2007/11/11

Photos: vs. 'Canes, 2007/11/11 (clicky)







More @ the flickr!

vs. 'Canes - 2007/11/10

This was by far the most exciting game, at home, of the season. The Thrashers ran out of the locker room, flew through their warm-ups, and just owned the first 10-15 minutes of the first period. One after another, the shots added up and Cam Ward was certainly tested. Things finally broke a little when Slava Kozlov beautifully set up the first goal behind Cam Ward.

The play started in the Carolina zone as the puck was dumped in and Jimmy Slater was chasing. Slater ended up doing one of the things he does well - stumble to the ice in pursuit of the puck - but he didn't quit there. He stayed with the play and kept the play deep while Kozlov fought for possession. As a result, Kozlov gained control, swept a great pass to Eric Perrin who was waiting for the action right in the slot and took advantage of a gorgeous setup.

However, the team playing against the Thrashers were the 'Canes, a team who has a tendency to give us some weird, flukey games. So, anything can happen against this team because it just seems that that's the norm. For example, when Carolina stumbled out of the gate last season and struggled to be offensive following their Stanley Cup victory in '05-'06, the 'Canes came into Philips in early October winless and ended up pulling out the win with a few theatrics in the third period and overtime that were the results of last-second attempts to get the puck into the Thrashers net.

Such was the case last night. While the Thrashers had a 1-0 lead and were ready to enter the locker room after the first period with a little bit of an energy buzz (because they pwned the 'Canes for a majority of that period), taking a penalty against one of the better power play groups in the league at the end of the first wasn't the best idea and I just knew that nothing was a sure thing against this 'Canes team. Even with 10 seconds left in the period, I knew that, even if the Thrashers held their own, the 'Canes always had something left. Such was the case as Zhitnik's tripping penalty resulted in the Rod Brind'Amour goal with about SEVEN SECONDS left... in the period.

For the most part, the Thrashers did alright in their 3-5 loss to Carolina. It started out powerful and ended on a slightly exciting note, with the feeling that the Thrashers "might could" pull this game out of nowhere. But in the end, Carolina's three power play goals did the Thrashers in, contributed with a little bit of fatigue on Pavelec's end.


You absolutely have to figure the alertness of Pavelec with this game, but you simultaneously understand Don Waddell's decision to go with the rookie in net. In his three previous starts, he got a little rattled against Tampa Bay and held both Washington and Florida to one goal a piece. For a kid who's basically making the jump from juniors to the NHL, and is succeeding at this kind of rate, you want to ride that for a while just to see what might become of him. I certainly don't regret the decision because Pavs did a great job in his first NHL stint, and did everything he could in this game.

My three stars of the game? Number three went to Hossa, just because it's Hossa. I kinda had my doubts about his play as of late, and I still do, but last nite's two-goal performance has to do wonders to his confidence. As I mentioned earlier, when the Thrashers meet up with Carolina, strange things happen. You can definitely apply this to Marian Hossa's performances, too. Back when we visited Carolina last season, Hossa got the Thrashers' scoring started there when he put a weird shot on Cam Ward, shorthanded, the puck deflected off of Ward's skate from the impossible angle and into the net. Hossa's second goal was eerily reminiscent of that moment from February. A bunch of stuff going on right by the net, and Hossa tries to create something from nothing, puts the puck on goal from behind the net and it results in a 3-4 game, closing the deficit to one goal now. I don't know what it is about Marian Hossa, the Hurricanes, and especially Cam Ward, but he finds odd holes in Ward's game when it's completely inadvertent and I appreciate that mindset from Hossa.

Star number two, hate to say it, was Carolina's Cam Ward. Let's face it - the Thrashers had several legitimate chances to break this game open. Great shots from Hossa, Kovy, Todd White, and even Mark Popovic were all cast away or snatched out of the air by Wardo and I have to give him credit for keeping his team in it. As Atlanta Thrashers fans (and fans of hockey in general), we all know how important it is to have strong goaltending. We found that out in the Washington game from this past week, with OND-REDGE's fantastic performance being the difference-maker. Pavelec wasn't on top of his game, while, on the other end of the ice, Ward was lookin' mighty good. Kudos to you, Cam Ward, for being able to give your team the win that they needed to maintain Southeast Division dominance.

