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Monday, November 24, 2008
Thrashers’ First Quarter Report Card
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Thrashers are nineteen games into this 2008-09 NHL campaign and preparing for a pair of back-to-back road games in Toronto and D.C. This is right around the quarter mark of the season, so…how is our team doing?
Well, it’s a mixed bag-o-nuts really. Therefore let’s get right to it…shall we?
OFFENSE
The Good: Before the season began, there were many who looked at this group and questioned from where the goals were going to come. Sure, Kovy would get his 45-50 goals, but after that…who was gonna produce? Well, that question has been answered by Slava Kozlov, (11 goals and 6 assists)…Bryan Little, (9 goals and 8 assists)…and Todd White, (4 goals and 11 assists)…who have more than held there own. Kovy has contributed 6 goals and 11 helpers. The second line has been outstanding so far… which is a really good thing seeing that at this time last season Kovalchuk was sitting on 19 goals.
The power play has been sporadic but overall is 18.3% productive. That’s tied for 15th in the league with Pittsburgh and up from last year’s 16.5%.
The Un-Good: As a team, Atlanta has been scoring at a rate of 2.74 G/G…up from last season’s goal production of 2.52 G/G…but still is only good enough for 17th in the league, (tied with Dallas). The Thrashers take an average of 27.6 shots per game…again better than last years pitiful 25.8 S/G…but is still only good enough for 24th in the NHL, (again, tied with Dallas).
The Summary: At times the O-fense has looked much improved from last season. The terribly low 15 SOG taken last Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets seems to be more the exception rather than the norm…but there is still much work to be done here. Little, Kozzy and White have all be wonderful stories 19 games in but Kovy’s goal production is beginning to be somewhat concerning and the three shutouts already are also troubling. The overall grade would have been a bit higher if not for the past 3 games.
The Grade: C+
DEFENSE
The Good: Ron Hainsey has been the most pleasant surprise of the season so far. He has been a stabilizing force on the Thrashers blueline and I shudder to think where this team would be without him. Noted for his offensive abilities as well, he hasn’t disappointed in that regard either as he is fifth in overall team scoring with twelve points.
Before his injury, rookie Zach Bogosian looked as though playing him on the big squad was the right call.
The Un-Good: Oh…where to begin? Let’s see, giving up 32.9 SA/G, (27th in the NHL), is way too many…the 3.47 GA/G is unacceptable, (only Dallas gives up more)…and the penalty kill is only 74.7% effective, (28th in the league).
Then there is this matter of Mathieu Schneider. His -12 rating is not only last on the team by far…but only Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour and St. Louis’ Brad Boyes are lower at -14. However, they have played in 21 and 18 games respectively compared to Schneider’s 14.
The Summary: Just like last season, the GA/G and SA/G numbers are too high and must be dealt with. The good play of Hainsey is being offset by the disappointment of Schneider. Everything in between is about the same as last season.
The Grade D+
GOALTENDING
The Good: Well, the fact that the Thrashers have the ability to turn to a talent such as Ondrej Pavelec when need be is a very good thing indeed. He came up at the end of October when Kari went down and has played to a 2-2-0 record with a 2.32 GAA and .913 SV%. Last Saturday night he was outstanding, stopping 29 of 30 shots faced.
After getting off to a shaky start, Johan Hedberg has played better of late as well. The .404 GAA is still scary, though.
The Un-Good: In the nine game that Kari Lehtonen started he went 2-5-2 with a 3.44 GAA and .903 SV%. But the numbers here are not what I consider to be as un-good as the fact that he has gone down due to injury yet again. This…coupled with the way young Opie is playing…doesn’t help in his attempt to continue being considered the goalie of the future for this organ-I-zation.
Nineteen games in and no Atlanta goalie has yet to record a shutout. In fact, the only time an opposing team has scored fewer than 2 goals in a game was when New Jersey slipped a power play goal past Kari to beat Atlanta 1-0.
The Summary: If this season is indeed Kari’s make-or-break test regarding his future in Atlanta…then Opie might wanna start looking for a place to live down here.
The Grade: Pavelec, A- …Moose, B- …Kari, Incomplete …but if I had to give a grade, D+.
Overall Team Grade: C-
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