Recap & Photos: The Kills (clicky)

On Wednesday evening, you could've found me at The Earl, checking out the post-punk duo The Kills. Their "thing", you see, is that they consist of only two members and rely on a drum machine to provide the underbelly of their tunes. There's just no way you could conceive of two people with guitars (sometimes just one) and a drum machine sounding so mind-blowing, but somehow The Kills do it. And that's exactly what they accomplished on Wednesday.

Back in 2005 (I think), they played Coachella and upon returning home, I noticed that a lot of people were commenting on their set and saying how awesome it was. I took a minute to get into what I missed out on and got very little out of it. Either I wasn't there mentally or I just didn't get the sound or whatever, but their newest album at the time (No Wow) refused to stick with me. So I kinda brushed 'em aside and that was that. Then they came out with Midnight Boom this year and things changed. Lead-off single "U.R.A. Fever" got stuck in my head for days and refused to leave. What was really odd what that I didn't really think the song was that special after first hearing it. I decided to go back to what I previously cast away and listened to No Wow and I was swept up in it, along with this new record. After hearing that their tour for Midnight Boom was ending in Atlanta, I wanted in and prepared for anything. I just couldn't think that their kind of setup would be as propulsive and explosive as what was hyped.

Damn, was I wrong. They brought it hard and they brought it loud; it was insane! There was a screen playing various videos behind them while they were doing their thing, with videos of seemingly random things to performances of Patti Smith and Tom Petty. Alison Mosshart, who does most of the vocal work, really had my attention most of the night, and she definitely commanded it. Whether it be through her creepy glances to the back of the club or through her odd stage antics (like walking in circles or distinct squares in between songs), I was drawn to her. The other player, Jamie Hince (who provides a vast majority of the guitars), displayed tons of intensity throughout their set, often yelling while playing. You'd think that with their kind of guitar sound (especially how LOUD it is), the guitars would be enough for noise, but apparently not.

At any rate, the show was awesome and a great surprise. Here are some decent pics from the gig and hopefully they'll do the show justice.

vs. Pens - 2008/01/30

A-ha! It seems as if the Thrashers have returned to their winning ways, collecting two points against the Pittsburgh Penguins last nite at Philips Arena. For the first time in much too long, I was actually able to catch the entire game via the television broadcast. It's been fairly difficult to balance hockey with everything else going on and, needless to say, the girl and I haven't been to a game in, like, forevers. So when we realized that we had a free evening ahead of us to sit down, relax, and pay attention to the game, it was nice to return to normalcy for a change.

Personal things aside, I thought that the Thrashers played a great game. I don't think I can really add any more positive words about Kari's performance last nite. Seriously. It seemed like he was in the right place at the right time for every shot on him. The "no-goal" was a good call with all of the added examination, but I wasn't too happy about the defensive positioning during that play. If that Pens rookie would've made some "stick-and-puck" contact, it definitely would've been a different story. Zhitnik's rear got to see more of the action on that play than Kari, which clearly wasn't beneficial at all. Fortunately we caught a break and an off-ice ruling went in the Thrash's favor.

It's definitely unfortunate about the Kovalchuk injury. Initially, I thought Kovy was hamming it up to influence the severity of the call against Ruutu. I figured that the so-called "knee-on-knee" injury wasn't that much of a big deal and that Kovy would return later on in the period and continue to wreak havoc. Apparently I was incorrect when I made those assumptions... kinda. While Kovy did return later on (something that I expected), it was apparent that the injury he suffered was more of a bigger deal than both he and I envisioned. I'm sure it was more noticeable in the arena, but it was made clear to me when Malkin tried to take advantage of Kovy's lack of speed and attack the net. Kovy wanted to correct the situation and go after Malkin, but he just didn't have the extra "umph" that he normally possesses to continue on with the play. He subsequently left the ice after that play and wasn't to return again.

Don Waddell provided the news to the media this morning that Kovy would be out for the games against Buffalo and Washington this weekend and that he would hopefully return to action next week. This news absolutely affects the Thrashers as Kovy has been the player that has carried the team basically all season long. Early on when the Thrashers would go down four-too-many goals in a game, it was Kovalchuk who rallied the troops and potted a few to start momentum. The power play was looking incredibly weak in the first few games, then Kovalchuk's ridiculous slapper from the point often burned holes into the back of the net and between his goal-scoring and the amazing passing of rookie Toby Enstrom, the power play (before last nite's game) was ranked very close to the top 10 in the league.

When Kovalchuk disappears from the lineup, it's huge. Remember when he was out for that suspension against the Rangers immediately prior to the All-Star break and how the team responded? The score was 2-1, Rangers. Granted, Kovy's goal-scoring was staying a bit in the games leading up to that point, but I'm sure that it's a safe bet to assume that when Kovy is absent from the Thrashers lineup, the offense struggles to either gain control of the puck or create any kind of offense, often both.

Even though the struggling Sabres are in town tomorrow nite, they are nothing to take lightly. Recall when the Sabres didn't have a victory in the New Year... that is, not until they crossed paths with the Thrashers in Buffalo, which regrettably resulted in a 10-1, uh, thrashing of our beloved birds. Since then, Buffalo has still struggled and is nothing close to the team that they were last year. It will be interesting to see how the Thrashers (along with Moose Hedberg, who will get the start tomorrow) respond to such adversity as no Kovy.

Let's not forget about a crucial divisional tilt against the surging Caps in Blueland on Saturday. AO and Kovy are virtually neck-to-neck in the scoring race and when these two teams pair up against each other, it's a treat to watch two of the best players in the game battle it out because you know they both love the spotlight. This game is an even bigger deal as I just mentioned, they are divisional rivals. The playoff race within the Southeast Division has been quite the tag-team affair lately. Three to four teams all want the top spot because, in reality, it looks like that will be the only Southeast representation in the Eastern Conference when the playoffs arrive. Carolina is barely holding on, with the Thrashers, Caps, and Panthers all wanting to have their say in the battle for number one. Right now, Washington is pushing hard for it and we all know what the Thrashers have dealt with in the past couple of weeks. Everyone knows what's at stake and this game will be a crazy one. It must kill Kovy to be in the position that he's in and to watch such a highly competitive game from the press box as a non-factor.

Let's hope this Thrashers squad gets it in gear and keeps the greater end in focus. While every member of the Thrashers roster will tell you that it's best to concentrate on "one game at a time", they all know what they are aiming for and what is the common goal. Concentrate on the wins against Buffalo and Washington - yes - but collecting four points in those games is essential for gaining any ground in the playoff race.

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?!

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.

vs. