AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > October
October 2008
Hard Work And Hard Luck At MSG
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Thrashers kicked off a three-games-in-four-nights stint with a hard-fought 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers. It was a gut-check game for a Thrashers team that just hours before had learned rookie defender Zach Bogosian was lost for at least 6 weeks due to a broken fibula. This coming just two nights after the Flyers had slapped them around the ice to the tune of 7-0.
Embarrassing loss followed by disappointing news about a teammate…now, go take on the team that leads the NHL in points, boys.
But they responded well to this test, playing the Rangers tough only to fall short in the end. So…if you want to view this loss in the “glass half full” perspective, you certainly have the ability to do so. I personally have a hard time doing that…Ls are Ls and this one earned just as many points in the standings as the Philly loss did. El-Zippo.
Now…
Was it a better played game by Atlanta compared to Tuesday’s? Yes…yes it was.
Impressive defensive stand when faced with killing off Ranger power plays for the first quarter of the second period? Oh…absolutely. Especially given that a good deal of the penalty killing effort was of the 5 on 3 variety.
Was I thrilled to see Slava Kozlov, Bryan Little and Todd White continue to be productive on O-fense…and that goal by Little? Yup…gotta love that.
Happy to see the team play strong through the third period, taking 12 of their 29 shots in that final frame, scrapping to get a win? Yessiree…you betcha!
But in the end it was a game that the Thrashers could have come away from with points… but failed to do so. It brings the current losing streak to five games, the last four in regulation.
Sorry, I just don’t “do” moral victories very well.
In the third…after trading goals with New York in the opening period, then surviving the second in which the Thrashers seemed to be continually killing Ranger power plays… Tobias Enstrom was stripped of the puck along the boards. Nikolai Zherdev then danced his way in and flipped a backhand upstairs into the net.
To his credit, Zherdev played a great game all around. In the second period, he broke up a Todd White shorthanded breakaway to help keep the score tied at one each. Zherdev tracked White down and slid headfirst…swiping the puck away before a shot could be taken against Henrik Lundqvist. He also set up the game-winning goal that came off of Daniel Girardi’s stick…a shot that found it’s way through traffic and into the goal while Kari Lehtonen was on his back.
“It was a lucky shot there”, Girardi said of the goal, “It was rolling, and I took a whack at it. And that was it”.
What’s that old line about it being better to be lucky than good? Well, it doesn’t hurt when your team is both. But as with most things, the “good” part seems to bring about the “lucky” part.
So now the Thrashers will cross over the river and prepare for a Saturday night match with the New Jersey Devils, who are 5-2-2 after nine games. Atlanta will be looking to avenge the 1-0 loss to the Devils two weeks ago. Marty the Magnificent stopped all 25 shots the Thrashers were able to take on him that night.
They will then return home for a Sunday afternoon game with the Florida Panthers. Atlanta fell to Florida 3-2 in overtime in the second game of the season.
The team then will have three days to rest before playing host to the New York Islanders…the only team with fewer points at this time than Atlanta. Then they’ll shuffle off to Buffalo for a game with the Sabres, which was the last team to fall to the Thrashers… a 3-2 shootout win thirteen days ago.
They played well Thursday night…not well enough to win…but well enough that, if continued, should start generating some good luck for themselves. And right now, they could use some.
Early Halloween Turns Philips Into BOO-Land
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If the Atlanta Thrashers could find a way to create a costume based on Tuesday night’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers…you would see kids of all ages showing up at your door on Halloween wearing it to extort candy from you in the cruelest of ways.
Ding-dong….”Trick or Treat”!
“Why…what are you dressed up as young man”?
“I’m a replay of the Thrashers’ 7-0 loss to Philly…gimme some treats or I’ll make you watch it again”.
“Auuugh…NO! Here, have the whole %$#@& bowl…go on, take it…and leave this place in peace…I beg of you, just GO”!!
Normally when you see a final score that reads Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 0…you would think that the Eagles defeated the Falcons in a hard-fought defensive struggle. But not this time… it was indeed the outcome of the Flyers vs. Thrashers game.
To be fair, things started off well enough…I mean, the Thrashers’ starting five skaters took to the ice and lined up just as nicely as the Flyers did…then the puck was dropped.
After that, it was pretty much all Flyers.
Before many had even made their way from the beer stand to their seats…it was already 1-0 and Atlanta was down one defender as Zach Bogosian suffered an injury from a hit by…I believe…Darroll Powe. Bogey left the ice for good having played but 52 seconds.
Trailing 2-0 late in the second Atlanta had a chance to worm back into this game. Braydon Coburn…remember him?…had just taken a hooking penalty and the Thrashers were on the…POWER PLAY! But Ilya Kovalchuk’s pass at the blueline was intercepted. Seconds later… it was 3-0 with 15 seconds remaining before the second intermission.
Kovy then felt inclined to see how far he could throw his stick. He was awarded a 2-minute penalty for conducting himself in a less-than-sportsmanlike manner. He decided to conduct a discussion session with the official on his way across the rink after the horn sounded and was given an additional 2-minute time-out for his efforts.
By the time he was eligible to play hockey again in the third period…the score was 5-0…one of those goals deflecting into the goal off of the skate of our own Ron Hainsey.
Then Simon Gagne kicked in a sixth goal for Philadelphia before Glen Metropolit…remember him?…added the extra point with 2:40 remaining in the game.
Seven to goose egg!
The crowd then turned into ghosts and goblins, shouting…BOOOOOOOOO!!!! …before vanishing into the cold October night. In voicing their displeasure, they displayed more passion and energy than the boys in blue did all night. It was truly a team effort, this loss.
Kari in the goal…un-good.
The blueline…un-good.
O-fense…un-good.
(Insert any particular observation or stat here)…un-good.
Of his team’s dominant win Mike Knuble said, “We got a great result…we scored every which way. These are the treats”.
Indeed…and the Thrashers were dishing out the treats all night to those in the black and orange Flyers costumes.
Is There Anybody…Out There?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In this fine write-up, Mike Knobler recently discussed the attendance…or lack thereof…of the first four Thrashers home games at Philips Arena. The team is drawing an announced average of 13,943 so far this season…down over 1,300 from this time last season. Quite honestly…13,000 “announced” is a very kind number compared to what the actual “through-the-door” number has been.
That is, unless, many in the “partial” sellout crowds have come disguised as empty seats.
In Knobler’s piece, general manager Don Waddell cited several reasons for the less-than-stellar showing at the gate early on. Among them…
The fact that Atlanta was the only team to have played four home games in the first eight days of the season.
That the four home games were played on a Friday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. So the weeknight games were “tough nights”.
It’s football season.
Huh…whaaaaaaa?
Darn those football guys for changing things up by scheduling football games in…the fall! It’s completely unheard of!
Oh, and last season…the Thrashers played four of their first eight games at home. The season opened on October 5 and the fourth home game was on October 18…the day they snagged the first win of the season. Granted, that’s a span of thirteen days not eight…but is that five-day difference really a “problem” for attendance?
Oh…and two of those home games were in the middle of the week as well…Wednesday October 10 when they lost 3-1 to Ottawa and Thursday October 18 when they beat the Rangers 5-3.
A truncated time frame for the first four home games? Weeknight games? Football?
PUH-leeze.
As is pointed out in the article, one of the main reasons for the dwindling attendance figures…at a time when season ticket sales are up 4% and single-game sales is up 13% league-wide… is that quite a few season ticket holders here in Atlanta decided not to renew their seats this year.
Now, there are quite a few reasons for this. Certainly, the economy factors into this picture. When a person’s 401K turns into a 104K almost overnight and you watch as the company you work for is reducing staff…all on the heals of this summer’s gas prices…one tends to re-evaluate where the funds are being spent. This is quite understandable.
