As the Birds Thrash

BAYONETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-02-25T14:58:00.015-05:00

Damn y'all, a lot has happened since the last time I typed up an actual entry for this here blog. I've typed a few here, but only to publish them on Hockey Independent's website. But seeing as how the Thrashers are mired in a horrific losing slump -- only winning 6 of their last 26 games since December 20th's win over the Toronto Maple Leafs -- there hasn't been much in the way of creativity-inducing fodder for this forum. As some of you know, I do enjoy the zany good fun on a more than irregular occasion, but lately, the sorry ass play of these Thrashers has gotten me down. And with all of the scuttlebutt concerning a potential sale of the team that might see them end up in some God-forsaken place like Winnipeg, Manitoba (take that Winnipeg tweet bot and irrational Jets' fan-trolls!!) swirling around town like debris that gets blown down a pot-hole riddled Marietta Street during late winter, the rumors and horror have been too much to stomach lately.

But hope and promise are back in the form of cryptic tweets from radio personality John Kincade (of 680 the Fan "fame") and a story printed by our humble and esteemed AJC beat writer, Chris Vivlamore, who tells us that there aren't just one, but two potential investor groups who are interested in snatching up the whole kitten-caboodle (yes, we play the Panthas tonite so I had to do it) known as Philips Arena operating rights, the Hawks and Thrashers. Oh yeah, they both want to keep the Thrashers here for goodness sake!! And prior to that news, we learned of Dustin Byfuglien liking us enough to commit to staying and skating on our blueline as a defenseman (so they say) for the next 5 years. As long as he scores 20-30 goals every year, he can play freakin' roving infielder for all I care. Right on the heels of that news, our mob-connected GM, Rick Dudley was extended for 4 years and Captain Andrew Ladd, who's been driving up the price of his next deal into the stratosphere by scoring 6 goals in his last six games, intimated to Vivlamore that a new deal is on the horizon with these words:

“We are still talking,” Ladd said. “We are still working on it but both sides are on the same page for sure. I want to be a part of what we are doing here. We kind of need a couple guys to stay and say this is a good place and we’ve got a good thing going here. It will help out a lot.”

CAN YOU SAY SEGUE?? Cutting and pasting from my HI.com featured article from earlier in the week, I give you this again: “Sage-er” words have never been spoken. Andrew Ladd is the captain of this team for a reason: because he leads by example with a conviction and seriousness of action that engenders respect from his peers; and it looks as though his genuine character will be manifested again in what is rumored to be a 5 year deal worth in the realm of $20 million. Considering the circumstances of this troubled franchise, and the fact that the requisite winning needed for a playoff run has taken a long winter vacation, Thrashers fans should take heart and rejoice in the fact that two players – both of whom have already been part of a successful Chicago Blackhawks organization, as well as the biggest victory celebration you can hope for as a hockey fan – have committed for the foreseeable future to a distressed and mistreated franchise whose sweater is adorned with a truculent, whirling Thrasher bird.

For now, the commitments of Ladd and Byfuglien will have to be enough to keep the ember of belief and passion burning within the hearts of Thrashers fans everywhere until the shadow of doubt and rumor are replaced with certainty of fact. Till that time, all we can do as Thrashers fans is to keep the faith by going to games (bringing lots of friends!), wearing our Thrashers regalia with pride and earnestly beseeching our civic leaders to open their eyes to the disastrous consequences, both financial and social, of losing a major league sports franchise on account of sheer contempt, lies and willful negligence. The time to act is now and I implore any rational (or irrational depending on your current state) Thrashers fan to write your local community leaders, Mayor Reid and Governor Deal included, as well as the president (William Pate) of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, so they may realize how deep the passion for hockey runs in this community. Note: if you don’t fancy yourself much of a letter-writer, lend your support however you can to help keepthethrashers.com or simply head over to the Thrashers website (atlantathrashers.com) and buy up a bunch of tickets for remaining home games.

We must remind these community leaders of not only the negative financial impact — especially that of lost sales tax revenue — of such an outcome, but enlighten them on both the burgeoning youth hockey programs that continue to grow despite a lack of facilities and public sector support and the immense positive impact felt around Atlanta as a result of the $4.2 M that the Atlanta Thrashers Foundation has injected into the community over the past 12 years. These civic and business leaders need to be reminded of how important the Atlanta Thrashers are to the community for reasons that go far beyond the economic success of a downtown area, which is still in need of further development and revitalization. The Thrashers aren’t just a team, but they are an intrinsically important thread in an all too loosely knit fabric of the Atlanta community. The Thrashers are more than just a hobby for a key demographic hailing from colder climes in the North, but rather they are a real and dynamic catalyst for community outreach and charity in a city that sorely needs as many unifying forces in play for growth and stewardship as possible.

PLEASE “WAKE UP” CITY OF ATLANTA!! THE THRASHERS DON’T JUST BELONG TO BLUELAND, THEY BELONG TO ALL OF US WHO LIVE HERE. DON’T WAIT FOR GARY BETTMAN TO “FIND US A SAVIOR”, “RISE UP” AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD AND HELP KEEP THE THRASHERS HERE, BECAUSE THE CITY OF ATLANTA NOT ONLY DESERVES HOCKEY, BUT THE CITY OF ATLANTA NEEDS HOCKEY.

And, as if that wasn't a rousing enough battle cry for the city of Atlanta, I would like to share with you the immortal words of Brigadier General Joshua Chamberlain, who once said in the face of death at Little Round Top during the battle of Gettysburg: "Fix BAYONETS (motha-fuckas)!!!!!!!!!!!" Thrashers, let's DO this. (FF to the 1:00 mark for the "stuff")

St. Louis Blues Oust Thrashers after Near Misses at End

2010-12-22T12:23:00.005-05:00

Mister Levenson! TEAR DOWN THIS CURTAIN!!!

2010-12-19T17:20:00.011-05:00

On the morning after the Atlanta Thrashers dismissed the New Jersey Devils with a resounding statement of renouncement, and as the beleaguered Blueland Nation savors the spoils of this brief, but glorious triumph over some rather beguiling franchise demons, we must now pause to reflect on what this victorious battle means for the future of hockey in Atlanta. Just how could it alter the fate of a struggling franchise that is trying to climb its way from the depths of darkness, despair and ridicule?

For the first time since March 20, 2010*, more than 17,000 fans desperate to believe in Blueland filled the seats of Philips Arena to not only offer their sarcastic thanks and harsh invective to the once ballyhooed face of the franchise, Ilya Kovalchuk, but also witness what they hoped would be a turning point victory for a team that has historically come up short in big "statement" games. On a night when the team mascot would be released from lawful detention as a symbolic message to the hockey world that Thrasherville CAN and WILL rally to support the attendance cause, the Thrashers' players responded with a convincing and profound message of restored hope, renewed excitement and fulfilled expectations. *Note: I'm very much aware of the fact the last home game of 2009-10 was a sell-out, but at least 1/3 of the arena was filled with Pens' fans.

At least for one night were expectations fulfilled. Finally, after two consecutive failed attempts to win in regulation (the Thrashers suffered back to back overtime shoot-out losses against Tampa Bay and Carolina) and earn the coveted second point that would catapult them to the top rung of the Southeast Division standings, the Thrashers elevated their game to match the import level of the prize at stake to dismantle a reeling Devils team by the count of 7 to 1 in front of a boisterous and near-capacity crowd at Philips Arena. Led by the "best 4th line in hockey", the Thrashers blitzed legendary goalie Martin Brodeur with a 4-goal barrage on just 15 shots. The Thrashers were led by pugilist turned goal-scorer Eric Boulton, who netted his first ever hat-trick (and multi-goal game for that matter) in a 10-year career known solely, if at all, for dishing out punishment as part of a grinding, "energy" trio not expected to score goals.

But just like my good friend, and AJC Fan Blogger, Bill Tiller said after "Boultsy" put the finishing touches on an amazing feat of crazy, cosmic luck, the Thrashers had officially entered into the "bizarro world" of hockey phenomena, for on the same night, Rich Peverley, known purely for his gifted skating and slick passing, decided he would attempt to one-up Boulton by dropping the gloves and teaching Eric a lesson on how to execute some of the finer points of the "sweet science". Truly bizarre indeed. Pretty much the entire sequence of unfolding of events made for a surreal outcome as the Thrashers seemingly managed to cast off a galling shroud of bad luck and misfortune with this win over their devilish nemesis. Not only was Boulton's 3rd goal the result of a strange twist of fate that saw the puck take a random, hard kick off the boards from behind the goal and past a startled and panicked goalie -- former Thrasher Johan "Moose" Hedberg was victimized by an even stranger karmic carom in Game 2 of the 2007 playoffs' series against the New York Rangers -- but the final score seemed like a fitting ironic tribute to erstwhile Thrashers hero, Ilya Kovalchuk, who left the ice beneath a scoreboard emblazoned with a score matching the transposition of his number 17.

For the fans in attendance, it was surely a cathartic release of pent-up frustrations, anger and scorn. For years, the fans have been subjected to the fickle and petty whims of a misguided ownership group. And recently, the relentless rumors of relocation fueled by a frenzied Canadian press have been rampant. And with the Canadian, and even the national American, media agenda buoyed by recent comments in the press by NHL Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly, who continues to question publicly the viability of hockey in the metro Atlanta market, the 7 to 1 spanking of Ilya's Devils was even sweeter for the citizens of Blueland, who can now enjoy the chance to fire back with a thunderous message of partial vindication that screams out like a chorus of "Mooooooooose" chants at Philips Arena: UP YOURS CANADA!!!

Much work is surely left to be done as the underdog Thrashers attempt to lift up a fan base that has been beaten down repeatedly by a neglectful, often ungrateful and sometimes petulant ownership group. But in the wake of the Thrashers emphatic win over the Devils last night, and their ascendancy into the upper echelon of the NHL standings (did I just type that?), it now seems as though the time is ripe for all fans, both the embittered and unwavering citizens of Blueland, to renew, or solidify their belief in and support of this team. And in so doing, they can convey to the desperate "Octo-cluster" ownership group a powerful and adamant message similar to the one late President Ronald Reagan delivered to Soviet Russia in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin back in 1987:

Paraphrasing of course:

"There is one sign the (dis)Spirit Group can make that would be unmistakable; that would advance dramatically the cause of (passion) and (hope). (Mr. Levenson), if you seek (success); if you seek prosperity for the (town of Thrasherville).....come here to this gate. (Mr. Levenson), open this gate. (Mr. Levenson), TEAR DOWN THIS (CURTAIN)!"

Yes, for those who are unaware, the upper reaches of the stands at Philips Arena -- the 400-level section of seats --has been partitioned off by the Atlanta Spirit Group since the beginning of the season. In an attempt to apparently mask their own embarrassment over dwindling attendance and their methodical dismantling of hope during the past three seasons of failure, the ASG has erected a black curtain of shame to hide the once popular section of $10 seats. Well, I think it's just about time that our short-sighted owners take down this damn curtain and open up as many reasonably-priced seats as possible so that the thousands of fans, who are still on the fence about financing further ineptitude on the part of the ASG, can come to Philips Arena and pay a guilt-free pittance to watch some of the most exciting and inspiring hockey ever seen in these parts. In fact, the now first-place Thrashers, who overtook, even if only briefly, the free-falling Washington Capitals with their win last night, play some of the most exciting, fun-to-watch hockey in the entire National Hockey League.

So ASG, do what is right and indeed salutary for your benevolent Blueland backers. Come here to the front of this curtain. Come here, with hat in hand, before the masses of hockey fans who want to believe. Come before them and offer up a gesture of good faith to win back the hearts of those who wish to no longer be exploited for their generosity. Come before Blueland and TEAR DOWN THIS CURTAIN!!!

On the Road Again, Thrashers Winnin', but also Livin' on the Edge

2010-12-15T11:10:00.015-05:00

Last time I posted a blog, I was exhorting my readers (and followers on twitter) to spread the word about the Thrashers' recent play as well as their bellwether prospects for a good season. Slowly but slowly (that's not a typo!), the bandwagon is starting to gain some momentum. However, the Thrash-wagon did get bogged down trying to traverse a muddy street in downtown Thrasherville as recent as last Friday nite when the boys lost their most recent home game to the Colorado Avalanche 4 to 2. Hopefully, that relatively poor effort will not dampen the collective belief and spirit of those potential fans who are still lukewarm to the idea of casting aside their pessimism and joining the T-bird battalion of faithful fandom.

As the boys make their pre-game preparations for tonite's huge divisional tilt with rival, and proverbial thorn in the side, Tampa Bay, I've been looking backwards to see if I can learn anything about the team that can explain why they don't seem to be as sharp despite winning two straight road games. The one thing that sticks in my craw is a quote I gleaned from Coach Craig Ramsay's presser after the loss to Colorado in which he concluded that they "didn't stick to a good plan to get it (the puck) past them and make their D work...we backed up, we played on our heels; we have to be more aggressive." Indeed he is right. The Thrashers allowed the Avalanche to dictate play and control the tempo on our ice despite an early 1 to 0 lead for the Thrashers. While the boys didn't play poorly, Ramsay could not have been happy with the effort and the paltry 26 SOG for the game.

Apparently, the residue of the lackluster 1st period against Colorado -- the Avs outshot the Thrashers 16 to 5 -- has not been easy to remove as Ramsay seems to be searching for a spark with some recent changes to the line-up. Perhaps looking for a way to motivate his troops with a fresh message of "tough love", he benched Niclas Bergfors, who scored the first goal against Colorado, and grinding winger Ben Eager, who hasn't really stood out to me as playing poorly of late. Back into the line-up are veteran winger Freddy Modin, now completely healthy after a rib injury, and recently signed Tim Stapleton, whose diminutive frame belies his scrappy and aggressive demeanor. But neither was much of a factor in either of the two road wins in which the Thrashers shook off in-game doldrums to find a way to win.

In Long Island against the Islanders, the alarm went off nearly too late after a miserable 1st period led to a 2-nothing deficit, and in Ottawa, a mid-game lull set the tone for a late Senators comeback, which was auspiciously thwarted by former Ontario junior hockey stand-out, Bryan Little, who's overtime heroics won the extra point in the standings. Either way, the Thrashers made things more difficult for themselves by failing to play hard for the full 60 minutes. For whatever reason, the Thrashers have not looked like the team that had been dominating games from start to finish during an impressive 6-game win streak. Other than the Boston game, in which the boys used a defensive shell to frustrate and befuddle the Bruins late onslaught of pressure, Atlanta seemed to be playing right in concert with every note on Coach Ramsay's game-sheet music. In other words, they were earnestly applying the coach's mantra of "safe is death", sometimes even in scary-good fashion.

In the first 4 games of the win streak, the Thrashers averaged an astounding 39.0 shots on goal while only giving up 29.0 SOG against their own goalie. In addition, they outscored opponents by a whopping 19 to 3 margin. While that sort of run cannot be sustained for more than a couple of weeks, it seems as though the Thrashers have started to rest on their laurels just a bit. In doing so, they have had to dip into every gallon of confidence stored in their reserve tank to pull out wins in "thoracic", heart-stopping fashion. With 3 overtime wins in their last 7 games, one must begin to wonder if he/she will need a bottle of rum or a dose of valium to watch games from this point forward. Surely this team doesn't want to be known as the "Thoracic Thrashers" going forward, even if it is fun to win games in overtime and mob the goal-scorer like you just won the Stanley Cup??

If they hope to continue their evolution towards becoming a dominant force to be reckoned with on a consistent basis, then it's time for them to figure out a way to put a halt to the prolonged lulls that have plagued them a lot of the season, and especially of late. That's not to say I'm ready to proclaim that the bottom is about to fall out on the Thrashers' season. In fact, I'm buoyed by some convincing statistical evidence that shows a methodical, as well as dramatic improvement in how this team plays hockey. Not only are they still scoring goals at a consistent clip, but they are really starting to clamp down defensively, limiting shots and neutralizing scoring chances. Obviously the play of goalie Ondrej Pavelec has been sensational since mid-November, but the numbers show the Thrashers are improved in all facets.

Over their first 10 games, the only reason they were a shade over .500 was because of timely goal scoring (32 goals in all) since they were yielding way too many shots against. Making matters worse, they were only getting 28.1 shots to the net while their opponents were lighting them up for 35.5 per game! In the second set of 10 games, the shots-against average was exactly the same (spooky statistical anomaly), but the shots-for improved greatly by 3.80 shots per game to an average of 31.90. Unfortunately, this did not translate to much success -- a losing record of 3 - 5 - 2 rather -- as erratic goaltending, okay, bad goaltending, cost them dearly. In games 21 through 30 though, the team turned the corner. Over that stretch, in which they racked up 8 wins versus 2 losses, they averaged 33.0 SOG while only giving up 31.9 per game. On top of that, they were plus-15 at even strength, scoring 3.20 goals a game while only allowing a paltry 1.80 (can you say Pavelectric!?). Indeed the trend of improved play at both ends of the ice has been readily apparent with or without stats to back it up.

But I do have some concerns as the boys seem to be falling prey more frequently of late to the kinds of mistakes that cost them wins earier in the year. Two weeks ago, I penned these words to paper after their overtime win in Colorado: "While the Thrashers didn’t play their best hockey last nite, they did something even more impressive: win on the road against a very good team when the mountain seemed way too steep to climb. Such a win is just the kind of validation a fan and blogger like me was hoping for as I try to convince myself, and the reader, that the Thrashers are for real....keep in mind that stats only illustrate the underlying paradigm shift that has occurred in Atlanta. Now that it has started to take hold, the stats seem even more impressive than the actual turn-around that has occurred on the ice and in the players’ collective confidence."

While I stand by my words that an overall paradigm shift in attitude and approach has occurred -- breeding both a renewed esprit de corps and aura of confidence -- in the locker-room and on the ice, I would hate to see all of the progress made squandered over the next 10 games. The condensed schedule in which Atlanta plays 13 times in 22 days presents the sternest, most grueling test yet for this young team. If they can get back to playing a game where they compete full bore for 60 minutes, while paying close attention to the finer points of the game to minimize mistakes, then this team should find itself firmly entrenched within a playoff spot in the standings by January 1st. From there, anything is possible. Then I will dare to dream, but for now, I will stick to my quiet, reserved sense of hope. Cold December was harshly unkind to this team last season. Until we survive this storm of games winning at least half of them, then I don't plan on making any more pleas to rustle up fans for the bandwagon. I'll let the team do it with their play on the ice.

Despite Relocation Talk, Here are Ten Reasons to Watch the Thrashers

2010-12-08T17:12:00.022-05:00

If you're a faithful follower of the Atlanta Thrashers, you are no doubt sickened to the pit of your stomach over the repetitive and annoying chorus of Canadian media who relish the fantasy of one day poaching the Atlanta-based hockey club from U.S. soil. Without fail, as attendance numbers drop well below the league average down at Philips Arena, relocation rumour mongers (I speak Canadian!) in the media start licking their chops at the prospect of returning a team to its rightful place such as Winnipeg, Quebec (pour la memoire, je voudrais voir les Nordiques de retour au Quebec) and Hamilton(??). Anyway, I'm not here to lament the sobering attendance reality that exists here in Atlanta, nor soothe any egoes by providing a litany of valid reasons, both economic and political, as to why the Thrashers aren't moving any time soon. (For that, you can simply click on this link to ESPN.com for Burnside's take on the situation). What I do plan to do is provide for you a list of 10 reasons why any curious resident within 100 miles of Atlanta should go check out the Thrashers. Beyond that, the folks in Winnipeg can go "peg" sand for all I care. Enjoy your AHL Moooooose!

Obviously, it's still early in the season and any record through 28 games can be a bit misleading. Last year's Thrashers are a great case in point when it comes to unrealized expectations after a strong start. Strangely, after the same number of games, both teams have/had a record of 15 - 10 - 3 for 33 points. The difference seems to be a different style of play, one that lends itself better to production and effectiveness over the long haul. Last year, after 28 games, the Thrashers were giving up way too many shots on goal -- 34.4 SOG to be exact -- and that trend would end up taking its toll with a 6-game holiday losing slump to finish out a miserable December. On top of that, the Thrashers were coming off their hottest scoring stretch of the season in which they potted 49 goals in 14 games by scoring at a sizzling 11.5% clip. Alas, that trend would come to an abrupt halt when the team managed just 16 goals over its next 8 for a scoring clip of only 7.2%. The goaltending tandem of Hedberg & Pavelec couldn't rise to the challenge of overcoming the scoring drought and the rest is etched in history as another season of failure.

But I digress, I'm here to show you why the Thrashers of THIS SEASON are worthy of your attention. Statistically speaking, they are certainly trending in the right direction with 2 more goals scored compared to last year through 28 games and a goal differential of plus-13 compared to last year's plus-8 (adjusted for shootouts and ENG). The special teams have maintained consistency and the Thrashers have 5 more PP goals through 28 games compared to last year. Although the penalty kill numbers are roughly the same (hovering around 80%). Most importantly is the improving trend of shot differential as the Ramsay-led Thrashers are 53 SOG better than the Anderson-led Thrashers through 28 games. Impressively, over the last 15 games they have netted a favorable SOG differential of plus-20 (+26 at even-strength). In the last 10, a favorable differential of plus-19, coupled with timely PP scoring, has produced an 8 - 2 mark to earn a share of 6th place in the East.

Now that I have laid out the comparison to last season, let me point out TEN really good reasons why you should be excited enough about Thrashers hockey to check out a few games over the next couple months. In no particular order they are:

#1) A very proficient and effective Power Play unit -- Since they are currently #1 in PP production (at the time of typing this on 12/8) with a 24.7% success rate (27 goals in 28 games), I'll put this at the top of my list and let those numbers do the talking. Gone is the Kovalchuk one-timer show, replaced by the booming shot of Dustin Byfuglien, who leads the way with 14 PP points and several wounded D-men at the end of his booming slap-shots.

#2) Dustin Byfuglien's emergence as a Norris Trophy candidate -- #1 bleeds right into #2 with "Big Buff" stealing the spotlight down at the Bulb with his charismatic persona as well as his top production from the back end. Not only is he leading the Thrashers with 29 points, he is also 13th overall in the NHL as well as the leading point-producer among all defenseman. Not bad for a power forward, eh?

#3) Balanced attack with scoring from all 4 lines -- I kid you not when I tell you Coach Ramsay loves to roll 4 lines. When he says he wants everyone to contribute, he means it as every forward averages nearly 10 mins of ice-time per game, the minor exception being Eric Boulton who is sometimes in the bin serving five minutes for fighting! As a result, the Thrashers have 8 forwards with at least 11 points. Led by captain Andrew Ladd, who has 28 points thus far, the Thrashers have 7 players with at least 15 points and may be the only team in the league with 7 players having scored at least 4 even-strength goals.

#4) Ondrej Pavelec's emergence as a consistently brilliant shot-stopper -- It's still a bit early to announce Pavelec's candidacy for the Vezina Trophy, but the 23 year-old Czech is off to a great start with a gaudy save percentage of .947 in 16 appearances as well as a miniscule goals against average of 1.71. He has put together a sensational run in which he has won 8 of his last 9 starts, allowing only 11 goals and stopping 96.2% of the shots that get to him. If he keeps this up, along with the many dazzling, acrobatic saves of recent memory, then countryman Dominik Hasek may be looking to get HIS autograph!!

#5) Craig Ramsay's coaching influence, calm leadership and effective strategy -- For whatever reason, Ramsay has had to toil, perhaps willingly for the most part, as an assistant bench-boss for way too long before getting a real chance at the head job. He's had two interim stints as a Head Coach, but old pal and GM Rick Dudley realized the time was now for Ramsay to get a serious shot. And so far, despite some rough patches, the impact has been huge. "Rammer" has helped to completely change the dynamic of the locker-room with his quiet confidence-instilling personality while his attention-to-detail teaching approach has yielded undeniable results (which we'll get to in a bit). Lastly, his ability to adjust within a game and get his troops to rally in the face of adversity has been remarkable.

#6) Strong team leadership with a Stanley Cup pedigree -- As a coach, you're only as good as your captain, right? If your captain doesn't have the respect of his peers and control of the room, then the coach's message is undermined. With Andrew Ladd, that has not been a problem. Quiet in demeanor, Ladd is a consummate professional who never takes a shift off. He's not the most talented guy in the room, but his blend of know-how, savvy and experience (even though he's still only 24!) had garnered him the respect of this team as well as 28 points in what's turning into a career year on the ice. Obviously, we know he has been through the rigors of two long Cup runs (winning of course) and that can only further strengthen his presence in the room when Coach Ramsay needs someone to chide the boys.

#7) Lots of youth and potential balanced out by experience -- It is well documented how meaningful it is to have 4 Stanley Cup winners in the dressing room to provide leadership for a young team. But what makes this situation even better is the fact that this team is teeming with young talent and potential for improvement. We already knew Evander Kane was ready to take his game to a new level, and he is. But he's still finding ways to contribute even when he's not scoring. Zach Bogosian still has some puzzling stretches, but his pure, raw skill is undeniable. Luckily, he gets to work and train with blueline partner Johnny Oduya, and that pairing is coming into its own. Lastly, rookie Alexander Burmistrov has been much more effective than anyone ever dared to dream with 12 points and a staunch plus-5 rating on the "checking" line. And his knack for controlling the puck and drawing penalties -- he must be close to the league lead -- has been a boon to a team that wasn't sure if they'd have enough scoring at the start of the year.

#8) TEAM DEFENSE!! Stats in this case do not lie! -- Despite a very shaky start in which the Thrashers gave up a startling 54 goals in 15 games (3.60 per) not counting shootouts, they have finally settled into the new coaching framework and paradigm. Since giving up 5 goals in Ottawa back in early November, the Thrashers have been stingy allowing a mere 24 goals (2 were empty netters) in 13 games. The play of Pavelec has certainly been a huge factor, but he could not be so good without the proper level of support. The Thrashers are 3rd overall in Blocked Shots with 440 (an avg of 15.7 per) as a team and 2nd overall -- behind Chicago ironically -- in the number of Takeaways credited. In fact, they have 7 players in the Top 50 of this category including Byfuglien, who leads all D-men with 30! Others on the list of defensive prowess are: Bryan Little (16th), Burmistrov (18th), Kane (29th), Nicklas Bergfors (35th), Oduya (39th) and Rich Peverley (48th), who is also 10th in the league in total face-offs won (58%). By the way, Byfuglien is 7th overall in "takes".

#9) Character and a will to win that fuels cohesion and winning -- While the Thrashers have been somewhat "dominant" over their most recent 9 games, winning 4 of them by 3 goals or more, they have also demonstrated the ability to come from behind and chase a team down for a win at the end. The Thrashers have succeeded in doing so twice in the last 4 games beating both Colorado (at their house) and Nashville Monday nite in dramatic, overtime fashion. Now when the team gets behind, which is rare as they have scored first in 12 of the last 15 games, there is a calming sense that this team is capable of coming back through hard work and perseverance within the system crafted by Ramsay. They don't panic and they don't try to do too much; they simply keep working and doing the little things that help you win battles and eventually games.

#10) And finally, what's more fun than good hockey in the dead of winter?? -- As I write this novel, the temperature is quickly dropping into the upper 20s here in Atlanta. Winter and its harsh chill (and wind!) has hit Atlanta hard of late. Luckily the Thrashers are heating up. So why not spend an evening down in Blueland warming yourself up with some adult beverages, food, hockey and fun as the Thrashers do their best to get the Bulb rocking like 2007. You have no excuse Atlanta! Great seats, inexpensive to boot, are available by the bushel! ;-) Hockey is wonderful live and everyone likes a team that plays with the heart of a champion. So get your ass down to Marietta St, scalp a cheap ticket and have some fun with Big Buff and the boys. You won't regret it!

Sometimes a Picture is Better Than Words...Damn Right!

2010-12-07T23:41:00.008-05:00

Last nite was my birthday. And the Atlanta Thrashers were kind enough to give me a thrilling, come from behind win over the visiting Nashville Predators. The present was gift-wrapped in overtime by the much maligned Zach "where have you been Bogosian around?", who did the honor with a sweet, quick slap-wrister under the pad and skate of Preds' goalie Anders Lindback. Okay, enough words, feast your eyes on this:

What's that? Did somebody say something about a serendipitous puck in the lap?! Indeed, dear Krisabelle isn't speaking code for some kind of crass joke as a hockey puck really did dive-bomb my unsuspecting junk...this Bud's for you!! Check it out y'all!

No junk was harmed during the filming of this video. But a little beer was sacrificed to the hockey gods, and they were apparently paying close attention!

Capit(al) Hill Sessions End Early, Atlanta Leaves with Winning Legislation

2010-12-04T23:11:00.012-05:00

In a town famous -- or is it infamous? -- for the perfected art of staunch, hard-lining legislative opposition, Atlanta Thrashers goaltender Ondrej Pavelec doled out his own special brand of stubborn opposition on the goal line with 45 saves, many of which were wondrous in their splendor, against the vaunted Washington Capitals offense. The 23 year-old Czech-born cage protector demonstrated for the Hockey Republic on Saturday nite just why he has earned the nickname "Pavelectric". In what was his 9th consecutive start, Pavelec earned his 7th win the "hard way", making many marvelous saves against a Capitals team that passes the puck as well as politicians pass the buck!

Assisting Pavelec in the winning endeavor were teammates Rich Peverley, Alexander Burmistrov and captain Andrew Ladd, all of whom each tallied a key goal to get the all important road-game advantage on the scoreboard. Twice the Thrashers converted on set-pieces or plays in which they first won a face-off and then connected on a pre-conceived series of passes. First, it was Peverley using some deft stickwork to re-direct a picture-perfect shot-pass from D-man Dustin Byfuglien, who launched a hard, low slapper from the right point. Later in the 3rd, Andrew Ladd purchased some insurance near the net when he put home a pretty cross-crease feed from the "Pevs Dispenser" at the right side of the cage. But it was the industrious Russian teen-phenom Burmistrov, who scored what is becoming a seemingly requisite hi-light goal just 92 seconds after Peverley. After the "Burmise Python" helped squeeze the puck off a Capital stick along the boards, he cycled to the goal line where Nik Antropov slipped him the biscotti for a close-range forehand wrister that not only went right over the top of a semi-hunched, cheating Semyon Varlamov, but also went so high into the "top shelf" that not even "momma" could find the cookies, let alone hide them.

After the game, Caps' Coach Bruce Boudreau, complained in the press about how his team did not show enough drive and fortitude in "paying the price" to score goals from the high-traffic areas, pointing out that the Caps settled for too many perimeter plays and shots rather than working harder to drive the net and find rebounds after juicy rebounds. While that may be true, such is often the difference between winning and losing on a given nite. On this nite, the Thrashers skated with a lot more energy and "jump" en route to their 7th win in eight games to close out a short road trip that saw the Thrashers take 4 out of 6 points in the tightly contested Eastern Conference standings. In Pittsburgh the other nite, the Penguins did a magnificent job of slowing down an already road-weary Thrashers team, denying them the second-chance scoring opportunities of which Boudreau spoke and so longingly covets apparently.

Yes, there were several times when the Capitals carried the play and had the Thrashers' defense scrambling in their own end without much effective filibuster to speak of -- the lone Washington goal resulted from a puck possession sequence lasting well over a minute before culminating in a patented Ovechkin one-timer from below the left circle. But Boudreau failed, at least in that press conference snippet, to either give any credit to Pavelec for preventing grade-A rebound chances or the Thrashers defense for reacting to loose pucks quickly and clearing them from danger areas at almost every turn. In addition, the Thrashers blocked a whopping 20 would-be Capitals' shots, which certainly contributed to the success of Pavelec, who also read plays brilliantly all nite. When loose pucks did dangle treacherously close to the goal-mouth, Pavelec's mates supported him alertly with active sticks to tie up Capitals forwards. And finally, Thrashers D-men received fabulous support from their wingers and centers to aid in the effort to break the puck out of the defensive zone into transition.

