by Jes

Let's start off with the Photo of the Day. Kevin Bieksa has Patrick Sharp in a very ... precarious position.

"Get up, you big baby!"


Get your captions in!

--

Wow, the Canucks BARELY managed to not get swept in the season series by the Los Angeles Kings. Of course, it took a 2-1 overtime win to give the Canucks one frickin victory against Marc Crawford's poorly coached squad.

I totally love the Alex Burrows/Ryan Kesler combo. Sure, we don't expect them to score every night, but we love the effort and defensive ability. I'd match up Kesler/Burrows to the other great checking duos, like the ones in Detroit, Anaheim, and New Jersey.

Markus Naslund should take notes on how to deliver an honest effort. Why is it the Canucks captain gets a free pass? Vigneault ought to make Naslund a healthy scratch to sink in a message.

---

Wayne's World - Some thoughts from our Southern-fried correspondant.

The Avalanche are playing the Thrashers tonight, and Thrasherw marketing has designated tonight as one of those "White Out" games where the first 10,000 in attendance get a white T-shirt.

Ooooooooh...Is that supposed to scare the opposition?

These so-called "White Out" games are getting so ubiquitous in sports that even college basketball teams are doing it these days...And the T-birds are scheduling it against the same team that started this trend...

In reality, Atlanta Spirit (GOOOOOOO Team!) should give away 10,000 carving forks, as in, "This team is done; stick a fork in 'em".

Agreed. For the Coyotes/Jets, it's good. For everyone else, it's sad.

---

From IIHF correspondant Joeri Loonen, a cool article about Slovakia's hockey factory: Trencin.

Hockey is a religion in Slovakia, especially in Trencin. When talking with players from the city, dropping the name brings a twinkle into their eyes. Trencin has embraced its NHL stars, but the players embrace the city as well. A good example is a prestigious project that Marian Gaborik supported. To create more ice time for local children, he funded a new sports complex called the MG Arena. Situated in the city centre, the complex offers more than just an ice-rink. It also includes two gyms, a small hotel and several shops. Gaborik’s father takes care of the day-to-day operations while his brother Branko (a scout for the Minnesota Wild) was also involved in the project.

If only the rest of Slovakia was as good as producing talent, the Slovaks wouldn't be stuck behind the usual Top 6 countries :(

---

Author Joe Pelletier is also a rabid reader, and decided to do a list of the books he considers best in the realm of hockey.

HockeyBookReviews.com has a special feature today. Book reviewer Joe
Pelletier names the top five most important hockey books of all time:

Unlike other sports, baseball in particular, hockey does not tend to
transcend the literary world very often.

I'm not sure why that is. Is it because the game does not translate
onto paper that well? I don't think so. Is it because hockey attracts
few great writers? Not at all. Perhaps it is there are just fewer
hockey books out there, and therefore fewer classics?.

Well, can you really name basketball and football books that are popular and considered classics?

The Hockey Sweater gets my #1 vote, since it's a story that most any Canadian kid was exposed to, and the exlusion/wanting-to-fit-in story line can pretty much hit the heart of anyone who reads it.

Labels: Burrows, Canucks, Kings, photo of the day, Ryan Kesler, thrashers

by Jes

So, I'm checking out the boxscores from last night, as I was out and didn't see any NHL action last night.

Pretty standard stuff until I hit the Buffalo-Atlanta game

Buffalo 10
Atlanta 1

Is that right? Now, this was 6:30am and my eyes were a bit fuzzy. I figure I had a spare eye crusty blocking my vision and this wasn't right. Well, eye crusty was quickly wiped away, the Pet Shop boys were singing away in my headphones, and the 10 remained. Yoikes!

So, I loaded up the boxscore in anticipation and just imagined how Thrashers fans felt this morning after their team was pwned by a Sabres squad that hadn't won a game in its past 10. Since Greg is probably drowning himself in a case of Budvar, I had to look to Ben Wright over at The Blueland Blog.

There's nothing you can do to explain, justify or rationalize a debacle like last night's 10-1 loss in Buffalo. The Sabres played well and the Thrashers played about as badly as I've ever seen them play. Everyone that was on or behind the bench has to take some responsibility, with the possible exceptions of Nic Havelid, Tobias Enstrom and Colin Stuart. Stuart scored the lone goal for the Thrashers (short-handed) and finished the night even. Havelid and Enstrom, by some minor miracle, weren't on the ice for a any of Buffalo's seven even strength goals and they both finished +1. They were out there for Buffalo's first power play goal though- the one that came 19 seconds in the penalty.

