Practice - 2007/12/10

You know, when the Thrashers usually acquire a new player, us fans are used to the idea that there is always a price to pay. Some feel that after last year's trade for Keith Tkachuk, we traded away everything but the kitchen sink. We didn't stop there and obtained Pascal Dupuis from the Rangers for one of our picks, Alex Bourret. And then there was the "at the time it seemed like a good idea, but..." trade for Alexei Zhitnik, which led to Braydon Coburn's departure. Other than those transactions, the only other "main" trade is the one everyone falls back on when the Thrashers are mentioned - the Hossa/Heatley deal. So as a Thrashers fan (at least in my limited awareness of these kinds of deals), I've grown accustomed to the idea that in order for us to gain anything in terms of players, the team usually gives up a little more than they bargained for.

For once, history did not repeat itself and the upper management team of the Thrashers shocked the NHL world and picked up veteran forward Mark Recchi off of re-entry waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Because of this kind of signing, the Thrashers only pay half of his salary, while the Pens pick up the other half.

So you're gonna tell me that we picked up a player who, in his career, averages almost a point per game for only six figures? This is a great move by our GM and it already showed this morning when I attended practice up in Duluth. Rex was all smiles it seemed and got his mouth flowing with his teammates. I often saw him hang around Todd White, but he spent some time with Brad Larsen and (to my knowledge) shared a line with Bryan Little and Eric Perrin. Tom over at Talkin' About Practice (a Thrashers practice blog) has some more information on the types of drills that were run and what other players Recchi teamed up with.

Like what Ben mentioned in this morning blog post, I couldn't help but think of the similarity between Recchi and Brett Sterling. The body type was pretty similar and I feel that some of the facial features were close as well. The whole reason why I made my way up there was because of Recchi, but when I saw him on the ice about 10 minutes early and with the number 8 on the back of his helmet, I kept telling myself that Sterling usually wears number 21 and he's in Chicago... what's going on?! Good thing I was solo and kept my mouth shut there. :)

With regards to the Sterling thing and the pairing with Little, I think it's gonna be great that Recchi will spend some time with the young'uns and I know that the kids will be all ears whenever Recchi has some words in their direction. What will be interesting is the moves that will transpire because of Recchi's spot on the roster. George over at Talking Thrash speculated about what roster moves might occur, but here's to hoping that kids like Little and Haydar aren't affected by the signing of Rex.

For now, take some time to get used to this new face in Blueland:



For more pics from this morning's practice, just check the ol' reliable Flickr.

"You're doing WHAT?!"

You gotta love last-minute decisions. After getting about four hours worth of sleep last nite, I'm gonna hit the hay right after I hit "PUBLISH POST" because I just made the last-minute decision to make the trip up to Duluth tomorrow morning to get the first glimpse of new Thrashers forward Mark Recchi. While I certainly cannot guarantee anything monumental in terms of pics, I'll do my best and come back in the early afternoon (before work!) to hopefully put up something about practice.

WE WANT... A HIATUS?

Image courtesy of inkdesigner.

Well, well, well - look what's going on here!

The past month has been pretty intense here at Camp WWD. I went to a few shows in the past month (The Smashing Pumpkins mostly), went to a hockey game here and there, and definitely kept myself in the loop of all that is Thrashers hockey. Hell, I even attended a meeting here a few weeks ago to (hopefully!) participate in the volunteer program for the NHL All-Star Game next month.

What's really consuming everything is my upcoming wedding! Yeah, you heard it right - I'm happy to say that I'm getting married in February and that's what's had most of my attention for the past few weeks. Granted, we've been engaged since June, but the reality of it is starting to kick in and it seems like every decision is life-or-death at this point.

So while I hate to be completely slack-ass with my posting and the bloggings, right now the wedding is the absolute priority. I'd really love to update more about the resurgence of Le Thrash (who are now quite close the .500 level, yay!), the (hopeful) ascension of Ilya's All-Star status, the almighty Kari Lehtonen (!), or the shows I've attended in the past couple of weeks. Sooner or later I'll get to those kind of things.

What's certain to come before the new year is a list of my 10-20 absolute favorite songs that were released in 2007. I don't normally do "Best of" sort lists with albums, so I'll just post about songs that I actually love lots and possibly make a downloadable playlist for y'all to enjoy. Keep a lookout for that if that suits your fancy... and if you're like me, an die-hard fan of hockey and the indie rock.

But in the meantime, I can't be any more pleased with how the Thrashers have performed. Sure, the recent losses have soured things a bit, but who would've thought that this team would've dug themselves out of the oh-and-six hole that they dug themselves to start the season? I had plenty of faith in the Birds, but this kind of turn around was rather impressive and inspirational, even. And how ridiculous is Ilya Kovalchuk right now? I feel bad for anyone who ever has to face his shots this season, for reals!

Posts TK, pinky swear! I thought I'd take a minute (or, well, 10) to make a quick post about what's going in here at Camp WWD. The Camp is about to grow (with the wedding!) and we couldn't be more excited about that!

And you better believe that there's gonna be a groom's cake that's Thrashers themed.

LET'S GO THRASHERS!