Another reason may have to do with the fact that there is no All-Star Game in town this year to entice fans to buy into a season ticket package in order to guarantee themselves a seat at the mid-season spectacle.
Also…there are still some bad feelings within the ranks of some former STHs from last year when…after paying full price up front…they sat by and watched many a game alongside of fans that paid half price for their seats. It wasn’t really that the organ-I-zation moved to try and fill Philips in as much as it was they, the most loyal of customers, felt slighted because they were offered squat to make up for the difference.
Personally, I fall on the side of the argument that those in charge of such matters need to do what they can to fill the place. Butts in seats… a healthy scenario for an organ-I-zation indeed. However, they cannot take for granted those who willingly pay full season ticket price up front.
I’m quite sure there are many who are taking a wait and see approach to this team. New head coach…new assistant coaches…many new players…combined with eight previous seasons of disappointment. Can these fans be blamed for that attitude?
Play inspired, entertaining hockey and win some games…fans will come. Provide a sense of value to the paying customer …fans will come. It’s a basic formula that normally works in any sports market. And this Anderson-led team will, I believe, do just that.
All You Can Eat seats are nice…but that alone will not sell out games.
Then there is the giant elephant in the room here that I’ll recognize. There are a few fans that willingly placed the word “former” in front of the phrase “season ticket holder” because they firmly disagree with the Spirit Group’s decision to not make a change in the general manager’s position this past summer.
While I agree there should have been a change made…that will not keep me from attending my normal 20-25 games this season. I do, however, understand why others feel differently.
One of the above may be the main factor for the decreased numbers…maybe a combination of a few… or all… are the reason. I’m sure there could be other reasons.
But…four home games in eight days?
Two games falling on weeknights?
Football being played in October?
Sorry…not buying it.
Horseshoes And Hand Grenades
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Close…that’s the manner in which Atlanta played Detroit and Boston this past weekend.
Close.
But of course, as the old saying goes, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
The two games played out in very opposite fashions, however. After falling behind by 3 goals in Detroit, I’m sure many thought it was lights out…but they battled back. Then, they took a 2-0 lead against the Bruins…and couldn’t hold on down the stretch to snag any points there either.
Close…but no CEE-gar.
Driving through the rain Friday night, I listen to the Detroit radio feed on XM radio as the Wings took a 4-1 lead on Atlanta after 6:41 into the second…thanks in large part to one Mr. Marian Hossa who finished that evening with a pair of goals, an assists and the first star of the game.
To their credit, the Thrashers made a game of it in the third. Ron Hainsey scoring a goal of the power play variety…the first such tally since opening night. Brett Sterling, playing in his first game of the season, netted another at the 16:11 mark to get us to within one. The Detroit radio guys seemed very impressed with the way Atlanta fought their way back into things…as well as the backhanded pass off the spin from Christensen to set up Sterling’s goal.
Still haven’t seen it…looking forward to doing so right after posting this.
Unfortunately, an empty-netter sealed our fate.
On to Beantown…
Now, for this game, I’m enjoying listening to it behind the lake house while roasting hot dogs and marshmallows with the fam underneath the stars. I don’t get Dan Kamal for this game either…instead settling for the BAH-stan feed. I was alone by the end of the second period as everyone retired inside…I continued to listen and watched as, one by one, the other house lights turned off across the lake.
This one started much better…two power play goals in the first…Williams and Schneider. Then Ilya Kovalchuk notch another off the man advantage after Boston had tied it in the second.
That’s right boys and girls…four power play goals in three consecutive periods! Hard to believe, but true!
3-3 heading to the third…
After giving up the go-ahead goal five minutes into the final period, Colby Armstrong shakes off a wicked hit from Zdeno Chara… according to the Bruins announcers… in time to get the puck and feed it to Kozlov for the tying goal with over 12 minutes left to play.
This sounded like a good game…a close one…but “close” was un-good given the fact that we all but ran their butts out of the barn in the first. But…we can still win this one, right?
Wrong!
Milan Lucic goal…for the hat trick…with 101 seconds left in the game made it 5-4 Bruins and sent the Thrashers home pointless for the road trip.
It also sent a very loud…very foul word flying from my mouth!
Oops…a light came on from across the lake…did I wake up someone? Sorry…my bad…go back to sleep…
Seven goals scored…no wins.
Three power play goals…nothing in the points column.
Two close games played…but we’re not talking horseshoes here.
Doesn’t get much easier either folks. Tuesday the Flyers pay Philips a visit. That team has found their winning touch again going 2-0-2 after a 0-3-1 start. Then there’s another trip up north for a date with the Rangers on Thursday. All they’ve done is compile a league-high 17 points in their initial 11 games this season.
“Close” won’t get it done either this week.
Now…Want Some Good News?
Well, as stated above…there were four power play goals to celebrate. The Thrashers went 1-7 on the man advantage Friday night to snap what seemed to be a 0 Fer-freakin’-ever slide. Then they went 3-4 Saturday in Boston. Going 4 or 11 on the power play equates to about 36% efficient.
Then there is the fact that, in back-to-back games, Atlanta mustered seven goals total for the weekend…from seven different players.
Taking 33 shots on Detroit’s goal Friday and 32 on Boston’s Saturday is good. And it continues a very good trend in this category. For the season, Atlanta has averages 31.2 S/G…ninth best in the league.
OK…Now Some Un-Good
Two losses. Sorry…had to mention that again.
Blowing a 2-0 lead and 3-2 lead in a game the Thrashers really should have won.
After stuffing the Bruins on all seven shots in the first…Johan Hedberg then let up five goals on 24 shots the rest of the way.
18 Shots on goal for Boston in the second period in Saturday’s game is waaay un-good.
And Finally…The Ugly
Allowing the Wings to take 46 shots on our goal…ugly. I know, they’re the champs and all…but they were only averaging 38 SOG prior to that game. To his credit, Kari was able to stop 41 of the 45 he faced.
The amount of shots per game that the Thrashers are allowing…36.2…is nothing shy of ugly. That’s second worst in the NHL to the Mullets who give up 37.2 SA/G.
Weekend Road Trip
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Thrashers will get a good test this weekend when they pay visits to Motown and Bah-stahn. So far on the season the defending champs are 4-1-1 while the Bruins are 2-2-3 following last night’s 4-2 fall-from-ahead loss to Toronto.
I suspect that sometime this weekend we’ll have a Moose sighting in the Atlanta goal. My preference would be to allow Kari to start in Detroit and Hedberg have a go at it Saturday night.
As for our opposition…
In their first six games of the season, Detroit’s offense has generated an impressive 38.0 shot per game. They’ve allowed their opposition to take an average of 27.3 shots. Their goals against average is identical to Atlanta’s…2.83…but they’ve been able to score goals to the tune of 3.33 per game.
Early on, Chris Osgood’s numbers aren’t what you’d expect…2-1-1 with a 3.25 GAA and .884 SV%. However, Ty Conklin is 2-0-0 and sports a very good .937 SV% and 2.00 GAA.
Detroit’s 32.0% efficiency on the power play is second only to St. Louis and they’ve been able to kill off 81.8% of the man advantages that they’ve faced. Atlanta has won 52.4%…seventh best in the league.
In the face off circle…the Wings have been successful 55.6% of the time.
Meanwhile…Boston has been scoring and giving up goals at a 2.86 clip. Almost as even is the S/G and SA/G stat….30.6 shots for and 30.7 shots against per game. Their power play is 17.9% effective while their defense has only managed to kill of penalties 74.2% of the time, (only Nashville and Colorado are worse).
In goal…Manny Thomas is 1-1-2 with a 2.65 GAA and .919 SV%. Manny Fernandez is 1-1-1 with a 2.61 GAA and .899 SV%.
