to convince him that this is his team, this is his home and this is the best place for his future. But don’t give up without a fight and trade him away out of fear he might not sign.
There is a difference between rebuilding and starting over from scratch.
Now…where’s that freakin’ Tylenol?
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