That last sentence reminds me of the previous game against Washington in the loud, red-ablaze Verizon Center when the Thrashers tripped all over the puck and themselves trying to move the hot potato out of their own end. Atlanta yielded a six-pack of goals that nite, but several were the direct result of mental lapses and puck-handling gaffes by a unit not quite polished in its ability to execute such plays. Moreover, the contrast between the two games illustrates just how far the Thrashers have come since that high-scoring affair nearly three weeks ago. Since that game, the team has improved dramatically in how it handles and cares for the puck in dangerous areas on the ice. Fueling their stretch of 7 wins in 8 games, in addition to Pavelec's sensational goaltending, has been a wonderfully refreshing commitment to detail and execution of "little", seemingly innocent hockey plays, which good teams execute effectively and consistently on most every nite. The 6-game win streak may have been vetoed on Thursday nite, but "Speaker" (of hockey wisdom) Craig Ramsay had his boys come back with a strong counter-proposal that would swing the winning vote in their direction against the mighty Capitals.

Don't Believe the Hype??! Are Thrashers for Real?

2010-12-01T21:03:00.011-05:00

As the first winter-like Nor-easter roars up the Atlantic seaboard, leaving behind a trail of wind-blown debris and tornado wreckage in north-metro Atlanta, the Atlanta Thrashers fly out of Denver with yet another victory notched in its hockey hip pad. Here in the ATL, sports fans are either buzzing about the exploits of Matt Ryan and the NFC leading 9 - 2 Falcons, or blathering on about the fairness of the NCAA's decision to let Cam Newton play in the SEC Championship game -- I guess even Bulldogs fans can only gripe so long about a season of unrealized expecations. But very few have caught wind of the fact that the resident professional hockey team -- no, the one that plays at Philips Arena downtown! -- has been leaving in its path a wake of destruction of another kind as it blows through win after win over some the NHL's elite teams at the end of November.

Apparently a five-game win streak wasn't enough for this plucky bunch of precocious lads (apologies to the handful of Thrashers who are above the age of 25), who decided to take their show on the road into the Rockies, where they produced an avalanche of a comeback to down a potent Colorado team in dramatic overtime fashion, 3 to 2. Just when you thought the party was over last nite, the boys managed to summon one last burst of sustained energy to overcome both altitude and time-change weariness. Not surprisingly, new Thrashers ring-master, Dustin Byfuglien, initiated the rally late in the 3rd period when his lethal slapshot felled a would-be defender, thus scaring off any further resistance on the part of Colorado's defense. As the sea of defenders parted, and an eclipse by the "planet Antropov" swallowed goalie Peter Budaj whole, "The Buffinator" (courtesy Bill "Rawhide" Tiller of the ajc.com Fan Blog) picked his target carefully and rocket-launched his puck-projectile into the back of the cage to tie the game at two.

But more adversity would come the Thrashers' way before the super-human D-man could finish his mission. Luckily for Byfuglien and the Thrashers, a loyal sidekick by the name of Brent "The SopeStar" Sopel would save the team's collective hide in OT by almost single-handedly thwarting a 59 second 4 on 3 Avalanche power play. Truthfully, I thought the run of good fortune would surely end with Byfuglien's blast, but this team surprised me again with their indomitable courage and determination in the face of adversity. After watching Byfuglien for 25 games in Thrashers blue, I am no longer surprised by his heroics. And the work of Sopel was just the lift Big Buff needed to lead his team to victory again. Only this time he opted for the heavy lifting when he destroyed his target with a crunching check against the boards, leaving behind the puck for a hard-charging Anthony Stewart to scoop up and eventually slip through the wickets of Budaj on a "failed" wrap-around pass attempt. Game. Set. Hero.

While the Thrashers didn't play their best hockey last nite in Colorado, they did something even more impressive: win on the road against a very good team when the mountain seemed way too steep to climb. Such a win is just the kind of validation a fan and blogger like me was hoping for as I try to convince myself, and the reader, that the Thrashers are for real. But why is this different than last year when the bottom quickly fell out of a season that started with such promise and hope (see my previous article about tempering expectations as a traumatized fan of an abusive team)? Before I break out a boat load of statistical evidence as to why this team might be (okay, they ARE, I wrote it!) for real, keep in mind that stats only illustrate the underlying paradigm shift that has occurred in Atlanta. Now that it has taken hold, the stats seem even more impressive than the actual turn-around that has occurred on the ice and in the players' collective confidence.

Most notably, the Thrashers have gone from being the most porous defensive team in the league -- next to Edmonton -- to one of the stingiest. Starting out the season, Atlanta struggled to execute Coach Craig Ramsay's unfamiliar system and the players, who were plagued by chronic brain-freeze turnovers, struggled to react instinctively on the ice. Resultingly, they were gouged for a total of 54 goals (less shootout "goals") in 15 games. Luckily, the Thrashers were scoring goals in bunches as well, denting the twine 45 times themselves. But more alarming was the number of shots they were giving up and the large disparity between shots allowed and shots taken.

The Thrashers were failing miserably at their attempt to play an aggressive, puck-control game as evidenced by their Corsi stats through the first 15 games. By the time the Senators finished their full and complete domination of the Thrash in Ottawa, the total shots disparity had reached a jaw-dropping minus-245!! Averaged out over the course of 15 games, that is A LOT OF FREAKIN' SHOTS!! Not only were the Thrashers giving up too many shots on goal (37.2 thru 15 gms), but they were getting out-hustled, out-worked and out-classed on several nites. Simply put, the Thrashers were lucky to be a .500 team after 15 games; they showed glimpses and teased you with good stretches, but chronic breakdowns and lapses lead to fitful results and an explosion of pessimism within the fan-base.

Slowly but surely, the Thrashers started to show signs that things were finally starting to click. First was a dominant first period against the visiting Minnesota Wild and a surprising 5 to 1 win. Then there were close-calls in the form of hard-fought, resilient efforts, albeit losing efforts, against Pittsburgh and Washington. Then came the seminal moment of perhaps the entire rest of the season. The Thrashers flat gave up in the 2nd period against Florida on home ice. Despite a tongue lashing and a heated exchange amongst players during the intermission, the result couldn't be salvaged in the 3rd despite the 18 shots thrown at Tomas Vokoun. The boys went down swinging in a 2 to 1 loss, but then used that failed 2nd period as a heartfelt, motivational wake-up call. Since then, the Thrashers have gone on an absolute tear winning 6 straight, but doing so in eyebrow-raising, convincing fashion. Twenty-two goals scored to only five allowed. But it's more than just hot scoring and even hotter goaltending. The system started working on all cylinders and the Thrashers started using the system to work their opponents into stunned submission.

Over the recent winning stretch, the Thrashers have outshot their opponents by 25 shots on the SOG clock. Over the last ten games, they have 30 more SOG. The Corsi rating disparity has stopped growing and the Thrashers have actually attempted 12 more shots than their opponents over the last 10 games starting with Minnesota. Through their first 15 games (and 49 periods), the Thrashers only managed to outshoot their opponent by more than 3 shots in nine out of 49 frames! Their opponents registered more than a 3-SOG advantage in 23 of those 49 periods by comparison. Since then, the shot-counts have been a lot more even and, when adjusted for power play and short-handed time, the overall SOG margin is a plus-40 for the Thrashers in the last 10 games.

So while Ondrej Pavelec has been absolutely sensational during this stretch, the results on the ice are as much a product of the collective team defensive effort and a greater committment to the execution of the system on both ends of the ice. Your opponent can't score on you as easily if they don't have the puck in your end as much, and that is precisely why the Thrashers are winning. They are asserting early control of the game's tempo and imposing their will in the first period, often scoring the first goal and building on it. Their play at even strength has been nothing short of remarkable recently as they have scored 15 more ES goals (not counting empty netters) than their opponents. And it certainly helps that they have only given up an average of 31.6 SOG over this period compared to the 37.6 they were surrendering earlier in the season.

The recent turn-around really has been astounding, but can be traced back to a point before the captain's hat was awarded to Andrew Ladd. Yes, Ladd is 6 - 0 so far with the 'C' on his chest -- and Byfuglien's 'A' might as well be an 'S' -- but the changes started to take root before that decision by Ramsay. Even though they were blitzed for 5 goals by Ottawa, there were signs that things were starting to change. The boys put 37 evenly distributed shots on net in that game, but poor goaltending on their own end is what hurt them more than any semblance of poor effort. Of course, there are several more reasons for this sudden turn for the better, both tangible and intangible, but I'll let you provide those reasons in the comments section below. So assuming I haven't put you to sleep with my mind-numbing shower of statistics, go ahead and tell me why you think this team is, or isn't for real! But I'm warning you, "The Buffinator" might take issue with you should your offer your opinion in a less than flattering manner.

After 24 Games, Thrashers in Flight to Greater Heights, BUT WAIT!!!

2010-11-29T20:12:00.021-05:00

Who is that guy to the right you ask? Why it's Maxim-um"Thrills, Chills & Spills" Afinogenov, erstwhile winger and human hi-light reel of the Atlanta Thrashers, circa November 30, 2009. But J.C., you do realize Max isn't coming back to the Thrashers right? Of course I do! Then why must you open old wounds by dredging up painful memories of a season lost?

In short, because the timing could not be better. It has been exactly one year to the day since the Thrashers were riding high off their dramatic win over the Florida Panthers in which "Fins for the Win" banged home a feed from Nik Antropov with only 6 ticks of time left on the clock. The breathtaking win gave the Thrashers their 4th win in a row to close out a scorching hot November, a month in which they put together two 4-game winning streaks in a span of 3 weeks to assume one of the top-6 rungs in the Eastern Conference standings. Alas, the seemingly lofty perch would prove too dizzying for this bird with faulty wings and they would plummet back down to earth with a resounding thud to the frozen December landscape. See, before Thrashers fans let their imaginations run wild in the tantalizing wake of this current 5-game winning streak, I feel it is my duty to offer up this cautionary tale of warning so any grandiose dreams of a date with playoff-berth "Dustin-y" (as in Byfuglien) are exploded into a smoking, pile of regret-strewn wreckage.

Speaking of regret, somwhere in the suburbs of Tampa, FL, former Thrashers' D-man Pavel Kubina is probably still muttering in his sleep as nightmares of last season's tragic demise rattle around in his pysche. Perhaps his deep slumber ramblings sound something like this:
“...it starts with the goalies...they’ve been unbelievable. Pavs and Moose have made unbelievable saves in unbelievable performances...We’ve been better at reducing turnovers in our own zone and we’ve been working on it in practice. The penalty-killing has been awesome. Guys are diving to block shots, and it’s a great team effort. It’s fun to be around.” -- excerpt gleaned from Tom Saladino's Associated Press recap of the 11/30/09 contest vs FLA

Well, doesn't that post-game refrain sound eerily familiar? As the blogospheric media buzz revs up into a full-tilt frenzy over the "Thrashawk" led T-birds, who just completed an impressive 9-day span in which 4 of their 5 straight wins came against the likes of Washington, Detroit, Montreal and Boston, fans must fight the temptation to think this team has suddenly arrived as a bona fide Stanley Cup contender. While the recent run of success has been incredibly fun, we must remind ourselves that this team is still a work in progress. And lest we overlook the fact they find themselves in a very similar position to last year's team, which choked it's season away during a disastrous December by effectively losing 9 straight games to finish the month. So why am I sounding the alarm of tempered expectations?? Because I'm a Thrashers fan silly, of course!

But seriously, the statistical similarities between this season and last are quite striking when juxtaposed. After surveying the numbers, any seasoned fan worth their salt would tell you to rein in your expectations, especially when dealing with such a young team not totally familiar with the treacherous effects of random injuries, winter travel and mid-season fatigue that can quietly erode any player's mental state. Before last year's late-December tumble into the doldrums, the Thrashers were sitting pretty with a record of 14 - 7 - 3 after winning 8 of 11 games, ten of which followed the return of Ilya Kovalchuk from injury. This season, the Thrashers struggled to a 6 - 6 - 3 record before winning 6 of their next 9 games to move into sole possession of 7th place in the Eastern Conference. Even more interesting is how these two very different teams arrived at very similar points after 24 games.

To wit:

2009-'10: 79 GF vs. 65 GA on 845 shots* allowed with a save percentage of .9231

2010- '11: 75 GF vs. 65 GA on 843 shots* allowed with a save percentage of .9224

*goals scored and shots allowed adjusted to remove both shootout goals & EN goals

I told you the statistical similarities were striking!! Did I mention both teams started the season with a record of 5 - 4 - 1? And get this, each team scored goals at a very similar rate during their aforementioned hot streaks, both of which preceded the 25th game on their respective schedules. The 2009 Thrashers, sparked by the Russian-born "Comrade Connection", crinkled the twine 38 times in 11 games during an 8 - 1 - 2 stretch. And the 2010 edition, featuring former 'Hawks Andrew Ladd and "Big Dusty Buff" as catalysts, have recently completed a 37 goal onslaught over their last 11 games for a 6 - 4 - 1 mark going into game #25 versus Colorado later tonite. Lastly, both teams had similar goal differentials during their November streaks: plus-14 in 2009 compared to a plus-12 (adjusted for shootouts) during this most recent tear.

So as you can see, such a statistical comparison would give any earnest fan pause. But before you start stuffing hate mail into my comments "inbox", please know that this particular fan, who has been duped by fool's gold before, does harbor some seriously strong optimism with respect to this newest installment of Thrashers' teams. Perhaps I'm just being foolhardy again, but I do have more statistical fodder for my grist mill of cautious optimism. For that, you must tune in again on Wednesday when I present my case as to why this team is different. See you then!

Thrashers Treat Bruins Like B's, Win 5th Straight

2010-11-28T23:03:00.011-05:00

Led by the heroics of forward-in-defenseman's clothing, Dustin Byfuglien, the Atlanta Thrashers snapped an 0 - 8 - 2 streak of futility against the visiting Boston Bruins with a resounding 4 to 1 win. Byfuglien, who tallied a goal and two assists on the evening, sparked his mates to another convincing win on home ice. This time, the boys in blue decided to not wait until the 2nd period to seize control of the game scoring 3 successive goals in just over 6 minutes during the middle stages of the opening stanza. Goals by Evander Kane, the charismatic Byfuglien and Jimmy "I can't believe he scored on a breakaway" Slater helped flip the script on a Boston Bruins team that is quite accustomed to pushing the Thrashers around like school-yard bullies. But this time the Thrashers would not give up their lunch money as Byfuglien used Philips Arena ice to dole out his unique brand (photo courtesy of AP, yahoo.com) of punishment under the watchful eye of towering Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara.

Also critical to the Thrashers' success against the Beantown Bullies was the steady and sometimes spectacular play of goalie Ondrej Pavelec, who made several critical saves in the 2nd period to make sure the Thrashers maintained a comfortable margin. Not long after Blake Wheeler beat Pavelec with a hard wrister from the right face-off dot to cut the lead to two, the Czech known to Blueland faithful as "Opie" thwarted Brad Marchand's point-blank snap-shot with his deft glove-hand. On the ensuing face-off, Pavelec would make another key save with his lightning quick blocker, steering aside a hot shot hammered by Johnny Boychuk from the right point. Boston elevated their level of play after resident tough guy Shawn Thornton dominated a willing and scrappy Eric Boulton in what was the second "tete a tete" of the period. The B's were buzzing after the Thornton "TKO" and Wheeler goal, but they would not find the back of the net again thanks to the stellar play of Pavelec between the pipes.

With the victory, the Thrashers won their 5th straight on home ice and third in a row over a playoff team from last season. But for the fifth consecutive time, the stingy Czech netminder would not allow more than a single goal to raise his season-to-date save percentage to .949, just shy of the mark set by league leading Tim Thomas of the Bruins who sports a sparkling .951% on the year. Thomas has led the Bruins to 11 wins in 15 starts thanks to his microscopic 1.56 goals against average, but on this nite, "back-up" Tuukka Rask would get his chance to extend his dominance over Atlanta (3 wins and a sub-one GAA in three starts). However, the Thrashers would not take kindly to the thought of getting victimized by a Finnish goalie's exploits once again. Instead, they dominated the neutral zone in the 1st period forcing two key plays that would lead to goals at the other end.

After Kane would help the Thrashers stake their claim to an early lead, Byfuglien, who lost an edge deep in the Bruins' zone on the previous sequence, took control of a pass from Alex Burmistrov through the neutral zone that Big Buff would corral just in time at the blueline to avoid an offsides call. From there, Byfuglien would use his speed and laser-like wrist shot to score through a screen past a helpless Rask. Later in the period, Byfuglien would break up a Marchand rush at the red line to feather a soft pass to a streaking Jimmy Slater at the blueline. Slater, mustachioed in a way that would make a barber shop quartet proud, would skate in on Rask with a D-man dogging him, but his speed and strength would help him shield the puck before chopping it over Rask's stick-arm for the all-important 3-goal lead. The Thrashers would later add an insurance goal by Nicklas Bergfors, who "fooped in" -- Swedish for accidental contact as in "Berg-foops"-- a heeled slap-shot by Byfuglien on the power play late in the 2nd period. Byfuglien would later have a chance at a 5 point night, but his overly fancy stick-handling on a break-in would foil his chance on Rask.

TASTY MORSELS & NUGGETS: Despite getting out-shot for the first time in 6 games, the Thrashers would win the SOG race in the 1st period out-shooting Boston 12 to 10, or 21 to 17 if you include misses and blocked shots....Kane's goal was his 9th of the year, but his brief team lead was neutralized by Big Buff's 9th goal right after Kane got his....In the last 9 games, the Thrashers have completely reversed a goal differential deficit of -9 (not including S/O goals) to now boast a +6 goals scored advantage by scoring 15 more goals than their opponents....Lastly, during the recent 5-game winning streak, the Thrashers have scored a PPG in the last four raising their record to 6 - 0 - 3 when scoring more PPG in a game than their opponent.

THIRD PERIOD -- B's Start Off with a PP

2010-11-28T18:59:00.007-05:00

But the Thrashers are up to the task on the penalty kill. Boston really gets nothing started with the man-advantage after Peverley commits an absolutely stupid penalty with a silly hack of Zdeno Chara's stick in the offensive zone. Pavelec makes a very good save after the penalty expires and now the Thrashers are deep in the zone, but dropping back into a trap hybrid D.

-- Zach Bogosian with a strong rush up the right side from the blueline off a pass from Stewie but he can't thread the pass thru the D-man to a waiting Andrew Ladd, who was in position on the doorstep to bang one home.

-- a flurry of action by the Thrashers Greek gods after a Slater F/O win and a Sopel wrister that gets deflected up into the air. The Thrashers batted at the puck and eventually Thorburn got control for a couple of ill-fated wristers into traffic. Much like the Thrashers, the B's do a good job of clogging up the area in front of the crease when there is a scramble. Stewie just misses Eager on a cross-ice feed for a re-direct and the B's have been on their heels after their PP nets not even a shot on goal.

-- huge backcheck by Peverley on a loose puck scramble from in front of his own net saves a potential goal then produces a break-out for a streaking Byfuglien who gets loose for a shot in tight on Rask, but he fumbles the puck trying to go back to his forehand on the F/H, B/H back to F/H deke move. Perhaps a bit too fancy but fun nonetheless!!

-- good forechecking pressure by the Kaner-Litts-Stewie line after Little made a scintillating end to end rush from behind his own net through the neutral zone and to the high circle where he wheeled and tried to thread a tricky pass to a streaking Kane. I reckon Little would have been better off just firing the puck to the cage on the whirling spin move so Kane could crash the cage hard with a full head of speed.

-- another dumb, ill-advised penalty taken by the Thrashers by Ladd, who should know better in this situation. No sense in using your stick extra-aggressively and risk drawing a silly hooking penalty. Thus far, the Thrashers PK unit has been very solid with several clears and denials of the offensive zone at the B/L. Chara to Seidenberg for a drive and rebound but B's can't find the rebound before Peverley, who's been quite good defensively, clears the puck.

-- Pavelec with another great positional save on a hard shot from the left circle by Campbell that ends up tucked away under Pavelec's shoulder. I've been very impressed with Pavelec and his rebound control on point-blank chances and any long shots that he has had a clear line of sight on. If he keeps up this kind of play, the Thrashers will be hard to beat no matter who they play. Make no mistake, the B's haven't been bad, they just haven't capitalized on chances and have had two or three costly breakdowns early that will ultimately cost them this game. 5 mins left.

Bruins vs Thrashers - 4 - 1 After Two

2010-11-28T18:18:00.005-05:00

Not much has happened in the way of scoring chances thus far but there have been some very hot tempers erupting into fisticuffs this period. Already Matt Hunwick and Evander Kane have mixed it up as the the undercard for heavy weights Shawn Thornton and Eric Boulton, who have fought many times before. In the first bout, Kane got the early upper hand, but Hunwick caught Kaner with a good right before EK re-asserted his boxing prowess and slipped several quick rights into Hunwick's mush. In the Thornton v. Boulton tilt, Boulton couldn't get completely free to do much damage after the inital flurry of rights, most of which missed, and sustained a bit of damage at the fists of the imposing Thornton. So at the 9 minute mark, it is still 3 to 0 Thrashers and five for fighting has been the theme in the 2nd period. The best scoring chance so far has been that of Nathan Horton who tried to go top shelf from a stationary postion in the slot, but may have caught the butt-end of Pavelec's stick which caused it to ricochet up into the mesh.

-- Blake Wheeler's left-handed wrister from the bottom of the right circle beats Pavelec who was dead to rights after the Thrashers overcommitted on the puck in the neutral zone leading to a wide-open break-in for Wheeler. Pavelec just thwarted another choice opportunity with his deft glove-hand and then his right pad on a hot shot hammered from the right point. Boston has seemed to pick up the level of their play and they are getting the majority of the zone time. Thrashers have had a couple of rushes but can't get any sustained pressure. They need to get back to playing their game and work harder to cycle the puck and keep the B's in their end. Boston is swarming with less than 5 minutes left and Pavelec has been swimming in his crease. Luckily the B's can't come up with the handle and several pucks have trickled just wide of the crease. Pavelec with another big save to stop the onslaught and force a F/O with just over 4 minutes left in the period. Phew. Thrashers need to gather themselves and get back to out-working their opponent. Luckily for the Thrashers, Burmy draws yet another penalty and the boys convert with the man-advantage as Nicky Bergfors "foops" one in off the muffed slap-shot attempt by Byfuglien. Kane and Little did yeoman's work in the opposite corner to keep the puck in the offensive zone and then two crisp tape to tape passes got the puck to Big Buff who heeled his shot attempt, but it was true enough for Bergie to chip it in past Rask for the restoration of the 3-goal lead. In the third, the Thrashers must do a better job of taking care of the puck and keep it deep in the B's zone when they get it in. Boston dominated the 2nd after Wheeler's goal and reeled off 17 shots on goal to the Thrashers measely 8. Probably the worst period for the Thrashers since the infamous 2nd period debacle against Florida.

Boston Bruins vs. Thrashers Live-blog!!!

2010-11-28T17:05:00.022-05:00

Thanks to NHL.com and the wonderful feature known as GameCenterLive, I am able to bring a live blog to those of you who are once again blacked out by CenterIce or just can't make it down to Philips for whatever reason. And who could blame you with what is sure to be horrible traffic after the Falcons game. Luckily, your Atlanta Falcons disposed of the Green Bay Packers in yet another nail-biting thriller in which Matty "Ice" Ryan moved the team into FG position for the game-winning kick by Matt Bryant. Now, on to the hockey!!

-- "top" line of Ladd-Pevs-Bergie start the game with Big Buff and Enstrom on the blueline.

-- what's this? All-star Chara flips the puck up over the boards and we go to the power play!!

-- well, a server error wiped out my furious typing to give you some play by play on the PP; Thrashers got a few shots on net, but couldn't come up with any rebounds to penetrate Rask. B's kill the PP and now Thorburn goes down blocking a shot...what else is new?

-- Jack Edwards, who does a great job calling the game, says Thorbs needed help getting on down the tunnel...not good. B's are tough enough when at full-strength and now we're gonna have to mix up the lines to compensate for the loss of an important presence defensively on RW.

-- damn, Stewie loses his stick and is forced to hold to break up a streaking Bergeron...Thrashers going on the PK with Ladd and Pevs to start out the kill unit

-- Thrashers PK looks lively and clears several times before Kane carries puck deep down the right wing to drive the net hard before Seidenberg runs over his own goalie...good play by Kaner, but no real scoring chance on the play; Slater with another clear and we're down to :20 secs

-- Hunwick's drive gets through but Pavelec sees it the whole way and Pevs clears the rebound easily to kill off the PP for good

-- Rask is sharp but he's giving up rebounds on just about every shot on goal, hopefully Thrashers can recognize this and get to the greasy areas to score some goals

-- Thrashers survive some good pressure by the B's after Pavs coughs up a rebound leading to a scramble in front and one failed clear attempt leads to a point-blank chance that is snuffed out by Pavelectric!! Oh yeah, 12:11 left at the TV timeout. No score.

-- I spoke too soon!! THRASHERS STRIKE FIRST ON A GOAL BY KANE!! Anthony Stewart finds a streaking Evander Kane in front after Big Buff carried the puck deep and drew the defense out of position leaving Stewie all alone on the right half-wall to survey and flip the puck to Kane who re-directs the puck into an empty net. Now the B's with some pressure...no damage, phew.

-- Andy Brickley, the B's color guy, who also does work on VS for the NHL is one chatty guy on their NESN broadcast. He is very astute but I just do not care much for his gravelly voice.

-- Sopel with an easy flip on net to force an offensive zone face-off, Ramsay will surely try to take advantage of the match-up. Commercial break-time under 9 minutes.

-- well I'll be, Mr. Thorburn has returned and Rammer puts the Greek gods out for the offensive zone F/O...to no avail. B's win it and take it into the Thrasher zone for some pressure and a near miss by call-up James Arniel who was given the puck in front by a hard-working Greg Campbell. T/O in the corner by the D leads to the chance but Pavs makes an easy save. Another defensive zone F/O coming up.

-- Pevs' line with some good forechecking pressure leading to a chance at the point by Big Buff, but I think they're deferring to Byfuglien too much as the B's do a very good job of covering the points. And just as I type that, Dustin Byfuglien rips a wrister through a screen on a rush to beat Rask on the stick side and put the Thrashers up 2 to love!! Wooo hoooo! Right through the legs of #45 who I think is Stuart. Play was started in the defensive zone by an adroit stick-check by Johnny Oduya I believe.

-- HOLY SHIT!! SLATER SCORES ON THE BREAK-AWAY off a neutral zone turnover. Greek gods exploit the call-up Arniel and the Thrashers take a commanding 3 goal lead!! Was that a quick release flip over the pad and arm of Rask by Slater?? Another 2 on 1 break but Pevs loses the puck trying to move the puck to his back-hand in front of a scrambling Rask.

-- Thrashers now on the PP, as if Boston didn't have enough of a hill to climb. Buff misses Ladd on the slap-pass. Buff shoots wide on the glove side but Birds keep the puck, no they don't. Toby Enstrom re-sets and brings to the blueline but offside. C'mon guys, get a greasy one!

-- PP expires with no further damage and then Pavelec makes a very good save -- standing tall on his knees -- to thwart Seguin on a loose-puck wrister from the right circle. Thrashers now with an offensive zone F/O which they win. But Ladd and the boys can't come up with the puck behind the net, B's break-out. Clock ticking down and we're under 10 as B's go offsides.

-- as the clock expires on the 1st period, Andy Brickley scolds Atlanta for not showing up to watch the "best hockey this team has ever played!"...well that's certainly nice to hear but we did have some winning streaks last season and a 14 - 7 - 3 start that turned out to be Fool's Gold. Oh yeah, Milbury is an asshole.

-- after one period of play, shots are 12 to 10 (21 - 17 if you like Corsi stats) in favor of the T-birds, who take a stunning 3-goal lead to the intermission. Keep talkin' that trash Milbury!

-- LAUNDRY BREAK: GOTTA FINISH FOLDING SO CHECK OUT ZEE TWEETS TO KEEP UP WITH THE SECOND PERIOD ACTION!!

Thrashers HABS-olutely Dominate 2nd Period for PRICE-less Win

2010-11-27T12:48:00.021-05:00

Somewhat rare in these parts is the extended winning streak, especially that of the homestand variety. What's even more rare in this hockey humble town of Thrasherville are homestand winning streaks that feature the following: 1) lopsided shot margins, 2) dominating goaltending performances and 3) full, 60-minutes of consistent effort. Well, that's exactly what the Thrashers' faithful have been treated to at Philips Arena over this recent 4-game winning tear on home ice. During this span of success, the Thrashers have outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 15 to 2 and staked claim to a dominant edge on the shots-on-goal clock with a compelling margin of +40 (156 to 116). Did I just type that? And last nite's dominating 2nd period performance against a Carey Price-less Montreal team left Ondrej Pavelec with lots of uninterrupted time for deep, introspective thought about just how amazing his play has been over the last couple of weeks. In a word -- from the mind of his twitterring agent, Allan Walsh -- Ondrej has been PAV-ELECTRIC!!

Last nite's 2nd period was a well-deserved reward for Pavelec's magnificent play over the previous 13 periods of action in which Pavelec had stopped 134 of 138 shots that found a way to his equipment. But in last nite's game, his inspired teammates decided to give him a respite of sorts by controlling just about every second of the middle frame with a relentless barrage of 23 shots on goal and two timely, if not a bit lucky, goals. Of course, Pavelec's outstanding twine-tending would have made a 1-goal margin stand up for the win. The Thrashers tried their darnedest to riddle back-up goalie Alex Auld with shots, but could only penetrate his paraphenelia 3 times in 47 attempts. Center Rich Peverley was finally the beneficiary of some good puck luck in this game when he knocked home a loose puck amidst a scramble in front of the Habs' net that somehow eluded Auld's arm and right pad. Later, Peverley's patience and perserverance would be rewarded with time and space on the power play, and he would exploit the situation by firing a wicked wrister from the left face-off dot that pinged off the far post behind a helpless Auld.

Alas, goal-scoring heroics and sensational, hi-lite reel goals were not the order of the evening. Instead, the most memorable aspect of last nite's performance was the way in which the team supported each other in consummate team fashion. The picture to the left -- apologies for the crappy resolution, but what do you want from a Blackberry cell phone?! -- featuring Nik Antropov and Alexander Burmistrov illustrates just how far the Thrashers have come when the right-wing is dropping down to the goal line to support the center in the defensive end. Coach Ramsay must be grinning from ear to ear as his teachings and instruction have been paying off in the form of a concerted, nearly seamless team effort FOR ALMOST AN ENTIRE 6O MINUTES in which every player is playing the same way. No longer is it unusual to see the 5-man team playing as one cohesive unit in which they support one another on the puck and along the boards without fail.

