AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 04 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USShhhh…Don’t Wake Up Kari
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shhhhhhhhhhhhh…be quiet. Be very, very quiet. Kari’s asleep.
Actually, the boy is absolutely unconscious right now. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want him to wake up… to snap out of this little trance he’s in right now… until, oh…spring-ish.
Since John Anderson had to pull out a cane and yank Kari off the ice last Thursday during that debacle of a first period, Lehtonen has rebounded rather nicely…don’t you think? He faced 40 shots on goal in Carolina Saturday night…turned away 38 of ‘em, including the final 19 of that game. Unfortunately, none of his teammates could match his determination that night and the Thrashers were blank 2-zip.
He followed that up by turning away 39 of 40 Rangers shots up in The Big Apple Tuesday night…including the first 37 he faced. This time, however, his skaters found a way to not waste Kari’s performance and came away with a 2-1 shootout win, thanks in part to Joey Motzko’s first goal since being called up from Chicago a few days ago.
Motzko’s tally, from Reasoner and Armstrong, broke the scoreless deadlock at the 6:26 mark of the third period. It was a very workman like effort from that line…indicative of the night’s work all around.
Kari lost the bid for his second shutout of the season by just 11 seconds. It was the 38th Ranger shot of the game. Prior to Markus Naslund’s game-tying goal, Lehtonen had gone 101:20 without being scored upon…making 57 consecutive saves. In the past two games, Kari has face 80 shots and has allowed by 3 goals, (.962 SV%).
That, my friends, is doin’ it!
Undaunted, Kari then stopped both New York shots in overtime then help his team skate away with the second point in the shootout.
He and the rest of the Thrashers now will have a couple day off before the Devils come down to Georgia Friday night…the team Kari and Co. blanked 4-0 the last time they hooked up.
Let’s hope Kari remains totally unconscious ‘til then and continues his lights out play.
Until then…Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….
Kovy’s Miss…Fugiddaboudit!
Now…a lot has been said about Kaptain Kovy ringing the puck off the iron when attempting to salt away the game with an empty netter. In fact, as I type this up, the NHL On The Fly boys are yackin’ about just that play. But folk, Kovy drains that 999 times out of a 1,000…last night just happened to be that night. I promise you, no one feels sicker about than he does.
And come on…it isn’t anywhere near the choke-job served up a couple years back by the very first draft pick selected by Don Waddell and the Atlanta Thrashers. So, let’s keep it in perspective…shall we?
Speaking Of Steffie’s Gaff…
Believe it or not…I traveled an hour in the early morning to be able to see with my own two eyes Patrik Stefan’s infamous whiff. It also almost led to my untimely demise.
If you ever catch me at a game…ask me about it.
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Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By pond scum
February 4, 2009 1:06 AM | Link to this
Gotta give Kari his due, he is in a zone right now!!
Let’s hope he keeps it up friday nite as well. He seems to be alot better when his defense isn’t constantly collapsing down so hard they actually screen him also.
Tonite it seemed the guys kept it pretty simple. Maybe that’s what they need to focus on more,just simplicity.
Goodnite blueland. GO THRASHERS!
By Tony C.
February 4, 2009 1:13 AM | Link to this
My favorite stat for The Kaptain: 3 Hits.
Your boy starts throwning the lumber around and he’s going to find he gets a lot more room. Just look at A-O half of the guys that back off are scared of the shot, half are scared of the hands ALL respect the shoulder.
Good look on calling the hater out earlier Mr. T-BTW: Dave Reid was spot-on about #17’s defensive responsibility, but then again he’d find something negative to say about ATL if we beat satan 4-0
By English Teacher
February 4, 2009 7:47 AM | Link to this
Uh Rawhide, I think you meant to say “be very quiet”
By five_hole
February 4, 2009 7:53 AM | Link to this
What I saw last night was a team playing defense in front of Kari. Defensemen kept position on the wingers. Wingers came back to the zone to help out.