And this is kinda surprising (but not after last nite), but Eric Perrin earned star numero uno. His vision to be where he was for the first goal was great and he just knew that Kozlov was gonna make the pass. Incredible. Also, good for him for making the shot. I've seen enough times this year players squander these fantastic chances they have either right up in the goalie's grill or in the slot. Hooray for Perrin for cashing in on one of these opportunities. And I must mention the shortie that he created in the second. Just watch the video of the game and you'll see what I mean. Chasing down the puck in the Carolina zone, Perrin beat one of the Hurricanes to the puck, took him down in the process, created some open ice when the Thrashers were SHORT-HANDED, moved Ward around a bit, and make Ward commit to the play. Hossa caught notice of this, moved to the right a bit, and Perrin made the pass over to him and capitalized on the play that made Cam Ward sprawl over the ice in a feeble attempt to do SOMETHING. Eric Perrin's sense of what was developing was keen and commendable. I, for one, applaud you for your performance and stamina last nite, Mr. Perrin.

The next game is on Tuesday, against the Panthers in Blueland. I'll see you there?!

2007/11/08

A Tale of Two Goalies, or Three

As previously mentioned, starting goalie Kari Lehtonen went down on October 18 with what was a muscle strain, somewhere near the groin area. Fire Wagon Hockey might as well be "Kari Central" and they have an informative post on the extent of the injury which has him out until probably mid-December.

In the time being, though, the goaltending situation has become very interesting. "Moose" Hedberg played the first few games after Kari went down and did an OK job - not game-saving, but just OK. Granted, Hedberg was facing probably somewhere around 35 shots per game (at least, put I'm just throwing numbers out there with zero research) and his defense didn't help him out that much in his little run of a few games that he started. With that said, Moose did just OK.

The first game of the road trip, Moose got pulled after letting in five-too-many goals and Mr. Ondrej Pavelec took over and performed just OK... but, considering he's pretty much a rookie without any real professional experience (only a couple of games with the Chicago Wolves doesn't cut it), I'd say that OND-REDGE did just fine, considering he was up against Gnat St. Louis, Lecavalier, Richards, and Prospal.

Then, after a couple of days off, Moose was chased out of the net (or given a rest) to sit against where it all started, Tampa Bay. OND-REDGE came in, let in a few goals, then was rock solid. Keep in mind that this guy is basically coming directly from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to the Atlanta Thrashers. He collected his first NHL win on the road, in the division rivals' 'hood. He followed that performance with a great game on Tuesday, almost posting a shutout against another division rival, the Washington Caps. The ONE goal he let by wasn't even a softie or anything that would be considered as such. He kept bringing quality save after quality save and endured the ridiculous first period that yielded 16 Caps shots, compared to the six that the Thrash brought on.

Surely, as things are when hot, they are "ridded" (or is that "ridden"?) for a while. Case in point with OND-REDGE. He did a good job in his first stint against Tampa, certainly held his own the second time around against the 'ning, and was phenomenal versus the Caps. Odds are that he will get the start on Friday against the Panthers in a nice duel with Tomas Vokoun. It should be a pretty good matchup.

And now the "problem" stands as this: when Kari returns, and if Pavelec keeps up his current level of play, which goalie gets the shaft? We all know that Kari has some serious talent in him, but ever since the playoffs from last season, he's been off. Hedberg can play the role of starter, but he's definitely reliable enough to be a good backup. And then there's his whippersnapper in Pavelec. The easy move is to bring Pavelec back down to Chicago to develop a bit more, but what if he's going well enough to gain the NHL experience? Or with our lacking in defensemen (or quality defensemen, that is) or a true number one center, do we attempt to deal Kari out to someone who can fill our needs or Moose and someone else? It's certainly an odd predicament to be in if you're part of Blueland Nation. But, in reality, it's not that bad of a spot to be in.

Returning to the Fold - Thrashers Are 6-9!

Well, well, well - look who's back? Forget about your blogger, let's talk about those Atlanta Thrashers! When I last left the Thrashers (or maybe when they left me for a couple of weeks), they just collected their first victory over the New York Rangers, Eastern Conference rivals ever since the Rangers swept the team out of the playoffs last season. Also, Bob Hartley was just canned, or "relieved of his duties" as some might say. There was also the dismissal of Kari Lehtonen, via his groin struggles. The "kid" line of Brett Sterling, Bryan Little, and Darren Haydar was coming into its own and providing a great deal (not that that was saying much at the time) of spark for the team.

How would this squad respond to these events?

After, uh, "busting" out of the gates with a sparkling oh-and-six record and causing all havoc in the Atlanta area about the status of this hockey team, interim head coach (and general manager extraordinaire?) Don Waddell transformed this team into a winner, going 6-3 in the nine games since Hartley's dismissal, including that barn-burning victory against the Rangers.