It was about as ugly as a loss could be, but thankfully nobody got hurt and you can only give up two points in the standings. A loss is a loss and the bad ones don't count any differently than the close ones IF you can find a way to move on.

Exactly, IF the Thrashers can move on. It's just one game of 82 in the standings, but getting smoked so badly can either crush a team or motivate them not to suck like that ever again.

The South(l)East Division still remains tighter than a ... err... I can't think of anything NOT dirty ... moving on, then *ahem*

Carolina 50GP 50 PTS -10 Goal differential
Atlanta 49GP 49PTS -27(!) GD
Florida 48GP 46PTS -16GD
Washington 46GP 45PTS -12GD
Tampa Bay 47GP 41PTS -22GD

With Nylander out for about a month, the Caps will likely lose the momentum they were gaining. The smart money is still on the Hurricanes, as they have the most talent and don't seem as fragile as the boom/bost Thrashers.

It'll be close ...

Labels: sabres, thrashers

Labels: milestone, rants, sabres, Slava Kozlov, thrashers

by Greg

Jes gently suggested that perhaps I might write something for this blog, to, you know, justify the fact that my name still appears on it. So I was all set to write something up about the Thrashers' pickup of Mark Recchi, how it was a ridiculous desperation move, Recchi's done, etc etc. Then I got busy with errands this morning, busy with work this evening, it never got done, and Recchi's scored two goals (so far) in tonight's game. So I kind of dodged a bullet there. Waddell's a genius, I tip my hat to him, and so forth.

Unfortunately, that leaves me really without any post (unless I want to switch gears really fast and praise the Recchi pickup), since I've been too busy to really take note of hockey in three or four weeks. I know Milan Hejduk had an amazing game, HC Zlin signed Tomas Kloucek for the full season (good move, chaps!), but beyond that... anything? Sidney Crosby made his first appearance in Western Canada, which I gather was the most important thing to happen since independence, but...

So instead, the lamest of all possible posts after an absence measured in weeks: separated at birth. Last weekend, I watched the first half or so of Warren Beatty's umpteen-hour epic, "Reds." Every time Beatty (as John Reed) was on screen, I was a bit bothered by a nagging sense of familiarity, but I couldn't place it.


Beatty, right

Tonight, I was looking at the HC Zlin web page, hoping for Kloucek news (and hoping I'd magically learned Czech, so that I could read the Kloucek news), when it hit me:



Erstwhile Hockey Rants favorite Jaroslav Balastik!

Ok, that's all I've got. Go Thrashers! Go Recchi!

Labels: Balastik, thrashers, tomas kloucek

Our Southern correspondant, Wayne, chips in with his thoughts on the Atlanta coaching situation.

Somehow, I get the feeling the Atlanta Spirit (sounds like a cheerleading squad, no?) will force Don Waddell to stick it out behind the Thrasher bench for the entire season or go with the minor-league coach in Chicago. That way, ownership can make a clean sweep after the season and bring in a new G.M./coach combo. On the other hand, the Thrashers have not been building up too much goodwill in the community, and may tell the fans, "We're writing this season off" may kill both advance and walk-up ticket sales...Just after the Birds finally got themselves on the radar last year. (But then again, maybe not so if you remember Tim Tucker's column about the abysmal TV ratings for the playoffs.)

Frankly, with so many players not knowing what the hell they're doing, they look more and more like a first or second-year expansion team...


Well, the Thrashers have rarely NOT looked like an expansion team through much of their inception. Waddell has not been able to get over the hump and turn his squad into a competitive squad on a nightly basis. Despite having loads of offensive talent, defensive and goaltending issues have always plagued the team.

Meanwhile, over in New Jersey, the new arena opening is supposed to bring scads of Devils fans to the games and prosperity to the neighbourhood.

Throughout the ceremony, he heard speaker after speaker refer to the “renaissance” and “rebirth” of Newark, words he had repeatedly used in recent years to extol the virtues of building the 17,000-seat arena.

Jeff Vanderbeek, the chairman of Devils Arena Entertainment, was the first person connected with the project to speak. Mr. Vanderbeek, the arena’s main developer, said that Mr. Booker, Mr. James’s successor, was “the reason this city will prosper.”