Notice who did not play; Valabik, Exelby, Christensen. Anyone else think this is not a coincidence? I like what Valabik can bring to the game, but he needs to learn to play defense at the NHL level.
I think Bogosian had an imprint of Kari’s stick on his face. Hope the kid is alright.
By gategirl
February 4, 2009 8:05 AM | Link to this
Please give Kari the love.
By maali
February 4, 2009 8:31 AM | Link to this
don’t wake him up? you’re joking right? he’s finally awake. let the kid play, this is the kari of old.
did anyone else notice his accent is actually heavier than usual? is kimmo in town or has he been calling home a lot?
By Rockem Sockem Thrasher
February 4, 2009 8:32 AM | Link to this
Great game! Kari looked solid and Motzko has earned more time on the ice.
I think Coach Anderson is very good at talent. The guys he has picked has proved to be pretty good players.
Motzko, Little, Oystrick, Sterling, Crabb, Pavelec, and Peverly have all done well. I think Stuart will work out, just a matter of getting him paired with the right line.
There are more players ready to come up. I think Grant Lewis - Defence deserves a shot.
By Glovesave29
February 4, 2009 8:42 AM | Link to this
Five_hole - gotta disagree with ya a bit. That was NOT good defense last night. Kari made 40 saves. The boys need to cut that by about 12 shots / game if we want to win more consistantly. We are not talking about long ones being bombed from the blue line. Those were of the deep slot variety and waaaaay too many rebounds that were not being cleared. There was little backchecking by our forwards. I put that one all on Kari, he was sensational last night. Stole the game on his own. The pad stack on the far post was a thing of beauty.
By sisu
February 4, 2009 8:55 AM | Link to this
Great game by Kari but I think that there seems to be an underlying issue with Kovy. I think he has been playing too many minutes this season and it is starting to show. Nothing against Kovy, it is not his fault that they keep riding him but maybe he would do better with a few minutes less ice time? Kari must have been told that he is in a contract year and that he needs to step up (just kidding), he is playing some of his best hockey in a long time, maybe the erasing of the 7 - 0 playoff loss will have a bigger mental effect?
Great win, it was not pretty but it was a win which is important. At the same time the Isles are in the midst of a 4 game win streak, wonder what Waddell would say about that? LOL
By J(Z)
February 4, 2009 9:15 AM | Link to this
where’s stendec? :)
Win or loss, giving up almost 40 shots a game is still unacceptable.
By Sam
February 4, 2009 9:24 AM | Link to this
Stendec already bashed Kari on Mike’s blog for allowing the one goal. Either that guy is nuts or he just wants to get a rise out of everyone. I think crazy is the accurate adjective for him.
By Brett
February 4, 2009 9:36 AM | Link to this
Great game last night. Hats off to Oystrick for standing up for Reasoner. It was nice to see a little team toughness last night. I thought Kari played a great game. It would be nice if he were able to to string together 8-10 games like last night. But I believe that would be impossible with the porous D we have. Anyway it was a nice win. Maybe the boys will use this game as a confidence builder and be a little toughter to play against.
FIRE WADDELL
By Hotrod
February 4, 2009 10:52 AM | Link to this
Kari’s stock is going up right now. He is really making some big time saves high on the difficult metter.
Kovy missing an open net! I viewed it a couple times to make sure what I was seeing, and I dont think the defenseman got a stick on the shot. I can go a couple of years without seeing that again.
The first couple of periods I didnt really notice either team playing all that well. Lots of missed passes , turnovers , and grinding on the boards. But like the saying goes, a win is a win , and we will take it.
