Goin' Twisted Sister on TO's ass!

It's been a while. And I just thought I'd finally add my two cents and raise a pint to the Thrash for, well, going Twisted Sister on the Maple Leaves' rears and silencing them after all these years (you know, the Thrash aren't going to take it? Ugh, c'mon here!). A magnificent home shutout sure was nice, and the kicker was going absolutely bonkers in the Air Canada Centre and getting the home crowd to send the Leaves to the showers with a nice cacophony of BOOS. As a Thrashers fan, I greatly appreciated the victories and revelled in 'em for a few hours... until Atlanta got housed by Tampa Bay... yet again. When is this team going to get over the hump and persevere? Sure, a five-game winning streak is awesome and all, but to come off of that with an 8-0 defeat from a seemingly mediocre division rival? Something more competitive would've left a nicer taste in my mouth... but whatever. And I guess you can erase "seemingly mediocre" from Tampa's squad when Lecavalier and St. Louis and RIchards all showed up and really stuck it to us Thrash. We've all known that those three have amazing potential... and that they've kinda-sorta let a few down so far this season... but they sure came out of their shells for that game last week. Ugh. Hate to see things like that... especially against Tampa.

And not seeing any of that game on top of missing the Penguins matchup altogether really makes me feel like I've missed out... but not really. Sure, I'm there for everything Thrashers, whether it comes in the form of thrilling, life-changing victories or really bad hangover-esque massacres at the hands of hated division rivals. But I really can't say much about their play from the past two games... and I'm not ashamed of that realization... it just hurts that I can't be there for every second of it. Damned work commitments, I swear. This week proves to be quite different though. Well, kinda.

I mean, I am going to the critical matchup against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. And just thinking about that game gives me fits. Is it the fact that we're going up against the West's (and possibly league's) best team? Is it the fact that we're going up against the league's best defensive pairing in Pronger-Scott Niedermayer? Or is it also a lingering bitter taste in my mouth knowing that we lost one of the league's top emerging young stars in Chris Kunitz early last season? It also could be that I have two people from the Ducks on my fantasy team (one of them being Kunitz, ugh). But whatever combination of all of that mess, a nervous anxiousness still casts over that game and really will see how the Thrashers matchup against the league's elite. The Ducks are no joke anymore (were they ever, really?). All the hype that surrounded them during the preseason has appeared true as the Ducks have met up all expectations and appear to be the clear front-runners in the Western Conference and do not look to be coasting any time soon.

What's also great about this game is that it is one of three which the Atlanta Spirit are handing out vouchers to fans who bring in unwrapped toys for those less fortunate. Through the Toys for Tots program, the Atlanta Spirit are letting fans have the opportunity to attend a game in January for free. It's always better to give than to receive, right? Sounds like a win-win situation for everyone involved to me!

And don't forget about the game on the 21st when Pittsburgh returns to Philips - it also marks the return of the Snyders to Atlanta on their tour across North America. Definitely not something worth missing, for sure.