Hands up if you know of any areas that have suddenly turned from crap to gold with the building of a new arena?

*crickets chirping*

What happens when there isn't a game in an arena? It's a big, vast, empty space is what it is.

Labels: Devils, thrashers

by Greg

Or at least, the less-right guy. The most upsetting thing about seeing the announcement of Bob Hartley's firing was not seeing "and GM Waddell" in the headline. I like ol' Bob for obvious reasons, but watching the Thrashers this season, nothing has suggested they are anything close to a well-coached team. Not that I expect that to change under interim coach Waddell -- Lou Lamoriello he ain't.

Don't have any real speculation as to who will be the next coach, and really, unless it's Scotty Bowman, nothing looks set to change. Waddell is the primary architect of the hole the Thrashers are in -- until he's finally gone, they'll find it tough going to get out.

Labels: thrashers

by Greg

Allow me to change course once again and proclaim myself "alarmed" with your 2007-2008 Atlanta Thrashers. I was planning to go to Saturday night's game with New Jersey, but in the end, blew it off (hockey has failed in the South!) and watched from the comfort of my couch. All things considered, the right decision.

I got engrossed with cooking dinner and drinking a bottle of wine, and so got into it a bit late -- turned it on during a phone conversation with my Mom, which went something like this:

Mom: "Dad's fine, sister's fine, etc etc"

I turn on tv, Patrik Elias scores to make it 2-1.

Me: "(word that you don't normally say in conversation with your dear sainted mother)"

Mom: "Excuse me?"

I should have just turned it off there. Instead, I got my hopes raised by the first decent period they've played all year, made mouth farts as the announcers talked about the need to "play a full 60 minutes" (perhaps the most inane thing a hockey commentator can say?), then watched in sorrow as the Thrashers, indeed, didn't play a full 60 minutes. God, that sucked.

This isn't a case of a team getting a few bad breaks. Kari Lehtonen was considerably less than spectacular last night, but he wasn't helped by his defense's complete inability to clear out the front of the net. The third period is just an ugly haze of red wine, Devils surrounding Lehtonen, and shattered dreams.

There's also not much to be scared of offensively, especially with Hossa out. Kovalchuk, ok. Slava Kozlov and Todd White aren't doing much. The kids are yet to accomplish much.

The double-barreled rumors are getting going -- will Hossa be traded? (if so, the Thrashers are in contention for whoever goes #1 next year) and will Hartley be fired? (wasn't his fault that the team's glaring needs weren't addressed, but they should be doing better than this regardless.) I know, I know, it's early yet, but this is shaping up to be a long year.

Labels: thrashers

by Greg

I'd planned to go to the Thrashers' exhibition Friday night, but as it turns out, I'm in mid-season form as far as telling myself that it's cheaper and less hassle to just head down the street and have a beer. So instead of a thoughtful, reasoned perspective on how the Thrashers might do this year, I got a hangover instead.

I'm considerably less panicked by Atlanta's chances than I was when I wrote this, but that's more because of two months spent paying only passing interest to hockey than because of anything done to actually cause optimism. The Thrashers' season still rests on several big ifs -- getting scoring beyond Hossa/Kovalchuk/Kozlov, the defense playing much better than last year despite (on paper) being about equal, and Kari Lehtonen resembling Andre Racicot a little less.

That said, the team does have a nice little rookie crop in the form of Bryan Little, Brett Sterling, and Tobias Enstrom, which is at the very least kind of fun. I don't think any of them except perhaps Enstrom were expected to make the team, and they all beat out more established players to do it. At the very least, it's more exciting to see Little or Sterling than the career AHLers the Thrashers have usually brought in for recent seasons.

* * *

It's quite possible that not everyone follows the career trajectory of Tomas Kloucek as closely as I do, so if you missed it: TK, idol of millions, is in the Syracuse Crunch camp on a tryout basis. He's probably kind of a long shot to make it, due to numbers and because no one's really seeing Kloucek as a possible NHL defenseman any more, but at least it's a relief (to me, at least) to see him pop up somewhere.

* * *

For hockey history nuts, Joe Pelletier's done quite a bit on the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series in recent weeks. Find a selection here. Lots of really cool stuff -- a look at the political uses of the series, a history of Soviet jerseys, tons of information that's not usually found in histories of the series.