The Bruins have won 51.3% of the face offs taken.
Speaking Of Road Trips…
Enjoy the games on Sports South tonight and tomorrow evening. As for me…well, I’ll be on a weekend roady of my own…wheeling my way down in East-Bumblekrappe, Florida with the fam to celebrate the birth anniversary of the divine Mrs. R’s mother.
Yes, the lake house where there’s no Center Ice…no cable…no internet! Not a single lux-ur-EEEeee…it’s primitive as can be.
Joy…rapture.
So…I’ll be catching the games on XM as I make my way down I-75 to the sticks tonight…thank God for XM… and sneakin’ out to the truck to catch the Bruins game on Saturday night.
That is unless the wife and mom-in-law have…without my prior notification and consent… conspired to plan a dinner out at the local eatery or an unscheduled visitation with friends and neighbors. All in a blatant attempt to deprive me of the ability to even simply listen to the game!
Joy…rapture.
But…I Leave You With Weekend Reading Assignments
Atlanta’s new-look blueline has gotten the attention of NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale.
Among a few other things…SI.com’s Jim Kelley considers how the current economic situation might play into calculating the worth of signing such players as Marian Gaborik and Ilya Kovalchuk.
Terry Frei of ESPN.com takes a look at how the top five draft picks in each year since 2000 are fairing.
Craig Custance notes that a year after signing a large contract with the Buffalo Sabres, Thomas Vanek is starting to pay big dividends.
In case you missed this…Wednesday night the Ottawa Senators trailed the Florida Panthers 3-1 going into the third. Ottawa then fired 26…again, that’s twenty-six…shots on goal during the final period. Panther goalie Craig Anderson turned them all way.
On the opposite end of the goalie spectrum… Sens net minder Martin Gerber may be running thin the patience of Craig Hartsburg. TSN is reporting that the Ottawa coach will turn to Alex Auld Friday night against the Anaheim Ducks.
The Inevitable Comparisons After Six Games
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The day after the Atlanta Thrashers played their sixth game of the 2007-08 season general manager Don Waddell faced the media to discuss the firing of Bob Hartley. The team had gone winless for those first six games…this after being embarrassingly swept from their one-and-only playoff appearance by the New York Rangers the previous spring.
It wasn’t just that the Thrashers were a half-dozen games into the season and still had that big, fat, hairy goose egg in the points column…it was the manner in which they were being beaten. The night before coach Hartley was shown the door, Atlanta had suffered a 4-0 defeat in Philadelphia. It was the second time that the team had failed to manage even a single goal in a game…the other time being a 6-0 smack down in Buffalo two games prior.
The Thrashers had been out-scored by a combined 27 to 9…an average of 4.5 to 1.5.
They were being outshot 203 to 138…an average of 33.8 to 23.0.
As bad as those statistics look, they do not even come close to describing just how bad the team looked out on the ice. The offense was punchless and anemic while opposing teams spent so much time in our defensive zone that they could have filed for Homestead Exemption.
Just how ugly was it? Well, Austin Powers had replaced the phrase, “Margret Thatcher naked on a cold day…Margret Thatcher naked on a cold day” with “Atlanta Thrashers first six games of ’07-’08…Atlanta Thrashers first six games of ’07-‘08”.
So…how does this year’s team compare after six games? Well, let’s just say that John Anderson shouldn’t have any reason to fret if he gets called into Don Waddell’s office Wednesday morning.
After Tuesday night’s 3-2 overtime loss in Tampa, the Thrashers find themselves at 2-2-2 for 6 points, which won’t get ya to the playoffs but it is a world better than last year.
They’ve scored 16 goals and allowed 17…two of those in overtime. That equates to scoring 2.50 goals per game while surrendering 2.83 per game.
The shots being taken against us is still quite alarming…35.2 per game, (Only the Bolts allow more). However, this go around they are managing to get off 30.8 shots per game on opposing net minders.
Unlike last season…when they had already suffered a pair of blowouts…they have been in every game played. Their most “lopsided” defeat…a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, a game in which they were within one with fewer than three minutes to play. The other setbacks were a 1-0 loss to Marty the Magnificent and the New Jersey Devils as well as two overtime defeats in the state of Florida.
As individual performances go…
Todd White has been a very pleasant surprise out of the gate. He leads the team with seven overall points, (2 goals and 5 assists). In fact, he’s had a hand in each of the last five goals scored by the Thrashers…an assist on Bryan Little’s goal versus the Wild, two helpers last Saturday and a goal and assists in Tampa.
Bryan Little has played like he deserves to be on the NHL squad year ‘round. His 4 goals and 2 assists don’t even come close to telling the whole story about his total contributions.
Ron Hainsey…well, he’s hardly the “bust” that some pundits had forecast him to be. He’s fit in quite nicely with John Anderson’s style of play. He’s been as solid as a rock on the blueline, is a +5 and has chipped in a goal and four assists for good measure.
Although his 13 PIM are a tad on the high side…rookie Zach Bogosian has done little to put doubt into anyone’s mind regarding his ability to play at this level.
Notice who I haven’t even mentioned yet? Yup…Ilya Kovalchuk…he of a pair of goals and four points. He’s gonna get his numbers…but last season he had to be a one-man show up front. This season…well…it’s seems there is a supporting cast around him.
Then there’s Kari Lehtonen who has been in the goal full-time these first six games, (well except for about three and a half minutes while dealing with contact lense issues). Lehts has a .919 SV%, (ninth best in the NHL) and a 2.81 GAA. Kari has faced a league high 210 shots so far and has turned away all but 17 and no one has made more saves than his 193. This is very solid indeed.
Given that SV% stat, if the defense could limit the shots he faced to just 30…the GAA would be 2.43. If he faced but 29 SA/G…then we’re talking about a 2.35 GAA. Those type of number will get you to post-season.
But, there are some un-good things as well.
Again, giving up 35+ shots per game will simply not do. As was learned last year, it will catch up to you…same with being outshot on a regular basis.
Then there is the whole power play situation, which has a giant O-fer going since opening night. Yikes!
Jason Williams scored a goal and an assist in the first two games…since then he’s been seen only on the side of a milk carton.
These will have to be addressed for sure. But in the end…six games in with six points earned sure beats the heck out the goose egg that was laid out on the ice last season.
Little Upgrade Makes Big Difference
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Early on in this 2008-09 season, Bryan Little is providing a spark of energy that the Atlanta Thrashers have sorely needed for some time. While his four goals, six overall points and +5 leads the team… the amount of energy he injects into the course of action on each and every shift he works seems to be having an even greater impact on the team’s overall production.
As the season began, it just seemed inevitable that he would soon join Ilya Kovalchuk and Todd White on the top line. Two games in…he had made that jump and looks like he’s there for the foreseeable future.
His new line mates are already benefiting. After a total of five games played, the last three with Little, White is second on the team with five points…Kovy now with a pair of goals and assists for four points. But again, it’s not just the numbers…it’s the energy infused into the line that seems to be making a difference.
The first period of Saturday night’s 3-2 shootout victory over the previously unbeaten Buffalo Sabres is a prime example of what John Anderson was hoping for when he made this move last week. The top line was instrumental in the 19-shot barrage that fell upon the Sabres defense and goalie Patrick Lalime. When the first twenty minutes came to an end, Little and Kovalchuk had netted a goal apiece while White assisted on both. The pace of the game originated from…and fed off… this line. The skating was fast, the passing was crisp, the shots were on target and they poured into the attacking zone like the rushing waters over Niagara Falls.
When was the last time that could be said about a Thrashers O-fensive line?
If not for the outstanding play by Lalime the Thrashers’ top line trio alone could have easily doubled the two goals that were actually scored…in the first period alone.