On top of that, we are seeing this team take extra care and pride in executing all of the little plays that add up over the course of 60 minutes. Plays like getting a puck on net to force a face-off when your blueline is struggling to complete a change during the 2nd period; racing down the ice to negate a potential icing of the puck in the late 3rd period so the opponent doesn't get the all-important offensive zone face-off; and chipping the puck along the boards to allow a teammate to get to the wall for support instead of trying to force a "willy-nilly" pass to a "hot zone" near your own blueline. For once, we are seeing the emergence of a team that does not resort to the selfish, extra-fancy play at the expense of the overall gameplan and team philosophy. While this team may know they have enough skill to convert chances and pull off the titillating hi-lite play, they also realize they are not talented enough to stray from the blueprint laid out by Coach Ramsay. Even Ondrej Pavelec, who's sterling .946 save percentage and miniscule 1.68 GAA is worthy of a little self-praise, keeps insisting that it isn't about him and that the recent success is only the by-product of a full team effort: "I said so many times, you're winning as a team and losing as a team. I said it five times in the last five games it was a team effort. I don't know what you guys want me to say."

Okay Ondrej, we get it, we'll stop asking you. Just don't hesitate in reminding your teammates of this mantra of "win as a team, lose as a team" the minute any of them start to resort to some of their old, all-too-familiar bad habits. But don't you just get the feeling that something is different this year and the word "team" isn't just a trite descriptor for a collection of 20 individuals wearing the same uniform? I know it's still early, but I'm seeing a collective team pride that has not been a consistent characteristic of the many previous collections of players in this team's frustrating 10-year history. That pride seems to be the result of a firm belief in knowing that team success is in the individual execution of little details; and now that belief is being manifested in the form of a thorough execution of the gameplan as well as dominance on home ice. And isn't THAT a refreshing sight to behold?

Thrashers Dismantle Winged Wheel & Quarter-Pole Teaser

2010-11-26T16:12:00.006-05:00

Good afternoon and a belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all! For the citizens of Thrasherville, "Thrash-a-Turkey Day" was an extra special one as the T-birds blitzed the visiting Detroit Red Wings with their special brand of aggressive, attacking hockey in a 5 to 1 pre-holiday rout of the Wings on Thanksgiving Eve. Led by their Czech-born cage protector, Ondrej Pavelec, who stopped all but one of the 33 shots slung towards his net, the Thrashers sent a resounding message to the several thousands -- and by several, I mean 7,000 or so -- of Red Wings supporters in attendance at Philips Arena.

Sparked by the tenacious play of the "Greek gods" line, who tallied the first marker of the game just 2 minutes and 39 seconds in, the Thrashers put on an exhibition of the type of hockey that Coach Craig Ramsay has been demanding since day one of his tenure as head coach. Hard skating, dogged determination on the forecheck and active stick-work are all hallmarks of Ramsay's philosophy, and for the 2nd time in less than a week, the Thrashers schooled a league-leading team at Ramsay's Institute of Basic Hockey Tenets & Applied Hockey Theory. On Wed nite, Professor Ramsay was surely extolling the work of several star pupils including Bryan Little (1 G, 1 A and a relentless puck-hounding effort), Andrew Ladd (1 SHG, 1 A and flawless application of the Ramsay principles), Chris Thorburn (who opened the scoring but seemed to be skating with a renewed vigor) and Dustin Byfuglien (who's late 3rd period PP tally punctuated a complete and methodical "how 'bout dem apples?" kind of performance).

After such a "statement game" -- apologies for the trite, overused cliche -- Thrashers fans are surely giddy about the prospect of their team gelling into a bona fide playoffs contender. Afterall, 5 of their 10 wins have come against the likes of Detroit, Washington (twice), San Jose and the normally stingy Minnesota Wild, who were treated to the first taste of how relentless and suffocating the Thrasher attack could be. But alas, we've seen a similar script play out before us with a sobering and disappointing series of tragic acts. Last year, the Thrashers found themselves sitting pretty at the end of November with a 14 - 7 - 3 record only to implode from within during a dismal December in which they dropped 9 of their next 14 games in regulation. So please be advised of this cautionary tale before letting your expectations run away to dizzying heights. I would hate for us all to end up totally deflated from another fall from such a lofty perch.

Anyhoo, it's already 5:45 -- I started typing this way too late for anyone to read it before the game! -- and I've got to get my shit together to head down to the Bulb pour le match du hockey avec les Habitants. I was hoping to blog in grandiose fashion about the good, the bad and the ugly of this season thus far. Or as I like to call it during the T'giving holiday season: the Hamtastic, the Medi-Okra and the Cran-cid-berry. I introduced the Turkey Day themed series last fall and I hope to keep the tradition going as long as my fingers can still blog it up. So please come back tomorrow when you will hopefully find a link to my new blog over at the Hockey Independent website, where I will sling ham and rancid cranberry sauce all over the page! Have a good nite and let's freakin' go Thrashers!! Beat los French!!

As We Head Into the Future, Young Thrashers Must Lean On Each Other

2010-11-24T15:41:00.008-05:00

Tonite at Philips Arena we welcome in a rare visit from the mighty Red Wings, who fly in from Detroit with the top record in the tightly bunched Western Conference and, mathematically, the best points-earned percentage in the entire NHL. Obviously, this will be the sternest test for a Thrashers team that is still in the process of establishing, and hopefully, maintaining an identity that breeds more wins than losses. At 13 - 3 - 2, the Red Wings boast a league-leading goals against average of 3.67 and have won 7 of their 9 games in November. Usual suspects Pavel Datsyuk, Hank Zetterberg and Nik Lidstrom have had great starts, but their success has been buoyed by the surprising starts of Danny Cleary (9 G, 14 pts) and Todd Bertuzzi (15 pts & a +11 rating).

If there IS anything negative one can point out, then it would be that the Red Wings' record MAY be a bit inflated due to 4 of their 7 November wins coming against Edmonton and Calgary, both of which have struggled mightily this season. Also, the Wings played their last 6 games at home and have only ventured out on the road a total of 6 times. But Detroit has certainly taken advantage of the recent home cooking to the tune of 27 goals and 5 wins on the homestand. Unfortunately for the Thrashers, the Detroit road record of 4 - 2 - 0 is hardly any consolation for what will surely be a difficult game against one of the league's best. While two of their three regulation losses have come on the road, that is hardly evidence that Detroit is vulnerable, but it does give this humble writer hope that Coach Craig Ramsay can exploit the right match-ups at home and give the boys in blue a chance to win.

If that is to happen, the Thrashers would be wise to score first and hopefully maintain pressure on the Red Wings in the 1st period, forcing them to play in their own end more than they would like. Also important is for the Thrashers to limit their penalties and try to win the battle for power play opportunities. On the season, the Thrashers are 9th overall in penalties drawn -- thank you Alex Burmistrov!! -- but are tied for 4th in PP vs PK differential at +11. However, just earning more penalties is not enough; the T-birds must convert at least one of their PP to have a chance. More than one, of course, would simply be sublime.

Lastly, the scorching hot Ondrej Pavelec could have a big say in who wins as he has stopped 89 of the last 92 shots that have reached his net. And keeping Detroit to 30 SOG or less would certainly help so Ondrej doesn't have to pull out all the stops to stymie 40+ shots like he did in last year's shutout of the "Big Red Borg" (all rights reserved by Bill "Rawhide" Tiller). As for Detroit's netminder, Jimmy Howard, he has been solid if not spectacular this year. He has 11 wins on the season, but hasn't had to be Dominik Hasek for the Wings to win as he normally only sees about 27.75 pucks per nite. Thus, it is imperative for the Thrashers to get pucks on net and crash the cage to hopefully get Howard out of his comfort zone (easier said than done eh?). BUT, Howard has been a bit suspect in his last 184 minutes of play yielding 11 goals on 90 shots faced. Can Ondrej be "Pavelec-tric" once again and help put the Thrashers back above .500??

EDITOR'S NOTE: This blogger is a-movin' on to whiter hockey rinks (and loftier press-box heights perhaps?) as he has been tapped to blog on the Thrashers for the on-line hockey magazine known as Hockey Independent.com!! If you've been a faithful reader of this humble little blog, I do thank you heartily from the bottom of my, well heart! And I do hope you'll continue to support me and the Thrashers as their singular, dedicated hockey voice. Please tweet your friends, family and neighbors, and point your speakers out the window with the Neil Diamond jams a-pumpin'!! Cuz WE'RE HEADED FOR THE FUTURE!!

Thrashers Overcome Both Deficit and Isles' Desperation on Way to Overtime Win and .500 Record

2010-11-21T21:30:00.015-05:00

Tonite, as I drove home from my weekend-long visit to the Twin Cities of Winston and Salem to see my family and friends, I considered myself lucky that the radio signal of the Thrashers' flagship station, 680 The Fan, was not strong enough to carry beyond the Atlanta bedroom community of Suwanee. Fatigue was seeping in to my bones and my eyes were becoming increasingly bleary from the constant, insidious glare of obnoxiously bright headlight lamps of the speeding SUV's and 18-wheelers I was forced to pass in order to maintain a consistent and safe rate of speed. Had we been able to listen to the radio call of Thrashers' radio voice, Dan Kamal, I most surely would have been nerve-wracked to the point of danger since I was already on the edge of losing my battle with the sensory terror of traveling southbound on I-85 at night.

By the time we were able to get a clear signal just south of the Suwanee exit, the Thrashers game was about to go into overtime. I knew, from twitter updates on the phone, that the Thrashers had managed to secure the tying goal against a desperate and frenzied Islanders team that had dropped all but 1 of a possible 24 points over their last 12 games. I was also acutely aware of the fact that both starting goalies, Rick DiPietro and Ondrej Pavelec, had each made breath-taking and game-saving stops to keep their teams locked in a tie late in the 3rd period. For the Isles, the game was a furious struggle to earn the turning point win they so desperately coveted. For the Thrashers, it was an anxious battle to not only earn a precious two points in the standings, but also validate their status as a team that is capable of overcoming the inevitable emotional let-down that follows a shutout win against a perennial powerhouse like Washington and disposing of a weaker opponent to keep pace in a playoff race that is starting to see some separation between the "haves" and the "have-nots".

As Coach Ramsay would discuss later in his post-game press conference, this game was about building on the recent success and learning to win when the team you're facing may be more scared to lose than even you are. When queried about the importance of this win and overcoming the anxiety of losing a tight game to a more desperate team, he related these thoughts: "We had a good start, we looked good. Then our neutral zone play was not good enough. And you just get some bad feelings once in a while against a team that hasn't won in a long time. You're controlling the play in the offensive zone but not scoring, not getting anything out of it. And their goalie is capable of a great game and they're team is capable of winning, so it's tense on the bench and that's with the kind of game though that you grow with as much as the win against Washington...we had to fight through it, it was a tight game the whole way and we got the key save at the right time."

Listening to the press conference, the relief in Ramsay's voice was palpable and unmistakable. Losing to the Islanders, with all due respect, would have surely caused some degree of mental anguish after enjoying the emotional high of dominating a better opponent on home ice Friday nite. Especially on the heels of naming Andrew Ladd team captain, which created a bigger sense of gravity around the team that the time to turn the season for the better was now. Losing to the Islanders would have been two steps backwards after a huge step forward was taken, and taken with a demonstrative swagger and reinforced belief in themselves. Like Ramsay said, it's one thing to raise your game against a better opponent, but it's an entirely different story to take care of a struggling team who's on the brink: "We've been able to elevate our game against good teams...I think winning this tight game can really be important for us as much as that five (to) nothing win."

Indeed, a dramatic, come-from-behind win such as this can be vital to the process of building confidence in what they're doing as a team and further validate their hard work to overcome some recent struggles. A win like tonite's OT thriller can certainly help to cement good work habits that must be employed to win tight games. Ramsay went on to say that the team must continue to "recognize that when we do our detail work correctly, we're tough. And its not about (worrying about) what just happened, although that builds within you, it's about facing a good team (and) playing our game against them."

Ramsay knows that a young team must learn to deal with adversity and overcome frustrations when things don't go according to plan. If this team is to keep evolving in a positive fashion and contend seriously for a playoff spot, games like this are important stepping stones in creating the right mind-set that helps players to focus on things they can control rather than the results. As an example, Ramsay pointed out how the frustration of dominating play in the 1st period without any results started to set in later on: "In the 2nd period, we got frustrated a little bit and now we started turning (the puck over) and they were runnin' up the ice. We don't want to just throw the puck away...we get frustrated and we start looking for something unique and special instead of just stayin' with the plan."

One player who most definitely received the gravitas of Ramsay's message of sticking to the plan was overtime hero, and burgeoning blueline sensation, Dustin Byfuglien. In addition to scoring the game-winning goal, Big Buff turned failure into positive motivation and eventually success: "He (Byfuglien) wants to be a difference-maker all the time and that's the biggest asset a hockey player can have, said Ramsay. "The want to be a difference-maker, (the) want to be THE guy; I say 'be the man' and he puts his hand up. Now he also took the blame for their goal (late in the 2nd period also during a 4 on 4 situation). He held himself accountable and told his teammates he'd get it back, and he did."

Obviously, not all games are going to have a fairy-tale ending, but it's more about the commitment to the process of learning how to deal with and conquer adversity through doing the right things, especially the little things. "It's composure" said Ramsay. "We talk a lot about composure and you see it from some of our guys under pressure (in how) they keep the puck. For a goalie (Pavelec) not to lose track of where he is and to understand his only play, and he took it; he couldn't have climbed up and he couldn't have done anything else...but he put himself in a position and he battled, that's the key issue, he battled to get there...to take a chance."

Recently, Pavelec's play has been brilliant -- some might say, "Pavelec-tric" even -- and he really seems to be benefitting from the extra attention to detail as well as a better execution of fundamentals, so that when things don't go according to plan, you remain composed and you give yourself a chance to battle and make a daring play. The sort of daring, and amazing play Pavelec made when he sprawled out to his left to snag a sailing puck with his outstretched glove-hand to stymie what looked like a sure goal. That sort of play is only possible if a player has the right level of composure and calm. Ramsay went on to say about his young netminder Pavelec: "He's been alright I guess (said with tongue firmly planted in cheek). When we had the good start I thought, 'we just need to get ahead'...but (after the goal) he just looked like he wasn't gonna let anything else in. He was big, he looked big (in his crease) and his positioning was great, and his commitment was wonderful."

And that, my friends, is a salient point about commitment. The players seem to be buying in to what the coaches are selling and the level of commitment is starting to manifest itself in the ability to win tight games as well as surprise a seemingly superior opponent (like Washington). There is always going to be adversity and there is always going to be "off" nights, but without a commitment to the plan and the overall team program, then outcomes like tonite's are not possible. If you remain committed, then the frustration can't beat you as easily. Ramsay used tonite's game as the perfect illustration: "We had some instances when they ran us ragged. I had to call the timeout on the one instance because our guys were so exhausted....But after the timeout, we fought back through it, we got it done....so, the things we need to do we're doing and we did fight through some difficult situations and those are the things you build on."

And build, and build and build they must. They need to keep building on the foudation of teachings that Ramsay and his coaches are laying down. One shift, one period, one game at a time. Hopefully this win over the Islanders isn't just any old win. Let's hope that this win is the kind of win that helps to shape a young team into a winning team that believes in what it is doing every nite they take to the ice. From what I've seen, and considering some of the adversity this team has already overcome, I am just silly enough to believe this team is starting to win because it believes that it should. Leadership is coming not only from the bench, but also from guys on the ice who are totally committed. Guys like Byfuglien, Captain Ladd, hard-working Bryan Little, tiny, but big-hearted Toby Enstrom, unsung, but steady Brent Sopel, unrelenting Chris Thorburn and knuckle-scarred warrior Eric Boulton.

Blessed are the committed hockey souls with indomitable spirit and positive attitude, for they shall foster a winning mentality and experience that is rich with success and reward even in the face of difficulty. Blessed are your Thrashers?

A Day Late, But Not Short on Statistical Data

2010-11-18T13:35:00.040-05:00

Okay, now that we've had a day to ruminate about and recover from last nite's galling 2 to 1 defeat at the hands of the Marty Reasoner Sex Panthas, it's time to move on and take stock of where things stand -- mind you, I was going to do this every 9th game, but alas, I actually let work get in the way of a blog entry yesterday!! Back in late October, I posted an entry comparing the first 8 games of the 2008-09 season (since it was John Anderson's first stab) with the first 8 games of the Craig Ramsay era. I feel that, while it may not have any real relevance in predicting whether this Thrashers team will amount to anything special, it is, at the very least, a mildly thought-provoking exercise. And furthermore, I can incorporate an additional comparison to the 2009-10 season as a provocative tool by which statistics help to further illustrate the short-comings of a team that put too much emphasis on a superstar sniper. But do the numbers back me up?

First things first, we revisit the earlier comparison chart showing how the first 8 games -- if you recall, I used 8 games for convenience's sake since there was a 3-day gap between games 8 and 9 with nothing else to write about -- of this season compared to the Coach Anderson Reign of Comedy. Unfortunately, my metrics, no matter how hard I crunch the numbers, cannot capture the effect of lucky "bounces", but just remember, according to Anderson, it was usually just a "bounce here or there" that would make the difference, give or take! But enough of the tongue in cheek sarcasm, on to the numbers!!

STAT Category _________ 2010-'11 Season _______ 2008-'09 Season

Record thru 8 Gms ________ 3 -- 4 -- 1 OTL __________ 2 -- 4 -- 2 OTL

Goal Differential _______ (-6, 23 GF vs 29 GA) _______ (-4, 23 GF vs 27 GA)

SOG Differential _________ (-67, 234 vs 301) _________ (-40, 250 vs 290)

Average Shot Diff. ________ (-8.1, 29.3 v 37.4) ________ (-5.0, 31.3 vs. 36.3)

# Times Out-shot ________ (7 times , even 1x) ________ (7 times, even 1x)

Shooting Perctge. ________ 9.40% (on 22 goals) _______ 8.80% (on 22 goals)

Save Percentage ________ .910 (adj for 2 ENGA) ______ .910 (adj for 1 ENGA)

Now that you've been refreshed with the old data, here are the numbers after the second set of 9 games, or if you prefer, through the first 18 games:

STAT Category ________ 2010-'11 Season ________ 2008-'09 Season

Record thru 18 Gms _______ 7 -- 8 -- 3 OTL __________ 7 -- 9 -- 2 OTL

Goal Differential _______ (-10, 57 GF vs 67 GA) _______ (-11, 53 GF vs 64 GA)

SOG Differential _________ (-126, 526 vs 652) _________ (-86, 509 vs 595)

Average Shot Diff. ________ (-7.0, 29.2 v 36.2) ________ (-4.8, 28.3 vs. 33.1)

# Times Out-shot ________ (14 times , even 1x) _______ (14 times, even 3x)

Shooting Perctge.*_______ 10.6% (on 56 goals) _______ 10.2% (on 52 goals)

*percentage is figured on goals scored in regulation or O.T., but excludes S.O. "goals"

Save Percentage ________ .907 (adj for 5 ENGA)______ .894 (adj for 1 ENGA)

As you can see, just like the last time we looked at this comparison of seasons, the similarities are quite striking. Especially when it comes to four things: W-L record, goal differential, large shot disparities (although it's a bit alarming to see that Anderson's first team was much better at limiting shots!), and oddly enough, shot percentages! I don't have time to go back and delve into the reasons why the team gave up fewer shots in 2008, but it might have had something to do with the presence and leadership of Nic Havelid on the blueline. Plus, Ron Hainsey played pretty well out of the gate in his first couple of months with the Thrashers after signing as a UFA earlier that summer. But beyond that, the most telling statistic is the very mediocre save percentage as Kari Lehtonen went down on account of poor conditioning, Ondrej Pavelec was too raw as a rookie call-up and "Moose" Hedberg was counted on for his savvy, but unsensational net-minding. However, the team did circle the wagons after a 6-game losing streak, one in which they yielded an eye-opening 29 goals, before reeling off 5 straight wins behind a red hot Little White Russian line and the clutch play of the venerable Hedberg.

What is more interesting I think are some of the similarities between this current year's team and the team led by Ilya Kovalchuk last fall -- Kovy certainly was blazing hot out of the chute last year and scored a bushel of goals before his foot injury. While he was on the mend, the team managed to hold things together fairly well in his absence, and then they exploded again upon his return with 3 straight wins and an exciting OTL to the Boston Bruins -- I should cue the Maxim Afinogenov heroics video, but it's too painful thinking about what could have been -- to raise their record to an impressive 10 - 6 - 2 after 18 games. Here are the rest of the comparison stats for you to digest and think about:

STAT Category ________ 2010-'11 Season ________ 2009-'10 Season

Record thru 18 Gms _______ 7 -- 8 -- 3 OTL _________ 10 -- 6 -- 2 OTL

Goal Differential _______ (-10, 57 GF v 67 GA) _______ (+12, 66 GF v 54 GA)

SOG Differential ________ (-126, 526 vs 652) _________ (-120, 514 vs 634)

Average Shot Diff. _______ (-7.00, 29.2 v 36.2) _______ (-6.67, 28.6 vs. 35.2)

# Times Out-shot _______ (14 times , even 1x) _______ (14 times, even none)

Shooting Perctge.*_______ 10.6% (on 56 goals) _______ 12.6% (on 65 goals)

*percentage is figured on goals scored in regulation or O.T., but excludes S.O. "goals"

Save Percentage ________ .907 (adj for 5 ENGA)______ .920 (adj for 1 ENGA)

Perhaps the spookiest stat nugget of this whole exercise is the eerie similarity in the average shot differential between this year and last, with two completely different coaches and, ostensibly, systems. Of course, those that follow the team closely realize that Ramsay's system isn't that much different from Anderson's in terms of how aggressive the offense is supposed to play. The biggest difference is the fact we have an even more dynamic threat from the back-end by the name of "Big Dusty Buff", who has meshed extremely well with his sidekick Enstrom and has thrived in his return to the blueline. The other nuance that is most different this year is the emphasis by Ramsay on not only rolling 4 lines consistently, but also in how they attack the offensive zone.

Ramsay's system puts the spotlight on getting the puck deep, keeping it there and cycling it till the defense pukes, where as Anderson liked to use his speedy skill guys in transition to set each other up by making fancy plays at the offensive blueline and hoping to find the 3rd man high unaccounted for by the D. Unfortunately, as we learned, Anderson's system was easily shut-down with a trapping, clogging neutral zone emphasis by the other team that would disrupt the transitional, and all too often horizontal play. Ramsay is all about moving north and south and tilting the ice as much as possible to keep the heat on the other team. In a simple sense, it's all about a good defense through a tenacious offense. But changing the mental habits that were formed during two years of Anderson's tutelage has proven much harder to do so far this season. Or is it that there aren't enough players on the roster who truly believe in themselves to raise their game to a level never imagined under Anderson?

Either way, the good news is that, in spite of the current 7-game skid in which they have only earned 3 points out of a possible 14, the team is starting to find a more consistent and higher level of play night in and night out. To wit, the Thrashers have finally started to out-shoot their opponents more often than not, doing so 4 times in the last 6 games. However, they have only won 1 of those 6 games in regulation. The most obvious reason -- in addition to the mental lapses and brain-farts that are still plaguing the Thrashers -- they are struggling to win games is because they are finding it harder to tickle the twine with the same rate of success as they had early on.

In their first 10 games, they were scoring at a rate of 11.3%, but in the most recent 8 games, that scoring rate has plunged to a pedestrian 8.6%. That 2.7% difference translates into roughly 1 fewer goal per contest when averaging around 32-33 SOG per game. Not so coincidentally, that one goal is exactly what they needed in the 3rd period last nite to extract some shred of a positive reward for their better play (overall) of late. When the net starts to shrink because you consistently allow defensive breakdowns to heap additional pressure on the offense to score, then you're only hope is that your goaltender bails you out. But as we've seen with Chris Mason's horrendous play recently, you're goalie may breakdown too as a result of getting overworked. Three times poor goaltending has cost them and the other three times it was the untimely gaffe or turnover that was the difference in a tight game. If the screws aren't finally tightened with some pressing urgency (now especially with the naming of a captain, see below) in the next 5 games, we could find ourselves talking about what prospect we hope to get at the 2011 spring entry draft come early December. And that would be the ultimate insult to the few remaining hopeful fans of Thrasherville.

Panthers Pin Prey, Pot Two Points...UPDATE: And Ladd Named Captain!!

2010-11-17T22:56:00.009-05:00

Former Thrashers' player and defensive stalwart, Marty Reasoner, dropped in on his old buddies at the Bulb tonite to host an absolutely clinical tutorial on how to dominate the defensive face-off circle. His puck possessing prowess from within the hockey equivalent of a gunman's duel served as a sobering reminder that games are won through the repetitive execution of the simplest of tasks and actions. 'Twas yet another frustrating game in which our chronically fallible Atlanta Thrashers succumbed to a fatal lapse in commitment and effort during the final 5 minute stretch of the late 2nd period. Once again, the boys in blue were tragic victims of their own undoing in a very disappointing 2 to 1 loss to a divisional foe. And speaking of school, the only other thought which comes to mind right now are the words of my late, great political science professor, Mr. Broyles, who once said simply: "fuuuuuuuuuck".

Just in case you were sleeping all afternoon long, forward Andrew Ladd, acquired in one of the two trades with the Chicago Blackhawks during the summer, was named Captain by Coach Ramsay today in Duluth either before or after practice. Along with Ladd, D-men Dustin Byfuglien (but you can call him Barry) and Tobias Enstrom (but you can call him Toby) were named "alternates" for when Laddy is serving one of his many 5 minute fighting penalties (as if!).

Ben Wright of the Blueland Blog has a good write-up on the breaking news and had the chance to query Laddy boy with this question: What does Ladd think his best attributes are as a leader?

“I think I show up for work every day and give it everything I have. The other side of it is I think the attention to the little details and what you need to do to win- I think that’s a big part of my game. Something I really focus on is doing little things well. I believe that if you do those things success will follow.”

Hmmmm, where was I reading about hockey being a game that is won through the consistent execution of small actions and simple tasks??? Oh yeah, duh!! ;-)

After Pens Down Bolts, Thrashers Look to Thank Them...

2010-11-13T13:18:00.020-05:00

....with a loss of course!! Tonite the Atlanta Thrashers welcome Sidney "Cro(tch)by" and the merely .500 Pittsburgh Penguins to town in an early season battle for 8th place in the conference. Surprisingly -- perhaps not really when you take a closer look -- the Penguins have struggled to an 8 - 8 - 1 record in 17 games thus far. Even more unusual is the fact that these Penguins have done better when migrating to another team's building with a 5 - 3 - 1 road record versus a dismal 3 - 5 - 0 record in their brand new, state-of-the-art CONSOL Energy Center. Of course, the Thrashers are certainly not unfamiliar with the phenomenon of playing unpredictably at home as they come into tonite sporting a modest 3 - 3 - 1 record at Philips Arena. Luckily, the Thrash are 2 - 1 - 1 in their last four contests at the "Bulb" with a win over Buffalo (in OT), a highly entertaining shoot-out loss to the defending Stanley Cup Champs and, most recently, a resounding 5 to 1 triumph over a rusty and sluggish Minnesota Wild club.

But let's go back to the Penguins and their up and down roller-coaster ride of a season thus far. The Pens misfired coming out of the gate by losing their first two games of the season. A win over the struggling Devils was a short-lived salve on a miserable 1 - 3 - 0 season-opening wound. However, the Penguins played like the Pens we expect to see on a nightly basis when they reeled off 4 straight wins including dominant performances against Philly (on the road) and Ottawa in the cavernous -- relative to the old Igloo -- confines of CONSOL Energy. But that streak came to an abrupt end when they ran into the defensive buzz-saw known as Jaroslav Halak and the St. Louis Blues, who clipped the Pens by a margin of 1 to 0 in overtime. Since that time, Pittsburgh has failed to win consecutive games going 2 - 5 - 0 in their next 7 games before dismantling the Tampa Bay Lightning with 3 goals in the 3rd period of their game last nite to avenge an early-season loss to the Bolts in Tampa. The Pens come to Atlanta hoping to put an end to that unusual streak of mediocrity with a win at Philips Arena, where they've won 3 times in the last 4 visits.

Why has Pittsburgh struggled so mightily and succumbed to mediocrity so far this season? Most notably, the Pens have missed the presence of their best defensive center, Jordan Staal, who is also capable of adding some consistent secondary scoring punch to their line-up. In addition, star forward Evgeni Malkin has failed to find his mid-season stride and his paltry 4 goals and (-5) plus/minus rating has been an early-season bugaboo for a Pens team struggling to find scoring balance. In aggregate terms, the Penguins have scored what seems like plenty of goals (52) in their first 17 games, but scoring has come in fits and spurts for the Pens, who have also yielded an alarming total of 47 goals against. During their woeful 2 - 5 - 1 stretch, the Pens scored only 20 goals, managing just 2 goals or less in 4 of those games. More troubling was the number of goals they gave up in that period as they surrendered a total of 27 goals, a shade over 3 goals per game! Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of that terrible stretch was the miserable performance of Cup-winning goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury, who comes into tonite with just 2 wins on the season and a gaudy 3.23 GAA as well as an atrocious save percentage of only .860!!

So as you can see, there are quite a few similarities between the visiting Penguins and the hosting Thrashers, who come into tonite's game with their first win in 3 games and a record of 7 - 6 - 3 on the season. While their record is good enough for 17 points and a virtual tie for 8th place with the Pens, the Thrashers have had more than their share of struggles incorporating a new system and several new players within that framework. So far the results have been mixed and the Thrashers are trying to figure out how to play a more responsible defensive game to match their surprisingly productive offense, which has netted 51 goals of its own in 16 games. Unfortunately, the Thrashers have given up goals like a prize give-away contest all season long and must build upon their recent 5 to 1 effort against Minnesota if they are to stay in the mix for the bottom few seeds of the playoff race. Hopefully, the return of center Bryan Little, who missed 6 games due to a concussion, will help the Thrashers limit a Pens' offense that has struggled to produce consistently due to the loss of Staal as well as a dearth of scoring from their wingers.

Disturbingly, the Thrashers have been at the bottom of the league all season long when it comes to shots allowed, as well as prime scoring chances yielded, and they must find a way to limit the opportunities for a still-potent Pittsburgh club whose 2nd leading scorer is Pascal Dupuis...yeah, THAT Pascal Dupuis!! Nonetheless, the Thrashers will want to take advantage of favorable match-ups against Pittsburgh's mediocre bottom lines. Sidney Crosby will most likely get his goal and probably an assist or two, but the Thrashers should be able to produce many scoring chances of their own. The bigger question may be what will Pittsburgh get in goal from either Fleury, who just earned his 2nd win of the season last nite or Brent Johnson, who carried the Pens for the first month before giving up 12 goals in his most recent 177 minutes of action? For the Thrash, Ondrej Pavelec will get the nod and a chance to not only build on his stellar 32-save performance versus the Wild, but also erase the demons of tragic Penguins' losses past. Rather than furnish the frightening numbers, we'll just say we hope that Pavelec forgot all about his past games against Pittsburgh when he fainted on opening nite and leave it at that.

As for the outcome tonite, it's anyone's guess as to who will come out on top. Will Pittsburgh carry lots of momentum into Philips after the drubbing they layed on Tampa last nite or will they fall prey to bad habits formed during their wildly erratic first five weeks to the season? The same can be said for Atlanta, who has struggled to play "their game" and play it consistently for a full 60 minutes. Even during their best performance (since Opening Nite against Washington) of the season Thursday, they demonstrated lapses in their effort as well as in their defensive awareness. Luckily for them, Pavelec was up to the task and he gave them a chance to win in convincing fashion as opposed to the Chicago game when his poor-decision making perhaps cost them a regulation win. I do think we'll see plenty of goal-scoring again tonite and the game may wind up being a race to the 4th goal; it may even take an overtime period to decide it.

