Bobby Holik usually has a comment for everything.

But after the Thrashers were tossed from practice on Tuesday, Holik was quiet.

Practice ended abruptly when an angry associate head coach Brad McCrimmon kicked the team off the ice, apparently unsatisfied with a drill.

Holik, the Thrashers captain, declined to discuss it.

"Some things you don't have to comment on," Holik said.

And that was it. He wasn't saying more.

Interview requests for McCrimmon were denied by team officials. General manager and interim head coach Don Waddell, who was on the ice for practice, was the only coach available. His comments didn't mesh with McCrimmon's actions.

"I don't know if it was a combination of being out there for a period of time and the ice getting bad but we were trying to execute something and it wasn't working for anybody," Waddell said. "That's a small issue. We had a great practice there for an hour."

Really? Great?

"Not a great practice, but we were on the ice for over an hour," Waddell said.

If Waddell thought it was a good practice, he was in the minority. Alternate captain Ilya Kovalchuk was steamed, not only about practice but with the recent direction of a team that has now lost seven consecutive games. It's the longest streak without a win this season.

"I think everybody is [ticked] right now. We've battled too hard from when we lost those first [0-6 start of season] games," Kovalchuk said. "We battled back and now we just — I don't know, didn't give up but — I can't explain."

He tried.

"We need to take charge sometimes and play how we want to play. It seems like other teams play and we react."

The Thrashers face first-place Carolina tonight in hopes of earning their first win since Feb. 15 in New Jersey. They likely need a regulation win to hold on to any hope of a playoff berth.

And regulation wins don't come easy for this team. It's been over a month since their last one, and they only have 15 regulation wins all season. In 67 games. That's the least of any team in the NHL.

If Carolina plays .500 hockey the rest of the season, the Thrashers will need to go 12-3 to pass the Hurricanes. And that says nothing about Washington and Florida.

It's easy to see why McCrimmon was upset if he didn't see the necessary focus on the day before a game that could effectively end the Thrashers playoff hopes.

"It's unacceptable. [McCrimmon] has every right to do that. It was warranted, probably awhile ago," defenseman Steve McCarthy said. "We have a big game tomorrow and to have a half-[effort] practice like that can't happen. ... It looked like a lack of interest and that's not good enough."

Note: Three injured Thrashers were back on the ice for practice. Todd White, who missed the weekend trip to Boston and Pittsburgh because of a lacerated elbow, practiced and said he'd see how things felt today before making a decision whether or not to play. Niclas Havelid, who missed most of Sunday's game with a hyper-extended elbow, said X-rays showed no damage and expects to play against Carolina. Defenseman Ken Klee (groin) also practiced.