As it were, Little, Kovy and White accounted for 8 of the 37 shots on goals and each finished a +2. Considering that seventeen shots came from the blueline, that leaves a total of 12 shots coming from the sticks of the lower three lines…an average of 4 per line.
But as I opined earlier, Little’s energy…his spark…goes far beyond statistics. It’s the type of stuff that acts like a power conduit to not only those he is skating with, but also to others as they take their shifts. Every time Little, Kovy and White take to the ice now, I’m expecting something to happen…sitting on the edge of my seat. I’m quite sure that those who make up the other three lines react much the same way.
It’s infectious.
You just gotta know that when the Perrins and Reasoners and Armstrongs and Christensens and Williams are coming off the bench…they are jazzed up and ready to keep the fire lit on the ice.
For evidence of this, look no further than the fact that the Thrashers are averaging 30.4 SOG so far, which is seventh best in the league. Last season, as you will recall, that number was a league-low 25.8.
Obviously, this helps out coach Anderson tremendously as well. He can now take comfort knowing that at least this line is clicking and he can focus more attention on the second and third line makeup…tweaking them if need be to find similar chemistry. Some of this has already taken place as Army and Crusher have been reunited on the second line with Kozlov. Jason Williams, who began the season up top with Kovy and White, has joined the third line with Reasoner and Perrin.
Also, as Mike Knobler is reporting, we could see Brett Sterling play into the mix depending on the health of Colby Armstrong.
So, good things are happing now as it relates to the O-fensive production of the team…and it’s starting from the top line down.
Now…if only some of that energy can just be transferred to the power play.
Both Home Crowds See Exciting Game At Philips
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
That loud roar you heard Saturday night just before 10:00 pm came from the “partial” sellout crowd of 14,091 at Philips Arena. OK, well…maybe from half of them. The other half of the crowd was obviously made up of first-time hockey goers who accidentally bought the wrong jerseys at the team gear store and just didn’t know which team to root for…tsk, tsk, tsk.
Seriously though…as per usual with games against Buffalo…there were a lot of Sabre jerseys in Philips Arena last night.
The Thrashers, who had jumped out to a 2-0 lead, held off a comeback attempt by the visiting Buffalo Sabres to win 3-2 in the shootout. It was Buffalo’s first defeat of the season after winning their first four.
The Thrashers are now 2-2-1 on the season so far.
The opening period was 20 minutes of the best hockey the Thrashers have played since…since…well, just “since”. They outshot the team wearing the Flying Banana Peels to the tune of 19-6, (not a typo). Said Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff, “They smoked us in the first”.
19 shots to 6…two goals to none. Basically, the Thrashers rolled ‘em, lit ‘em AND smoked ‘em…in the first period. But I guess the way coach Ruff put it was OK too.
Atlanta coach John Anderson seemed to be pleased with first period display. About that opening frame he said, “That was probably our best period to date”.
He went on to commend Buffalo’s ‘keeper by stating, “Without Patrick Lalime standing on his head, it might have been four or five [to nothing]”. I would have to agree. After letting up the Kovalchuk breakaway goal early on…he looked very sharp, only allowing a goal to Bryan Little at the 17:12 mark of the first period.
Little leads the team with 4 goals and 6 points.
Todd White…often referred to as “Charmin” in these parts because of his “soft” play…assisted on both Kovy and Little’s goals. So, at least in this game, he certainly was…on a roll.
Thank youuuuu…..
White is the second leading scorer with a goal and four assists.
Atlanta outshot Buffalo 34-28, (again, not a typo), after regulation and 3-2 in overtime…37-30 overall.
After Lalime stopped Erik Christensen’s opening round shootout attempt, Kovalchuk and Kozlov netted both of their tries for the Thrashers. Kari stuffed Kotalik on Buffalo’s first attempt, was unsuccessful against Drew Stafford, then watched as Thomas Vanek’s shot sailed wide to seal the victory for Atlanta…sending home happy the crowd.
Or at least…half of them.
For the night, Lehts stopped 28 of 30 shots…one goal on a 5-3 Sabre power play. The second came with 3:08 remaining in the third after allowing a rebound that, quite frankly, he should have snared with his glove.
For the season, Kari has a .919 SV% and a 2.78 GAA.
In the un-good segment of today’s blog, the Thrashers were outshot 26-18 after the first and went 0-6 on the power play. That’s…what…21 straight fruitless attempts on the man-advantage now?
Regardless, in the end it was Atlanta securing two more points in the standings after a hard-fought, well played, fast-tempo game. One that was very entertaining to watch by the home crowd.
Both sets of them.
Brodeur’s 97th Shutout Bedevils Thrashers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Martin Brodeur…maybe you’ve heard of him. He’s pretty good, as goalies go.
Thursday night he turned away all 25 shots taken by the Atlanta Thrashers on his way to recording his ninety-seventh career shutout. It was his first of the 2008-09 season.
Brodeur’s skill was on display all night, but probably his most impressive stand came about four and a half minutes into the second period as he deflected a Todd White shot off the right wing…then, moving to his left, he was able to stifle Bryan Little’s volley.
Not to be ignored…Kari Lehtonen stopped 34 of 35 shots taken by the Devils. The lone New Jersey goal come from Brian Rolston while on the power play with 63 seconds remaining in the second period. After four games, Kari has a .915 SV% having faced 142 shots.
Zach Bogosian was in the lineup after a one-game sit down and he played a very strong 16 minutes and 17 seconds. On one particular sequence during the third period, the 18-year old rookie broke up a 2-1 situation…joined the rush down the right side and put himself in position to get off a shot, following it up in case Brodeur bobbled it. Only…Marty doesn’t do that too often.
Atlanta failed to convert any of their five man advantage situations. They have now gone three consecutive games…0 for 14… without a power play goal after going 3 for 9 on opening night against Washington.
As a team, Atlanta is allowing 35.8 shots to be taken against them…almost two SA/G higher than last year’s total. However, they are taking an average of 28.8 shot per game, which is three S/G better than last season’s stat.
Buffalo Sabres are in town Saturday night. Need a win…don’t wanna be taking an extended losing streak out on the road as five of the next six will be away from Philips Arena after that game.
Who’s The Ice-Time Leader?
OK, who is logging the highest ice-time totals for the Thrashers so far with 25:01 ATOI?
tick…tick…tick…tick…tick…BZZZZZZ
Yo time is up!
Why, none other that Mathieu Schneider and his 39-year old legs.
Pushing The Panic Button A Weeeee Bit Early?
A win and an OT loss in four games played…the same record the Thrashers have now…was good enough to get Denis Savard canned in Chicago. Whew…Talk about pushing the Panic Button early.
Taking over behind the Blackhawk bench is former Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues coach Joel Quenneville.
Just So You Know…I Remember These Things
Now…who was that joker that called Ron Hainsey the worst UFA signing of last summer? Not just a “questionable” signing…or a “bad” one…but “the worst”.
Oh yeah…this guy.
I know it’s only four games in…but so far Hainsey has a goal and four points…only Brian Little has more points for the team. He also leads the Thrashers with a +4 and has looked pretty damn good doing so.
I hope Ronnie keeps playing to make Adam look foolish for that projection.
Thrashers Fail To Answer Call Of The Wild
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday night Atlanta was handed it’s first regulation-time loss of the season…a 4-2 decision to the Min-EE-soooh-tah Wild. Atlanta is now 1-1-1.