Thrashers Take Flight to Ottawa, Battle Savage Loons

2010-11-09T14:07:00.018-05:00

Is there anything more terrifying than a menacing, mysterious loon lurching forth from a lake to take flight?? Okay, perhaps the word 'terrifying' doesn't quite capture the emotion that is conjured up by a water-dwelling bird raising up and launching itself from the surface like a laser-guided missle. However, the sight of such in nature CAN BE quite inspirational, if you are the weepy sort who gets choked up when observing animals of ornithological grace and grandeur. Where am I going with this?? I have no freakin' idea.

In my lame attempt to put together a mildly intriguing game preview, I thought of team names and official state birds. Haters of hockey in the Sun-Belt often point to our amusing nickname in a derisive manner to prop up their own arguments about why the city of Atlanta isn't deserving of a hockey team. But just think, the storied Ottawa franchise could have emerged from early 20th century history as just a footnote of failed hockey franchises past. And to make matters worse, the "Senators" moniker (that is just sooooo freakin' original and creative by the way) may have never come to fruition had the team's trio of founders chosen to honor the official bird of the province of Ontario: the Common Loon. I reckon the frightening name of Ottawa Screaming Loons was high atop the list of nicknames considered by the founding fathers in 1883 when the team launched its inaugural campaign as a member of the Ontario Hockey Association. Frankly, I don't know what was wrong with Ottawa Fur Trappers or Ottawa River Otters.

At any rate, the great fans of the Ottawa Senators should remind themselves of the financial troubles that beset and eventually ravaged the first NHL iteration of the Ottawa franchise -- the Great Depression of the 1930's eventually doomed the existence of four teams leaving the NHL with the "Original Six" -- before casting any stones towards the city of Atlanta in Sun-Belt expansion debates. During the mid-1920's and into the next decade, the Senators' owners were besieged by a protracted period of economic strife -- after several Stanley Cup winning seasons I might add -- seeking financial assistance as early as 1927 and moving to St. Louis in 1934 due to their small market issues. Today, we are seeing the impact of another deep recession on ticket sales and gate receipts in roughly 2/3 of NHL markets. Outside of Montreal, Toronto, Vancover, Calgary, Chicago, Philly, New York and Pittsburgh, most teams will probably feel a significant financial pinch to their bottom lines if they haven't already.

Although the economic situation of today is a definite challenge for the NHL, the fact remains that Sun-Belt hockey is here to stay for the forseeable future and Canadian hockey fans should work harder to accept the current NHL landscape of 30 teams. While there are a handful of struggling franchises in the South, like Phoenix, Florida, Atlanta and even Dallas, I cannot fathom more than two franchises ever migrating back to the Great White North. And one of them may very well end up being the New York Islanders if they can't get a new arena built on Long Island. Atlanta's fan-base may be relatively small, but the potential for growth is still quite good in a growing city of 5 million people, many of whom are transplants from the North. But alas, such a debate has been waged ad-nauseam in many an internet forum and it wasn't my intention to get into that discussion at any level of depth.

In conclusion, all I wanted to do was set the table for a hockey match pitting two teams from two very different places. Both cities offer sanctuary to very innocent looking birds that represent their respective homes as the "official bird of the state". What type of hostile confrontation ensues when a Brown Thrasher happens upon a Common Loon?? Who the hell knows? I reckon they probably keep to themselves for the most part if they ever come into contact at all. But tonite, when the Senators welcome the American hockey ambassador Thrashers from the capital of Georgia, we must all keep in mind that the Thrashers are most certainly a worthy adversary for the great, historic franchise hailing from proud Ottawa. All you need to know is what happened last season when the Thrashers managed to take the victory spoils in 3 out of 4 contests outscoring the Sens by an overall margin of 16 to 7 in the process.

Thrashers Battle Blackhawks in a Showdown of Wills

2010-11-06T16:44:00.015-04:00

Tonite, the Thrashers, led by former Blackhawks Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd, welcome the defending Stanley Cup Champions from Chicago. The four former Hawks, along with former assistant coach John Torchetti, welcome their former mates for their one and only chance to show the fans of Chicago just how much they should be missed now that they play in Atlanta. The game this evening should prove to be one full of emotion and passion as Big Buff, Laddy, Ben Eager and Brent Sopel try to send a message to their former employer. And fans hope that the emotions felt by familiar faces will produce an exciting and entertaining game, unlike the one a small crowd of Blueland faithful observed Thursday nite against Columbus.

So, above and beyond solid contributions from players like Byfuglien, Ladd and of course, netminder Ondrej Pavelec, who gets his second start in a row at home, what are the keys to tonite's contest for your Thrashers? First and foremost would be to channel their emotions and energy into a focused, efficient team effort. Passing must be better than Thursday and the "work-rate" as Darren Eliot likes to say needs to be earnest and consistent. Secondly, the Thrashers must support each other more aggressively to win battles in the corner and along the wall (as demonstrated here in this video):

And finally, the Thrashers must play as a more cohesive, unified unit to help create more chances and scoring opportunities for their mates. Hockey requires cat-like reflexes and decision-making and to have success, the team must be in sync with each other and remain committed to their gameplan. As an example of how important it is for a team to be on the "same page", see the next demonstration video:

Do those few things and the Thrashers should come out on top tonite. If not, then it's back to the drawing board and the animal farm for more inspiration.

Ma-SON of Goalie Thieves, Steal Victory "So Mote It Be"

2010-11-03T22:34:00.019-04:00

To be perfectly honest, I don't really have the right words to do justice to Chris Mason and the superlative performance he turned in earlier tonite as the winning goalie of record in Sonrise, FL. I'm still shaking my head -- no, "I am trapped in a glass case of emotion!" -- over the fact that the Thrashers were outplayed in every facet of the game save for the one position capable of atoning for an entire team's sins of commission (and omission). And Thrashers' netminder Chris Mason did it in larcenous fashion, stopping a (Joel Auerbach, Getty Images) whopping 52 of 55 shots on goal to lead his team to victory over feisty divisional foe Florida. So instead of trying to be creative with flowery prose, how about some music of "FreeMASONry" to capture the emotion of the moment? Yes, let it be so:

ANOTHER FESTIVE BOARD:

Eternal father, strong to save (our team)

Whose arms hath bound the restless wave (of pucks),

Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep (in the crease)

It's own appointed limits keep (our goal)

O hear us when we cry to thee (like Dan Kamal)

For those in peril on the sea (of ice)

O Trinity of love and power

Our Brethren shield in dangers hour,

From rock and tempest, fire and foe

Protect them whereso'er they roam.

Thus evermore shall rise to thee

Glad hymn of praise from land and sea.

Huh?! What's This?? TIG-inla!!

2010-11-03T13:15:00.003-04:00

Hark! Just gleaned off the "tweety-box"....ruminate and then talk amongst yourselves please.

@TheFourthPeriod I don't know of a timeframe as to when an announcement will be made, but I can say new prospective ownership wants to keep team in Atlanta

@TheFourthPeriod On everyones ATL q's: I can't say who the new owner might/will be. I know how that sounds, but I'll share as soon as I'm at liberty to do so

@TheFourthPeriod Yes :) RT @telfo1 sale of Thrashers expected to occur this season? any idea as to who it would be to? yes or no would suffice, no name.

@TheFourthPeriod Imagine asking for THAT autograph? RT @GaetanoTFP Did you know? Iginla's real name is: Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla

Election Day!! YOU Decide: "Winning" Record or Statistical Anomaly??

2010-11-02T15:56:00.015-04:00

Okay folks, November -- excusez-moi, I mean MO'vember!! -- is here for your Atlanta Thrashers, who recently wrapped up a "winning" month with a 4 to 3 shoot-out loss to the St. Louis Blues last Saturday. Of course, wrapping up a winning month with a loss, even a shoot-out loss, seems to ring hollow when the team collapsed trying to hold a 2-goal lead deep into the third period of that game. Anyway, the Thrashers' record of 5 - 4 - 2 (0r points-earned percentage of .545) is probably above the expectation level of most reasonable, level-headed, discerning fans. But the puzzling Jekyll & Hyde personality of this new-look Thrashers team begs the following question: was October really a successful month or was it just an intriguing collection of statistical anomalies?

In order to decide, let's take a look at some key statistics for the first 11 games of the season. First and foremost, the Thrashers have scored a total of 36 goals thus far while giving up a total of 40, before adjusting for shoot-out and empty-net goals. After adjusting for such, the Thrashers have popped in 34 goals (avg of 3.1) compared to 37 (avg of 3.4) for their opponents. At even strength, the disparity is a bit more frightening as the Thrashers have surrendered a total of 28 goals at even-strength while only potting 20 of their own in either 5 on 5 or 4 on 4 situations. Luckily, for the T-birds, the power-play has been a refreshing surprise source of production as they have netted a total of 13 PP goals to only 9 for their opponents. In fact, the Thrashers have not yielded a PPG to their opponent in 4 straight games, outscoring them 6 to 0 with the man-advantage. Not so coincidentally, the Thrashers have garnered 6 of a possible 8 points in that 4-game stretch. Had they been able to take advantage of at least one 5 vs 3 PP in the early 3rd period Saturday nite, we would be talking about a 6 - 4 - 1 record instead.

Unfortunately, the ES goals disparity is a direct reflection of a more pressing problem the Thrashers are having in the early going of the 2010-11 season. The Thrashers have not been able to limit their opponents to less than an average of 35.5 shots (on goal) per game while only averaging a surprisingly low 28.1 shots on goal of their own. So considering that peculiar statistical anomaly, the Thrashers are very lucky to have a "winning" record for the month of October. Of course, their production with the extra man has been one of the primary reasons they've been able to stay in most games and win their share. Certainly, if you take away the two Tampa Bay debacles, in which Tampa's potent PP exploited the Thrashers' 'D' for 4 PP goals, it would seem as though the PP is the only reason they've been winning some games. But that's a bit misleading as the Thrash have managed to post a record of 3 - 2 - 0 in games in which the PPG tally has been even. Two of those three wins were impressive wins over perennial playoff teams, Washington and San Jose, which was a tough road contest on the back end of a back-to-back during their west coast swing.

The most telling stats when it comes to the Thrashers' up and down October are those of goalie Chris Mason, who has probably felt like the victim of some masochistic torture as Atlanta's netminder. Pressed into full-time duty because of the mysterious fainting spell that felled teammate and number-one goalie (in name) Ondrej Pavelec, Mason has had a rough start to the season. Somewhat of a slow starter historically, Mason has seen more rubber than, well, I won't go there in the interest of good taste. But Mason has seen a gaudy barrage of pucks that would make any goalie wanna faint from fatigue. Thus far, Mason has seen a total of 339 (nearly 36 per game) shots come his way with 306 hitting some part of his goalie paraphenalia. To Mason's dissatisfaction, 33 of those shots have eluded his attempt to stop them. Most any goalie, outside of the red-hot Tim Thomas in Boston perhaps, would be hard-pressed to stop more than 91% of those shots -- especially when you factor in some of the dreadful defensive turnovers occurring in front of him -- and Mason can't really shoulder the majority of the blame for his somewhat lackluster .903 save percentage. And while Mason may not have fainted yet during a game, he's probably felt weak-kneed and woozy at the sight of his horrific 3.50 goals against average.

Lastly, the Thrashers, despite their inability to keep pucks out of their net on a consistent basis, have certainly made strides defensively as a more cohesive unit on the ice. To wit: their impressive blocked-shots average of 17.1 per game, which is probably in the top 3 or 4 in the entire NHL. The defensive struggles have stemmed more from indecision and poor passing inside their own zone when trying to break-out into the neutral zone. Once Coach Ramsay's teachings take root (we hope!) and they iron out some of the kinks in their break-out plays, I think the Thrashers will enjoy a steady decline in not only the number of shots that get to their net, but also the number of quality chances faced by their goalies. Recently over the last three games, we've seen a drop in the number of shots making it to their net: an average of only 28.67 per game if you factor out the shots allowed in the overtime frames. If that trend continues, and the blueline can improve on their communication and efficiency with which the puck is moved out of the zone, then perhaps we will witness a meaningful improvement in the number of goals allowed -- the one stat that means everything. Over the course of 71 games (the number left this season), an average of 29 shots against means a GAA of closer to 2.60 (using a rough average of .910 for the SV%) as opposed to 3.50. Even an improvement to the GAA neighborhood of 2.70-2.80 might just be enough for a taste of the post-season this year. Is that asking too much of this team or is that a realistic goal for Coach Ramsay and his charges? You DECIDE!

Young Thrashers Head West: In Search of Winning October Record

2010-10-30T21:14:00.015-04:00

The Thrashers are playing the St. Louis Blues at the Scottrade Center as we speak, but since I'm forced to watch the game on a crappy, streaming internet "pirate" feed, I figured I'd type up some notes and thoughts on the Thrashers' season as the team approaches the 1/8 pole (after 10/11 games) of the season. EDITOR'S NOTE: Finally gave up on trying to sync the Dan Kamal radio call and the "live" feed on the laptop; I have noticed an immense amount of homer-istic whining and bitching about borderline penalty calls. It certainly makes me that much more thankful for Darren Eliot and his balanced and astute commentary when calling a game.

But I digress...the score is currently 3 to 1 Thrashers as we head towards the end of the 2nd period. The boys have had some power-play chances in the last 10 minutes, but have failed to capitalize and widen their lead to the ever-elusive 3-goal lead. But I can't be too critical of the power-play considering they have already scored twice with the man-advantage to get the 2-goal cushion. From what I have seen of the 2nd period, the Thrashers have played well save for one rough 2-minute stretch in the middle of the period. The boys seem to have plenty of "jump" in them against a fast, hard-skating team. They are doing very well in controlling the neutral zone and pressing the play at their defensive blueline to create some transition rushes. Unfortunately, those chances have not produced any goals because of some slight indecision when choosing between the quick, hard shot and the pass to the opposite wing.

Anyway, on to the stats thru 2: the shots are almost even with St. Louis getting one more shot on goal than Atlanta (17 - 16). The shot totals are relatively low for such a fast-paced up and down game so the blueliners are doing a good job in space to get sticks into passing lanes and disrupt shot attempts. Jay McClement has the lone goal for St. Louis, and three different Thrashers have scored for Atlanta: Bergfors with a sweet wrister under the crossbar in transition and two power-play tallies in the first period from Peverley (his first of the year) and then Antropov (a rebound stuff of a Peverley shot on goal) with his second of the year.

Fourteen minutes gone in the 3rd and the Thrashers are still clinging to a 2-goal lead after two successful penalty kills in a row. The game should probably be out of reach, but the Thrashers could not pound the final nail into the Halloween coffin despite four straight power-plays (not all a full 2 minutes of course) including two 5 on 3 opportunities for more than 40 seconds. UPDATE: The Blues just scored to make it a one-goal nail-biter with just less than 6 minutes remaining. McClement with another goal after Pavelec couldn't control the initial shot from the right face-off dot. Time to sacrifice a barnyard animal...PRAY. Shots are now 27 to 22 in favor of St. Louis who has taken a strangle-hold of the momentum of this game after killing 4 Thrashers power-plays in the early stages of the 3rd period. Certainly a case of a young team not playing with a killer instinct and instead with a cavalier sense of ease when they had the long stretch of man-advantage hockey.

UPDATE (MORE FAILURE): Blues tie it up on a deflected wrister in front of Pavelec who didn't have a chance on the Pietrangelo wrister that was tipped in by Jay McClement (yes, him again) with less than 4 minutes left in the game. Less than two minutes to play and the freakin' pirate feed keeps breaking up now that it's a tied game and every time the Thrashers actually move the puck towards the Blues' net. Jesus H this is frustrating! Time to go back to Kamal! UPDATE (ONLY PARTIAL MISERY THIS TIME): Regulation time comes to end -- mercifully -- and the Thrashers "earn" the OT road point after failing to put this game "on ice".

Can they steal the extra point in OT again? So far, Peverley with a near breakaway, but thwarted. Thrashers with early pressure and a few good looks, but no dice. Then Eager with a golden scoring chance only to be stoned by Halak. Following that Pavelec decides he wants to unlock his inner-Halak and absolutely robs St. Louis from in close. Pavelec with another huge save (according to Kamal) after a minute (A FUCKING MINUTE!) of puck possession in the Thrashers' end; the stop gives the boys a chance to change lines and re-load. Less than a minute left...Byfuglien shoots wide after a good set-up by Peverley. Phew...about to have a heart attack with 47 seconds left. Foreshadowing?? Not quite, time expires with another Pavelec save and Ondrej stops hearts in St. Louis with his quick reflexes. Can he better the Blues in the shootout?? Nope. Pavelec gets absolutely abused in SO and Thrashers cough up the "bonus" point in a game they should have won easily. What a freakin' smack to the scrotum!!

Booger, um, I mean Bogey IS BACK & You're Gonna Be In Trouble!

2010-10-29T12:11:00.010-04:00

According to Chris Vivlamore, who doth tweeteth this morning, Thrashers' D-man and resident blueline-bully, Zach Bogosian, will make his return to the line-up this evening when the red-clad Thrash clash sabres with the Buffalo Slug-a-nuts at the Bulb at 7:30 EST. The man whose hair is starting to resemble that of actor Curtis Armstrong -- widely known as "Booger" from Revenge of the Nerds -- makes his triumphant and much-overdue return tonite to bolster a defensive corps that has been coming apart at the seams lately due to injuries, tentative play and poor chemistry (outside of the top pairing of Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom). Resultingly (is that a word?), the Thrashers will have their top six defensemen in the line-up for the first time since the Kings' game on October 12. The happiest man in Blueland to celebrate the news of Bogey's return must be Johnny Oduya, who has had what seems like a different defensive partner just about every game since Zach's shoulder injury felled him.

Additionally, tonite marks the return of James "Jimmah Skandalous" Slater to the line-up after a one-game absence. He replaces struggling veteran winger Fredrik Modin, who gets his first visit to the press-box "buffet line" (all rights reserved, Bill "Rawhide" Tiller). I do hope he enjoys the delicious fare in the press-box as I would prefer that he stay there more often than not when injuries are not depleting our group of forwards. I had high hopes for Mr. Modin, but his last game, a disastrous -2 performance in which his passing gaffe led directly to the Rangers' 3rd goal thus sparking their late rally, sealed his fate for the time being as a healthy scratch. The Rangers game marked the 5th straight game for Modin in which he was on the ice for at least one goal against without the benefit of being present when the Thrashers actually score one themselves. Not to mention his slow reactions and poor decision-making of late has contributed directly to several costly goals that have handed momentum to the other team like a charitable gift to a homeless pan-handler outside of Philips.

The return of Slater is the only notable change to the line combinations up front. Slater will assume the role of tenacious, hard-checking right-winger on a line with goal-scoring sniper Evander Kane and pint-sized, puck-handling wizard Alexander Burmistrov, who will play his 10th game of the season at the NHL level, thus making him a full-time Thrasher for the foreseeable future -- by not returning to Juniors, the clock starts ticking officially on the first of his 3-year Entry-Level Contract. And the natural-born center deserves the chance to continue his growth and development in the NHL; his slick skating and deft passing makes him the perfect potential set-up man for the lethal sharpshooting Kane. Hopefully, the addition of the physical force that is Jimmy Slater will help them gain frequent possession of the puck and open up ice in front of the net for the two more-skilled players to operate. The other lines look like this for the rematch against the Sabres: Eager--Antropov--Thorburn, Boulton--Peverley--Stewart, Ladd--Little--Bergfors.

To me, this current line-up is a much more dangerous line-up as it is currently constructed compared to the one that got its collective ass handed to them by the Sabres nine days ago. There is size and speed across all four lines and Nik Antropov seems to be skating much more fluidly and effectively after getting a healthy scratch against Washington and a couple of extra days of rest before Wednesday's game against New York. There is no reason for the Thrashers to play like they did the last time Buffalo visited the Bulb when they were completely out-skated, out-hustled and out-worked the entire 60 minutes. And the thought of revenge for that resounding 4 to 1 (it could have been a lot worse!) thumping will surely be dancing in their heads when they take to the ice tonite. Nothing else matters in my mind, but working as hard as possible to exact revenge. That is the only key to the game that matters when the puck drops at roughly 7:37 "Bulova time". The Thrashers must come out hitting hard and then continue to pound the smaller, less physical Sabres into submission, for if they get the Sabres out of their game early, then the potential for a dominant dismantling of the Sabres is a very real possibility. So without further ado, it's time to strike up the band and sound the "battle cry of (REVENGE!!!)"....so let it be written, so let it be done.

LET'S GO BOYS!!! LET POINDEXTER'S GROOVE MOVE YOU!!!

Berg-force One to the Rescue in Rangers' Romp!

2010-10-27T21:59:00.005-04:00

Wednesday nite at the famed and aged Madison Square Garden, the Atlanta Thrashers jumped out to a 3-goal lead early in the third period and then staved off a furious rally by the New York Rangers to come out on top in regulation by a score of 6 to 4. For the visiting Thrashers, it was an all-important road victory to keep pace with division rivals Washington and Tampa Bay. Luckily, Nicklas Bergfors, much-maligned in the internet blogosphere, would give the Thrashers a momentum-stealing, 1-goal lead going into the 2nd intermission. His nifty, top-shelf wrister from the low circle on a 2 on 1 breakaway beat Rangers' goalie Martin Biron, ever mindful of Andrew Ladd on the opposite wing, on the near side over the glove at the 16:07 mark of the 2nd period.

Two early goals, one by grinding winger, Eric Boulton and later D-man Dustin Byfuglien, who wired a wicked slapshot up over Biron's glove hand, proved to be just the insurance cushion the Thrashers would need against a hard-charging Rangers' forecheck and some overly cavalier defensive play deep in their own zone. But on this nite, the Thrashers would respond to the adversity with some steady offensive pressure of their own when the lead was only one before netting an empty-net goal by Andrew Ladd with roughly 30 seconds remaining. Of course, Lady Luck was seemingly on their side as well as a hard slapper from the point richocheted off of the left goal-post after slipping through Chris Mason's gloved-hand grasp. Perhaps had they used a little more muscle and aggression near their own net (see Toby Enstrom above for the teaching demonstration) during the middle stages of the 3rd period, they wouldn't have had to sweat this one out!

More analysis to come on the morrow! Good nite Thrasherville!!

Thrashers By the Numbers...Eight Is...Not Enough?

2010-10-25T18:01:00.024-04:00

Originally, I was going to break down the play of the Thrashers in a series of nine 9-game increments (or eight 9-game increments plus one 10-game increment at the end of the season since there are 82 games in all), but since there is a convenient 96-hour break in between games, I figured now is as good a time as any to look at some numbers and provide a little bit of analysis, for what it's worth. Unfortunately, a statistical break-down such as this is limited in its usefulness since the sample size is so small and the early-season kinks of a new system are still being ironed out. However, we CAN juxtapose these numbers with the first 8 games of the 2008-'09 season, which marked the beginning of the John Anderson reign of horror. Beyond that comparison, the numbers provided below will only state the obvious: that the Thrashers' and their coaches have A LOT of work to do to make this team a bonafide contender in the Eastern Conference.

STAT Category ________ 2010-'11 Season _______ 2008-'09 Season

Record thru 8 Gms ________ 3 -- 4 -- 1 OTL ________ 2 -- 4 -- 2 OTL

Goal Differential __________ (-6, 23 vs 29) _________ (-4, 23 GF vs 27 GA)

SOG Differential _________ (-67, 234 vs 301) ________ (-40, 250 vs 290)

Average Shots Diff. _______ (-8.1, 29.3 v 37.4) ________ (-5.0, 31.3 vs. 36.3)

# Times Out-shot ________ (7 times , even 1x) _______ (7 times, even 1x)

Shooting Perctge. _________ 9.40% (22 goals) ________ 8.80% (on 22 goals)

Save Percentage _________ .909 (adj for ENG) ________ .907 (zero ENGA)

As you can see from the presentation above, there are some eerie similiarities between that miserable season 2 years ago and the start of this one under Coach Craig Ramsay. That's not to say that this current team won't improve as the season unfolds; Anderson's team played much better in the second half of the season after the early January acquisition of Rich Peverley off of waivers. JA's crew rallied from ten games under .500 to win 21 of its last 39 games to finish 35 - 41 - 6 overall. Hopefully, Craig Ramsay's system will prove to be much more effective over time so the Thrashers not only compete hard on a nightly basis, but also give themselves a chance to win most games.

The biggest difference for this current iteration of Thrashers' teams is the sheer number of new players from last year to this one. Of the current 22-man roster, only 13 players return from last season. And of those thirteen, two of them -- Johnny Oduya and Nicklas Bergfors -- have a mere 38 games under their belts as Thrashers. So essentially, Ramsay is faced with the daunting task of trying to meld 11 new faces with 11 "old" ones into a single cohesive unit. In addition, Ramsay, unlike Anderson, did not have the luxury of coaching any of the younger Thrash players in the minors as a coach for the AHL affiliate in Chicago. But regardless, the transition to a new coach and new system is always met with its fair share of hiccups. Unfortunately for the 2010-'11 Thrashers, the first 8 games has been marred by a recurring case of acid reflux!!

For example, the Thrashers have yet to finish a game with more shots registered on goal than their opponent. The closest they have come was on Opening Night when their 31 SOG matched that of a befuddled and somewhat sluggish Washington Capitals team. Moreover, out of 24 full periods of action, the Thrashers have failed to record more shots on goal than allowed in fifteen of them. And in those 15 periods, they were out-shot by a whopping 94 SOG!! That number jumps to 100 if you include the 6 shots to zero O.T. domination imposed on them by the Capitals this past Saturday. No matter how you slice it, the Thrashers can ill-afford to get out-shot by an average of more than 6 SOG in 2/3 of the periods they play. Overall, they are giving up an average of almost 2.75 more shots than they are landing on net themselves.

Of course, in order for things to improve, the coaching staff must figure out a way to make this team gel not only defensively, but also on offense. Through 8 games, the forward line combinations have been jumbled like ping-pong balls in the NHL Draft lottery hopper. There have been some flashes of offensive cohesion on a couple of lines, but for the most part, results have been spotty at best. As a result, this general lack of chemistry and cohesion on offense has been leading to more zone time for the other team in the Thrashers' defensive zone. To reverse the startling trend of a lopsided shots-on-goal tally, the Thrashers must improve defensive zone break-outs and take better care of the puck when attempting to clear it out of the zone.

When the puck is in their zone, they must demonstrate a more aggressive pursuit of the puck to prevent the seemingly harmless perimeter shot. Afterall, the more pucks that get to your netminder, the more bad things that can result at the goal crease. Hopefully, a more aggressive mindset inside the defensive zone will develop over time as the players' confidence within the new system framework grows to match and complement the already improved commitment to blocking shots and clogging passing lanes. But no matter how well their goaltenders play, the Thrashers will have a hard time winning more games than not if they don't learn how to be stingier in preventing the number of pucks that are fired toward their net.

In simplest terms, Coach Ramsay's philosophy begins and ends with controlling the puck and occupying the other team's zone more than they occupy your own. Thusly, he is working to to re-program his player's mental approaches and habits so that they keep their shifts short and tidy with crisp line changes to hopefully maintain a cycle of fresh legs on the ice. Too often a line is getting trapped in the defensive end after an unsuccessful rush in the offensive zone or a poor clearing pass inside their own blueline. Ramsay is trying implement a system in which all 4 lines play nearly the same amount of time at even strength to keep the other team off balance and exploit teams that may rely more heavily on only 3 lines. So far, his efforts have been met with mixed results and the next 20 games or so will surely test his coaching mettle and resolve.

Inspiration for Tonight's Game?? Let's Hope So! BEAT THE DOLTS!!

2010-10-22T16:10:00.004-04:00

What The Hell Was THAT???

2010-10-21T16:28:00.005-04:00

I've thought about sitting down to type out my thoughts about last nite's tragic hockey atrocity committed on Philips Arena ice against the Buffalo Sabres, but honestly, why should I bother? The Thrashers' players certainly didn't bother to show up -- apologies to goalie Chris Mason, forwards Rich Peverley, Chris Thorburn and D-men Johnny Oduya and Toby Enstrom, who scored the team's lone goal -- so I don't see why I should expend the earnest mental energy to put forth my best writing effort. So fuck it! Let's just hope last nite's game ends up being the low-point of the season in terms of the team's collective effort and "give a crap" level.

Aside from that short rant, the best way I can sum up what happened last nite is through song:

Jerry Garcia LIVES!!! In Japan apparently.

Oh yeah, by the way, as if you hadn't heard, Nigel Dawes' ungrateful butt was cut today and he'll likely be shipped off to pay for his transgressions by toiling for the AHL's Chicago Wolves.

Slug Post-Mortem and Gameday Preview Tantalizer

2010-10-20T13:35:00.035-04:00

In preparing a gameday preview for tonite's game against the Buffa-slugs, um, I mean Sabres, I would certainly be remiss if I did not include a eulogy of sorts for the recently deposed -- and thank the Lord of all that is good and holy -- "banana slug" logo. Now, the marketing geniuses who work for owner Tom Golisano can sell you their "new", but re-invigorated vintage logo that was relaunched to honor the 4oth year anniversary of the franchise, which was born shortly after my parents relocated from Buffalo, NY to my hometown and birth place, Albany, NY. I came along three winters later and my father made sure that I was steadily indoctrinated into the passionate and rather healthy Buffalo fan-base in Albany. I was a Bills and Sabres fan as far back as I can remember and did not throw off the mantle of "Buffalo fan" until the summer of 2002, when I moved here to Atlanta. However, it took me a little bit longer to adopt the Thrashers as my favorite team since they were so dreadful until 2005.

I do recall going to at least one Sabres game at Philips Arena and secretly pulling for the team in red and black (uggh!). But something happened in those first few forays into Thrasherville, and the allure of live hockey in my back-yard transformed me into a fan of the T-birds. The post-lockout season clinched my allegiance to Atlanta's Thrashers. And in 2006, I then pledged to remain forever steadfast in my support of this underdog franchise -- one that eveyone thinks will eventually defect to Winnipeg or Hamilton in Canada. But I will always look back fondly to my childhood love affair with the Buffalo Sabres, who showcased so many wonderful players, but yet left their fans lusting for more wonderful results in the playoffs. Until 1999 when Eddie "the Eagle" Belfour out-lasted "The Dominator" in a goaltending duel to the death. The sting of that Game 6 Stanley Cup Finals defeat might as well have been death as I sulked for weeks after it ended.

Okay Buffalo, you've had your fun, NOW PICK A DAMN LOGO AND STICK WITH IT!

While the Buffalo Sabres commemorate their expansion team entrance into the NHL franchise fraternity 40 years ago, I have enjoyed looking back warmly to all of the cold winter nites of my youth when I would count the minutes before puck-drop on those rare occasions in which the Sabres would appear on my TV set against the Rangers or Bruins, who were both broadcast locally. As I look back over my 30-something year fascination with the game of hockey, I can only hope that the Sabres organization allows this 40th anniversary season to serve as the beginning of a new era in which the original logo is preserved as the only image to represent the franchise going forward.