Labels: 1970s, thrashers, tomas kloucek

by Jes

Karel Pilar, the guy with the serious heart condition, has found a road back into the NHL via the Atlanta Thrashers. Greg must be creaming in his pants right about now.

I seriously hope this doesn't end badly. Remember, Pilar has battled a serious heart condition for the past few years, and has played just 16 games in the past 2 seasons.

Here's a little reminder of what Pilar can do for a club. Check out the clip of him and Robert Reichel back in their Litvinov days.

Labels: Free Agent Signings, Karel Pilar, thrashers

by Greg

Well, Jes has kept the place clean. I've sort of been in hockey hibernation -- when last I checked in, I was still agog over the Avalanche's signings of Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan. I've sobered up a little, and I realize Jes is likely right in saying the Avalanche will probably regret the last couple years of the Smyth contract, and Dear Lord Stanley is correct in pointing out that Smyth isn't a cure-all, but hey -- the Avalanche identified needs and filled them. Good on 'em.

How about the rest of my summer hockey wishlist?

1. Never hear about Jim Balsillie or the status of the Nashville Predators again

2. Good homes for Tomas Kloucek and Petr Tenkrat

3. The Thrashers following Colorado's lead and filling some gaping holes

#1 is obviously not happening in my lifetime. #2 -- well, Tenkrat looks like he'll be staying in Timrå. According to the town's official website, Timrå has "good service and fine transportation links," not to mention good fishing and a large shopping center nearby. I'm sure he'll be happy. Kloucek is still hunting for a home.

#3 -- pretty far from happening, unless you identified the Thrashers' most pressing need as "more AHL-level talent." That wasn't high on my wish-list, alas. Going in, I would have said the Thrashers' most pressing needs were as follows: defense, centers, scoring depth. Picking up Todd White sort of addresses the latter two (though I would have liked a bit more), holding onto Slava Kozlov keeps the depth sort of steady -- although speaking of deals that'll look ugly down the line, I'm not looking forward to seeing Kozzie get $3.85 million for nine goals in 2009-10.

Defense? Eeeeek. They've lost Greg deVries, Andy Sutton, and Shane Hnidy -- added Ken Klee. Sutton is no big loss -- at some point, bozo penalties and turning over the puck in front of the net repeatedly are no longer canceled out by the occasional big hit. But deVries was steady (and never got credit for it), and Hnidy was at least reliable. Klee is a "cagey veteran," or "old and slow" if you prefer. (There was a priceless line in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in which Klee said that every time he became available in the past, the Thrashers were always interested -- now, presumably, that no one else wants him, he'll sign.)

So that leaves Atlanta with five NHL-caliber defensemen. I'm fine with Niclas Havelid and Alexei Zhitnik. I'd be fine-r if they were the #2 and #3 defensemen, rather than #1 and #2. Beyond that, though? Steve McCarthy is starting to look perpetually "enigmatic," Klee and Garnet Exelby are lower-end. Mark Popovic isn't anything more than a spare defenseman. By all accounts, Boris Valabik isn't ready for the NHL.

The Thrashers may be relying on Swedish import Tobias Enstrom to step in, but he hasn't, y'know, played in the NHL yet. And there aren't that many options left on the free agent market -- looking at James Mirtle's list, the only attractive options are Danny Markov, Brent Sopel, and maybe Ossi Vaananen. The rest are headcases, burnouts, or generally useless.

The Capitals and Panthers have both improved considerably this offseason; the Lightning and Hurricanes are both likely better than they showed in 2006-07. Yeah yeah, I know they don't play the games 'til October -- but at least at this point, with the Thrashers' hopes resting almost entirely on Kovalchuk/Hossa/Lehtonen, last year's playoff berth is looking likely to be an aberration.

Labels: avalanche, Free Agent Signings, summer, thrashers

by Greg

I pretty much missed the draft entirely, between preparing for and departing to paradise on earth, so I'm still catching up. A couple notes from this end of things:

* Who knows if he'll ever be a contributor at the pro level, but Avalanche top pick Kevin Shattenkirk has a great hockey name. It just sounds ... tough. Bruising. "He shattenkirked that guy right through the glass!" Unfortunately, it appears he models his style of play after Brian Leetch, not the first guy you think of when you think "hard-nosed" (or "throwing a check"), but ... still. Great name. It'd look good on a hockey jersey, if my closet didn't already make it look as if I have a mental disorder.