Antti Miettinen led the visiting Wild with a pair of goals and an assist. Andrew Brunette…remember him?…had a goal and assist as well. Marian Gaborik scored the other goal for the Wild. Gaborik’s tally was a solo effort in front of the Thrashers net in which he was able to lift the stick of Thrasher defender Mathieu Schneider to strip away the puck then flip it into the net…all in one fell swoop. That goal broke a 1-1 tie at 2:44 of the final period.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored his first goal of the season, tying the game in the second period off a nice pass from Bryan Little…who himself added a goal later in the game. Little now leads the team in scoring with three goals and two helpers for five points.
In many ways, this was a waste of a decent effort by Atlanta’s defense. They allowed the Wild but 26 shots on goal. Kari was beaten on four of them…one on the power play when Brunette was left alone on the far post, the second on Gaborik’s fine play while Schneider was attempting to skate the puck away from the net, the third on a break away after the puck was lobbed over Nathan Oystrick’s head and the final Minnesota goal was scored as Kari and the entire Thrashers defense seemed to sell out to Brunette who then fed Miettinen far post for an easy tally.
Atlanta matched the Wild’s shot total of 26.
Next Up For The Thrashers, Thursday night Atlanta welcomes backs Bobby Holik as the New Jersey Devils come to town.
If My Head Wasn’t Attached To My Body…
I completely forgot to post my season predictions…tsk, tsk, tsk. Where is my head sometimes?
Anyway, for what it’s worth…
Eastern Conference
1. Pittsburgh - 109 pnts.
2. Montreal - 100 pnts.
3. Carolina - 96 pnts.
4. New York Rangers - 96 pnts.
5. Philadelphia - 93 pnts.
6. Washington - 92 pnts.
7. Boston - 91 pnts.
8. New Jersey -90 pnts.
9. Ottawa - 89 pnts.
10. Buffalo - 88 pnts.
11. Atlanta - 86 pnts.
12. Tampa Bay - 81 pnts.
13. Toronto - 79 pnts.
14. Florida- 77 pnts.
15. New York Islanders - 73 pnts.
Yeah, I know the Caps may be the “chic” pick to repeat in the Southeast, but I think the Canes will finish the job this year.
Western Conference
1. Dallas- 103 pnts.
2. Detroit - 102 pnts.
3. Calgary - 95 pnts.
4. San Jose - 94 pnts.
5. Minnesota - 93 pnts.
6. Anaheim - 92 pnts.
7. Chicago- 91 pnts.
8. Colorado - 90 pnts.
9. Nashville - 89 pnts.
10. Phoenix- 87 pnts.
11. Edmonton - 86 pnts.
12. Vancouver - 84 pnts.
13. Columbus - 82 pnts.
14. St. Louis - 78 pnts.
15. Los Angeles - 69 pnts.
Hey…anyone can pick the Wings.
Whoo-Hoo!! We Aren’t On This List
Tom Van Riper of Forbes.com has put out his list of The Ten Sports Franchises Most Likely To Move. There are three NHL teams making this list and Atlanta is not one of them.
Quick Shots From Opening Weekend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It sure would have been SA-weet to take away all four points over the weekend…and the Thrashers were thiiiiiis close to doing so. But going 1-0-1 for three points will do just about anytime. Making it even nicer… the fact that this Atlanta team looked a far cry better than last season playing in back-to-back type games.
Here are some quick shot from this weekend’s action…
Kari Makes A Point: Saturday night in Sunrise, Florida the Thrashers dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime. However, the team can give a big, fat, hairy “thank you” to their goalie for the point gained in the standing. After allowing a goal 19 seconds into the second period that put Florida up 2-1…the Finn then turned away the following eight he faced before the second intermission and all eighteen he faced in the third to finish out the game. (Yeah, I know…eighteen shots in a period, yikes)! He then stopped the first three Panthers shots in overtime before Florida was able to win it with 1:06 left in the extra period.
That’s 29 consecutive saves in forty-three minutes and thirty five seconds.
Like he did the night before, he made some big saves and gave his team a chance. This is what we are looking for out of him and I certainly hope it continues.
The Slavanator Returns: Last season, Slava Kozlov was slowed by injuries and his production on the stat sheet showed it. However, so far this year…two goals in two games. This is very promising indeed.
Hainsey, The Work Horse: For the second straight night, Ron Hainsey was the leader in ice time for the Thrashers. Against Florida he logged 27:41 TOI.
Newbies Contributing Early On: Saturday night, off-season signee Jason Williams notched his first goal as a Thrasher. His second period goal tied the score at two and came off of a pass from another newbie, Ron Hainsey. In the two games, Hainsey has a goal and two assists and Marty Reasoner has contributed a goal.
This is a pretty good way to help make yourselves very much welcome with the Atlanta fan base. Keep up the good work, guys.
Havelid’s Helpers: Defenseman Nic Havelid has four assists on the young season, three Friday night and one Saturday. In fact, those four points are enough to make him the points leader for Atlanta so far after two games.
Blueline Pitches In: Of the nine goals scored by the Thrashers so far this season, seven of them have had defenders either scoring them or earning assists. Thrashers defenders have 8 points on the season thus far, (1 goal and 7 assists).
22 of the 64 shots taken by the Thrashers have come off the sticks of a defender…that’s about one out of every three shots. Mathieu Schneider has launched eight of those twenty-two shots by defenders.
Missed It By THAT Much: After being outshot 43-21 Friday by the Capitals, the Thrashers went down to Florida and tried to reverse this stat.
They came close…
After two periods, they led in the shots category 28-17. The Panthers then took it to Atlanta in the third, taking 18 shots and allowing but 5. Florida then took all four shots in OT.
If you listened to coach John Anderson after the game…his thoughts were that his team stopped playing after the second period. I’m sure this will be addressed during practice this week.
And Finally…were you watching this Thursday night on Vs? In between the games being aired, Def Leppard was performing live during NHL Face-Off Rocks at Detroit’s Fox Theater …the Stanley Cup was brought out to the stage and band member Joe Elliot takes it…then places it on the stand…upside-down.
Audible gasp from around the blog room
Winning A Game That Last Year They Wouldn’t Have
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last season, the Thrashers would have lost this game. After seeing a 3-0 lead become 3-1…then 3-2. Then a 4-2 lead evaporate during a 4-minute slashing penalty on a pair of goals by Mike Green…last year’s Thrashers would have been toast.
I submit to you as exhibit A…last March 21 when a 3-1 lead on these same Capitals after two periods disappeared quicker than free donuts at the office. Washington skated away that night, laughing, after scoring 4 unanswered third period goals in a game that exemplified the frustrations of that entire miserable season.
Yup…last year, given the circumstances, the Thrashers would have crashed and burned like the Dow.
But these aren’t last year’s Thrashers…at least not on this night.
4-4 after two…this time it was the Thrashers that stormed off the ice with the win, outscoring Washington 3-0 in the final period…the three tallies coming in a span of 2 minutes and 10 seconds late in the game. Bryan Little started the flurry at 13:57 with his second goal of the game. 29 seconds later, Colby Armstrong gave the Thrashers some breathing room. Then finally, Todd White closed out the scoring on a power play goal from a great feed from Ilya Kovalchuk at the 16:07 mark.
But what set the table for these efforts was a Kari Lehtonen’s stop of a penalty shot off the stick of Alex Ovechkin earlier in the period. That save…one of 39 on 43 shots on the night…kept the score tied at four. I can’t help but feel that if the score became 5-4 at that time, we might have seen an outcome much like the last time the Caps were in Philips back in March.
Honestly, I though Kari played well…all things considering. Allowing but 4 goals on 43 shots equate to a .907 SV% and some of those stops were simply awesome. Two of the goals came off of the 4-minute power play, one on a short-handed break. But what I found most impressive…after allowing the tying goal at 14:39 of the second…he shut down the Caps the rest of the way, including all 13 taken on him in the third. His efforts were enough to be the game’s second star.