That means no more "pissed-off bison" logos like the one from the "red and black" era despite the franchise's solid late 90's run of playoff success and close-call with the Stanley Cup. At least with the "R&B" period, you could still identify the mascot as an actual 4-legged creature that used to roam the western plains in great abundance. A mascot doesn't know that Sean Avery is a prick and shouldn't have a glowing red eye like the Terminator. And those unis were almost as hideous as the ones unveiled in the fall of 2006 when the bizarre lurching horned slug was introduced into the logo lexicon of shame. But alas, that confused phase has come to a close with the re-introduction of the classic logo featuring a stylized, charging bison above two crossed Sabres. Although purists like me would prefer to see the use of the actual original logo, I will settle for this re-engineered version of a uniform adorning classic. It makes me think of Gilbert Perreault and their teams of the early '80s when I lived and died "by the blade" as a child. I hoped and prayed that Perreault, Tony McKegney, Phil Housely, Lindy Ruff and some guy named Craig Ramsay would oust the hated Boston Bruins so I didn't have to hear anymore about how much Raymond Bourque reminded them of Bobby Orr!! But that dream was to become a nightmare as the Sabres lost a gut-wrenching and heart-breaking 7 game series at the famed Boston "Gahden".

Now, here it is nearly 27 years later and I'll be donning not a vintage Sabres jersey tonite, but my cobalt blue, Marty Reasoner Thrashers sweater to rally 'round the flag of Blueland for a game that should prove to be quite entertaining, as most clashes with the Sabres usually are. When the players take the ice tonite, there won't be as much at stake as a Game 7 playoff game, but pride will most certainly be on display on the ice as well as off it when thousands of Buffalo transplants, who refuse to give up the sword, descend upon Philips Arena to party like it's their, well, 40th birthday!! And that's perfectly fine as they bring an unabashed passion that is universally loathed by Thrashers' fans, who always seem to get their dander up for games against the Sabres. Regardless of location, home or away, most Sabres vs. Thrashers games are high-octane, high-energy affairs in which the action moves non-stop up and down the ice.

The Sabres bring their normal cast of characters into the game tonite, but with a few additions both new and old. Coupled with some fresh, young faces like Tyler Ennis and Tyler Myers (I think two Tylers is over the threshhold for good sense though) are older veteran faces like Tomas Vanek, Derek Roy and of course, perennial All-Star netminder, Ryan Miller. They are even recycling one familiar face as Mike Grier returns to the Sabres for his second tour of duty under Head Coach Lindy Ruff. The Sabres still like to get up and down the ice, but seem to be putting a greater emphasis on tightening things up defensively compared to recent years when they've possessed more skill and firepower along the front line. Now they boast more explosiveness from the back line thanks to 2nd year phenom Myers as well as Steve Montador and Jordan Leopold (my g/f K-belle will certainly love to learn this as she loves to hate on this "cat") who can skate as well as any D-man in the league.

However, the Sabres have struggled mightily to find consistency with their offensive attack. They have only scored 12 goals thus far in 6 games and many of their key offensive contributors have found it harder than usual to hit the back of the net. Forward Derek Roy is the only player who has enjoyed a fast start to the season with five of the Sabres' 12 goals. But popular goal-scorer Jason Pomminville is still out with a concussion and the Sabres are having a rough time filling the void with only 4 goals scored in their last 3 contests. Unfortunately, three of them came in a losing effort to Chicago and they were blanked by a struggling New Jersey Devils team that could only ice 16 players for their game a week ago. But they still have one of the league's best goalies in Miller, who has been steady if not spectacular. He comes in scorching hot with only 3 goals allowed in his last two and a save percentage of .952 for those two losing efforts. His teammates let him down in those games scoring just twice in 125 minutes of action. Certainly, the Sabres will be playing with a lot of early fire and determination so they can add a second notch to their win column -- they come in with a record of 1 - 3 - 1 -- and keep from falling further behind the strong early pace of divisional rival Montreal Canadiens.

In all likelihood, tonite's game will be a tightly-contested one in which both teams create good chances from aggressive back-checking and forced turnovers in the neutral zone. I suspect the Sabres will forecheck ultra-aggressively in the early going to get the upper-hand and hope that the law of averages for goal-scoring helps an offensive attack that has succeeded in putting an average of 32.5 shots on goal over their 6 games. If the Thrashers can withstand the early assault and remain cohesive defensively -- thus helping clear the crease of juicy rebounds -- then they should be able to mount plenty of pressure on the Sabres, who are generally a bit smaller and less physical than previous Thrashers' teams. Of course, this year's installment is much bigger and faster thanks to the additons of Ben Eager, Andrew Ladd and Anthony Stewart. Hopefully the success of our bottom two lines will continue against the Sabres' struggling bottom lines and end up being the difference-maker in a close game. Either way I think the outcome will feature a 3 to 2 score.

In the end, I believe the Thrashers will prevail because these Thrashers aren't the Thrashers the NHL has become accustomed to playing in the last couple of years. Surprise, surprise!! Sorry Sabres fans to further spoil your Happy Birthday and blow the candles out on your anniversary cake!! It's time to slam your collective face right into the sheet of icing!!

Then It Comes to Be That the Soothing Light at the End of Your Tunnel

2010-10-20T10:11:00.005-04:00

IS JUST A FREIGHT TRAIN COMIN' YOUR WAYAAAAAAAYYYY!!!

Citizens, friends, Bluelanders...."pay no mind to the distant thunder" of hooves you will hear as the congregating herd of Buffalo Sabres' fans attempt to seize your Arena and make it theirs. We're on a "crash course" with the struggling Sabres and it just "feels right this time"; come around tonite and find "new high-lights" of your Thrashers taming these "suckers for the quick reward." Tonite, it shall prove to be a "good day to be alive"...yes it shall. Go Thrashers!!!

There Stands Mason Like a Stone Walll!!

2010-10-18T12:27:00.019-04:00

We here at As the Birds Thrash really enjoy a good pun. Well, goaltender extraordinaire, Chris Mason has a name that makes word puns almost as easy as he makes a blocker save on a high wrister to the stick side. In thinking about this past weekend's games and the team's recent accomplisments, the play of Mr. Mason quickly comes to mind. And so does that of legendary Confederate general, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, who acquired his famous nick-name at the First Battle of Bull Run (sorry Southerners, I'm from New York so I'ma gonna call it Bull Run!) when he stood defiantly on his horse in (photo courtesy of Beau Harbin) the midst of a frenzy of fighting and whizzing bullets on top of Henry House Hill.

For a time Saturday nite, the Thrashers' goal-mouth did seem to resemble the "Triple H" in Manassas, VA on the day of the fateful battle that further propelled a shaky Union asunder. Indeed Chris Mason, who probably knows very little about the Civil War seeing as how he is from Red Deer, Alberta in Canada, stood tall and defiant in front of his net and in the midst of flying frozen projectiles whose frequency seemed relentless during a daunting 40-minute assault by San Jose's "Jumbo" Shark brigade. But Chris Mason would not let his troops break and run. He plugged the gaping hole in Atlanta's defensive line and rallied his men like the Virginians rallied around their beloved Stonewall Jackson. If only General Johnston had had (Thearon Henderson, Getty) the services of General Jackson at his disposal to aid his hopeless defense of Thrasherville against a determined Tecumseh Sherman.**

**Editor's Note: Please do not interpret this statement as a reflection of my "rooting" interest in the tragic struggle to save our country from the tyrrany of slavery and a mis-directed cause to preserve a way of life that did not protect the interests and well-being of ALL men & women.

Of course, it does seem a bit trifling and pathetic to compare an historical American tragedy with a hockey game that took place in San Jose, CA some 150 years later. But the play of Chris Mason has certainly injected a sense of inspiration into my hockey-rooting soul and it is obvious that his tremendous play in the face of adversity has helped to foment a growing sense of belief and confidence among his teammates and coaches. The recently conquered Western Conference foes would probably express much of the same shock and dismay as Union General McDowell, who arrogantly proclaimed victory before the "Stonewall Brigade" took that hill and won the day. We can only hope that Chris Mason will remain steadfast (and healthy) in his fearless quest to bring a new outlook of hope to the city of Thrasherville and its hockey-loving denizens.

Sharks Sniff Bait But Can't Catch Thrashers Ridin' Dirtay!

2010-10-17T01:25:00.006-04:00

Earlier tonite, okay, this morning, the Thrashers somehow managed to play their best period of hockey of this young season on their way to shocking the Sharks and their San Jose faithful with a 4 to 2 victory on Opening Night in the Silicon Valley. The win marked their first ever triumph at the "Tank" in San Jose, and they even did it without any scoring contributions by the red hot Chris Thorburn, who saw his 3-game goal-scoring streak chomped by the Sharks. They certainly were "ridin' dirty" on the bus from Oakland to San Jose as whatever drugs they took before the game finally kicked-in and jump-started their legs for a dramatic and dominant 3rd period performance against the Sharks.

Early on it seemed as if the boys from Blueland would drown in shark-infested waters, but the goaltending of Chris Mason would prove to be the life-preserving force they would need on a night in which nothing seemed to go their way in the early going. Working to overcome an early two-goal deficit, the boys must have been uplifted by Mase's superlative stone-mason efforts as they rallied to score an early 2nd period goal on a short-handed bid by Andrew Ladd (set up by a whirling Bryan Little), and a mid-period goal on a blast by Anthony Stewart from the lower right circle. And I'm not sure who was more stunned: the Thrasher faithful or Sharks' netminder, Antti Niemi!

After two miserable, yet fortuitous, periods in which the Thrashers were blitzkrieged by a battery of Shark-shots -- San Jose outshot Atlanta by a whopping 30 to 13 margin in the first 40 minutes of action -- Coach Ramsay's charges came out of the locker room with their guns a-blazin' and opened up a powder keg of intensity to besiege the Sharks' goal with an onslaught of shots. However, Niemi would prove impregnable until the Thrashers earned their first man-advantage of the nite. On the ensuing power-play, Dustin Byfuglien would swoop down into the heart of the slot to prey upon a loose puck that resulted from a timely Toby Enstrom point shot. "Big Buff" took dead aim and flicked a hard wrist-shot that would easily elude a scrambling Niemi, who could not recover in time after the initial save.

Just prior to that key PP, the Thrashers nearly lost the ground they worked so hard to conquer in the early stages of the third when one of their D-men fell down at the blueline. Sharks' forward Logan Couture would escape his end with the loose puck and a break-away into the Thrashers' zone. But Mason would again save his team by stopping the streaking Couture as he attempted a quick move to his fore-hand only to be thwarted by a pin-balling pad. Later, after the PP goal and momentum was recaptured, Rich "the Pevs Dispenser" Peverley would connect with a hard-charging Evander Kane on a perfect pass through the slot for a slam-dunk deposit of the frozen disc into the Shark net. From there, the two-goal margin would stand as the Thrashers dug in deep to stymie a desperate Sharks' surge over the final 3 minutes of the game.

Now it's back to the bus so they can get on down the road to the airport and a triumphant return to the ATL. Something tells me that a lot of the boys will be hummin' this tune in their heads as they shuffle off from the Shark Tank in San Jose. Can you hear it? I can.

If We Only Had a Marty Reasoner!! "The Party" Doin' Work...

2010-10-15T13:19:00.017-04:00

A lot of folks in Thrasherville, as well as fans in parts unknown, have been complaining and teeth-gnashing over the fact that the big piece (literally) acquired in the early summer trade with Chicago has been playing defense and not power forward for our hockey club. Indeed, the Dustin Byfuglien blueline experiment is a slow-dripping titration too tedious for many fans, but the largest tragedy purported by many is the fact that we gave up a potential 30-goal scorer in Jeremy "Scorin'" Morin, who was drafted in the 2nd round by then GM Don Waddell in the spring of 2009.

But to me, that sort of talk is just a bit premature. It is well-documented that Jeremy is not much of a skater, and in watching him play a couple of pre-season games for Chicago, I saw this to be very true. Morin is a very unpolished hockey player, who possesses extremely good hands as well as a bit of "nasty" in his game that caused GM Rick Dudley to describe him as a "miserable SOB" to play against. However, as astute hockey observers like to point out, only roughly 15-20% of 2nd round selections ever make it to the pros for any significant length of time -- more than 100 games played. And in trading for a potential game-changer like Big Buff, you have to give some to get some, although some think we should've played our hand a bit more stubbornly before giving in so graciously to GM Stan Bowman of the 'Hawks.

And that train of thought brings me to the conclusion that perhaps we did give up too much for Ben Eager, Brent Sopel, prospect Akim Aliu and, of course, Byfuglien. But not because we gave up Jeremy Morin; he has plenty of time to prove himself a bust (but I do hope to see the young lad make good for himself in the NHL one day). No, you see, the reason I didn't jump for unmitigated joy the day of the trade is because we were forced to give up a guy by the name of Martin Reasoner, whom I believe would have been the perfect leader and captain for our currently very green roster of kids. And to top it all off, Marty is having his best start to a season since his first year with Atlanta in 2008.

Believe it or not, after three games, Marty Reasoner would be leading our team in scoring as he has already potted two goals to go along with two primary assists (for linemate Radek Dvorak) in three west coast road-trip games, two of which were against perennially stingy foes Vancouver and Calgary. Marty's 4 points leads the Panthers and his +2 rating is tied with current linemates Cory Stillman and Dvorak for team best. In fact, Marty has already been elevated to the 3rd line and even plays occasional 2nd line minutes on a line that is a combined +6 with 4 goals and 4 assists in 3 games. Of course, he is still money in the face-off circle ("Say what?! You neeeed ME??") and is relied upon heavily as one of the Panthers penalty-killing experts. By the way, the Florida PK is perfect thus far, although they have only been short-handed six times.

I realize that Marty is a role-player and not the secret elixir to cure our team's somewhat impotent offensive attack, but there is no doubt that Reasoner would further help cement the foundation of the Thrashers bottom six where there seems to be confusion as to which trio comprises our lock-down checking line. Judging by the stats -- plus/minus and Corsi -- I would have to say its the trio of Ladd - Little - Bergfors. However, most observers think Bergie is being wasted on the Thrashers' third line when he should be playing more minutes with Nik Antropov and perhaps Dustin Byfuglien instead of Fredrik Modin, whom Coach Ramsay seemed to prefer early on as a pairing partner for Antropov. Regardless, Reasoner seems to be playing with a renewed energy and thriving in a place where he is being counted on for more in an average of 3 or 4 more minutes per nite.

Just think how things might be different if Marty Reasoner were still in the line-up for the Thrashers. It would free up a player like Bryan Little to play the pivot on one of the top two lines instead of Nik Antropov, who continues to struggle in the face-off circle, thus hurting puck possession for his more plodding line. Or it might allow a guy like Andrew Ladd, who has top six potential and the skill-set to thrive alongside mates like Rich Peverley and say, Evander Kane playing the off-wing. Then you could reunite Bergfors with Little (at center though) and Antropov as they were, without a doubt, our most effective offensive threat in the final 22 games last season.

No offense to Nigel Dawes, Anthony Stewart or even Jimmy Slater, but Marty Reasoner would provide more veteran leadership and on-ice savvy to a line-up that is struggling to find its identity. The only line to have gelled just yet is the 4th line, but that is more a by-product of superior players (Eager and rookie Alex Burmistrov) playing against weaker players in favorable match-ups. Chris Thorburn deserves much of the credit as well, but that's a separate entry for another day. After seeing Freddy Modin play 5 games so far in person or on TV, I'm not convinced he should be blocking guys like Ladd or Little, and especially Bergfors, from playing more minutes on a "scoring" line. And right now, having a 32 year-old Marty Reasoner looks a heckuva lot better than an aging Freddy Modin, who recently turned 36 and hopefully received a clean bill of health -- for the first time in 3 years -- as his birthday present.

Yay! Ron Hainsey Is About to Have a Bab-ey!

2010-10-14T15:07:00.004-04:00

Per super-supreme beat writer, Chris Vivlamore, Ronald S. (for Slick) Hainsey has left the team from L.A. to head home due to his wife, well, being due! Congrats to Ron and his lovely wife (well, I'm guessing she is since she married such a stud!)....warmest wishes for a complication-free, short and easy labor. We all hope the baby is healthy and born with strong skating legs as well as a thick coiffe of curly brown hair, regardless of sex! Instead of a link, here is the announcement in Viv's blog (actually the link is above in bold blue):

Hainsey leaves team as wife goes into labor
2:49 pm October 14, 2010, by Chris Vivlamore

"Thrashers defenseman Ron Hainsey left the team Wednesday night after his wife went into labor. Hainsey did not travel with the team to Anaheim for Friday’s game against the Ducks. He returned to Atlanta. It’s the couple’s first child. I will update with more details and who might take his place in the lineup as they become available."

Thanks Chris for all your hard work reporting on the truly important matters in the world of Atlanta hockey players! :-)

A Thrashers Hang Over...

2010-10-13T15:45:00.012-04:00

Goodness gracious I am tired after staying up late last nite to watch (and live-blog) the Thrashers game against the LA Kings. I have a splitting sinus headache and wish I was home in bed. But instead I'm on this blog trying to kill some time with a few odds and ends about last nite's game. After sleeping on it, my feelings in the wake of last nite's less than inspiring losing effort are somewhat negative, yet tempered by the comfort of knowing that a) the Kings are a really good team with a better blueline than ATL and b) we didn't get to see the Thrashers' best effort as they are still in the process of working out some early season / team chemistry kinks.

First and foremost, our power play has pretty much sucked worse than a vacuum cleaner with a busted belt! Thus far into the new campaign the Thrashers are a measly 1 for 14 with the man-advantage. Last nite was particularly galling as they struggled to gain entry into the offensive zone let alone maintain possession within it. As Coach Ramsay pointed out, the PP units did not show enough commitment to gathering the necessary speed with which to penetrate LA's stack of players on the blueline. And beyond that problem there wasn't much else good about the PP as they managed just 2 shots in 5 opportunites. Oh yeah, and they shot themselves in the foot twice with bad penalties to negate the advantage. But you gotta give a great deal of credit to the Kings' men for doing everything possible to frustrate and disrupt the Thrashers on the PP.

Secondly, the T-birds could not muster, nor sustain, a high enough level of energy for this game. They knew going in that the Kings would be amped up for their home opener and they should have been ready for a physical affair. However, the boys didn't seem up to matching neither the Kings' intensity nor their overall aggressiveness. The Thrashers were good at times, but extremely erratic in both executing transition break-outs and establishing any semblance of a sustained forecheck. But a lot of that was due to the Kings simply out-hustling and out-working them; in short, the Kings just seemed to possess more pep throughout the contest and as a result, won the majority of puck battles along the boards and in front of the nets.

Lastly, the Thrashers seemed to lack any cohesive chemistry whatsoever beyond that of the "4th line", led by the efforts of RW Chris Thorburn and buoyed by the slick skating of C Alex Burmistrov and hard-nosed efforts of grinding LW, Ben Eager. Although the other three lines seemed out of sorts and suffered many fits of the "foops", the efforts of the 4th line were nearly enough to pull out a win last nite! The "Thor-Burm" line provided the lone goal (Thorby's 2nd of the season and second goal in a row for the team) as well as two power play opportunities, if not three, for their mates. But alas, the power play wasted the chances it was given. At some point Coach Ramsay is going to have to shake things up, but outside of moving Dustin Byfuglien back to a power forward role, I'm at a loss right now as to how I think this shake-up should occur. Not to mention I feel breaking up the 4th line at this point would be a big mistake, even if C/W Jimmy Slater is ready to play Friday nite. Then I came across this gem on the Thrashers' team site message board, posted by Brice Zimmerman, who goes by "Zim" on zee twitter:

"As far as line tweaks, Ramsay has said he likes players in pairs. Judging by his line combinations, I my guess is that Ramsay's pairs are Peverley/Kane, Antropov/Modin, Burmistrov/Thorburn, and Ladd/Little. Keeping that in mind, here would be my line tweaks:

Modin - Antropov - Bergfors -- Bergfors and Antropov simply have to be significant pieces of the offensive puzzle for the Thrashers to be successful this season. Bergfors does not to appear to be on the same page as Ladd and/or Little through three games and the two Nic(k)'s had great chemistry together last season.

Kane - Peverley - Slater/Stewart -- Similarly, Rich Peverley needs to be creating offensive chances for Atlanta to generate goals and scoring chances on a nightly basis. Evander Kane is playing like a man possessed to start the season, but Peverley has been non-existant. Slater looked better on the wing last season than in the middle and his speed, grit, and hustle might help this line win loose pucks (a specific concern of mine for the team through the first three games).

Ladd - Little - Dawes -- Where, oh where to put Nigel Dawes? Ladd and Little seem to have some good chemistry, but surprisingly the duo has not really done much work on the cycle. Personally, I haven't witnessed much out of Dawes along the boards either. This line may not be a great puck possession line, but could be effective on the rush. Atlanta's chances on the rush were poor against L.A. and Tampa. (Side note: I'd much rather see Pettersson on this line's RW than Dawes).

And your editor concurs wholeheartedly about Freddy P!!

Eager - Burmistrov - Thorburn -- If it ain't broken, don't fix it... especially when everything else is spare parts. This is the only line that has consistently generated scoring chances, established a cycle, and gained offensive zone entry on a regular basis (both by chip-and-charge as well as carrying the puck in). I'd rather see this trio get more ice time than be broken up.Also, I wouldn't mind seeing Eric Boulton get into the mix in favor of Dawes or Stewart, which might give Thorburn a chance to move up (wouldn't look bad on the RW of Kane and Peverley...eh?)."

Editor's Commentary: If you're not already following Zim on twitter, shame on you!!

I had been wracking my brain all morning long and well into lunch wondering what would be the best course of action for Rammer (perhaps the real cause of my aching head!!), and this by far makes the most sense AT THIS JUNCTURE. My gut tells me that eventually Big Buff will have to move back to forward out of necessity. Freddy Meyer is too good for this style of play (speedy puck mover with a great shot from the point) to be rotting up in the press-box! And Arturs Kulda -- currently with AHL affiliate Chicago -- is more than capable of stepping into the 3rd pairing role with Brent Sopel or Ron Hainsey. And the results from last spring's playoffs don't lie: Byfuglien is a big-time difference-maker (to piggy-back on what Kevin Weekes of the NHL Network told us last nite) who is too valuable on the front-end clogging up the middle of the ice where games are won and lost.

Can Thrash-Kings Hold on to a Precarious 1-goal Lead?

2010-10-13T00:25:00.013-04:00

THIRD PERIOD about to begin here in a few moments...'tis now 12:25 am on the east coast and the typing fingers are starting to get a little weary...hopefully the Thrashers legs don't stop working here in the 3rd. We can only hope the jet-lag isn't too bad just yet. C'mon boys, you got all day Wednesday and Thursday to rest before Anaheim on Friday...let's go steal two points!

-- GAME ON!! Remember the Thrashers will be going on the penalty kill shortly so this could get very interesting quickly. Man this FS-West analyst is very chatty, but he's usually right on point...Kopitar shot wide. Oh shit, phew, I think Laddy got away with a hook on Doughty. DD is definitely the better (well, at least more dangerous offensive) player tonite. So much for Armenian pride! ANOTHER POST SAVE by the goal apparatus...sheesh!

-- Penalty summarily killed by the skin of the goal post as Mason was screened on a point shot that was just wide enough for the Thrashers. Here we go back to full strength and Hainsey fans on a point shot, but the Thrashers retreat is an alert and effective one so far. Gotta get this puck out and it is cleared by guess who, Thorburn!

-- Big Buff boxing out in front as Dawes and Enstrom go to work...puck cleared but no real offensive attack as the Thrashers make a line change. GOAL KINGS as Ryan Smyth gets an easy back-hand put-back since Bogey was busy tying up Dustin Brown. Support from the wing was non-existent and Mason hung out to dry. 1 to 1 now with 16 mins left.

-- Little and Oduya with back to back one and done bids, but Quick calmly redirects the puck out of harm's way. Looked as though the tempo was going to get ratcheted up but Kings love to slow it down. Thorburn overskates a pass and the Kings go back the other way...fingers crossed! Who the hell is Jake Muzzhin? Shit, another scrum in front of Mason but he scoops it up.

-- One thing is sure: both me and the Thrashers will be quite tired after all of this non-stop action...GOAL KINGS as Mason allows his first real softy of the season...I think Hainsey got a piece of the puck which turned the wrister into a fluttering, wounded duck that quacked its way to the right of Mason who was moving left. I guess that was Lady Luck paying back the Kings for all of their pipe-shots. Damn. Now the Thrashers will need to raise their game, if they can.

-- 13 minutes left in this tilt and the Thrashers will need to check their guts once again in the middle of the final period. Problem is they can't seem to hold onto the puck very long as the Kings are aggressively pursuing the puck at every turn. Little tries his best to gain an advantage but can't muster much of a shot on the backhand side. Mason with another tricky save and pucks are barely missing LA sticks and goal posts. Christ our goose appears to be cooked!

-- Who will step up and be our Chris Thorburn??! Why Chris Thorburn of course! He creates a chance for Burmy in the slot whose stick is chopped in half by a would-be Kings defender. The referree did not approve of this tactic and has whistled play dead for a Thrashers PP!! Oh boy, here is the litmus test for your early season coaching adjustments...will they get some looks?

-- Kings outshooting Thrashers 9 to 3 in the 3rd period as my battery is about to die...good nite folks! Check back tomorrow to see if we won!! Okay, just kidding as I'm back in business. Thrashers got a couple of decent looks but Ladd was stopped on the doorstep and Buff's big blast went wide...sound familiar? God bless hit the net son for a rebound! PP killed by Kings and the Thrashers need a miracle down one with 8 minutes left. Johnny Burma, come save us please!!

-- Thrashers finally mount some offensive pressure and get a great look on a 2 on 1 break with Bergie waiting and waiting before feeding a streaking Little who tried to one-time the puck, but didn't catch it cleanly and Quick was able to get there in time sliding to his right. Then all hell brooke loose in front of the net as the puck was dancing around the offensive zone with Thrashers swooping in from the point to keep it alive and attempt to score the equalizer. But to no avail the puck just wouldn't cooperate and the Thrashers will have 5 minutes to get it done.

-- Well, the Thrashers come up empty despite a frenzied and furious offensive attack in which they had several grade-A looks from the slot and close range. Burmy had a wrister from the high slot that was deflected just high over the crossbar; Kaner had a sweet rush in which he adeptly snapped a wrister through a D-man's legs only for Quick to trap it between his legs. Later, Kaner would re-direct a Toby Enstrom wrister from the left point that would take a big hop down onto the ice but alas, the hop was too big and it bounced right into Quick's belly rather than through his legs.

-- The Thrashers did not relent and kept coming in waves, but their final goalie-less push could not deliver as a loose puck was pushed out of the zone into the neutral zone where Toby Enstrom could not corral the bouncing bean which shuttled down the ice into the Thrashers' empty net.

-- Thrashers lose 3 to 1 as the Kings rally in the 3rd period to win their home opener. An empty feeling for sure as the team defense was very good for the most part, but it could not hold completely in the face of staunch Kings pressure in the middle portion of the final stanza. Now it's onto, well, bed first, and then down the road to Anaheim for a showdown with their feathered friends, the Ducks Friday night.

The Black Kings V. Thrashers: Second Period

2010-10-12T23:36:00.018-04:00

What the hell is going on now? The NHL Network is now carrying the game live and the computer feed is behind the TV!! What in tarnation are they doing? Just killin' time because Weeksie has run out of things to say!? Okay, that was annoying...stop taunting us!

-- Bryan Little with a nice burst of speed (what else?) and a slick wrister that is staved off by Jon Quick...Doughty regroups with token pressure.

-- I hope the Thrashers are as re-fortified as me after my bowl of cereal...apparently not as another close call post-ringing save by the goal apparatus!

-- GOOOOAAAAALLLL CHRIS THORBURN!!! Off his own shot, the rebound comes right to his stick and he swipes it home!! I guess Craig Ramsay was right as he looks like our best player.

-- More pressure from the Thrashers as a shot from the blueline is bobbled by Quick but Stewart can't find the loose puck between his pads. Peverley with the one-timer. Now the Thrashers carrying the play in the Kings zone with more pucks in front, but no payoff.

-- Heavy pressure from the T-birds as they have amped up their intensity thanks to the goal...line change gives LA a chance to regroup, but they're offside on the play. Something puzzling me is the fact that the statman for the game has us winning 74% of the 1st period F/O, HUH?? Seems like we lost every offensive zone F/O when we did force a draw. Oh well, we're winning them now and now the Kings look a bit stunned. Early shots are 6 - 2 ATL thru 5 mins.

-- Buff with a good hit behind his own net, but Thrash struggling with break-out once again and it nearly costs them...luckily Mason was there to stymie the shot.

-- Hey boys! When you chip the puck off the boards and try to gain the zone, go to the inside and not the outside! Guys are getting plastered by Doughty & Johnson when they try the outside along the wall, which is un-good for Burmy's health. Good pressure from Kaner & Pevs but again, nothing but weak shots on net.

-- Thrash elude disaster as Dustin Brown shoots wide from the low left circle on a pass from behind the net...too much standing around watching on that one by the D. Thrashers can't seem to mount much of an attack now as the Kings have recaptured some momentum.

-- 10 minutes left and the Kings are dictating again...thankfully, Mason seems very sharp and has made several good saves in the last five minutes...Thrash seem to be tempting fate here. Need the TV timeout in the worst way!!

-- just got to see a guy puke in a recruitment commercial for the Marines! Yeah, I'm sold! Speaking of things that rhyme with Modin, it would be nice if both Antropov and Modin were kind enough to join the fray tonite...they have been conspicuously absent so far.

-- Kings commentator is sounding the fans' lament about needing some goals! Welcome to our pre-season LA!! How do you like being stuck in the past?? Enjoy our former misery. Of course, the Kings have struggled to score so far this season, but I'm not sure how...they seem more than capable to me!

-- the Kings seem to be having way too much open ice with which to operate as they keep crusing into our zone without little duress or resistance. Here comes Bogosian! Not really.

-- Good hustle play by Oduya to chase down a deflected shot that got loose in the neutral zone...saved an odd-man rush opportunity. Thrashers are having no luck getting their forecheck going right now and ice the puck.

-- Somehow shots are now in favor of Thrashers by the count of 20 to 17 with 5 minutes remaining in the 2nd...Kopitar and the boys trying to get the cycle going...no luck. Kane with a rush the other way but no one home on the doorstep as he flings the puck through the crease. Kings back the other way and a long wrister is deposited into the belly of Chris Mason. TV T/O.

-- Mace with a good save on a bid by Handzus off the clean F/O win for the Kings...Burmy now throwing his 175 lbs around and the Thrashers get out of their zone only to turn it over...Kings are tough in the neutral zone...long shot by Burmy is blockered away. Here comes big Wayne Simmonds! Blocked by the D...we are blocking a lot of shots...practice makes perfect!

-- Another good save by Mason at the 2:45 mark as the boys are getting pressed pretty good by the Kings again...icing ATL. Sopes & Hains stuck out on the ice? Antro loses the draw, again. Sopes Star working his tail off and the Thrash get the puck out for a line change. Here comes the Little Ladd Nicky line, but just not very much in the way of shooting lanes right now.

-- Mason stones Smyth and keeps his team in the lead...Kaner trying to do to much on his own and the puck is stripped along the boards...35 seconds left and Scuds accidentally flips the puck out of the "playing domain" and the Thrashers get an abbreviated POWER-LESS PLAY!

-- LA commentator making a good point about the Thrashers generally playing good positional hockey and with discipline...until Kane retaliates on Doughty and gives Drew the Randy Orton TKO takedown! What was that about discipline?? Can't really blame Kane as it looked like interference when Kane chipped the puck and tried to go around DD...guess Murray did a nice job on the scouting report. Gonna have to kill the short PP in the early 2nd and hopefully cling to this one-goal lead as I don't see the offense creating many chances in the 3rd.