The games in that span haven't been the best hockey, but six of them have provided the best results possible - wins! At times during the nine-game span, the team has looked sloppy, sluggish, and a little discombobulated. The morose Thrashers returned promptly after that last win at home, suffering a deflating 2-6 defeat in Tampa. A messy shootout win in Toronto was followed up with a performance that was mailed in to Nashville, losing 0-3 to a backup goalie's first start. Things were looking up for a minute when we collected wins against a young Blackhawks team and a fairly decent (just not that evening) Canadiens team. However, many wondered how the Thrashers would respond to these victories when faced with real game-time adversity for the first time all season; the Thrashers then met the league's best team, the Ottawa Senators, at the ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa.

Things didn't fare well, or did they? The Thrashers played a good first period of hockey in that game, then completely collapsed in the second, facing four-goal deficits twice. However, this oddly didn't signal the end of the game. In games earlier in the season, when the Thrashers were like zombies on the ice, they didn't play for pride and certainly didn't attempt to show up in losses to Tampa (2-5), Buffalo (0-6), and Philadelphia (0-4). During those "games", the team faced one-goal deficits early and backed down immediately, providing absolutely no sense of hope for anyone in Blueland Nation. This was when Ilya Kovalchuk was medicated and kept caged up. Apparently his time spent in a figurative choke-hold was long enough and he came out charging more than ever. Recording a hat trick in the Ottawa game, the Thrashers made the last 10 minutes of that game very interesting for the league's premier team. After being down 0-4, the Thrashers made a game of it and came within one goal in the final minutes. While the end result of the game was one for the loss column, the game itself was surprising. The morose Thrashers returned, but the real team was turned on with the flip of a switch, seemingly. This team had the potential to stomp the best team in the league on their own ice. Was there something the fans didn't know about, but Donny Waddell did? Could he actually be hailed as a hero? The early signs of that were possibly manifesting themselves.

The end of the road trip was met with the same team that appeared in Ottawa. No matter the time of the season, it always sucks to play three games in Tampa Bay in a 15 game span, forget about the struggles we're going through. The Thrashers never seem to have any kind of luck in the St. Pete Times Forum. The terrible combination of Tampa players raising their game (Vinny Prospal in particular), Thrashers players not showing up, and our losing ways didn't provide any promise. But apparently the Thrashers (or hockey gods) felt otherwise. Down 1-4, the No Quit Thrashers reappeared and were once again led into battle with the superhuman Ilya Kovalchuk. The 6-4 comeback victory was capped off with another hat trick from this human-machine hybrid.

While I hate to say it, but it seems that this team is all Ilya, all the time right now. I don't like the thought of that one bit. I, like the rest of us, want more contributions from the team. There are others out there who are doing their part in the scoring. Dupuis, Little, and Perrin are all throwing their two-cents into the mix and having some say in the matter, and even Kozlov is starting to wake up from his early season slumber. The logical question after naming those names is, "What about Hossa?" Game after game, the same theme repeats itself - all Hossa needs is a big game and he's back. Sure, that could be true, but I'm not too sure if I believe it. I know Marian Hossa's potential, we all do, as evidenced by his 100 point campaign from last season. This time last season, Hossa was getting recognized for his play and was mentioned by several analysts as a possible MVP candidate for his leadership and play. He can turn it on, but when will this happen?

What's interesting is that because of our record, Ilya is getting almost no recognition for his role in the team. He has been by far the best player this team has ever had at any given moment in their history. Career year doesn't do it justice and franchise player is like an understatement. I'm waiting to see when this guy takes off his jersey and unveils a Thrashers shield over his chest. Either that or a tattoo on his arm. But in all seriousness, the play from Ilya is remarkable and no one is paying attention. I guess two hat tricks in a row gets a bit of praise from The Hockey News and the NHL. It's about time and it's obviously overdue. This guy needs to be paraded around town for a while because he's almost single-handedly pushing this team forward and pwning the competition.

Up next - the Florida Panthers in Sunrise on Friday. With our recent win over the Washington Capitals, we hurdled over them to escape the basement of the Southeast Division. Depending on the result of tonight's Lightning/Hurricanes game, with a win on Friday, we could be tied for second place in the division! It's unfortunate that the game won't be broadcast by any local media outlets, but definitely make your way to the local bar that has CenterIce (Taco Mac is a good alternative, but I always make my way over to Y-Knots in Peachtree City) or to a friend who has it, if you don't. While the Panthers have never scared me, this game is a big one because of the possibilities.