By Barry
February 4, 2009 10:59 AM | Link to this
Man Kari has been an absolute stud these past few games. Too bad the rest of the team can’t play as hard and as focused as he does or we would be looking at winning 3 or 4 games out of 5 not losing 4 out of 5. Great to see Oystrick stick up for Reasoner. That type of stuff has been lacking from this team most of the year. Everyone seems to tentative and afraid to do anything wrong. See the hit on Enstrom in the Carolina game where Enstrom himself has to try and answer that. That was unacceptable. I kinda partially agree with the On The Fly guys regarding Kovy. All Kovy had to do was keep skating, drop a shoulder, and angle more towards the net to get a better shot. Also he did just stand there when Naslund was allowed to line up the shot all wide open and tie the game. Kovy needed to try and challenge a little bit more or something. I’ve been so frustrated with Kovy’s lack of defense this year. Yes you are Ilya Kovalchuk but that doesn’t make you better than everyone else where you can’t play defense also. Everyone else does. That’s something this team is lacking. Total defensive committment by everyone to play more stingy defense in our own zone by mostly the forwards. If our forwards would just put a body on someone or challenge other players with the puck and actually force other teams forwards to make a decision quicker, outcomes would be different.
By Russ
February 4, 2009 10:59 AM | Link to this
After Kovy hit the post on the empty netter, the first thought that went through my head was “This game is going to OT”. I would have been shocked at that point if the Rangers hadn’t tied it up. I guess that is the mentality you acquire from being a Thrasher fan from day 1. Anyway, the team did a nice job of regrouping and still coming away with 2 pts. No harm done, just one bonus point that the Rangers probably didn’t deserve…and when I say didn’t deserve I mean thanks to Kari, otherwise the ice was slanted pretty heavily in New York’s favor most of the game.
By Midfield
February 4, 2009 11:04 AM | Link to this
The point give away to the Rangers is on Kovy this time - no question. He should have put it away before the equalizer. This looked to me as one of the best games of the season - very tight skating and finishing checks. Rangers played a pretty good game, but most of their shots were not quality chances, actually. Anderson can log it in a positive column, for sure. And of course, the hooking call in the third was totally made up. Not even close.
By Rawhide
February 4, 2009 11:06 AM | Link to this
English Teacher - Maybe I was trying to say to be “quite quiet”…. :o) Thanks.
sisu - I’ll take un-pretty wins over pretty losses anyday.
Rockem Sockem Thrasher - I agree with your comment about JA’s talent assessment. I would like to hope he’ll have a lot to say when it comes to the deals that will be made at the trade deadline…which is only a month away now.
maali - dear, it was meant as a complement to the way Kari is in such a “zone” right now. 77 saves on 80 SOG is absolutely fantastic!
gategirl - When Kari is announced Friday night…I plan on standing and cheering loudly. I hope the rest of the crowd will do same and let him know that what he has done these past 2 games has been noticed and appreciated.
Brett - great point about Oyster making a stand like that. This team needs to bring the ‘tude more often…not be pushed around. And maybe it starts with these young guys doing so.
Hotrod - Congrats…your 10:52 post was the 25,000th in the history of this blog.
By Russ
February 4, 2009 11:20 AM | Link to this
Damn, I was 25,002nd. I knew I should have posted 8 minutes earlier.
By Spud Webb
February 4, 2009 11:21 AM | Link to this
Oystrick standing up for Reasoner, someone else posted it, that was AWESOME. Finally, lets show some heart!!!! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, we’re alive. I didn’t mind Kovy missing the open net, it happens, even to the best. What did bug me was him lost on the blueline for the game tying goal. Not sure what he was doing? Kari great job last night. Rawhide I hate being so negative, but do you think Kari’s agent whispered into his ear after last weeks train wreck & said “Kari you play like that and no big contract and nobody else will want you, if you want out of this town, pick it up??”. Just saying!!!! Love DUMMY DON supporting JA in the paper. Laughable for sure DON YOUR THE &SSCLOWN THAT HAS GOTTEN US INTO THIS MESS, FIRE DW
By Alan
February 4, 2009 11:37 AM | Link to this
Spud - Kari loves it here. He wouldn’t have spent so much money redecorating a house near Brookwood (featured in AJC Homes last year) if he didn’t intend on staying. If his agent whispered anything, it was “if you continue to play like that, you’re not going to get signed here, and definitely not earning a raise.”