* Kind of hard to get too excited about the Thrashers' draft -- which resembled those of the 1990s St. Louis Blues, when they'd given all their top picks away to get Scott Stevens or Brendan Shanahan or Mike Keenan. Jes says good things about Spencer Machacek, so I'll take his word for it. Hockey's Future, in addition to referring to him as "lanky" (one of my favorite words), also notes that Machacek "already has 40 WHL playoff games under his belt," which should do the Thrashers good if they ever make it to the WHL playoffs.

* I've been playing my old pal Eastside Hockey Manager recently, and in a nice bit of synchronicity, my fake 2007 draft came at about the same time as the real one. In fake draft '07, fake Zach Hamill went first overall (to the fake Columbus Blue Jackets). In real draft '07, real Zach Hamill went eighth overall (to the semi-real Boston Bruins). When I saw that, my instinct was seriously "the Bruins got a steal!" before my conscious reminded me that the Zach Hamill made up of ones and zeroes that I'm drunkenly manipulating at 1 a.m. is not the same as the real-life one. And as is frequent in these cases, I took a moment to think about what I'm doing with my life.

Labels: avalanche, Entry Draft, games, Spencer Machacek, thrashers

by Jes

In the real hockey encyclopedia, "Depth" would have a picture of Vernon Fiddler, and indicate a player that can barely make the NHL, but will pump up your NHL like Ah-nold.

So, colour me unexcited with the Canucks, after an uninspiring draft effort, picked up some of that low-frequency 'depth' that some people jism over.

The Canucks acquired centre Ryan Shannon from Anaheim and defenceman Jim Sharrow from Atlanta, sending forward Jesse Schultz to the Thrashers and the rights to left-winger Jason King and a conditional draft pick to Anaheim.

Better start planning the parade route through Yaletown, right?

OK, maybe I should try and see the good side of this.

1. Jason King, who is a bigger idiot than the average voter, was of no use to the Canucks as he was too busy frolicking around in Europe. King has a decent spurt to start his NHL career, but then got a big head (aka Anson Carteritis) and thought he was the shit. Well, he is 'shit' and good on the Canucks for getting more than a used "Chyna" Playboy. *Shudder*

2. Players named Jesse always suck, so the Canucks did themselves a favour by getting rid of Schultz.

Now, maybe Greg can fill me in on this Sharrow guy before I fall asleep.

Rysn Shannon? He's 5'9" and lighter than air. Given the Canucks bad luck with smurfs (Brandon Reid, Steve Kariya, Herbert Vasiljevs, Lubo Vaic), the odds that this guy is an effective NHL producer are as slim as Angelie Jolie suddenly is. (and WTF is up with that?)

Yes, Shannon's AHL totals have been impressive of late (97 points in 85 games), but just 11 points in 53 games? Yoikes.

Unlike Reid, Shannon's defense doesn't blow...but the Canucks don't need another defensive winger who can't score.

At least Moose fans ought to be thrilled. I'm sure not.

Labels: Canucks, ducks, Jesse Schultz, Ryan Shannon, Ryan Sharrow, thrashers, trades

by Greg

In their short history, the Thrashers have already established a borderline schizophrenic sense of design -- three different jersey styles, none having much to do with the others.

They removed one from the mix this past season -- the dark jersey with the much-maligned stylized "T" on the front. The replacement was, in my eyes, a step back -- the only improvement was using the primary bird logo, which I like. It's got a bunch of things that could be cool -- asymmetry, "ATLANTA" down the sleeve -- but that somehow don't work. And the powder blue is bad, bad, bad -- and then exacerbated by more (dark) blue on the shoulders and arms.

(That said, the powder blue is easily the most popular jersey at home games, so it's not like anyone's taking my fashion advice.)

For my money, the best design is the white home road jersey -- clean, good logo. I could do without the silly zig-zags on the sleeves, and I don't like the design (bird tracks?) running around the waist. But it's the best of the lot.

I convened a panel of experts to discuss these jerseys -- Brushback of Sidearm Delivery, who actually has a doctorate in bad jerseys, and Jes, who runs this here blog, and came up with this idea in the first place. Brushback first:

Atlanta's jerseys have never really made a strong impression on me, one way or another. I like the "Atlanta" down the sleeve, though I don't like that it's only on one side. I'm not into any of the colors the Thrashers have used, especially powder-blue, but they haven't been awful, either. I even kinda like the logos the team has used, even though they're generic and stupid (a bird holding a stick, some kind of "T" thing) and the jerseys themselves are a bit too "busy"-looking.