L.A.'s Fine, Sunshine Most of the Time...But You Know I Keep Thinking About...

2010-10-12T22:19:00.031-04:00

A live hockey blogging bonanza!!! Bam! Here we go folks, time to do battle with the up and coming Kings. Let's hope we get the Kings from the last two meetings in which they yielded a total of 14 goals (7 in each) to your Thrashers. A win tonite would be huge and give us some serious momentum and confidence going into the game with Anaheim on Friday. But that's Friday. Tonite the Thrashers try to get back onto a winning track after unsuccessfully shaking a first-game hangover that led to a 4 - 0 2nd period hole from which they couldn't claw out. Tonite, as mentioned previously, is Armenian Heritage Night as well as Opening Night for the Los Angeles Reyes. Let's hope the Thrashers learn from Friday vs. Tampa and weather the early storm should the waters get choppy in the first ten minutes.

Nothing like a little vintage Neil Diamond to get you pumped up during pre-game, right!? Ha! I never said I had conventional tastes did I? Then again you already knew that seeing as how I'm a Thrashers fan and all. Didja hear that Slash is performing the National Anthem tonite before the game?? How cool is that? Well, at least I think it will be, but can he sing that well? Or will he do the instrumental thing instead? Perhaps we'll find out. Anyway, the nite started out well as the Detroit Red Wings went down in OT to the Colorado Avalanche...I'll settle for the lost point if not the outright loss. I have no love-loss for the Detroit Dead Things.

FIRST PERIOD OF ACTION:

-- Coverage on NHL.com's GameCenter Live is starting up and a chill went down my spine! Man I love the first few weeks of the hockey season! Just hate we're on the road again to start the season...sked makers hate us with a passion I think.

-- Announcers said that the Kings are the youngest team in the league. Maybe so, but I think it would be the T-birds if not for the fact that we lured Freddy Modin away from them in the off-season. He and Mason raise our avg age up to around 26 y/o I bet.

-- Kings players are being announced (Wayne "don't call me Brady" Simmons got a rousing round of applause and cheers) as they bust through a faux wooden castle door in their tunnel...kinda funny, but dizzope for sure!! Okay, honestly, my loins are tingling with anticipation...oh nevermind, I need to pee.

-- Time for Slash (instrumental) to shred the audience's ear drums with some heavy metal Anthem rock!! Go you bad ass mutha trucka! Slash still rockin' a serious fro, he doesn't look any different than 20 some odd years ago! Guess all that hard livin' is good for ya! ;-) Wooo!

--Time. To. Drop. The. Puck! Get hype y'all! Refs are Walkom and St. Pierre. Hope they don't suck as bad as Friday nite vs. the Craps. Antro loses the face-off to Handzus. Dawes and Modin out there with Hainsey and Sopel?

-- Bogosian and Oduya with a mix-up on the D to D pass, can't get the forecheck started yet and a problem along the wall for Johnny O leads to a bad angle chance for the Kings, save Mason.

-- Kings seem to be pressing hard with an aggressive 2 - 1 - 2 forecheck...Thrashers having trouble getting out of their own zone...Kane's line did nothing.

-- Burmistrov with first attempted shot for his team, puck deflected out of play. A little scrum in the corner ensues involving Chris Thorburn. Crowd getting amped...nice centering chance by Thor leads to a hooking call against the Kings! Time for the Power Play! It was Buff cheating up into the slot for the chance...Smyth with the hook and gets the hook.

-- Little, Ladd and Bergie with Tobes and Bogey...having a hard time getting set up again. Sorry, make that Kane with Little and Bergie. No Ladd. Bergie along the right wall, Bogey with an errant drive off a skate...Enstrom with a weak slapper that is gobbled up by Quick's glove.

-- Nothing doing off the F/O from the left circle and the PP is waning...10 seconds. One last shot from the blueline is side, still possessed by Pevs, but play broken up and Kings changing lines.

-- Burmy's line out again...Thorbs with a shot from the right wall steered away by Quick, scramble along the left wall is won by the boys in white and their hard work leads to yet another penalty by the Kings in front of the net...nice early forechecking by the Thrashers' "best" line?

-- perhaps Burmy, Thorbs and Eager should be on the PP as they can't seem to get the play started in the O-zone, Kings clear and press leading to a dumb hooking penalty by Bergfors to negate the man-advantage...wooo! Lovin' this power play! Buff with another charge up the right side in 4 on 4 action, shot saved betwixt the pads.

-- Thrashers are awful in the F/O circle so far and their puck possession is suffering because of it; Kings D is too good to force a lot of turnovers with the forecheck. Doughty's wrister from the high slot is gloved by Mason. Another won F/O for the Kings...Doughty shot blocked by the kid, Burmistrov as he shows good quickness again. Kings still moving the puck but high and wide shot by Williams leads to a "clear" and Bergie is free!

-- after a weak Thrashers shot at the offensive end, Kings quickly transition to the Thrashers zone and their hard work leads to a choice chance for Wayne Simmonds who luckily hits the post and the rebound is handled by Brayden Schenn, but Mason is there to thwart the challenge. Thrashers need to take a deep breath and re-group as they look very sloppy and a bit sluggish.

-- boys bunching up big time in the offensive zone and it leads to an easy transition for the Kings, but not much there for Kings. Little with an offensive charge and a look for Ladd in the slot but it goes under his stick...a little behind him. What's this? Yet another PP for the Thrash! Just saw the replay for the Simmonds post-shot and the rebound hopped over Brayden Schenn's stick, nearly a goal...dodged a huge bullet there. Penalty to Jack Johnson, but for what I'm not sure.

-- Power play is power-less once again as they can't penetrate the Kings' zone...it's almost like the Kings are on the PP instead. Christ Almighty let's go!! Get Bergie off this unit and put Kane with Antro and Little! Crikey! Horrible "PP" has not produced an actual shot on goal yet, for the second of three times.

-- once again, the "Thor-Burm" line is our most effective as they are the only ones who seem to be in any kind of sync whatsoever! Ramsay is gonna have his work cut out for him between periods that is for sure! 5:55 left and still no score.

-- Mason's glove hand is getting a workout tonite! He melts it down and we go to break. Prior to the break, Kane busted into the zone with speed and got off a sneaky wrister through the D only to be stoned by an aggressive Quick at the top of the paint. Only real good chance so far. Is it time for a Kane - Burmy - Thorbs line??

-- Burmy line back out and forechecking its heart out in the corner, but to no avail this time as the Kings scoop up the puck off the wall and bust out. Enstrom with a near T/O leading to a bad angle shot, but disaster averted...so far. Geez Buffy and Tobes look shaky. Perhaps the team would have benefitted from a morning skate afterall??

-- Another lost F/O and the Kings control the zone in our puck, but it's taken away and off to the races we go with Dawes and Bergie! Dawes gets off a weak shot around the left D-man but Quick is there...Bergie gets the 10th shot for the Thrashers, but it seems more like 5.

-- Dawes working hard as he was out there for the end of the shift with Bergie...Bogey with a hell of a play to thwart Mr. Anze Fancy Pants Kopitar who got too fancy for his own good. Kane starting to get his legs, but Antro is flagging...why is he still out there? Kings dictating and we can't make full, clean changes I guess.

-- Final 38 seconds of play didn't really bear any action of note and to the intermission we go! Thrashers with the advantage in SOG: 12 to 9. I reckon things would've been different had it not been for early penalty trouble for the Kings. Should we get more PP in the 2nd, hopefully they will make the neccessary adjustment and flip the puck deep over the line of 4 Kings players at the blueline...it's like they were just begging us to carry the puck into the zone and we seemed to accommodate them nearly every time. Oh, and we need to do some wrist-curls in the locker room so we can actually win a damn face-off! Snack time!!

Thrashers Make a Rare Visit to Los Armenians, I mean Los Angeles

2010-10-12T12:15:00.033-04:00

Except when it's the corner of your blog entry and it calls for a floating head to deliver a resounding message! A message about what you ask? About how amazing Zach Bogosian's eyebrows are...I mean, just look at their glorious curvature!! And yes, I am okay with admitting how jealous I am of his sensational brow features; I should be so lucky! So why am I writing about this? Because it's Armenian Heritage Night at the Staples Center where Zach and his mates will take the ice to feud with Drew Doughty and his Kings-men at 7:30 p.m. west coast time. Obviously, in light of the festive affair taking place at the rink tonite, the biggest question begging to be asked is which one of the shamlessly over-exposed Kardashian women will be attending the game tonite?? Surely one of these air-headed trollops will make the trek over to Staples to be seen on Armenian Heritage Night, right? Ding dong!!

Bogooo-sian Eyes! They're watching you!! And you and you and you...better watch it Kardashian clan, Bogey doesn't like L.A. glam whores and vapid actresses who really have no business being on televsion. Thusly, he plans on slapping Lamar Odom if he sees him wandering around the tunnels within the bowels of the Staples Center before the game. You've been duly forewarned. Now get back to that poor sap father of yours because Bruce is looking a bit leathery and probably could benefit from a very thorough moisturizing facial and skin scrub!!

Okay, on to more serious discussions! Like the keys to tonite's game against Los Reyes. The first key for tonite's game is the grooming of the eyebrows. Bogosian will lead his team to victory if his brows are properly and carefully tweezed so that the apex of their curvature is as high as humanly possible. Secondly, Zach must make an indellible impression during the pre-game Armenian Heritage festivities by being extra nice to the lovely Armenian ladies who come to meet him, but at the same time give a frosty reception to any male chumps who try to come off as God's gift to Armenians. Thusly, Zach must give himself ample time in the mirror to practice the execution of his icy, cold glare in the event someone tries to stare him down...certainly an unwise choice given his unique aptitude in this area as evidenced by the picture featured here. Lastly, the man who wants to be called "Bogey" must be certain to do several sets of push-ups before the "meet and greet" begins as to give off the most intimidating appearance possible. When people get a gander at how stacked Mr. Bogosian has become in just two short years since Draft Day 2008, word of his imposing size will surely ripple through the arena corridors and hallways like doppler waves in a fish pond. Please take notice, city of Los Armenians, that the true Armenian king-fish has entered the building! Step aside and make ample way for his astounding Armenian eminence!

Alright, alright, you got me! That was hardly serious at all! But what is serious is my sincere respect and admiration of this impressive hockey man-creature. Zach Bogosian is a credit to his profession as he has worked hard and tirelessly in order to craft himself into a striking frame of twisted steel and sinew. After a rough sophomore campaign in which Zach gritted his teeth and played hurt for the last 3/4 of the 2009-2010 season, Bogosian is back stronger and "fiercer" than ever before. Tonite is the nite that Bogey sends a stern, reverberating message to not only his Armenian compatriates in attendance at Staples, but also the entire circle of NHL media, who have quickly annointed Drew Doughty the king of his defensive draft class. But something tells me that Mr. Bogosian is ready to take that next step in his development, not only physically but mentally as well, towards becoming the player that both Ray Bourque and Bobby Orr envisioned in their documented praise of the young Bogosian. In my estimation, he's on the precipice of greatness and ready to take his game to a whole new level. And it begins tonite, "La Parka!" He's watching your every move and you can't escape his "Bogosian eyes". But in this case, there's no wearing of any disguise because #4 will be an image that haunts your eyes.

For more Zach Bogosian and media impressions of his potential, here are a couple of old articles extolling the talents of this Armenian hockey prince:

-- Friend of The Blueland Chronicle, Rory Boylen, wrote this glowing piece in the Hockey News about Zatchel's promising potential.

-- A wonderful post-draft article written by NHL.com correspondent Aaron Bell, who high-lights Zach's tremendous hockey pedigree and connections.

-- Finally, a well-written account of Zach's recent trials and tribulations by former Thrashers' beat writer and current Fox Sports and NHL.com operative, John Manasso.

Thrashers Charge Runs Out of Juice Against Bolts

2010-10-11T13:35:00.013-04:00

Saturday night in T-pizzle by the Bizzle, a Thrashers' furious mid-game rally would fall just a bit short in the team's second divisional tilt in as many nights. Despite an early 4-goal deficit, the Thrashers did not give up, but instead demonstrated a good bit of steadfast determination in trying to claw their way back into the game. In fact, the Thrashers were merely a Toby Enstrom mis-fire away from making up the entire 4-goal lead they spotted the Lightning in the first 25 and half minutes of play. But the hole from which to climb was simply too deep for a slightly road-weary team playing in the wake of an emotional home opener in which their starting goalie was lost to a mysterious fainting spell.

Although the box score would indicate differently, the Thrashers actually started out pretty strong in their first road test of the season. Unfortunately, Nigel Dawes' quick release from the high slot wasn't quick enough to beat goalie Mike Smith in the early going and a botched line change gave the Bolts their first real opportunity to score with a man-advantage. The bench minor for "too many men on the ice" cost the Thrashers in the form of an early 1 - 0 deficit just five minutes into the game. On the goal play, Zach Bogosian was guilty of trying to corral the loose puck rather than mark the pesky Steve Downie, who was there on the door step to deposit the loose change with relative ease. Goalie Chris Mason tried his best to take away the open net but Downie deftly slid the puck through his legs to give Tampa an early lead as well as the momentum.

That lead would quickly go to 2 goals when free-agent acquisition Dominic Moore would become the beneficiary of a loose puck in front of the Thrashers' cage. This time, a defensive breakdown off a face-off, would cost the Thrashers as D-man Dustin Byfuglien got caught taking a poor angle off the draw leaving Toby Enstrom to fend for himself in front of the net as Lightning forward Teddy Purcell got free to put a puck on Mason's pad. Unfortunately, the rebound would carom right to an unmarked Moore, who easily wristed the biscuit into a gaping basket. However, Byfuglien wasn't the only Thrasher guilty of a poor decision as both wings drifted too far up the ice in anticipation of a would-be breakout when Rich Peverley's won draw took a weird bounce off the heel of his skate.

The 2-goal deficit at the end of one period quickly grew to four as a sluggish Thrashers team gave Tampa's lethal power-play another opportunity to do damage just a 1:21 into the 2nd period. And damage they would do as two failed clearing attempts by Fredrik Modin and rookie Alex Burmistrov would lead to yet another choice chance for the Bolts. This time Vinny Lecavalier would slip one just inside the post past an unwitting Chris Mason who was screened on the play because Ron Hainsey was busy checking his hair in the reflection of the glass nearby. Seriously though, a flat-footed D-man would once again contribute directly to a goal allowed. Three and a half minutes later, Steven Stamkos would get his first goal of the game re-directing a Pavel Kubina shot from the point. But it was Downie who "earned" the goal with his efforts along the wall where he outworked both Dawes and Nik Antropov to free up the puck for Kubina's shot.

After the 4th goal, Coach Craig Ramsay called a time-out to calm his troops. And the simple, direct message he delivered of "play your game" was taken to heart by his loyal subjects, who slogged mightily through an irascible 1 - 2 - 2 Lightning trap to find open ice and rare scoring opportunities. But alas, the Bolts would be their own worst enemy and their careless and sloppy play would afford Atlanta several power-play chances and over 8 minutes of man-advantage hockey. Finally the Thrashers would break through on a Toby Enstrom rocket launch that was strategically fired to the right of Mike Smith, who was screened effectively by Andrew Ladd. The puck rang off the pipe and it was "game on!" It only took another 1:42 before Atlanta would cut the lead to 2 when Ben Eager beat Smith on the blocker side with a deft wrister that also "ting-ed" off the right-side post.

Eager's goal was the immediate by-product of tireless work by he and his trio-mates, Chris Thorburn and Burmistrov, who was a perpetual thorn in Tampa's side the whole game. Burmy's fleet-footed rush up the right-wing side, coupled with his proper read of the play in the corner, paid off handsomely in the form of a bad pass off the stick of D-man Brett Clark, whom Burmy unceremoniously planted in the glass. And Eager did not hesitate to feast on the loose table scraps at the top of the circle. In a span of less than 2 minutes, Atlanta had recaptured the momentum as well as a ton of positive energy, energy that they would carry into the final stanza of play.

The Thrashers relentless pursuit of Tampa bore early fruit in the 3rd period when Lecavalier was charged with a high-sticking infraction during a battle along the wall with Ben Eager. Unfortunately, the resulting power-play was squandered when Enstrom's attempted wrister into an open net would instead fly errantly towards a helpless Smith and into his backside. But the Thrashers did not back off. The "Eager Thor-Burm" line would strike again as Ben Eager made an adroit pass to himself off the left boards around a hapless defender. Once he regained control, Eager shoveled the puck through the crease to a streaking Thorburn, who used a full-extension reach of his stick to redirect the puck up over the outstretched glove and leg of Smith. The goal was surely a satisfying reward for Coach Ramsay, who had been hammering into his charges' heads the execution of such a play throughout training camp.

The comeback was nearly completed a little over 3 minutes later when the scrappy Burmistrov would find himself loose in the mid-slot with a chance to tie the game, but his quick wrister along the ice to the left of Smith, who was sliding to his right, would betray him as the puck slid just wide of the goalpost. On the ensuing rush down the ice, Tampa would regain a choke-hold on the game's outcome with a crafty deflection off the stick of Stamkos. The 5th goal would prove to be the final nail in the proverbial coffin for a Thrashers team that had more than its share of chances to steal a point in Florida despite an erratic and sometimes very sloppy effort, especially in the defensive zone. Overall the effort was constant and the attitude was that of a winner as the team did not allow its collective "chalupa to lose its crunch!"

Eff Yeah! Thrashers Earn Dramatic Victory Over Capitals

2010-10-09T13:42:00.011-04:00

It didn't take a professional lip-reader to figure out Kaner's impassioned exclamation after he potted a thrilling penalty shot to give the Atlanta Thrashers a key 2-goal lead at the end of the 2nd period in their Opening Night victory over the Washington Capitals. In the not so family-friendly words of Evander Kane: FUCK YEAH!!! The hockey gods imparted their special brand of hockey justice Friday nite as Atlanta was awarded with a penalty shot when Mike Green of the Capitals used his hand to clear a puck that was sitting precariously inside the blue-painted crease of the goalmouth. But the fitting twist of hockey fate was moreso a reward for an unyielding and steady 60 minutes of hard work that produced several great scoring chances as well as a goal off the stick of Rich Peverley that was nullified by a premature referee's whistle.

But Kane capitalized on the just cosmic reward by beating goalie Michal Neuvirth low to the stick side and triggering an electric eruption of elation from the 15,000-plus of Thrashers' faithful, who were craving the adjutication of justice on Philips Arena ice. The goal provided the necessary emotional fuel to sustain the Thrashers on a nearly tragic nite when starting goaltender Ondrej Pavelec succumbed to some mysterious affliction and collapsed motionless to the ice in the early stages of the 1st period. Somehow the boys in cobalt blue found a way to muster the courage to overcome the disturbing sight of their comrade laying prone and unconscious on the ice for nearly 20 minutes before doctors and team trainers wheeled him off the ice on a stretcher.

After a quick Capitals tally against an obviously still shell-shocked Chris Mason on a perfect tic-tac-doe passing play, the Thrashers responded with even harder work and determination to produce a turnover that landed directly on the stick of a charging Evander Kane, who then toe-dragged to his right and then snapped a hard wrister past the stick arm of Neuvirth. More importantly, the timely play recharged a confused crowd whose thoughts were understandably somewhere else in the wake of the Pavelec collapse. Kane's goal was just the dose of hockey "juice" the Thrashers needed as they went on to carry the play in the first period out-shooting and out-chancing the Capitals until the horn sounded.

The second period went back and forth for 15 minutes as the teams traded blows and both goalies stood strong in the face of heavy pressure. The play was a bit more sluggish as each team struggled with break-outs and zone clears because of the "long change". Eventually, the Thrashers mettle would prevail as the line of Ladd - Little - Bergfors hustled and worked their way to a goal by Andrew Ladd, who had just seconds earlier been stoned from the door step by Neuvirth. But Nick Bergfors won a race to the puck along the wall, shuttled it to Johnny Oduya, who then wasted no time in snapping a waist-high wrister that connected with the stick of a well-positioned Ladd and ricocheted up under the crossbar above the glove of a stunned and helpless Neuvirth.

Kane's penalty shot goal came with about 2 minutes left in the 2nd period and gave the Thrashers the comfort cushion they would need to continue their aggressive assault in the 3rd period. But an ill-timed boarding penalty by Zach Bogosian stole the momentum from Atlanta and Washington was able to capitalize on the gaffe with a post-powerplay, odd-man rush in which Russian star Alex Ovechkin found a streaking Mike Knuble on the right wing for a quick wrister over Chris Mason's outstretched glove. But Atlanta's ensemble cast of gritty warriors weathered the tempest and regained the momentum halfway through the period. The blue-clad contestants continued to churn their legs and burn up their opponents' will with their never-say-die efforts.

Eventually, the preserverance of the Thrashers produced an offensive zone face-off to the left of Neuvirth in which Nik Antropov secured the puck, shielding it long enough for Fredrik Modin to swoop in and shoot the puck through a small seam in traffic. The puck hit either a defensemen's stick or leg and caromed diagonally to the opposite right pipe past a dumbfounded and frozen Neuvirth. As the goal-lamp swirled bright and red, the Bulb erupted with a collective sigh of relief and joy. From that point forward, the Blueland denizens would cheer loudly and lustily in the waning minutes for their T-birds, who worked tirelessly to preserve the 2-goal margin in a game that set the perfect tone for a new era of Thrashers hockey -- an era that will hopefully bring a lot more hockey that is characteristic of the indomitable spirit and unrelenting effort on full display last nite at Philips Arena. Indeed Friday nite was a very proud nite to be a Thrasher and a fan of these adopted Sons of Blueland!

Soooo, You Wanna Coach Oh Do Ya?!

2010-10-07T15:12:00.005-04:00

Just got back from a meeting and finally had a chance to sneak a peak at Chris Vivlamore's blog write-up. In it was contained this priceless gem of information from the apparently outspoken Swede, Johnny Oduya, who had this to say when asked about the biggest difference between this year and the last:

I would say the coaching staff and everything surrounding the team I think has gotten more professional this year than last year. That’s something I think is key for the long run. You want to stay consistent. To do that, you have to do the same things over and over again and be disciplined in certain areas. Even with that said, you still want to have fun and be creative and use your skills. I would say the coaching staff has provided us that this year.

Oh snap son! That was either a straight-up cold 'dis' (in your face!) of previous coach John Anderson or a craftily veiled shot over the bow towards old coach and GM, Lou Lamairello of New Jersey. Perhaps Johnny O. is still a bit peeved he got jettisoned from a Cup-contending team like the Devils. Uhh, probably not. I'm just trying to stir the pot. These are very interesting comments from the smooth veteran who will wear the 'A' -- one of three handed out by Coach Ramsay -- in Friday nite's contest against Washington. Not only has Oduya been a sterling example for his compatriots on the ice, but apparently he has gotten their attention with his cool demeanor and PROFESSIONALISM.

Please excuse me while I breathe in and soak up the rich, creamy goodness of these comments.

Who Will Be Our Dale Hawerchuk?

2010-10-07T10:42:00.015-04:00

It's 10:49 in the morning on a chilly, but sun-soaked Thursday morning here in the big A (apologies to Nik Antropov). When you step outside and feel that crisp air infiltrate your bones, you know right away that hockey season is upon us. It's a wonderful feeling really and the chill in your bones gives way to a tingle down your spine -- or a thrill up your leg if you're a Democrat. But now is not a time for politics or debate. Even hockey-centered debate punctuated by prediction seems trite and silly when gameday is beckoning! Predictions about the upcoming season are meaningless and shrink in comparison to the excitement that fill's one's soul on the eve before one of the best day's of the calendar year: Opening Night!!

By now, if you are well-versed in surfing the choppy waters of the internet streams, you are completely fatigued by season previews and post-season prognostications. I choose not to trouble myself with such predictions -- well, at least on this particular blog -- until I can see 10 or so games of meaningful hockey action with which to analyze and dissect the team's play. That's not to say that I don't harbor the same worries shared by most Thrashers fans as we approach Opening Night. A myriad of questions confront us as the Thrashers prepare to do ice-battle with the visiting Washington Capitals, a true offensive juggernaut if there ever was one.

As we hurtle headlong into Friday's hockey affair, questions such as these abound and dismay:

-- Will the 2010-20011 Thrashers truly embody a new and different brand of hockey when they don the blue sweaters for the first time (in a game that counts) under the guidance of the venerable, battle-tested Craig Ramsay?

-- Will the boys in blue be worthy "puck battle bastards" who give little quarter to their adversaries and hunt down the puck with relentless abandon?

-- Can the Thrashers quiet their naysayers by executing Ramsay's "go-go-GO!" style of play in a fashion that makes them not only an aggravating opponent, but also an effective, exciting team that actually wins games more often than not?

-- Who will emerge from the shadows of uncertainty and become our team's Dale Hawerchuk, an often unheralded and under-appreciated play-making virtuoso who could make the players around him better, no matter who they were. Can an 18 year-old, pimple-faced Russian named Alex Burmistrov be such a player? Probably not...well, not just yet. Or can the irrepressibly charismatic Evander Kane, only 19 years of age, take his game to the next level and provide the goal-scoring punch this team needs from the left-wing? Can the quiet and industrious Bryan Little put to bed accusations of being a one-hit wonder and rise from the frustration to be a consistent offensive threat and contributor? Will the enigmatic and seemingly disaffected Swede, Niclas Bergfors, play with a chip on his shoulder the size of IKEA to prove that he is worthy of a sniper's spoils?

The best answer I can muster at this point in time is "THE HELL IF I KNOW!!" There are so many new pieces in this hockey puzzle that require additional time to fit together. And there is little doubt that the much ballyhooed "new identity" of the Thrashers will need sufficient time to take its shape. Mixed in with the frustrations of unproductive offense and fitful chemistry are some positive signs as evidenced by the energy and elan with which the Thrashers have played throughout most of the pre-season. On the surface it appears as though most of the players are buying-in to the new coaching philosophy and playing with spirited determination and vigor. But spirited effort will only take you so far in the game of hockey. Kind of like when the small, but feisty pug tries its best to take down the big bad Pyrenees in a paw-to-paw struggle to win all the snausages! Don't just sing it Puggsy, bring it!!

In this upcoming season, will the Thrashers battle hard only to resemble a precious, yet exuberant pug who doesn't stand a chance against bigger, badder and stronger foes? We shall certainly find out starting tomorrow night down at the Bulb! Don't miss it Thrashers' fans!!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly...A Pre-season Tale of Woe

2010-10-05T21:58:00.009-04:00

Today I had some idle time on my hands so I took a closer look at the last 5 pre-season games and put together some "stat-shots" (all rights reserved) to illustrate what was good, what was bad, and what was just plain ugly during the fortnight of practice hockey played by the Atlanta Thrashers. Read earnestly, then weep (to quote the sagacious and omniscient Mortimer Peacock) unconsolably into your Haagen-Daz ice-cream.

THE UGLY:

-- it doesn't take hours of analysis for me to tell you that the Thrashers were quite woeful when it came to putting the puck in the net; the ugliest stat by far, aside from the worrisome 0 - 5 - 1 wins and losses record, was the number of goals (NOT) scored by the Thrash. In the final 5 games, the T-birds could only muster 8 goals total (an average of 1.6 per game) thanks to a dismal shooting percentage of 5.5%.

-- dovetailing with the overall lack of production presented above is the fact the Thrashers' forwards could only dent the twine 5 times out of the 8 goals they scored in 5 games; worse yet (well, it may bode well for our lower-line depth) is the fact that only 1 goal was scored by a returning key offensive cog from last season (Antropov). The quartet of Little, Peverley, Kane and Bergfors contributed all of 4 assists in the 5 games.

-- individually, the performances of two players were particularly galling and worrisome: that of defenseman Ron Hainsey (-3 in 3 games or -5 if you include the first game versus Columbus at home, but I didn't), who simply exhibited a general lack of timing, quickness and overall effectiveness no matter whom he was paired with, and Niclas Bergfors (0 points, 11 SOG and a -3 in 4 games played), who seemed to be out of sorts and just plain uninspired by all accounts. In his defense, Niclas played with different linemates every game, but the fact that he couldn't cash in at least one of his 11 SOG is more than a tad troubling.

THE BAD:

-- as a team, the Thrashers did not have much luck on the limited power play opportunities they had during the exhibition season; only 2 of 13 PP chances were converted into goals over the final 5 games. Nigel Dawes tapped home a rebound on the team's first and only PP opportunity in their rematch with Nashville at Philips and Toby Enstrom found a lane into the back of the net for a PP marker in the final contest of the pre-season against the Blue Jackets.

-- although the team experienced a good deal of success in the face-off circle on home ice (thanks in large part to the clutch-ness of Rich Peverley who was a net +10 on F/O draws in 5 games), the team struggled mightily in the circle when match-ups were dictated by the opponent. Specifically, the Thrashers' puck possession suffered due to a disparity of -18 in F/O won; in large part this was on account of Chris Thorburn (38%) and Alex Burmistrov (15 of 35), who obviously struggled against other team's top centers.

-- despite a very strong effort in his Atlanta debut in which he allowed only 1 goal on 29 shots, veteran goalie Chris Mason seemed to struggle at times in his other 2 games; he was the victim of some tough luck on the PP against Nashville, but he was certainly not his sharpest in Columbus as he only managed to stop 25 of the 29 shots that found their way to his equipment. In all, Mason gave up 9 goals on 88 shots faced, a save percentage of only .898; if this team is to make some noise this year, Mason will need to maintain a SV% of at least .910.

THE GOOD (yes, there was some good!):

-- first and foremost, the Thrashers demonstrated a superior penchant, as well as the requisite courage, to block an astounding 82 shots over 5 games for an average of 16.4 per game. As far as I know, this is unprecedented in Thrashers history; in my recollection the Thrash were lucky to average 8 - 10 blocked shots per game. Perhaps the tutelage of Craig Ramsay, coupled with the addition of the savvy veteran, Brent Sopel, has made a profound impact on the defensive unit as a whole. Lastly, just for comparison, the opponent blocked a mere 50 shots in those 5 games.

-- while the above juxtaposition of blocked shots totals may lead you to believe that the team was guilty of giving up a lot more shots than taken, the shot disparity was not really all that great. Of course, we've become very accustomed to seeing the Thrashers not only get out-shot, but out-shot badly and negative Corsi ratings have become commonplace. However, during the pre-season, the Thrashers attempted a total of 258 shots in 5 games (51.6) versus a total of 275 shots launched by the opponents (55.0); the Thrashers missed the net 63 times (19 more than their opponents) compared to 44 errant shots by the enemy. Lastly, the SOG counter showed a mere 4-shot disparity for the Thrashers (145 vs 149) over 5 games and Atlanta actually out-shot their opponent 3 times.

-- finally, and continuing with the topic of shots on goal, the Thrashers demonstrated a better overall commitment to defense, both on the blueline and as a 5-man unit; twice the Thrashers held their opponent to less than 30 SOG and the highest number yielded in any of the 5 games was 31, a far cry from the average number allowed last season (close to 33 per game).