He came up big when he had to…and he gave the team a chance to win…win a game they would have lost last season.
Now, ya know what other kind of game they usually lost last year? The second game of a back-to-back set. Tonight, this year’s version gets a chance to change that as well in Sunrise, Florida versus the Panthers.
Other Observations From Opening Night
Of course, Friday’s opening night victory made a winner of new coach John Anderson in his NHL head-coaching debut. Making it even sweeter…that it came against Bruce Boudreau’s Capitals.
Zach Bogosian became the youngest Thrasher to play in a regular season game at the age of 18 years and 87 days. Ilya Kovalchuk was 18 years and 171 days old when he made his regular season debut for Atlanta on Oct. 4, 2001. 24 seconds into his NHL career, Bogie committed his first penalty…a holding call. He ended his night with a fighting penalty with 20 seconds left in the game after taking on Donald Brashear.
The Thrashers got off 31 shots Friday night. However, they were still outshot by 12 for the game.
The first two goals of the season were scored from a pair of newbies signed this past summer. Ron Hainsey’s power play goal was first at 8:20 of the first followed by Marty Reasoner three minutes and four seconds later.
The seven goals scored by the Thrashers were the most in a single game since…well, I don’t know. Was it possibly…flipping through stacks of notes and stat sheets… Jan. 2, 2006 when Atlanta thumped Ottawa 8-3? That can’t be so. Someone get on that one for me…that can’t be right. Somebody?….Anyone?….Trixie?…Staff….STAFF???
Either way, seven goals! So much for the, “Where are the goals going to come from this season” question.
The Thrashers did not score their seventh goal last season until Garnet Exelby’s slap shot tally at 7:26 of the second period during a 6-5 loss to the New Jersey Devils. That game was Atlanta’s fifth game of the season.
Bryan Little played like a man on a mission…finishing the evening’s work with 2 goals, a helper, 6 SOG, 14:34 TOI and a +2. Not surprisingly, he was awarded the game’s first star.
Nic Havelid’s 3 assists, 1 SOG and +1 performance during his 22:37 was good enough to be the third star of the game.
The player with the most TOI? Ron Hainsey with 23:53.
The Thrashers power play looked sharp. 3 goals on 9 man-advantages will do any night, thank you very much indeed.
Washington net minder Jose Theodore lasted only until 9:30 into the second. Then, Slava Kozlov’s power play slapper ended his night early… his numbers, 4 goals on 17 shots. His replacement, Brent Johnson, looked strong initially…but ultimately surrendered 3 goals on 14 shots himself.
And finally…section 111 was the happening place Friday night. I had the pleasure of meeting UniversalDawg and his lovely wife along with The Other J.B. Also, it was a pleasure to make the acquaintance of a very nice young lady, Jessie along with her father Bill. Great Thrashers fans all of them!
The Longest Day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today…Friday October 10th…will be the longest day. You know what I’m talkin’ about? Like back in our school days…no, not college…but elementary or middle school days. Back then, of course, the longest day of the year was the last day of school.
You remember, don’t you? That one day that separated the drudgery of another arduous school year that seemed like it would never end… and the wonderment that was summer vacation.
Ah, yes…summer vacation…3 months of chasing girls, playing ball, going on trips, chasing girls, going to the beach, hangin’ with friends, chasing girls, sleeping in…and did I mention chasing girls?
You know…everything that you wanted to do…everything that was fun…everything that made life worth living, (at least in the world seen through the eyes of a kid), was just one…painfully long…painfully slow…day away.
A day filled with fidgeting with our pencils…staring at the clock…turning in stupid, stupid “What I Will Do This Summer” essays that never were graded…tossing erasers at the friend who was nodding off…gathering phone numbers from girls we didn’t have the nerve to ask for during the previous 179 school days, only to find out when actually called, they had “accidentally” provided the number to the local bowling alley, movie theater or library…
That day was an eternity. It… just… would… not…end!
JUST RING THE FREAKIN’ BELL ALREADY!!
ahem…pardon me.
Anyway, that day was not unlike today…the day we have to get through in order to make it to tonight…opening night…and another season of Thrashers hockey.
Tonight, the John Anderson era officially begins, against his good pal Bruce Boudreau…head coach of the Washington Capitals. I would really like to know what the wager is between the two of ‘em.
Tonight, the memory of last season disappears over the horizon, the offseason and preseason are put officially behind us and a new chapter of the Atlanta Thrashers begins to be written before our eyes.
Tonight, we get a first-hand look at how the newly acquired Thrashers… Schneider, Williams, Reasoner and Hainsey…and to that matter, Armstrong and Christensen who were brought in at the trade deadline last February…fit in with the likes of Kovy, Enstrom, Havelid, Kozzy, XLB, White, Perrin, Boulton, Slater, Thorburn, et. al.
Tonight, we begin the process of finding out if Bogosian and Little are indeed NHL ready and able to be the assets to this team that most agree they will be.
Tonight, we once again get to again experience the skating skills, the hard shots, the lightning-quick glove saves and the open-ice hits that make OUR teeth rattle!
Tonight, the players and coaches of the Thrashers begin their quest to prove wrong so many of the pundits and their dire predictions of a last place finish for this team.
And tonight, we fans get to again congregate in the comfy confines of Philips Arena and experience…no, be a part of… the greatest, hippest, coolest, most fantastic, most entertaining, most exhilarating sport on the planet!
Maybe some of you won’t be there tonight, but you will be next week or sometime after that as the schedule progresses. Great…see ya then!
But first…today.
Today the clock will slow to a crawl as the morning grudgingly gives way to afternoon and we try to get through these last few hours that separates the long days of the offseason from the time of year we look forward the most…a new hockey season in Atlanta.
Then…the afternoon will finally proceed to the time we depart from the office or home and make our way enthusiastically to Philips…The Flat Screen…The Bulb…Blueland…where we will take our seats and partake of the pre-game festivities.
Then, at or shortly after 7:30… after we’ve gone through the traditional introduction of the entire team and coaching staff…and we sing our National Anthem…the two teams will place on the ice their starting lineups… the ref will move in toward the center circle…puck in hand…the two centers will glide in to meet him…they will assume the face off positions…the ref will hold out the puck over the center dot…and then, just for a brief second, he’ll hold it there…
The second will seem to last as long as the day we just endured… an eternity…
JUST DROP THE FREAKIN’ PUCK ALREADY!!!
Success: Mild, Medium Or En Fuego?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was gnawing on some wings at a local Taco Mac not too long ago with my two tax exemptions. The younger one asked me if the Thrashers were going to have a successful season this year. The older one was busy trying to act cool by trying to make it seem that the “Death Sauce” he has dipped his wings in was not affecting him in an adverse nature…emphasis on the word “trying”. There were tears coming from his eyes and his face was turning a wonderful shade of fire engine red. Still…he smiled and pushed forward…eating yet another.
Anyway…as I passed another glass of ice water over to the 16-year old, I responded to my 15-year old that I believed this team will do better than most people think, getting somewhere around 86 points…finishing at or near eleventh place in the Eastern Conference.
He quipped back…11th place? 86 points? Does that constitute “success”?
When they get older…they tend to challenge you and you can’t get away with short simple answers. So, I’ll try to ‘splain to you the way I ‘splained it to him, with the aide of some wings and sauce.
But first, let’s look at this from the vantage point of where we left off last season. The record, of course, was 34-40-8 for 76 points…landing the Thrashers in fourteenth place in the east. Those 76 points were better only than the 71 produced by Tampa Bay and Los Angeles.
By any measure, this was un-good…or in the spirit of this discussion, un-success.