The opposition to that shade of blue was universal -- I give you Jes:

The Thrashers uniforms are a lot like the team on the ice: Flashy, busy, but not quite good enough.

They have a pretty good main logo and nice colours (although the baby blue is inexcusable and does not work on a hockey sweater), but way too much frilly stuff going on. If they stuck to a more basic design, they could have some killer unis. If their hockey team also stuck to the basics more often (hard work and defense), they'd likely win more games.

Jes also came out against the Thrashers bird -- The Star Trek geek in me loves the Romulan Bird of Prey they have going on, but I'm not sure what they were trying to do -- but I have to come out in opposition here. It's a little angular and silly, but overall, considering some of the damage other teams have done to animals...



...all things considered, I think they just did fine.

Labels: Sartorial Slam, thrashers

by Jes

Alabama Wayne pointed out the fact that you could still get your hands on a very exclusive Keith Tkachuk Thrashers T-Shirt from NHL.com:

Root for your favorite by wearing this Atlanta Thrashers Keith Tkachuk Name and Number tee shirt from Reebok®. This 5.5 oz short sleeve cotton tee shirt is taped shoulder to shoulder, has a double needle sleeve and bottom hem and a comfortable crew neck collar. The officially licensed tee shirt is designed with the 3-D team logo and NHL® shield printed on the front, and the player's name and number printed in 3-D on the back.

Nevermind the fact that the Thrashers have told Tkachuk to take a hike, the shirt is still being sold for US$20 a pop.

Umm... is there anyone dumb enough to buy these at full price? Does the NHL not have a clearance bin option, or are they still selling Joe Juneau Capitals jerseys for $300?

How about a little common sense from NHL.com?

Labels: marketing, NHL.com, thrashers, tkachuk

by Greg

The Thrashers end with at least one distinction -- the first team bounced from the playoffs. Hooray?

On a hungover morning, there really isn't much to say about the game. The Thrashers looked pretty good at times -- the Rangers just were a better team. The Thrashers seemed to be working hard. They.... just weren't that good.

So after a playoff debacle, what next? In instant messages yesterday I suggested fire Waddell, fire Hartley, trade Kovalchuk, who knows what else. Now, with a bit of sleep and sanity injected, that seems like a bit much. But what next? Atlanta blows everything out to make the playoffs, dumps picks and prospects, and they're still out in a not-too-competitive four games.

Waddell should be gone. Seven seasons, four playoff games. It's not so much that he's done a lot wrong (aside from the Alex Bourret for Pascal Dupuis trade, which was pretty foolish). But the team seems stuck in neutral -- they should have made the playoffs before now, they should have been battle-tested before now. Time for someone new. (note: this all gets reversed if the Thrashers think about Doug MacLean as an option.)

Hartley? The "Stanley Cup winner" label shouldn't mean much any more -- he won that with Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, Drury, Bourque, Blake, Foote, and Roy. I'm a fan of the guy, I've rooted for his teams in Colorado and Atlanta, but the team fell apart down the stretch, he clashed with Kovalchuk, and he was thoroughly outcoached in the playoffs. Bring in someone new. (note: Waddell has already said it's 100% certain Hartley will be back next year, though.)

The rest of the team? Nine players are under contract for next year -- Kovalchuk, Hossa, Holik, Havelid, Rucchin, Lehtonen, Slater, Hedberg, and Zhitnik. I'm ok with all of those -- though Holik is really overpaid for his level of contribution.

The rest of the guys? Tkachuk definitely shouldn't be back, though he played well after coming over. He's going to increasingly be an albatross, and a heartless one. Andy Sutton, for the love of all that's holy, shouldn't be back -- if they really need someone to take bad penalties and turn the puck over in front of the net, they can doubtless find someone cheaper. I love Greg deVries but he's too expensive. Slava Kozlov vanished down the stretch and is starting to head downhill. Scott Mellanby will probably retire.

