Detroit? Toronto? Next! Carolina?

So let's see here - it looks as if the Thrashers are hitting their stride yet again. Following a four-game skid in the red, Blueland Nation is as vivacious as ever with four wins in the last five games, picking up nine out of 10 possible points in the process. This past week was nail-biting and completely triumphant with great wins against some hyped Original 6 teams in the New York Rangers and the (UGH) Toronto Maple Leafs. Marian Hossa just keeps getting better and better as the season progresses with two conescutive four-point performances during the two matchups and Kari Lehtonen has two shutouts in his past three games, including the amazing show he put on against the Panthers last Saturday.

With all the notoriety that Hossa gets for his stellar play, it makes you wonder if it has any impact on the ego that is Ilya Kovalchuk. In years past, Kovy was the apex of the team, trying to do everything (well, everything offensively) to win and/or score points (mainly crazy-ass slappers from the point that seemingly never are on net). He was the face of the Atlanta Thrashers and the youth of the NHL. Now, with his early season goal-scoring slump (that he eventually carved out of) and more defensive style of play, Kovy is still a tremendous asset to the team, but some of his contributions aren't necessarily showing up on the scoresheet each night. And with all of the fanfare that Maid Marian is receiving, do you really think that things like this make Kovy feel left out and looking to make the fans start up "KOVY" chants in Blueland? Let me say that it does make me scratch my head a little, only because I know how competitive that Russian is and how he lives for the team. It has to have an impact on him to an extent, but you start to think, you know?

Also, it cannot be said that it was such a pleasurable experience at the Arena Thursday night when the Leaves fans were silenced COMPLETELY. After going more than three years without making things competitve against the punks of hockey, the Thrashers started chipping away slowly, then had enough of that crap, and exploded in the third for a most triumphant win over a bitter rival. If you've ever been to a Leaves/Thrash game at Philips before, you know how the Toronto crowd makes their presence known. They are the most arrogant, in-your-face, and pig-headed fans out there (at least in the Atlanta area) and it just blows my mind how much representation they have here. But to actually give them nothing to cheer about was a complete treat for the Blueland faithful Thursday night. Darcy Tucker was silenced. Andrew Raycroft couldn't stop a beachball if he tried (in the third, at least). Mats Sundin's life was spared (due to the lack of Exelby on the bench). And there was absolutely no sign of Tie Domi, Ed Belfour, Eric Lindros, OR Pat Quinn - THANK GOD. Whatever... it just feels good to rip into the Leaves for a bit and not have any reservations about it either. Finally.

Up next on the schedule is a tiny road trip that features stops in Florida, Toronto, and Tampa Bay, with a matchup against the Penguins at home on Saturday to close out the week. Judging from the Panthers' recent play, Kari and Co. will be looking to hold back Florida even more. Florida's been scoreless in the past three, which included 1-0 defeats against Le Thrash and a shootout loss to Montreal. And we all know that Toronto will come out banging on home ice across the border, so we'll see how that one pans out. Hopefully the Thrashers will seek revenge/lucky bounces against the Lightning and try to make up for last week's miserable loss that occurred when the deciding goal in OT came off of Andy Sutton's shoulder and into the net. Gotta hate it when you're on the short end of plays like that.

Let's go Thrashers!