Oh sure, some will point out that last year’s failures paved the way for the team to draft Zach Bogosian with the third overall pick last June. And while I happily concede that point, the fact of the matter is that any measure of an organ-I-zation’s success…at any point in its existence…begins and ends with wins and losses. To me, seeing your team’s logo on display during the lottery pick ceremony is the product of failure and should always been seen such…period.
So in my eyes, the base line to measure any success for this coming season is 76 points.
Simply meeting that number…or worse, falling short of it…is failure to the umpth-degree. I don’t care if it increases our chance to win the John Tavares sweepstakes. If we are in that position it means Thrashers fans just suffered through another horrific season. And, in the words of Chief Brody when addressing the Amity Island city council during Jaws II, “I don’t know about you…but I don’t intend to go through that hell again”!
Besides, we could play the “since we won’t win the Stanley Cup, let’s play…or tank it… for the top draft pick” game for the next several years…and what would we have to show for it? Several more years of sucking?
Thank you, but no.
There has to be a time when a team begins a solid, steady march toward respectability. This should have started a decade ago in Atlanta. Some could say it did for about 3 or four seasons consecutively just prior to, then after, the lockout. But any progress, any measurable success, was clearly thrown off the rails last season. So the time to move ahead is now… not after a few more lottery picks make their way to town.
Playing this season and not seeing some type of improvement would be like…like wings with no hot sauce. Just…yeck!
Let’s say, for grins and giggles, that the Thrasher do indeed finish somewhere in the higher range between 77 points and 86 points, (my prediction). I consider that to be a “mild” level of success. Improvement, yes…not enough to realistically contend for the playoffs but just enough, possibly, to show some hope for the future.
Another level of success… call it “medium” success… could be seen if they defy all the dire predictions coming from hockey’s panel of punditry by performing at the level of 87-91 points. This would mean that the team played far better than expected, myself included. It would mean that the Littles and Bogosians of this team proved they are NHL ready and that Hainsey, Williams and Reasoner were far better acquisitions than advertised and that the Schneider trade was as good as most believed.
Is this level of play impossible? No.
Unlikely? Maybe…but not impossible.
However, if…IF… the team were able to play to this level, then it helps the front office make its sales pitch to next summer’s crop of UFAs as well as possibly entice Williams and Reasoner…possibly Schneider… to re-up for another tour of duty in Atlanta.
Lastly, there is a level that can only be classified as “hot” success… no, not just hot…”en fuego”…the equivalent of the “Death Sauce” the older boy was trying to handle.
Some might say this level of success would not just defy expectations or the odds… it would seemingly defy all laws of nature. This level of success would see this team make the playoffs, making the Thrashers this year’s version of what the…say…Boston Bruins or Philadelphia Flyers were last season. It would make John Anderson Coach of the Year running away and cause the northeast hockey elitists… the ones who have already punched this team’s ticket to Cellar City… to gag on their Yankee bean soup.
And who wouldn’t like seeing that?
However, even with my blue-tinted glasses on, I don’t foresee that level of success. At least not this year.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, when the Thrashers open their season against the Caps Friday and continue on through the season, I will indeed be rooting and cheering… with every fiber of my being… for just that outcome. Odds and pundits be damned.
I am, after all, a fan.
But, in the end…I see this team finishing, like I said, better then last season’s 76 points…at or around 86 points and at or around 11th place in the eastern Conference. That would be “mild” success. Not hot, not en fuego…but mild success.
Normally, I would see any season in which a team fails to make the playoffs as… well… failure. But in light of where this team finished last spring…what changes were made during the summer…what players were able to be acquired, and not acquired, via free agency…that’s my realistic outlook, pending any further roster moves.
Anything less would be un-good…would be un-success.
And, in the eyes of this fan…un-acceptable.
It’d be like wings with no sauce…which is something my oldest son would tell you he wouldn’t much care for.
When he regains feeling in his tongue and he’s able to speak again, that is.
Preseason Recap - Setting The Roster
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With Saturday night’s 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Thrashers finished the exhibition season with one win and five losses. The lone win coming in Nashville to begin the preseason.
In the six games, Atlanta was outscored 29-14…outshot 215-147, (24.5 S/G vs. 35.8 SA/G)…the power play was a decent 20.0% efficient, (7 goals in 35 man advantages)…but the defense killed off penalties only 74.4% of the time, (32 times out of 43).
Outside of that…it went pretty good.
Keeping things in perspective…last year the Thrashers were 5-2-0 during the preseason then followed it up immediately by starting the regular season 0-6-0…ending the Bob Hartley era in Blueland…on the way to 14th place in the Eastern Conference.
Conversely, the Boston Bruins went 1-4-1 during their preseason last year scoring 13 and giving up 19 goals. Boston then went on to grab the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They then took the top-seeded Montreal Canadiens to a seventh game in the first round of the playoffs. Cal-Gary went 1-5-2 during the same preseason, scored 13 goals and let up 24. They finished last spring with a record of 42-30-10, which was good enough for sixth in the Western Conference.
Now…am I predicting that the Thrashers are this year’s version of the Bruins and Flames based on the now-finished preseason? Nope…not at all. I’m merely pointing out that preseason records are not necessarily indicative of future results. The faux games of the last couple of weeks are a way to allow coaches to evaluate talent, break in new game plans, to take a look-see at what lines do or don’t work and all that jive.
Nothing more…nothing less.
Plus, as pointed out by Mark Knobler, the team is still “A work in progress” as many players are still getting comfortable with John Anderson’s new system. Camp only started just over two weeks ago.
Now… so that no one thinks I’m simply whistling past the graveyard here…there are a few things that do concern me moving from postseason to regular season play. Allowing almost 36 shots on goal is disquieting. Being outshot by an average of 11.3 per game in distressing. That eleven of the twenty-nine goals scored on Atlanta were of the power play variety raises an eyebrow. Kari Lehtonen allowing ten goals in three starts is troublesome, however I temper that with the fact he faced 107 shots and made 97 saves, (90.6 SV%).
But Friday, none of it matters. We start from scratch…for real.
By Wednesday, the team will need to trim its roster by three…taking it from 26 to 23 players. The team could chose to send four more down and carry only 22, but with Little and Williams possibly having to miss action this weekend due to injuries, I would opt to keep the extra forward around for a while.
Oystrick is the obvious odd-man out on the blueline, same with Crabb up front. I see the final two spots between Sterling, Hoffman and Stuart. If I’m given that choice, Stuart and Hoffman stay.
That being the case, here is what I believe the opening-night roster will look like:
First, in goal…Kari starts and Moose will back-up, (DUH5).
Defense…
Tobias Enstrom - Nic Havelid
Ron Hainsey - Mathieu Schneider
Zach Bogosian - Garnet Exelby
Boris Valabik the healthy scratch.
Up front…
Ilya Kovalchuk - Erik Christensen - Jason Williams*
Slava Kozlov - Bryan Little* - Colby Armstrong
Eric Perrin - Marty Reasoner - Todd White
Eric Boulton - Jimmy Slater - Chris Thorburn
Scratches would be Colin Stuart and Mike Hoffman
I think it’s entirely possible that White and Little could swap positions listed above…but outside of that, there’s my lineup.
*This lineup assumes Williams and Little are able to play this weekend depending upon their injuries. From all I’ve heard, they are not serious but we’ll have to see for sure. If they are not able to go…Hoffman and Stuart could play.
LET’S DROP THE FREAKIN’ PUCK ALREADY!!
Update-Oct. 6,2008 2:21pm: At 2:03 pm Monday the Thrashers web site announced that Crabb, Stuart and Valabik are the three players sent to Chicago.
Ondrej Is Not A Happy Camper
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Our old pal Craig Custance writes in The Sporting News that Ondrej Pavelec is not a happy camper these days. Seems he has a slight disagreement with the Thrashers’ decision to send him down to begin the season as a member of the Chicago Wolves.