I'd like to see Eric Belanger back, like to see Jon Sim back, like to see a few other guys back. But I think the key change is gonna have to come from outside. As much as terms like "heart" and "intangibles" make me roll my eyes, the Thrashers are a pretty heartless team. They're chippy, but when things get tough they fold like crazy. Aside from Mellanby and Garnet Exelby -- neither of which are core players -- and in his weird quiet way, Niclas Havelid, no one seems to be a chips-are-down type guy. Watching Brendan "Human Garbage" Shanahan snarl and sneer and hiss (and score goals) throughout the series, it really struck me that Atlanta didn't have anyone equivalent. The closest thing was Ilya K throwing his temper tantrums, which didn't really stack up.

So now, the offseason begins. In a few days, I'll decide who to cheer for going forward (hint: not the Rangers), and commence dreaming of Chris Drury in a Thrashers uniform. Then prepare for a summer where the Thrashers give Waddell a six-year extension, sign Tkachuk and Sutton, and trade for Derian Hatcher. Really, after a series like we just saw, I wonder if I'm better off giving all this up and starting a blog based on soccer or something. Feh.

Labels: don waddell, failure, kovalchuk, Rangers, thrashers

by Greg

I got an e-mail from Jes this afternoon, expressing shock that I hadn't weighed in on last night's foolishness. The reasons were twofold:

1) I missed the game. Incredibly busy at work for most of the night, and by the time things tapered off a bit to where I could conceivably watch it on television, I'd had enough less-busy co-workers tell me "4-0," "5-0," "6-0" that I didn't feel any compelling reason to turn it on. Wakes aren't my idea of entertainment.

2) It's just too ridiculous to even acknowledge. 4-0 or 6-1 would be worth the anger, but why even draw attention to the fact that a team I root for lost 7-0? I don't go out of my way to make people aware of embarrassing things. And if I talk about the game, someone might tell me how Ilya Kovalchuk's "fighting major" looked, and I probably do not want to know.

Instead, a couple fun facts from the series:

* Thrashers' leading scorer: Pascal Dupuis!

* Ilya Kovalchuk: as many fighting majors as goals

* Marian Hossa: no points

* Leading shot-taker: Bobby Holik

* Belanger, Hossa, Kozlov: combined -15

And so on. I also note that everything I said about this series beforehand (most of it, thankfully, I was smart enough not to write here) has turned out to be wrong -- the Rangers aren't soft, Lundqvist isn't falling apart, and so on. That in mind, I'll predict a 4-1 Thrashers win tonight -- I can't imagine them coming back to win the series at this point, but one last gasp sounds about right.

Labels: First Round, Rangers, thrashers

by Jes

It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of the guy, and I'm not really enjoying the fact that he's doing so well in the Big Rotten Apple.

Go figure that a guy like Avery would score a goal like this ...



You know, Johan Hedberg was otherwise pretty good in Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Rangers as he made 37 saves and allowed his team a chance to win it. Still, how can you ever live down a goal like that? It's amazing that he was able to suck it up and just forget it happened.

As for Avery, what a beast he's become. He finished with 1 goal, 1 assist, and 9(!!!) shots on goal in that game.

As a Ranger, Avery had 20 points in 29 regular season games, and now 2 points in 2 playoff games. I guess we're finally seeing what he can do when he shuts up a little and starts using his brain for more than just empty yapping and hitting on dumb Hollywood blondes.

*growl*

Labels: Avery, Johan Hedberg, Rangers, thrashers, video

by Greg

Well, hmm, I'm feverishly looking for some good signs after two games. Um, Johan Hedberg looked pretty good out there tonight. Beyond that... everyone was wearing the right uniform. No one accidentally put on the road jersey. Good job, there.

Beyond that? Well, the Rangers have really thoroughly outclassed the Thrashers in the first two games. Atlanta's scoring chances are rare. And while they're outhitting the Rangers, they're laying hits on the Matt Cullens and Michal Rozsivals of the world -- the Rangers, by contrast, are deeply under Ilya Kovalchuk's skin.

How bad is it? For the first time ever, this afternoon, I found myself thinking "You know, we could really use Sean Avery." Chilling.

So, nothing to do but bitch and moan 'til Tuesday. Crap. Good thing I drink.

Labels: Avery, First Round, playoffs, Rangers, thrashers

By Greg

As a hockey fan, theoretically, I'm excited about the Friday and Saturday setup in the Southeast Division -- the Thrashers and Lightning separated by one point for the division championship, both playing division foes Friday night, then meeting up themselves Saturday for a game that will almost certainly decide who takes third. (If I've done the math right, the only way it can be decided tonight is if the Thrashers beat Carolina and the Lightning lose in regulation to the Panthers.)