By Spud Webb
February 4, 2009 11:57 AM | Link to this
Good point Alan!
By Midfield
February 4, 2009 12:17 PM | Link to this
I noticed that Armstrong is rapidly becoming an impact player for Atlanta. I think he was awesome, and he also was very good in practically all of that handful of games Thrashers looked good in. It will be a shame if he is traded. I can see why the Pens fans want him back.
By Rawhide
February 4, 2009 1:48 PM | Link to this
Hey kids…here is an interesting read from Puck Daddy.
Hockey Night in Canada Radio’s Jeff Marek had a sit down with The Commish and discussed such things as the possiblility of advertisement on NHL jereseys as well as a “litmus test” for relocating franchises.
By Alan
February 4, 2009 2:49 PM | Link to this
Speaking of interesting, Jussi Jokinen has hit the waiver wire yet again.
By ranallo10 (in AT)
February 4, 2009 2:53 PM | Link to this
Alan — As I said last time he was waived, I would like to add him to this roster. Most people will see him as another Christensen though, unfortunately.
By Midfield
February 4, 2009 3:57 PM | Link to this
Rawhide, why do you think this article about overhauling teams does not mention Atlanta? Is it because they think Atlanta is fine enough not to worry about, or they don’t care about this market at all, or they don’t want to touch it until the law suite is resolved?
By Bob Waddell
February 4, 2009 4:21 PM | Link to this
the Isles are in the midst of a 4 game win streak, wonder what Waddell would say about that?
Absolutely, we’ve felt all along that that the Isle’s GM has put together a Stanley Cup contending lineup and that they’ve just been getting bad breaks all year. Clearly you can see what we’ve felt all along and that’s, absolutely, the best lineup Wang money can buy. Absolutely. We’ve felt it all along and it was just a matter of time before that lineup came together, that room is full of quality guys. Now where’s my mock turtleneck, I have a poker game tonight.
By Glovesave29
February 4, 2009 4:54 PM | Link to this
I think I am going to cry…
They want to remake Slap Shot
By Spud Webb
February 4, 2009 5:08 PM | Link to this
Glovesave29 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
By Brendan
February 4, 2009 5:15 PM | Link to this
Some “bad” teams put together TWO five-game winning streaks, in the course of an 82-game schedule. It’s absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G how such things get overlooked or ignored. And it’s even easier than ever, with the advent of the shootout, for a bad team to put together a winning streak.
For a GM to actually say, “We knew this team could win some games” transcends the folly of stating, “Well, the way we figure it. We’re going to have to outscore our opponent to win. But, we feel like we’ve got a pretty decent shot at doing that, from time to time.”
Remember when Hawks Coach Woodson said, “Records are records. I’m not concerned about our record. We can’t control our record.” That’s #2, all-time, on the list of worst sports quotes ever. “We knew we’d win some games” is at least a candidate for the “Top 10” all-time worst sports quotes.
By Tony C.
February 4, 2009 5:57 PM | Link to this
Further ammo for getting somebody else to run video sessions!!!
I mean, having Moose is awesome, but I’d feel better with a full-time guy.
How long did we have a franchise before we got Steve “I have 18 job titles” Weeks was named gaolie/video/media liason/whatever we come up with this week coach??
P.S. Maybe we should let Weeks run practice more often-team came out ready to play, albeit poorly.
FIRE WADDELL
By Alan
February 4, 2009 6:00 PM | Link to this
Midfield - It’s because the NHL knows Atlanta isn’t the problem, it’s Waddell and the ownership. You mention the lawsuit pending, and I’m sure that’s also a part of it. But the underlying fact is that Atlanta is a large and vibrant market, and those guys know people here will come out and support the team - win or lose - if the team isn’t a steaming pile of crap assembled by one of the worst hockey minds to ever intrude on the sport..