Additional Commentary: Not only was the team's defensive cohesion evident on the shot counter, but it was also quite obvious to the naked eye. In the two games I attended, I noticed a markedly different approach to the game and a better (and more aggressive) overall effort to play both ends of the ice. The forwards were getting deeper into the defensive zone for support of the D while the gaps between the blueline and forwards were much smaller -- several times I thought to myself how refreshing it was to see the 5-man unit moving up and down the sheet of ice like an amorphous "amoeba". There is no doubt in my mind that Ramsay's teachings are already taking root for collection of young players, who are mostly under the age of 28. And the statistics in the pre-season bear this out. To wit:

1) average shots on goal allowed were less than 30 at 29.8 per game 2) total blocked shots of 82 (25 by forwards) 3) only 9 even-strength goals allowed (1.80 per game) 4) 103 hits delivered for an average of 20.6 per game and 5) only 1 game on the road in which they allowed more than 3 goals (CBJ).

My Readers Are Very Wise...Odds n' Ends

2010-10-05T19:56:00.010-04:00

First of all, before we get into the latest news nuggets of interest surrounding the Atlanta Thrashers of 2010-11, let me just say that my readers, though they may be few, are most certainly knowledgeable when it comes to Thrashers' roster decisions. As evidenced by my most recent poll in which I posed the question about who should get to suit up as the Thrashers' 4th line right wing, 8 of the 20 voters nailed it by selecting Anthony Stewart! Well, sort of.

While Anthony Stewart -- erstwhile Florida Panther who came to us via free-agency in the summer of 2009 before playing a full season for our minor league affiliate in Chicago -- certainly earned his chance to start the season in Atlanta for the parent club, the recent news report from Chris Vivlamore of the AJC shows that he may have even earned a spot in the top 6 collection of forwards! According to C-Viv, Coach Ramsay is so enamored of Stewart that he is willing to give him a chance to play solid minutes -- top 9 minutes at least -- alongside center Rich Peverley and opposite winger Evander Kane!

Obviously such a move seems like a big jump in responsibility for the 25 year-old Stewart, who has never really enjoyed the luxury of more than 8-10 minutes a game at the NHL level. And his 2 career goals certainly attest to that fact. However, Stewart will be counted on to do what he does best: utilize his speed to chase down loose pucks, hit like a wrecking ball to create space for his linemates and be an overall nuisance to his opponents at both ends of the ice. In the pre-season, Stewart cemented his spot with the big club by playing big and feisty recording 10 official hits, 10 shots on goal, 1 assist and a +3 plus/minus rating over 5 games.

If Stewie can continue that type of play for the big club in the month of October when the games count and the opponents are generally better from top to bottom, then we will definitely have to get used to seeing big ol' #22 buzzing around the ice making life difficult for Thrashers' opponents. When you're thinking of line combos for this season, you wouldn't normally associate Anthony Stewart with top 9 minutes, but should Craig Ramsay's hockey wisdom prove out in the form of a tenacious, tough-to-slow-down line of Kaner-Pevs-Stewie -- by the way, there's your AK-47 line for 2010 -- then Ramsay may just be smarter than I even imagined possible!

Okay, on to other assorted news items and developments since training camp closed over the weekend! A very hearty and loud tap of the stick to Chris Vivlamore for chasing down all of this delicious news:

1) The Thrashers, as expected, will start the year once again without a Captain and will instead rotate the 'A's among various players to see who thrives in an alternate captain leadership capacity. I like this decision as there is no need to rush into a decision when perhaps certain key veterans prefer to lead by example and not with a strong voice (Antropov, Peverley etc.). Also, the damage that could result by awarding the 'C' to a younger player with leadership potential (Kane, Bogosian etc.) only to have to remove it at a later date could prove greater than what a perceived lack of leadership could cause in the short-run playing without a captain in name.

2) In all likelihood, Jimmy Slater will have to start the year on Injured Reserve as his mysterious wrist injury will need time to heal, perhaps as long as 3 - 4 weeks. This is a tough blow for Slater, who established himself as an on-ice leader at the end of last season as well as cemented his role as a grinding, never quit 3rd line C. But Jimmy's tough luck is Alexander Burmistrov's good fortune, making it a bit easier for the coaches to justify continuing his extended try-out with the big club, at least until Slater's health improves.

3) That brings me to Burmistrov, the 8th overall pick of this spring's draft, who has steadily improved his level of play throughout the pre-season. Coming into camp, his size, especially his weight, was a big question mark, but Alex worked tirelessly on his strength conditioning as well as his diet -- the eat everything you see in your path diet -- to tip the scales at a more robust 178 - 180 lbs before camp started. Today, the kid known round these parts as "Johnny Burma" will take his +3 P/M, 1 assist and 5 games of NHL pre-season experience into Friday nite with a new signing bonus in his back pocket. Announced today, his Entry-Level Contract will pay him a pro-rata portion of a base salary of $810,000 plus bonuses (performance as well as signing) until he is asked to return to Juniors -- as long as he doesn't play in more than 10 games -- or perhaps he will lock up a spot with stellar play as the Thrashers' 4th line C.

4) Lastly, Vivlamore provided us the latest iteration of practice lines from the Duluth practice center today. The lines, which were the same as Monday, appear to be what we may see take the ice for Game #1 Friday nite against the Washington Capitals. Thrashers' radio voice, and all-around good guy, Dan Kamal tweeted to his followers that Ramsay had intimated that the following lines would be used for Opening Night: Kane-Pevs-Stew; Modin-NikA-Dawes; Ladd-Lits-Bergy; Eager-Burma-Thorbs along with Tobes\Buff; Oduya\Bogo & Hainsey\Sopes as defensive pairings. Later in his updated blog, Vivlamore would confirm this to be the apparent case although Ramsay said they could still possibly change in some fashion. Lastly, a starting goalie has not been named as of yet for the opener.

There you have it, the latest important news out of Doo-looth concering your Thrashers. I shall follow-up this report with a more original entry in which I delve into the good, the bad and the ugly with respect to the 0 - 5 - 1 pre-season performance of the Atlanta Thrashers. Think of it as sort of a pre-meal appetizer leading up to my Season Preview of the boys in blue, and white, and sometimes red, um, I mean "burgundy". Okay! Sure, right.

Oodles and Oodles of O's You Know...and X's

2010-09-30T19:21:00.021-04:00

Okay, as promised, here is a rather detailed analysis of not only the flow of last nite's pre-season contest against the Nashville Predatory Creatures, but also of individual player's performances in the final home game of the "practice" season. Apologies are offered up in advance for the length and absurdity of this entry, but hey, I went to the game alone and took a lot of notes!

FIRST PERIOD:

-- early on the Thrash-boys struggled with their passing as well as their overall intensity. Rather than demonstrating a sharp focus on precision passing, I figure they may have been too caught up in getting up the ice quickly to put early pressure on NSH.

-- unfortunately for the Thrashers, the forwards seemed to struggle with the reception of passes onto their sticks and many potential break-outs were foiled with poor concentration or poor passing by the D-men...it's hard to say which unit was more to blame so we'll just say it was a rocky start and cohesion was lacking.

-- when the Thrash did make it up the ice and got the puck deep in the offensive zone (OZ), the top of the 1 - 2 - 2 attack (the 3 forwards) were allowing themselves to get too deep as their zeal to get into their cycle and pressure the D nearly cost them on the other end in the form of near odd-man rushes into their own zone; in short NSH is very good on the back-end and they sometimes make breaking out of the zone look like child's play.

-- by about the 13:30 mark of the first, the boys finally started to find their "jump" and consecutive successes in the face-off (F/O)circle led to good puck possession and eventually excellent fore-checking (FC) pressure in the NSH zone; on the other end, Mason looked to be in good position for mostly poor angle shots by the Predators.

-- GOAL BY NSH ON SHOT FROM BLUELINE THRU TRAFFIC: Ron Hainsey's rough nite began when he got himself turned around in the crease before a Marty Erat shot from the high slot found its way thru Ron's legs and past a completely helpless Chris Mason who could not move to his right since Hainsey was blocking his way at the right post.

-- after the first goal, the Thrash seemed a bit bewildered and stagnant, uninspired defense led to more pressure in the defensive zone (DZ); too often the Thrashers players didn't pressure the perimeter enough to prevent NSH from getting the puck to the top of the circle for a hard wind-up slapper...luckily, Mason was positionally sound.

-- finally the boys nearly got on the board thanks to the hard work of the Ladd-Little-Dawes line, which was probably the hardest working and most relentless all evening. After a brief cycle down low, Laddy kept the play alive along the wall by pushing it out to Brent Sopel who then made a slick cross-ice pass to the top of the opposite circle for a waiting Zach Bogosian. Zach one-timed it perfectly but the young Swedish netminder, Anders Lindback made a perfect read and made the save as he powered across the crease to the right pipe.

-- later on Ron Hainsey's ugly game reared its curly-locked head once again as his botched break-out attempt led to a near costly turnover in which the puck made its way to the point for a hard blast that missed the goal, but caromed perfectly back into the crease where Mason was able to make the save between his legs looking over his shoulder. Of course, Hainsey was there at the post to make Mason's save that much harder (the puck initially found its way thru Ron's legs before ricocheting off the boards)...OY VAY!

-- prior to the final 3 minutes of the 1st period, the "top" line of Modin-Antropov-Pettersson had managed to play some very nondescript hockey as there was little to no chemsitry among the trio; not to mention Modin looked quite a bit slower than Antropov who wasn't at top speed thanks to a cranky hip that was repaired surgically in the off-season. Enter Freddy P, the Super Fly, who's gnat-like determination and hustle paid dividends along the right boards in the form of a hooking penalty and the one and only power play of the game for the Thrash.

-- GOAL SCORED BY DAWES ON A REBOUND PUT-BACK OF AN ODUYA POINT BLAST: obviously credit goes to Johnny Oduya for placing his shot perfectly as the low, just-off-the-ice slapper found its way to the right pillow of Lindback who kicked it right to the stick of Nigel Dawes who easily deposited the loose change. However, the bulk of the credit should go to both Ladd and Bryan Little whose scrappy play along the right boards was critical in keeping the puck in the zone before Ladd corralled it and shuttled it to Oduya; at that point the NSH defense was out of position when the puck was quickly fired from the point.

END OF PERIOD -- SHOTS ON GOAL IN FAVOR OF ATL 10 to 9

See, I told you this would be absurdly long!! I'll be back in a few minutes (time for a beer!) with a briefer recap of periods 2 and 3 before giving you my Thrashers Three Stars of the game.

SECOND PERIOD:

-- Ben Eager was the victim of some over-exuberance at the end of the first period taking a silly cross-checking penalty with 9 seconds left before intermission. Thus the Thrashers started the 2nd on the penalty kill, one that they would kill off successfully -- the PK'ers were Pevs & Thorbs, Modin & Stewart and I believe Lits & Ladd at the end.

-- after the successful kill, the Thrashers managed to mount some fairly consistent pressure thanks in large part to better break-out passes from the DZ as well as better puck-handling by the forwards through the NZ...in other words, passes were on the tape and forwards were better able to move the puck with speed into the OZ. Craig Ramsay adjustments!

-- the best line of the early 2nd period was the Little Laddy line as they carried the play for a bit after a won F/O by Little. During the sequence, Bryan's blazing speed was on full display and resulted in a break-in along the left side and an attempted back-hand pass thru the slot that ended up on goal (weakly however); the ensuring OZ F/O was won by Little and some good cycling lead to a good look by FreddyMeyer from the blueline that missed the net, but the rebound was controlled and another SOG was registered.

-- unfortunately the above paragraph summarizes the best offensive pressure mounted by the Thrashers as a couple of penalties (back-to-back no less) stymied any momentum they had managed to muster at that point; first it was Chris Thorburn on a questionable tripping call and then Bogosian got caught slashing the puck-handler about 2 minutes after NSH cashed in the first PP opportunity.

-- in the second failed PK, the green Russian, Alex Burmistrov, was guilty of watching the puck a moment too long before it was passed to Erat in the left circle where he quickly snapped off a low wrister despite the futile swipe at the stick by Burmie; the puck scooted under a somewhat surprised Mason who may have been partially screened (by Ron Hainsey perhaps?) on the play. Regardless, the young center learned a valuable lesson about taking away the hash marks of the mid-slot on the PK.

-- luckily for the fans who made it out to Blueland for the evening, hope was not lost when down two goals midway through the 2nd period. First the line of Kane-Peverley-Stewart stormed down the ice on the ensuing center-ice F/O to record the next tally; Pevs received a pass in the NZ and from there the slick skater maneuvered his way craftily into the OZ where he first drew a hooking penalty before getting the puck behind the net to Kaner who quickly passed it to a waiting Meyer...before you could say "hellz yeah!", Meyer's laser-tracking rocket found a home under the crossbar "elbow" of the goal. Boom! Lead cut to one.

-- not long after the Meyer marker, 20 y/o Zach Bogosian made the play of the nite to help the Thrash knot the game at 3. Now with NSH playing their patented 1 - 2 - 2 trap (as opposed to their super-aggressive 2 - 1 - 2 forecheck press used to get the upper hand), the boys found it a bit easier to get their rushes thru the NZ as they were hitting the red line with top speed before making a quick diagonal pass or in Zach's case, zig-zagging thru the NZ like a Mini Cooper in The Italian Job before drawing the D-man far enough from the slot to thread a picture-perfect pass to a wide open Ben Eager streaking to the left side of the net where his quick wrist shot left no doubt denting the twine and tying the game at 3. Yup, hellz yeah!

-- there was a lot more back and forth action after the game was tied and things started to resemble a pond hockey game more than a typical Nashville Preda(bore) affair; by the end of the period, shots had jumped to 23 apiece with the edge going to NSH on the strength of their 5 PP shots on goal. So at full strength, the Thrash carried a lot of the play and mustered a favorable 13 to 9 SOG edge, which is quite impressive considering how difficult it can be to penetrate NSH's defense.

END OF PERIOD -- SCORE TIED AT 3 APIECE

Before moving on to the final period's notes, I just wanted to mention how well Oduya and Meyer played last nite. They weren't paired together, but they played extremely well throughout the game. Their respective partners, Bogosian and Enstrom, played well, but Johnny and Freddy stood out the most. Freddy M was decisive all nite long and his quickness helped him move the puck effortlessly out of the zone almost without fail. He had one balky pass at the DZ blueline but quickly recovered and batted the puck out of the zone.

As for Oduya, there was one particular play that grabbed my attention in which J.O. made a risky move to jump up to join the rush with the forwards. Oduya received the puck and tried to make a tricky feed into the middle of the zone, but the puck was intercepted and quickly outletted to Erat, who filled the spot Johnny vacated. Well, Oduya turned on a dime and then hit the after-burners in order to get back on the play. He skated so fast that he intercepted Erat with the puck AFTER he had received the pass on the tape and in stride. Of course Marty is no Zach Parise, but Oduya was absolutely moving on the play...great awareness and hustle!

THIRD PERIOD:

-- NSH carried the first 4 minutes of the 3rd with ramped up pressure and an even more aggressive 2 - 2 - 1 forechecking scheme that befuddled the Thrashers D-men, in particular Ron Hainsey and his unfortunate partner Brent Sopel; at one point Sopel did manage to collect the puck and wrist a beaut of a 2-line pass up the middle to a full-speeding Peverley, who then streaked into the OZ for a partial breakaway in which his angle forced him to go left a bit sooner than he wanted thus foiling his forehand to backhand, 5-hole shot attempt. Did I mention the problem wasn't Brent Sopel?

-- as play continued into the middle part of the stanza, there was some continued mis-communication among the D-men leading to poorly played pucks, turnovers and choice chances for the swarming Preds; at one point, even Mason committed a puck-handling gaffe in which he attempted to move the puck to the corner (and Ron Hainsey I'm pretty sure) with an errant pass that led directly to a good chance for NSH.

-- but there was some good play by the Thrashers as the Peverley & Kane show had launched into full bore; Kane was everywhere on the forecheck throwing hits and back-checking like a man possessed while Pevs was dispensing his unique brand of magic with the puck...oh, and Anthony Stewart was a gamer with a lot of energy, hitting and hustle.

-- however, the Preds would strike first on account of the very shaky defensive play that pretty much characterized the first 8 - 10 minutes of the 3rd; a weird play developed in which the D-men failed to move the puck decisively and the rubber wound up in enemy hands before a shot attempt from the point was blocked in traffic...the two veteran D-men (you know who they are) couldn't find the loose puck before it was snatched up by Marty Erat, who snapped a fluttering shot that somehow eluded the arm of a lunging Chris Mason.

-- the Thrashers responded once again to the adversity and attempted to mount a strong charge that nearly resulted in a game-tying goal; in particular, Kane had the grade-A chance of the game when somebody, probably Peverley, found a wide-open Kane streaking into the slot (third man high just like Coach Ramsay wants) for a point-blank shot from about 25 feet. Tragically, Kaner's wrister missed its overly precise target and the puck sailed high of the crossbar to the chorus of "oooohhhhssss" echoing high-above the sparsely filled lower bowl below. There would be other chances and near misses, but none quite as good as that one.

-- one last desperate attempt to save the day was launched with an empty net and a sixth attacker on the ice; consecutive F/O draws were won by first Little and then Peverley, both leading directly to Bogosian blasts from the right point, one that hit a stick and nearly caromed in and another head-hunter that sailed over the goal. The effort was valiant and they battled hard, but the hockey gods were not smiling on the Thrashers last nite. But then again, perhaps they should have played better in the first 10 minutes of the 3rd period!!

THREE-STARS -- FINALLY!!

3) Freddy Meyer - steady, decisive play all nite; heavy blasts from the point and the 2nd goal of the evening to start the rally in the 2nd period.

2) Johnny Oduya \ Evander Kane - a tie for this "star" as each of them showcased their superior play throughout the contest; Oduya was smooth and unflappable with the puck while Kaner was flying around both zones as if to prove a point to Jeremy Roenick before the buffoon could even make a disparaging remark about his prospects to be a great player.

1) Bryan Little - by far and away the fastest and strongest skater with the puck all evening long; Lits was a terror with his speed in the offensive zone and put tons of pressure on NSH defenders to stop him. Once his linemates become a little more familiar with his tendencies, Bryan may become a rising stud at the pivot. But for my $7 last nite, Little was the best all-around player on the ice in all zones and all facets of the game, save for the F/O circle where he was bested by Pevs, but who isn't most nites?

Thrashers Finally Score Some Goals in Pre-Season Loss to Preds

2010-09-29T22:25:00.011-04:00

Well, it had to happen at some point and tonite was the nite the Thrashers finally broke through with some offensive production against a stingy Predators team that featured a regular season line-up save for the goaltender, who ostensibly is fighting for a chance to back up Pekka Rinne. The Thrashers found the back of the net 3 times, but came up short in a closely contested 4 to 3 loss, their 4th straight of the pre-season.

After the Thrashers fell behind midway through the first period, they battled back fiercely to knot the game at 1 when Nigel Dawes deposited a rebound off a Johnny Oduya blueline blast at the left door-step to put the finishing touch on a well-executed power play. However, the momentum swung back to the Preds in the early stages of the 2nd period as their relentless pressure caused some balky decisions by the Thrasher D as well as two penalties in the span of 3 and a half minutes.

The Preds made things look easy when up a man and quickly increased their lead to 3 to 1 on the strength of their back-to-back power plays. But the Thrashers responded immediately with 2 quick goals of their own in the span of 3 minutes to tie the game. Unfortunately, the Predators would control the puck in the first 8 minutes of the 3rd period and the sloppy defensive play of the Thrashers led to a goal by David Legwand. The Thrashers fought hard and had some good chances down the stretch, but couldn't tally the equalizer to force an extra period. Most notably, Evander Kane received a sweet feed from Rich Peverley for a wide-open look from the high slot, but his laser-like wrister misfired barely missing the corner of the goal.

After the game, our hard-working AJC beat writer, Chris Vivlamore, cornered big Ben Eager, who captured the essence of how I felt after the Thrashers allowed their sloppy play to cost them a win in the 3rd period: “It’s never fun to get behind, but we responded well and battled back to tie it up,” Eager said. “A bit of a sloppy goal at the end and it cost us a game. We have to tighten up a few things. We can’t be losing games in the third period like that." Preach it Brother Ben!

Overall, it was as solid effort for a team that is still tinkering with line combos in order to get meaningful looks at players who may not make it to the final Opening Night roster (Anthony Stewart, Alex Burmistrov, Freddy Pettersson and Nigel Dawes). But Coach Ramsay must be pleased with the gradual improvement in the last week or so as the boys in blue try to come together in a new system within a very condensed period of time. Vivlamore also queried Coach Ramsay in his post-game blog and Ramsay had this to say about the game:

"I truly believe that defensively we will be fine,” Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said. “I can teach that. We have good people who can play. But scoring goals was an obvious problem and tonight we looked better. We are looking at how our people play and how they learn our system. We want to win every game but it hasn’t happened. We’ve been in them.”

While the defense does look to be very much improved, and a lot harder to score on thanks to a more earnest approach to blocking shots and harrassing would-be shooters, someone needs to send a telegram to Ron Hainsey asking him to awaken from his stupor. The highest-paid veteran D-man was absolutely dreadful tonite and seemed to struggle with his decision-making throughout the game. Perhaps some of it is unfamiliarity with his 3rd defensive partner -- this time Brent Sopel -- in as many games. However, he must be stronger on the puck and when he attempts to clear the puck from traffic or else the defensive unit will have a very noticeable weak link. Sopel is a very sound stay-at-home D-man and if Hainsey struggles playing with him, then I shudder to think what he may do with a less experienced partner.

I hate to single out Ron because I think that he has many very good attributes as a D-man, but if he doesn't figure out a way to make better use of his strengths without succumbing to his weaknesses, then he's going to be the target of a lot of Thrashers fans' scorn this season. But there were a few others who underwhelmed me this evening. However, I'm feeling pretty worn out at this late hour and I will cobble together a run-down of my best and worst from the game tomorrow when I'm feeling a bit more perky. Till then, have a good nite!

Byfuglien Battles Jeremy Roenick on the Radio!!

2010-09-29T12:50:00.021-04:00

ATLANTA!! LISTEN UP NOW!!

<--- This cro-magnon hates you! And you should feel shame. Why do you even bother with the Thrashers? They suck so bad that they think they know better than the Stanley Cup champions by playing Dustin Byfuglien on the blueline instead of at power forward.

Well, if Don Waddell's decade of bumbling wasn't enough to convince you to run as far from Philips Arena as possible without looking back, then fear not because "Dustin-Y" Byfuglien is going to defend the honour of the city of Atlanta!

SO RISE UP ATL-IENS!!

Since this interview on XM radio's NHL Live show has the potential for some interesting counter-punching rebuttals to Mr. Roenick's inflammatory comments about the Thrashers and their decision to play Big Buff at HIS NATURAL POSITION, I'm going to live-blog this media-based donnybrook!

Tune in at precisely 1:21 PM EST. It will be a "brutally good time, eh?"

-- Watching some commercials now and it makes me wish I was home on my couch.

-- And here we go: Dustin is doing well. Per Dustin.

-- Talking about summer and Stanley Cup post-season activities. Says ATL is hot!

-- Bone of contention coming up re: his D-man vs. Forward debate

-- Big Buff wants to establish himself as a D-man. Came in as a D-man and wants to be a player that can be dominant on the blueline as well as forward.

-- Enjoys defense more than forward --> talking about making the transition mentally

-- Now on to training camp discussion: good first week, getting better and better each and every day, hardest working team is their goal every night.

-- Comparison of the west to the SE Div: can't be watching the puck too much against the talent in the SE. Gotta be prepared. Duh. Softball question popped up to center.

-- Adjustment to Craig Ramsay: still learning, but its been good, gotta get the old system outta your head. Still about seeing the ice and making good decisions.

-- Talking about his day with the Cup in northern Minny....come on guys, get to the good stuff!! Booooorrrrriiiiinnnngggg! Ain't this becoming a waste of internet bandwidth!!?

-- Talking about other sports he likes / liked when in Chicago and how it compares to ATL.

-- Are you going to miss the VAN Canucks? Chuckles and giggles ensue. Gonna have to find new buildings to "terrorize"...YES! I like it, bring it Buff!

-- Now asking about eating establishments...more fluff. Now back to the Cup stuff. Jesus H.

-- I'm now wishing Craig Ferguson was doing this interview instead of these sleep-inducing morons. Thanks for absolutely nothing guys! Do you read the internet??

Antro a Go-Go for the Morrow...

2010-09-28T14:09:00.018-04:00

Hey kids! Guess what? Nikolai Antropov is going to grace us with his very large presence tomorrow evening down at the Ramsay Hockey Fun Park when the Preds come down from the hills to battle your pre-season Thrashers. How do I know? 'Cuz Chris Vivlamore of the AJC told me so. I'm not gonna bother posting a link cuz I'm just a lazy blogger who is out to destroy journalism and what's left of its integrity (wink, wink). At any rate, I am very exciting about seeing the "Big Nik-lipse" take the ice for the first time this season.

Which got me to thinking about potential line-ups for Wednesday nite. Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you to death with another laborious read about how I conjured up lines for the next game. But I'm thinking it's a safe bet that we'll see this first line iteration against the Nashville Preda-bores...yeah, I said it!

Pain Train -- The Big Nik-lipse -- B-Litts (hey, that rhymes with "lipse!")

Anyway, we already know that Niclas Bergfors has good chemsitry with Mr. An-TROP-ov, but it's time to see if a Big Nik / Kaner combo can bear some first line fruit. And since Niclas Bergfors played last nite in the 'Ville, then I think it's safe to assume we'll see Bryan Little back at right-wing, since we seem to be a bit thin there right now. As for the other lines, I have no clue. I reckon Coach Ramsay will select his line-up carefully and thoughtfully so he can test a few more of his line chemsitry experiments before setting his roster in stone for the final two pre-season tilts.

Before I stumbled upon the aforementioned Nik-nugget, I was ruminating on the collected thoughts and carefully crafted hypothesizing of one, Ben Wright of the Blueland Blog. In his blog he relates three interesting points about the Opening Night roster and how certain pre-season phenomena are impacting our lives as we relish earnestly the beginning of the new season. In it he discusses the success of the "Freddy Mo-Pevs" line (or "Fred-Rich Pettersson" line as Ben likes to call it), Alexander Burmistrov's strong run at a pro contract and the emergence of Anthony Stewart as a wild-card roster possibility. I know!!! Yes, it could actually happen.

Why?? Because we are suddenly on the verge of becoming desperately thin on the right side of our forward line combos. Not to say that you can't have a lefty playing his off-wing, but that doesn't seem to be the desired look Rammer is looking to achieve. As illustrated by his discussions with the press, as well as his pre-season line-ups thus far, Ramsay seems to prefer a strategy in which wingers play on their natural side since his overall approach -- one of attacking with an aggressive forecheck as a team -- is better served without the risk of players trying to dangle through the neutral zone on their off wing.

But no matter how you slice it, there is a dearth of right-handed players in camp. Of the 20 forwards listed on the current roster, only 6 of them are right-handed and that's if you include Rich Peverley, whom everyone expects to play the pivot. And if Little and Chris Thorburn both play in the middle, then only Bergfors, Pettersson and Stewart remain as natural right-wingers to play on the right side. As a result, Stewart's energized and effective play thus far in the pre-season isn't the only basis for thinking he may have a shot at the final roster.

Humor me as I fancy an Opening Night line-up such as this:

Kaner - Antropov - Bergfors

Modin - Peverley - Pettersson

Ladd - Burmistrov - Little

Eager - Thorburn - Stewart

All 4 RW would be right-handed and all LW would be left-handed. Obviously, that is not a reason unto itself for assigning roster spots. And we all know that players end up on both sides of the ice especially on offense throughout a game. But when it comes to defensive support and assisting the D-men on break-outs from the defensive zone, Ramsay would probably prefer the above scenario as it shortens the distance of a chip-out or outlet pass from the wall if a wing is providing support. Not to mention the fact that a 4th line that weighs roughly 700 lbs can weigh heavily on the minds of opposing D-men as those three are barreling down on you for a loose puck in the corner.

At this point in time, it is anyone's guess as to whether Stewart, Nigel Dawes, Patrick Rissmiller or even Enver Lisin has the clearest edge for the final 4th line roster spot. But going on solely pre-season game performance, Anthony Stewart looks like the clear favorite right now. What do you think?

Canes Oust Thrashers 1 - 0 In "Smash-balls" Almost Thriller

2010-09-25T23:09:00.013-04:00

In tonite's pre-season exhibition performance the Atlanta Thrashers gave a spirited effort, but came out on the short side of a 1 - 0 score. The Canes scored the only goal of the game on a somewhat botched D to D exchange behind the cage in which a loose puck somehow slipped through the grasp of an otherwise very sharp Chris Mason to a wide open Jeff Skinner, who slammed home the puck into a wide open net. In particular, it was an especially disappointing outcome for Zach Bogosian, who made the ill-advised pass towards a helpless Toby Enstrom. The puck didn't quite reach its destination and instead ended up in the back of the Thrashers net.

But tonite was indeed a glimpse of a new brand of "smash-balls" hockey (a term my girlfriend and I coined whilst watching the bombastically physical affair) in which the Thrashers demonstrated a strong will to back-check defensively and forecheck relentlessly when on the attack. The effort was strong from just about every Thrashers player on the ice, but the offensive chemsitry wasn't quite there. Although they had a few golden chances to score, the boys in blue couldn't capitalize on rebound chances or connect on passes when afforded a rare odd-man rush. But when the Thrashers got their best chances of the nite, goalie Cam Ward was more than up to the task.

Overall I, as well as the lovely K-belle, were particularly impressed with the dogged and fierce forechecking effort in which every Thrashers player, to a man, seemed more than pleased to greet their Carolina counterparts with a hard hit. And when Carolina did manage to mount a counter-attacking rush, the Thrashers blueline was very aggressive with active sticks in passing lanes and unafraid to block a shot when necessary. There were only a couple of instances in which the Thrashers were "hemmed in their zone", to quote Coach Ramsay, for a stretch of more than 25-30 seconds. At times, defense to offense break-outs were a bit sloppy, but as the game wore on, the Thrashers players seemed to be much more decisive with the puck in their own zone.

Lastly, before I get into a couple of quick-hitting comments on individual performances, I must mention that there is still much work to be done on the power play; getting more pucks on net with the man-advantage will be key as the Thrashers may struggle early on this season with offensive output. There were a couple of power plays in which the puck was passed decisively and effectively around the umbrella and a few bombs made their way to Cam Ward for juicy rebound chances. But alas, the Thrashers couldn't corral the loose pucks in time for grade-A chances. And there were a couple of blueline breakdowns leading directly to penalties that negated powerplays. However, I can't think of one odd-man rush allowed by the Thrashers, short-handed or when at full strength 5 on 5. The only ones I recall were when the teams skated 4 on 4, but the goalies were both stellar in those situations, especially Cam Ward.

Player by player analysis:

Dustin Byfuglien -- I was delightfully surprised at how poised and in control of the game he was on the blueline. I expected a couple of bad decisions or some inadequate skating, but don't recall anything of the sort. Buff was decisive with the puck, extremely active (and effective) with his long reach / stick and not afraid to bring the puck up the ice with a full head of steam. He seemed to gel very nicely with Johnny Oduya, who is as smooth as silk on the other side.

Brent Sopel -- despite a bit of a slow start in which "Sopes Star", as K-belle dubbed him, actually stumbled trying to shadow a Canes player behind the net, Brent was cool as a cucumber with the puck making several great outlet passes to clear the zone. His positioning was flawless and he never seemed to screen Mason. As always he was the consummate shot-blocker with 4 for the game. He seems like the perfect stabilizing addition to this dynamic blueline.

