Thrashers rookie Bogosian hurt

Thrashers rookie defenseman Zach Bogosian got pounded into the boards on his first shift Tuesday night and left the game with an injury to his left leg.

The preliminary diagnosis was a bone bruise, Thrashers coach John Anderson said, but the team plans to have Bogosian X-rayed Wednesday to make sure he doesn’t have a fracture. Bogosian has played in eight of the nine games.

Spartan pride

Two Thrashers losses were the only things that ruined the weekend for center Jim Slater. On Friday, Slater scored his first goal of the season, and he did it in Detroit, about 50 miles south of his hometown of Lapeer, Mich. He bought tickets for 16 friends and family members and estimates he had about 30 supporters at Joe Louis Arena.

“They were wearing their Thrashers gear and everything,” Slater said. “I’m sure they took a little bit of a verbal beating. They stuck with it and cheered us on. It was nice to score there.”

A day later, Slater’s alma mater, Michigan State, knocked off Michigan in football at Ann Arbor, where the Spartans hadn’t won in 18 years. “We weren’t really able to watch the game, but I heard about it at the end, which was good,” Slater said.

Gator lover

He’s not the only Thrashers player pulling for the Spartans.

“I’m cheering for them because they’ve got to knock off Penn State,” said Todd White, who hopes to see Florida reach the national title game. How did that happen to a guy from Ontario who played at Clarkson (in upstate New York near the Canadian border)?

“He jumped on the bandwagon in the ’90s when they were good,” Slater said.