By MashaPlayer7
February 4, 2009 6:17 PM | Link to this
I think Kovy misses way too many shots for a player of his caliber. ..and I felt that way before the empty net miss last night. I’m sure some stat freak will find it, but I’m going to guess he is in Top 10 in missed shots and/or shots that were blocked. If the guy actually hit the net 90% of the time, he would have Ovechkin numbers.
By The Joker
February 4, 2009 6:37 PM | Link to this
Why can’t sports franchises receive government bailout money?
Because nearly all of the players make more than $500,000 per year.
By Rawhide
February 4, 2009 7:43 PM | Link to this
Midfield - I think The Commish believes the Atlanta market is a good place for an NHL team and he firmly believes that as soon as it is run by competent people and has a competent GM that can ice even a mediocre team, if not better…then the franchise will be just fine.
Glovesave29 - Absolute blasphemy!!
Proof positive that Hollywood is run and dominated by a mass of humanity that is void of any sense of reality and is completely out of touch with the real world.
By Kaat
February 4, 2009 7:43 PM | Link to this
Frankly, I think Kovy should feel shame for that missed empty netter. It was no Patrik Stefan trail of tears, but for a sniper like Kovalchuk, it was pretty bad. I’m not a let’s-bash-them-for-every-tiny-mistake kind of person, and everyone makes mistakes, but honestly! It’s about more than missing the empty net. To my eyes, it just doesn’t look like his head is in the game. That’s all.
By Glovesave29
February 4, 2009 7:44 PM | Link to this
Tony C - and what have I been railing on for what seems like months now? WE NEED A GOALIE COACH.
I once heard Gretzky commenting about the difficulties of shooting on an empty net. You ease up and lose focus. Have to take his word on that one, because i’ve never been in that situation. I am usually the one on the bench deep in prayer for him to miss…
By Rawhide
February 4, 2009 9:09 PM | Link to this
Kaat - I don’t know if I’m totally sold on that…but I understand your point. Regardless, I know that you’re certainly not alone in that observation.
If you are correct, and his head is elsewhere…what do think he is preoccupied with?
Frustrated with another losing season?
Frustrated with JA “system”?
Frustrated with teammate’s play?
Frustrated with his own play?
Possible contract negotiations this summer?
Combination of them all?
By Tony C.
February 4, 2009 10:33 PM | Link to this
Mr.T- I think it’s also something to do with
“If I’m Batman, where’s Robin?”
I’m beginning to believe more and more he is looking for a teammate that is ALMOST-but-not-quite as good as he is on his line. I think he (and the rest of us) is(are) hoping that Peverly can be that guy-a Pippen to his Jordan if you will.
You may ask “what was Hossa then?” I would answer: Hossa was Green Lantern to #17’s Batman-totally different guy, not his line, possibly better than him… I dunno, just my idea-work is killing me tonight.
This is why I wanted us to get Ryder.
Other thoughts; what do yall think about this proposed 3-way deal LeBrun posted on ESPN about:
Bouwmeester to Ottowa, Spezza to NYR, Gomez to SwampCats
?!??!?!??
By Thrashy Thrashy
February 4, 2009 11:46 PM | Link to this
Rawhide,
Hollywood also made almost all the movies you like. It’s the b******* that go to these remakes that make it possible for Hollywood to continue to churn them out. It’s all about cash money, brother. If moviegoers refuse to stop plunking down money for s** remakes, it’s on them, not Hollywood.
By ranallo10 (in AT)
February 5, 2009 5:21 AM | Link to this
“This is why I wanted us to get Ryder.”
You were definitely not alone with that wish.
“Bouwmeester to Ottowa, Spezza to NYR, Gomez to SwampCats”
Not bloody likely, in my opinion. Not very useful for Ottawa or New York, either. Florida would be lucky to get a top line player (locked up for a few years) for Bouwmeester. I don’t see that swap happening.