Zach Bogosian -- when we saw Zach on skates for the first time tonite, we both exclaimed "holy (crap)balls!" because we were startled by how big and mean he looks. Goodness gracious the kid has not only added 15-20 pounds this offseason, but he has seemingly grown another inch or two into a menacing heavyweight. And he had no problem dishing out the punishment with several heavy hits throughout the evening. I'm just not sure how the statistician only counted 3 hits on the evening for him. He was still a bit slow at times with his decisions and a couple of times his gaffes led to a quality chances for the Canes, one of which was deposited into the net.

Toby Enstrom -- not much to say here as he's simply a great skater who makes good decisions with the puck. Still gets pushed around a bit, but he seems to be in mid-season form. But I'm not sure about the Enstrom / Bogosian pairing due to Zach's untimely decision-making. Perhaps start Bogey with Sopel, who is so calm and positionally sound to take some of the pressure off of Zach until he really hits his stride. Noah Welch had his moments when he really put the squeeze on the opposition near his own net, but I just don't see him making this squad over the more diverse and skilled Freddy Meyer. Valabik is in trouble and Kulda will need to play in Chicago to get needed ice-time.

Alexander Burmistrov -- back-checking banshee who always seemed to magically appear at his own blueline to knock the puck away from a Canes' puck carrier or thwart a potential rush. This kid who shall heretofore be known as the "Burmese Python" -- because he strikes quickly to squeeze the puck right off your stick -- has a very good shot at making this team. He did not seem like a boy among men tonite. He is excellent defensively and he had a couple of near misses on the attack including one pseudo breakaway in which he got off a quick wrister that was partially deflected and may have hit the crossbar before going out of play. In one other particularly memorable play, Burmie got the puck deep, took it behind the net before getting leaned on by a D-man into the opposite corner. Alex refused to relinquish the puck and staved off the check and eventually drew a holding penalty on the surely frustrated Canes D-man.

Okay, due to the fact this is getting obnoxiously long -- tough to filter through all of the thoughts running through my head since it was my first look at a lot of new players tonite -- I will try to keep the comments to one-line brief descriptions or adjectives:

Freddy Modin -- a bit slow, but a true pro. Knows the game and doesn't make dumb plays.

Rich Peverley -- slick puck handling tonite, good speed through neutral zone and F/O wizard.

Freddy Pettersson -- hardest working player on the ice, not afraid to shoot and willing to go to the net for redirects and put-backs...too bad there weren't many.

Andrew Ladd -- seemed a bit off tonite, perhaps too slow for the top 6. Had a couple of good chances thanks to Bryan Little but couldn't convert.

Bryan Little -- fast as usual, good puck sense and hard working at both ends, seems to be getting more comfortable in the F/O circle where he was a respectable 7 of 16 in draws.

Ben Eager -- big, fast freight-train of a human who loves to hit, drew an instigator on Tim Gleason and was, well, eager to throw-down in defense of his mates and his honor.

Chris Thorburn -- looked completely comfortable at the pivot making good decisions with the puck and even making a few deft passes to Eager and Stewart for chances. As usual, very good on the penalty kill. Solid.

Niclas Bergfors -- seemed to be the most sluggish on his skates, perhaps a bit too much idle time in Sweden waiting for his deal. He "efforted" at times, but got gassed a bit prematurely on the back-check. Had zero chemistry with Riley Holzapfel, but worked a pretty give and go with Burmie for a good look that nearly led to a goal.

Machacek & Holzapfel -- the effort was there, but they are simply outclassed for this level. Machacek can be an effective cal-up in the event of injury, but time to cut bait with "wood apple" I'm afraid to say. Anthony Stewart was good on the forecheck and dished out some punishing hits, he even dropped the gloves off a face-off, but without any finishing touch, don't see him as anything as an injury call-up, God forbid.

All in all, a very rousing and entertaining nite of hockey at the Bulb. The effort was there most of the nite and the Thrashers had more stretches of dominant puck possession than the Canes. And the "shot clock" confirmed it as they led in shots for the nite to the tune of 32 to 29. At one point midway through the 2nd period, the shots were 17 to 9 in favor of the T-birds, but a couple of penalties thwarted their momentum. Still a lot to "polish up" for the regular season, but already the boys seem to be gaining a level of comfort within Coach Ramsay's "smash-balls" system! If nothing else, the rest of the NHL is not going to enjoy a "polite" reception from the boys in blue anymore as long as Coach Ramsay is around.

Mace In Your Face!!! Chris Mason Gets First Start as a Thrasher Bird

2010-09-25T12:51:00.021-04:00

@ajcthrashers (Chris Vivlamore):
Chris Mason will play entire game in goal for Thrashers vs. Hurricanes tonight.

In addition to that, Ben Wright of the Blueland Blog has posted a "line-up" card consisting of 23 players whom Coach Ramsay can choose from to ice a 20-man line-up for this evening's contest against the Canes. Ben just informed us that the Canes plan on using a veteran-laden roster (Staal, Samsonov, Cole, Pitkanen, Corvo, Ward etc) tonite so we can expect a fairly experienced line-up from the Thrashers too. Let's hazard a guess as to who will play, shall we?

After looking back on Tuesday night's box score, coupled with my recollection of written reports about the Columbus debacle, I've cobbled together what I think tonite's line-up will be.

Of the 4 LW who took the ice on Tuesday night, 3 of them are either not on the roster card for tonite or have been re-assigned already (Danick Paquette). With both Evander Kane and Nigel Dawes sitting this one out, there is no doubt that the following left-wings will get to play their first game tonite: Andrew Ladd, Freddy Modin, and Enver Lisin whom the coaches surely want to assess before making some hard roster-related decisions early next week. Former Blackhawk Ben Eager would be the logical choice to get the other LW slot available.

In addition, the coaches will likely continue their survey of several players who have made a return to the center position, namely Bryan Little, Chris Thorburn and Patrick Rissmiller. However, since there is dearth of top-6 experience up the middle on this list, my gut tells me Rissmiller could be a late scratch. Surely Alexander Burmistrov will suit up at the pivot tonite as it is important to get the 1st round pick as much playing time as possible early on. Logic says to play Little with Pettersson again since they gelled so well together on Tuesday nite, but I suspect Ramsay may want to mix it up a bit instead.

I'm thinking that Rissmiller, Riley Holzapfel, Spencer Machacek and Anthony Stewart are on the roster card because the coaches want to get one last look at them before sending them down to the farm in Chicago. Even though I would prefer not having to watch any of those 4 players, each of them stands to get one final chance to make an impression playing with more experienced players. But since Stewart and Rissmiller played reasonably well on Tuesday nite, I'm going to predict that they both sit tonite in favor of Holzapfel (C) and Freddy Pettersson (RW), who may even get a chance to play with countryman Freddy Modin.

Lastly, it stands to reason that right-wings Niclas Bergfors and Rich Peverley will get their first taste of "live bullet" action, which leaves 2 openings to fill from 3 players (Freddy P, Stewart or Machacek). I think Machacek needs this game to show what he's capable of and therefore Anthony Stewart sits in favor of playing Monday nite in Nashville. Thorburn will likely play the pivot between Machacek and LW Ben Eager while the more proven Rissmiller sits so Riley Holzapfel can bore us with his lackluster play one final time. Riley will have a chance to play between two good players I think so look for a line combo of Modin-Holzapfel-Pettersson.

Finally, based on all of the crap I typed above, probably for no good reason (but isn't it fun to play the role of Coach Ramsay?), I see our forward line combos shaping up like this:

Ladd - Burmistrov - Bergfors

Modin (Lisin scratched) - Little - Peverley

Rissmiller (for Modin) - Holzapfel - Pettersson

Eager - Thorburn - Machacek

UPDATE: Well, I couldn't really be more wrong with respect to tonite's line-up but it was a fun exercise to help idle away some time on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Here is the actual line combos for the forwards as I actually got the defensive pairings correct:

Ladd -- Little -- Machacek
Modin -- Peverley -- Freddy P
Holzapfel -- Burma -- Bergfors
Eager -- Thorbs -- Stewart

Thanks to Chris Vivlamore for giving us all the scoopage!! Should be fun watching these players play together in the exhibition game tonite. Oh, and there is a sobering injury update on Antropov and Slater contained within.

Defensive corps should look like this:

Enstrom & Bogosian

Oduya & Byfuglien

Welch & Sopel

We already know Mason is starting in goal and Vivlamore told us that Mace is expected to play the entire game. So let's hope we don't see Opie coming in midway through the first or second period because Mason is as rusty as Pavelec seemed to be Tuesday nite.

There you have it, let's drop the freakin' puck!!

A Dash of Russian, Heavy on the Swedes

2010-09-24T14:42:00.005-04:00

Indeed! I have been conspicuously absent (as if I have hundreds of adoring readers!) from the blog due to a recent vacation and then a post-vacation hangover of sorts -- too much fun crammed into a short period of time for sure. Thus it is high-time I get back into the game so I give unto you this little newsworthy nugget o' news from the tweety box (and the Grand Kamalian, Dan "the man" Kamal, THE radio voice of the Thrashers):

@dankamal: Pettersson & Burmistrov get their 2nd straight pre-season start tomorrow night vs. CAR. D-pairings are Toby-Bogey, Oduya-Buff, Welch-Sopel.

Thank the good Lord, and Craig Ramsay, for the presence of some veteran D-men for this pre-season hockey tilt! Should be interesting...can't wait to see for myself!!

Okay kids, there hasn't been any additional update on the line-up for tomorrow's game against the Canes as I thought there might be. Thusly, I don't know what else to write about. Well, there are things about which I'd like to write, but right now is not really the time. I was hoping to discuss some of the line combos for tomorrow and who might be playing center, but alas we shall have to wait. Until then, see how creeped out you can be at the sight of this "yoga" video:

Reports NOT Exaggerated, "Freddy P" IS a Dope, Sly Swede

2010-09-16T10:45:00.028-04:00

I know, I know, I keep telling myself the same thing! That it's just a 4 vs 4 scrimmage featuring mostly young kids between the ages of 18 and 20 who don't yet have any "pro" experience. But it's really hard to suppress one's excitement when it comes to the skills and abilities of the player known as "Fly" (Fredrik Pettersson) back home in Sweden. Not to stereotype, but Swedes seem like a fairly conservative lot who aren't prone to slapping monkiers on players without justification. But I digress.

My trek up I-85 was well worth the time as I, as well as a few dozen other observers, were rewarded with some very enlivened, not to mention entertaining, hockey action. There were several players, mostly forwards, who jumped out at me. But I must admit that, going into this, I was much more focused on the play of forwards such as Burmistrov, Cormier, Pettersson and Esposito. And I forgot to bring my list of jersey numbers for lesser known players whom I planned to observe closely. Regardless, it is much harder to gauge the abilities of a D-man prospect due to the nature of the exercise as 4 on 4 hockey is a slightly more organized form of "pond hockey."

However, with that in mind, one can still glean some useful information with respect to the subtle gradations of talent of the various prospects. First and foremost is this: FREDDY PETTERSSON IS NOT A PROSPECT. He's a bona fide talent who's experience playing pro hockey in Sweden has prepared him well for his emergence as a legitimate threat to not only crack the roster in Atlanta, but also the starting line-up. Without a doubt, he possesses the requisite puck skills, relentless motor and pure SPEED -- the kind of speed in which his top gear makes you think he may just skate through the end boards until that split instant when he turns on a dime and glides around the net with ease -- to play in the NHL.

In fact, the play of the day was turned in by the sly, shifty Swedish blur. Pettersson's 2nd goal of the game was hockey poetry in motion. As he streaked across the blueline on the right side of the ice with speed, the jitter-bug forward throttled down into a lower gear as he feigned a big wind-up for a hard slapper, which completely froze his defensive counterpart, then turned on the after-burners driving hard to the cage, but continuing behind the net only to emerge at the opposite pipe so quickly that goalie Ed Pasquale could not get his skate to the post to thwart Freddy's gorgeous wrap-around stuff job. In other words, he completely schooled the defense and made a very hard wrap-around play look incredibly easy. And Pettersson's first goal wasn't exactly boring either as he flashed a little "shake and bake" stick-handling move to free himself of a would-be defender (Julian Melchiori I think) before pulling up at the right circle to rip a laser-like wrister between the goalie's pad and glove hand for a sweet unassisted tally.

So as you can see I am quite exuberant at the prospect of Freddy Pettersson making a story-book run at not only a roster spot, but also a starting role in which his superlative hockey skills are given a chance to shine. But wait, it's only a glorified scrimmage against merely boys, right? I realize I should know better and temper my enthusiasm with a dose of realistic caution, but once you see Freddy P live and in the flesh, you will understand why I'm so giddy about him.

Well enough about Freddy P, time to move on to the other prospects, right!? Here is a player by player run down of the other notable performances:

Burmistrov(C) -- played a very solid two way game showing flashes of speed and stick-handling aplomb; feathered a nifty pass to Danick Paquette in a transition 2 on 1 scenario to set up a quick-hitting one-timer that found a home underneath the crossbar; later D.P. would return the favor with a pretty pass of his own to Burmie, who had no problem depositing the easy tap-in from the slot.

Cormier(C/F) -- certainly never flashy, but always seems to be around the puck; he's strong on the puck and not deterred easily when its on his stick; his personal hi-lite goal came later on when he made a strong, power forward drive to the net from the right wing in which he beat the goalie with a deft wrister from the low circle; he had a couple of big hits as well.

Paquette(F) -- sleeper of the whole camp in my opinion; can't say enough about how he has improved from last summer to this one; always tough as nails and a fearless forechecker, Dannick has added some offensive flair to his game, which is much better now thanks to much-improved skating stride; had the two connections with Burma (who would make anyone better), but also took the shot that led to the first goal of the game, a put-back stuff by Sebastian Owuya.

Esposito(C) -- didn't do much offensively, but it wasn't from a lack of confidence on his skates; the off-season rehab and summer training with Zach Bogosian has certainly paid dividends as he looked strong on his skates and fairly nimble turning in the corners; he also exhibited good hustle on the back-check despite not enjoying very many offensive chances.

Kozek(F) -- this college kid (Univ of North Dakota) never gets much fanfare, but always seems to make himself noticed on the ice with his hustle and scrappy, balls-to-the-wall effort; showed good speed on the rush with his head up and managed to squeeze off a couple of decent wristers on account of his speed to the outside.

Owuya(D) -- very good skater who is not afraid to pinch-in and crash the net when the opportunity presents itself; he had a couple of big hits and also converted the 4th goal for the blue team with a strong finish off a feed from #72, Jonathan Johansson. I believe he converted the first goal of the game, but Ben Wright is reporting that it was Ivan Telegin. But I'm pretty sure Burmistrov was on the ice with Paquette, his usual pairing mate, though Owuya was also out there and involved in the offensive flurry.

Aliu(F) -- strong skater who is not afraid to mix it up along the boards, but he doesn't seem to be reckless in his pursuit of the big hit; had a nice hi-lite reel goal of his own when he received a quick feed for a breakaway in which he made a sweet, fore-hand to back-hand deke before flipping the puck up over the goalie's stick and shoulder for the goal; has the stuff to become a bonafide power forward at the NHL level.

Sol(D) -- probably had the strongest game of the defensman, but admittedly I did not pay close enough attention to the D-men throughout the game. But I did notice big #52 involved in many plays which required a decisive and accurate outlet pass to get the play going the other way.

As for other D-men, I did notice a few things: how big, yet mobile big Ben Chiarot is; how fluid a skater Julian Melchiori is; and of course Paul Postma is smooth like butter. But honestly, I was too caught up in trying to follow the puck and document transition plays that led to goals. Overall though I did not get the feeling the D-men were getting abused; our prospects possess a lot of speed and any young D-man prospect would have struggled to stand out yesterday during the hi-octane, wide-open scrimmage.

POST-SCRIPT: One last thing! I had the pleasure of "bumping into" Chris Thorburn as I made my way out of the rink to go to my car. We ended up chatting a bit longer than I expected as I figured he'd make a bee-line right to his car after my initial question. But without going into to detail (this post is long enough!), I will say that Chris could not have been friendlier in answering my questions and chatting it up like he knew me from Adam. It just reinforces all the more why I love the game of hockey and being around these really classy and hard-working athletes. Thorburn's self-deprecation and easy-going manner helps you see that these guys just seem to "get it" when it comes to interacting with their fans.

"Oh Jesus!" What Was That? Oh, Just a Scandinavian Scat Cat!!

2010-09-14T15:31:00.019-04:00

Sincerest apologies for the temporary hiatus from blogging, but I'm back to post a primer for my visit to Doo-luth, where I'll finally get a taste of hockey action at Thrashers' Rookie Camp -- the final prelude to the real "big boy" Training Camp slated to start on Saturday, September 18th. I'd like to say I was re-charging the batteries, but that'd be a lie. I was simply being lazy and spending too much time debating the good folks over at Billy T's "Iceman" Blog at AJC.com.

The new season is really starting to rev-up as the activity in Duluth moves from "easing-in-casually" (in the form of informal pre-camp workouts) to "ludicrous speed" in the span of a week. Thusly, we better gird our loins thoughtfully and wisely before the rocket launches for real on Friday night, October 8th. The pre-season "foretaste of the feast to come" is upon us and the boys, literally in this case, of winter are sharpening their skates and stoking their inner-fires for a chance to graduate to Big Boy Camp. I don't know about you, but I couldn't be more excited.

Already the action has been fast-paced and frenzied as reports from Duluth's all-rookie affair are trickling in from the interwebs and twitterverse. A group of about 24 young prospects, some seasoned more than others, are squaring off in a blue vs. white scrimmage of wills. So far it appears as though the more-seasoned players are making the biggest impressions, as they should. Most notably the mature Russian D-man, Andrey Zubarev, and Swedish Elite League sensation, Freddy "the Fly" Pettersson, are making their presence felt. And in the case of the Scandinavian "scat-cat" (stick tap to my lovely girlfriend K-belle of "blogtastico!" fame) Freddy Pettersson, the impression being made is an indelible, if not somewhat painful one. Just check out this sampling of tweets, blog comments and message board musings:

@Falconer18 of BirdWatcher's Anonymous fame tweets:
"Game One: @BWA_timmyf has some notes on the first rookie scrimmage. (Hint: he loved Pettersson)"

@BenThrashers of the esteemed Blueland Blog teases:
"Today's rookie camp scrimmage recap: http://bit.ly/bzalOQ Fredrik Pettersson stole the show."

BWA blogger, "timmyf", went on to write in his game recap:

"He didn't score a goal, but that's about the only thing you can hold against prospect Fredrik Pettersson. I got a chance to see him for the first time today and came away thoroughly impressed. He was all over the ice skating circles around the rest of the prospects. He also had several good hits. I was watching from the Breakaway Grill within earshot of Rick Dudley and Craig Ramsay. Dudley was frequently making comments about Pettersson, but more telling were his exclamations: "Oh Jesus!" at one point after Pettersson landed a big hit. "Look at this kid!"

Thrashers' fan "Tween_the_Pipes" gave us this perspective:

"In my opinion, the stand out in this scrimmage was Fredrik Pettersson. By all of his actions it appeared that he wants to make this team beyond all the other players. Zubarev played solid defense. Cormier looked uninspired. I didn't even notice Burmistrov. But Pettersson was a wild man. When I think Swede player I think speed & skill. But this guy has much more. The young man was all over the ice hitting, forechecking. In this one game he looked like the most complete package to me. He took one needless Boarding penalty. But I just chalked it up to his aggressive play. For 5'10" & 183 lbs. Pettersson stood above the 6'3" guys with his desire. Can you tell that Iwas impressed?"

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Freddy "the Fly" came to Duluth inspired. In fact, he seems to be on a mission to prove that Dudley was spot-on in his World Championships Tournament assessment that F.P. was more than deserving of an opportunity to crack an NHL roster. Let's just hope he doesn't crack any skulls with his hard-hitting along the way at rookie camp! But by all accounts I've seen, Freddy is beyond fierce and he is poised to make a serious push deep into Training Camp and perhaps even into the Opening Night line-up.

When we signed Pettersson last June, I wrote a somewhat prophetic blog about Freddy's prospects as a prospect and my corresponding excitement over finding a potential diamond in Swedish rough. Pettersson has worked hard to get here, and his success in the Swedish Elite League may very well be a harbinger of good things to come. I have seen some footage of his play as a member of the Frolunda Indians on the you-tube device and I came away very impressed. In fact, his one-timer is eerily reminiscent of another right-handed shot belonging to a very wealthy Russian living in Hoboken, NJ. But Freddy brings a grit and aggressive style to the ice that some might even consider a bit reckless for his frame.

Pettersson potted 20 goals in 55 games last season for the Indians in the relatively low-scoring SEL. But even more impressive is the fact that he has managed to step up his offensive output in the playoffs scoring .42 goals per game -- 10 goals in 24 games -- as opposed to his rate of .21 during his 3 regular seasons. And if you haven't listened to his interview on Thrashers TV or read his Q&A with Ben Wright at the Blueland Blog, then you are really missing out on a charismatic and charming individual who is not afraid to mix things up in the kitchen as well as on the ice!

Consider yourself forewarned of this blogger's crush on one Fredrik Pettersson, the 21st century Renaissance man. Here are some youtube videos that may help you form your very own Cam Neely-sized man-crush:

Pettersson's hat-trick in outdoor game (two after the 1:40 mark):

Pettersson practicing his one-timer...look familiar??

Another game video (go to :34 sec mark for Hyper-Fly):

Can Freddy Modin be THAT Guy?

2010-09-07T18:40:00.017-04:00

You know, the guy Duds was talking about. That guy our general manager, Rick Dudley, told us he was thinking about signing when pressed about the issue of replacing all the goals scored by once-upon-a-time Russians. You know, that guy. That guy who is capable of scoring somewhere in the realm of 15-25 goals all the while providing veteran leadership on the ice, along the bench and in the clubhouse room? Yeah, THAAAT guy.

Thrashers fans everywhere are debating -- and in some cases chastising -- the Labor Day move by Dudley to bring in the venerable Swede to bolster the team's offensive corps, which still appears to be a bit short on scoring. The burning question right now is: "can the big guy still bring it?" After 3 fitful -- and for Fredrik Modin, extremely frustrating -- seasons of intermittent injuries and rehab therapy, can "Freddy Mo" still produce?

Looking back on Modin's career, there was a time when the 6' 4", 220 lbs of strong-skating Swede was on the verge of becoming a pre-eminent power forward in the NHL. During the most productive stretch of his career -- a 7-year period between 1999 and 2007 -- Modin scored 167 goals or an average of nearly 24 per season. During that span he appeared in 445 games, playing in at least 76 games every season save for one (2001-'02), which coincidentally was his lowest year of output (.38 PPG) since his rookie season in 1996-'97.

While Modin has experienced some highs and lows -- a high of 31 goals in 2005-'06 and a low of 14 goals in 2001-'02 -- he has been fairly consistent in his rate of production for those 7 years. Other than the injury-marred season of 2001-'02, his points per game rate never dipped below .526 during that period. He even posted a PPG rate of .60 or better in 4 of those 7 years. And it is no coincidence that his four highest goal-scoring seasons were those same 4 years of .60 or better PPG production.

Unfortunately, age and injuries caught up with the left-winger and slowed his production to that of a 4th line grinder. In mid-October of 2007, shortly after his 33rd birthday, Modin suffered his first in a rash of injuries that ruined his year. First it was a groin pull and then a recurring series of back spasms sidelined him for 2.5 months and 35 missed games. When he came back from the bad back, he then experienced nagging hamstring and groin issues (as well as the flu!) that kept him out of another 10 games. All in all, he missed 59 games in that lost year.

In the subsequent season (2008-'09), Modin had a difficult time finding any semblance of consistency. Despite a relatively healthy start, Modin could only manage to produce 2 goals and 7 assists (with a -9) in his first 17 games played. He briefly caught fire in early December scoring 5 goals in 7 games played. But he quickly cooled, suffering this time back-to-back goal-less streaks of 8 and 13 games during a long winter of futility. After that, the injury bug bit him again as a knee-injury cost him 25 more games between 2/16/09 and the end of the season.

Needless to say, the 2009-'10 season was one to forget even though he managed to play in 44 contests split between Columbus and playoff-bound Los Angeles. He saw his ice-time reduced significantly though as he logged mostly 3rd line minutes for both teams. After averaging close to 17 minutes per game in the previous two seasons, he only played about 14:45 minutes per game last year. Thusly, Modin never hit stride and potted only 5 goals total for the season. However, he flashed a glimpse of his former self during the playoffs when he banged home 3 goals in six contests against Vancouver.

Apparently that was enough evidence to convince Rick Dudley that Mr. Modin had something left in the proverbial gas tank. But is that tank even half full? If so, Freddy might be able to post 10-15 goals playing moderate -- heavy on occasion -- 3rd line minutes as well as 2nd unit power play duty. For his career, 46 of his 225 goals are on the PP (20.4%), including 6 in the last 3 injury-plagued campaigns. Prior to that, 23 of his 82 (28.0%) goals came with the man advantage. Make no mistake, Modin is a closer. He seals the deal on the PP using his unique blend of size, skill and deft touch. If healthy, Modin can most certainly provide a lift to a Thrashers PP that struggled mightily after the departure of Ilya Kovalchuk.

A LOOK AT MODIN, BY THE NUMBERS:

Cup Year: 57 pts in 82 gms (29 goals - 5 PP) / .695 PPG / 14.1 shooting %

'05-2006: 54 pts in 77 gms (31 goals - 12 PP) / .701 PPG / 14.0 shooting %

'06-2007: 42 pts in 79 gms (22 goals - 6 PP) / .562 PPG / 10.0 shooting %

'07-2008: 12 pts in 23 games (6 goals - 2 PP) / .523 PPG / 14.6 shooting %

'08-2009: 25 pts in 50 games (9 goals - 2 PP) / .500 PPG / 8.0 shooting %

'09-2010: 11 pts in 44 games (5 goals - 2 PP) / .250 PPG / 7.5 shooting %

HOW HE DO IT? MODIN'S METHOD - LAST 40 GOALS:

Medium / long-range slapper from top of circle or just inside - 2 of 40 (5%)

Open ice breakaway or hard drive to net in transition - 4 of 40 (10%)

Rebound put-back or loose change deposit at goalmouth - 12 of 40 (30%)

Re-directed shot on PP or tap-in / re-directed pass - 8 of 40 (20%)

Wrister or 1-timer in slot, at bottom or below the circle - 11 of 40 (27.5%)

Wrister or 1-timer at face-off dot or above / at top of circle - 3 of 40 (7.5%)

The sample size of my "study" is large enough to begin to understand how Modin operates. 50-60% of his goals come from in tight, at the crease or in the slot off a quick feed. He still has very good hands and cannot be knocked off a loose puck easily. Give him the puck in the right place at the bottom of the circle or in the slot and he'll score it. He has a cannon of a shot, but his snap-shot is even more lethal than his slapper. And finally, his long reach helps him get to loose pucks that D-men cannot handle easily.

Assuming his legs and groin are healed, Modin may very well be capable of cracking the 15-20 goal plateau playing in a system -- one with which he should be familiar from his time with Coach Ramsay in Tampa -- that should be a bit more offense-friendly than the one he didn't much enjoy in Columbus. I can certainly understand the bewilderment and puzzled disbelief this UFA signing has caused, but should the soon-to-be 36 year-old manage to stay healthy, I don't see why Freddy Modin can't resurrect his career, which deserves a better ending by the way, here in the city of Atlanta -- a city that once raised itself up from fiery, smoky ruins. Hopefully for the citizens of Blueland, Freddy Modin doesn't go down in flames.

Modin lämnar Kings för Atlanta Trashers

2010-09-04T17:43:00.016-04:00

Okay, if you know what this means, then feel free to click on this link and peruse the Aftonbladet for all of the scuttlebutt. But for those of you who only speak English, it looks as though the T-birds have added another Swede to the roster before training camp. And before you get too excited, Modin is 35 years of age and hardly an upgrade to our current line-up.

However, his experience and crafty skill-set may be able to help the team in spot minutes as the 13th forward. But unless he has spent the last two months "soaking" in a fancy hyperbaric chamber to rescusitate his banged-up body, his contract to play in Atlanta is probably nothing more than insurance in case some of our young "chitlins" don't pan out at camp. Get it? Just a little bit of cooking humor to slake your appetite for delectable Thrashers' news nuggets. THIS, I DO FOR YOU.

In the meantime, I'll go back to pining for more Matthew Modine in Hollywood produced films. Oh tell me where have the greats gone?

And this just lifted off the buffet of tweets du jour...enjoy this yummy morsel of James Mirtle reportage:

@mirtle: "There are reports overseas that Fredrik Modin is close to or has a deal with Atlanta."

Well then, it MUST be true!

Lastly, hat tip to aaronb of Bird Watchers (not-so)Anonymous for breaking the news on their blog here in the States.

Do You Believe In Miracles??!

2010-09-03T15:37:00.015-04:00

Apparently, a miraculous conclusion to the neverending Kovalchuk saga is about to unfold. I'm still holding out hope that disaster can be snatched from the jaws of success...we shall see. Here are the exciting tweets emanating forth from the on-line propaganda machine:

via Darren Dreger tweet, "TSN says a deal between the NHL and the PA has been reached and they’re working on paper work for 5pm."

added 2:37pm, via E.J. Hradek tweet, "The NHL and NHLPA are finalize details for an announcement at or before 5 pm, according to the source."

added 2:50pm, via Darren Dreger of TSN, "Kovalchuk deal will also get approved as part of the new global settlement."

and this from Tom Gulitti: TGfireandice "Correctiion. NHLPA board gave pre-authorization to negotiators to make this deal, so no vote will be needed."

Tip o' the hat to good ol' Paul Kukla of Kukla's Korner for assembling these tweets for the masses.

And now some celebratory Metallica to honor the Day That Hath Arrived:

Oh Mon Dieu!! Merde...I Almond...

2010-08-27T14:47:00.013-04:00

It just keeps getting better and better:

@DarrenDreger -- "courtesy: Jamie Bell/TSN.ca. If it is 15 yrs..$100 mil, that equals a cap hit of $6.66 for the Devils. Sign of the beast!! hahaha."

I hope this was indeed done on purpose by Kovy's agent as that would be sublime.

UPDATED SHIT FROM EARLIER (including renouncement of the Devil and all of his empty promises):

Jesus H....I mean, damn it all to hell! Damn Devils, may they drown in the swamp of misfortune no longer. So let it be written, so let it be done already!! For Christ's sake! Oh, I mean, for the love of fukin' Allah! Let these NHL Front Office infidels approve the damn deal already so we can move on with our lives!

NEWEST TWEETS OF REMORSE (from Tom Gulitti of course):

"I hate to do this, but i'm told now that it is not done yet with NHL."

"I'm told NHL has not completed review and it's more than a formality, but latest proposal addressed previously rejected concepts."

Come on Gulitti, what is this? Amateur hour? Oh wait. Nevermind. I almost almond again!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: the term "almond" is my personal slang for mis-speaking or saying something perhaps you shouldn't have said just yet. Tom Gulitti almond regrettably. You'd think he'd have learned by now!

THE SHIT FROM BEFORE:

Finally, and mercifully, the Kovalchuk saga may be drawing to a close. Thank the good Lord in Heaven above, because I'm sick and tired of reading about Kovy and his stupid contract!

From the tweety box in Jersey:

@TGfireandice: "It's looking like Devils got a thumbs up on a contract proposal with Kovalchuk. Waiting for a confirmation."

@TGfireandice: "OK. This is a little late because others are saying it's done too, but I did get second confirmation on league thumbs up."

Okay, now who wants to start some Bergfors trade rumors!!?