According to Pavelec’s agent, Allan Walsh, the Thrashers organ-I-zation…namely Don Waddell… failed to keep a promise made to the 21-year old net minder at the time he was signed. Said Walsh, “When Ondrej signed two years ago, [Don Waddell] gave Ondrej his word. He sat there at the table and gave Ondrej his personal word that Ondrej would never be held back”.
Wow…he used his name four times in that sentence. I’m impressed.
Anyway, Walsh continued…”Last year he led Chicago to an American League championship. This year he played in the first exhibition game and then the third period on October 3 - they threw him into the game cold in the third period. That is criminal mismanagement of a young goalie”.
Waddell has yet spoken in regards to this matter…maybe we’ll get some comment from his soon. However… the way I understand it, it was known up front Pavs would play in the game Friday night against the Nashville Predators. Goalies splitting time in a preseason game is not an unusual occurrence, after all. But even if that were not the case, when you are the back-up keeper in a game…your #1 job is to be ready to go in on a moment’s notice. The switch was made during intermission…so it wasn’t like he was yanked from bed in the middle of a deep sleep.
Some youngsters might see an insertion into any preseason game as an “opportunity” to prove themselves…not a reason to whine about being thrown out onto the ice “cold”.
Oh, and I’m sorry, Mr. Walsh but… “criminal mismanagement”? That’s quite the strong accusation, wouldn’t you agree? Even though I’m not a lawyer, I’m pretty darn sure that there is no criminal statute for how a team deals with its goalie. If so…Bob Hartley would have been incarcerated back in April of 2007.
Now…I’m not one to try and crawl inside of D-Dub’s head and figure out exactly what goes on in that noggin of his…but I’d betcha dollars-to-donuts that when he does have the opportunity to have a one-on-one with Allan Walsh, he might just be inclined to say something like, “Look, Al… I’m not a big-time, hot-shot agent like you are. How-EV-er, if I were in your position I might just tell my client that the time to go pulling a stunt like this is NOT the day after allowing four goals in 20 minutes…blowing a 2-goal lead that was handed to you. That’s not exactly moving your cause…in the right direction”.
I know this seems like I’m being harsh on the kid. I certainly understand a professional athlete wanting to be in the big show and contributing to his team’s cause. However, one has to deal with such circumstances in a more mature fashion than this.
I like Pavelec…think he’s gonna be a starting keeper in the NHL one day and possible put on some great stats. Shoot, I can even accept that Ondrej might be able make an argument that he should be playing at the NHL level right now. But this is not the way to do it.
This team has a lot of issues they are facing right now and the last thing it needs on its plate is a 21-year old kid throwing a temper-tantrum because he didn’t get his way. Regardless of if he did or didn’t get some type of assurance from Waddell that he would be playing in Atlanta by this time.
The team will carry only two goalies. Kari is the starter to begin the season…everyone knows that. Moose was signed last summer to be the stabilizing force as a quality back-up…everyone knows that. Kari has been signed to a one-year deal to prove once and for all he is indeed the Thrashers number-one man ‘tween the pipes. It’s also no big secret that if he fails to do so this season he’s outa here and the red carpet will then be rolled out for young Ondrej.
His turn will come…either next year if Kari’s performance is less then stellar or, worst case, two seasons from now after Hedberg’s contract expires. He should have just gotten on the plane to Chi-town, continued to play well there…knowing that, if a need arose this year, he would be called upon as was the case last fall.
That would have been the mature thing to do. That would have been the team-player thing to do. But instead…he chose to act like a child. And his agent chose to allow his client to do so instead of advising him otherwise.
That’s too bad…on both their accounts.
All that being said…I truly hope that over the next couple of days Pavelec has a change of heart. Like I said…he’s a quality goalie and this organ-I-zation is blessed to have him along with Kari and Moose right now. I’m sure Don can cut the kid a little slack if he takes a few days to clear his head, gather his thoughts, then…once understanding the gravity of the situation…reports to Chicago with a renewed sense of purpose and drive.
If this how Ondrej ultimately decides to handle the situation…then all can be forgiven.
That’s how the maturation process works sometimes.
Preseason Quick Shots
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the Red Wings, the Thrashers are now one win out of four so far this preseason. Two more games this weekend and then they’ll lace ‘em up for real next Friday. Here are a few quick shots in regards to the game and the preseason thus far…
First, the bad news…in going 1-3, the team has been outscored 19-9 and outshot 146-90.
The good news…they’re already in mid-season form!
Thank youuuu….please, be kind to the waitress.
OK, that was probably unfair given that these are merely preseason stats and so much of it has to be taken for what it’s worth. But next week they begin to play for keeps, we won’t have that “but its just preseason” line to fall back on.
About the game last night…well, I didn’t think the Thrashers played too terrible bad. Actually, pretty good during some points. We got beat on two power play goals, both by Mikael Samuelsson, an empty netter and a play in which the Ice Gremlins apparently reached up and grabbed Tobias Enstrom’s skates causing him to tumble. Then, the same gremlins grabbed Kari Lehtonen’s stick while he attempted to clear the puck from the corner causing the puck to instead bounce off Henrik Zetterberg’s stick into an empty goal.
Hey…that’s how I saw it from section 110.
Honestly…one of the reason’s the Red Wings are…well, the Red Wings is because they take advantage of their opportunities. Three power play chances… two goals from them. Conversely, Atlanta had three power play opportunities that netted no goals. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt having the likes of Chris Osgood in the goal either… he of 25 saves on 26 shots.
Erik Christensen doesn’t seem to be showing any lingering effects from his injury last week. His solo-effort goal against Detroit was a beauty. If he continues to play like he did last night, he should keep the role of top-line center.
What concerns me most right now? Um…being outshot 36.5-22.5 does. So does a 72.0% effective penalty kill, (18-25). Putting those stats into perspective…last season Atlanta was outshot 33.9-25.8 on average and the worst PK in the league belonged to Los Angeles, 78.0%. I know…its just preseason.
However, I think I know why the shots for/shots against and goals deficits still resemble that of last season’s. Yup…seems I totally forgot to wash The Jersey over the summer. I hung it up after the last game and never took it out of the closet…still a lot of last year’s bad vibes and yeck all over it. This shall be rectified tonight. Cold water…gentle hand-wash cycle…alone, inside out…hung to dry with crest facing north towards the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Gotta do these things right as to not upset the hockey gods, ya know.
A question was posed to me last night as I was leaving the arena that I’ll forward on to you…if there is only one roster spot to give to either Colin Stuart or Brett Sterling, you give it to…?
Me? I’d have to say…Stuart.
Don Waddell has indicated that Zach Bogosian will probably be suiting up in a Thrashers jersey when the season begins and not in the juniors. In this Mike Knobler piece, the general manager said, “I’d say it’s more heavily favored toward keeping him…I think we’d keep him because of Schneider”. Continuing, “As long as [Bogosian] can play in our group on a nightly basis, there’s no reason to send him down”.
Speaking of D-Dub…Forbes has ranked all of the general managers in professional sports. Look who is number 6 on the list.
Note: The Forbes ranking is from March 2007. Sorry, long night.
Ross McKeon of Yahoo! Sports has his season preview out. His final analysis for the Thrashers, “Look for the Thrashers to be better off than last year but still a step or two behind to reach the playoffs”. Uh-huh…that’s what I’ve been saying. I think it’ll translate to about 86 points.
Sara…red is NOT your color. Thrasher blue suits you so much better!
And finally…Hey Josh, Monique said to hurry home from Iowa. I, along with the rest of my gang, had the pleasure of meeting her at the game Wednesday night. She’s a great gal and I hope to see ya both next time.
Services »