As a Thrashers fan, I'm considerably less so. The Lightning are on a mini-roll, having won three straight, and have a bit more experience in this sort of thing. The Thrashers are doing their familiar win-one lose-one, waddling into the playoffs, marveling at the novelty of it all -- and have a sulky superstar who doesn't like his coach. (Registration possibly required -- bugmenot.com passwords here.)

Hurrah! Just the recipe for success, just what you want to be seeing. Kovalchuk's petulant display at the end of the loss to the Capitals (and good job a) blowing a lead, and b) blowing a 6-on-3 power play at the end, guys) was noticeable, and his comments afterwards haven't been really encouraging. Sure, conflict can nurture greatness, as in the case of the 1970s Oakland A's .... and, uh, I can't think of any other examples. I'd like to think that this will all end with the anger motivating Kovalchuk to amazing, lights out displays in the coming weeks, but he's never been noted for his maturity.

But, hey, anyway. It's a great weekend for hockey -- and regardless of the outcome, it looks like the Thrashers-Lightning have a great chance of falling into the 3rd and 6th spots in some manner or another, so we're likely to see a lot of these two teams battling in coming days.

Random note: the Stanley Cup made an appearance in Atlanta the other day, so I got to go up, take a crappy cell phone photo, verify that it does indeed have "Sucks" etched in on every Red Wings appearance, verify that the bowl does indeed say "Do Not Deliver to Vancouver." Last time I saw the Cup up close was in '96, when it made an appearance in Colorado, during the Avs' playoff run. Does this sighting hold similar good tidings for the Thrashers?

Yeah, probably not.

Labels: kovalchuk, Lightning, stanley cup, thrashers

by Greg

With their win over the Bruins today, Atlanta is all but assured of its first playoff spot -- beating a team led by Petr Tenkrat is a pretty excellent gauge of postseason hopes. They've got the 93 points James Mirtle requires for an Eastern Conference team, and that's good enough for me. It would be beyond improbably, at this point, for the Thrashers to drop out. I've been nervous up to now, every shootout loss to the Panthers producing a near-panic, but now I think I can breathe a bit. The Thrashers are in the drivers' seat for a division championship -- if they somehow drop out of the playoffs, it'll be so amazing that it'll be almost a privilege to watch.

But that really isn't enough.

The article that Jes cites here only briefly touches on the on-ice product, but if the Thrashers don't get past the first round, it's going to be a bigger blow than missing the playoffs last year. I don't buy the G&M's assertion that "the future of the franchise ... could be at stake," but it'll become a lot harder to finally make a real dent in the city.

The Thrashers, right now, are at the best point they've ever been at. Each win adds to a franchise record for points, but more importantly, there's a real buzz about the team. Games are selling out (granted, yes, with copious freebies in the mix). At work, people are talking about the Thrashers rather than the onset of the (eccccch) Braves' season.

But there was a buzz last year, too, when they came back from the lockout -- and they lost it. People have been hearing for years that the team is on the verge -- they've been told that Kovalchuk, Heatley, Hossa, Lehtonen was going to put the team over the top -- and they have a grand total of zero playoff games to show for it, while fellow expansioneers Minnesota and Nashville have at least seen the postseason. The Thrashers are stuck in the virgin club with, God help us, the Blue Jackets.

Also adding to the problem -- Atlanta is a very transient city. People come here for a few years in their 20s and 30s to work for Delta or CNN or Coca-Cola, but not a lot put down deep roots. I'm from Colorado -- most of the people I know are from Illinois, or Michigan, or Texas, or New York. There's actually a lot of hockey fans down here -- problem is, they're Rangers or Bruins or Red Wings fans. I've been in town as long as the Thrashers have, and it's only in the last couple years that they've risen to become more than a curiosity in my heart. The people who are growing up with the Thrashers as their primary hockey team are still a decade away from earning a wage. If Atlanta has hopes of winning over the current 20- and 30-somethings, they've got to win now.

Things look good for the Thrashers right now. Despite all my misgivings at the time, the trades for Zhitnik, Tkachuk, and Belanger look really good. The goalies are achieving consistency at the right time. People are talking.

But go four-and-out against the Lightning in the first round? None of that's going to mean anything.

Labels: doom and gloom, thrashers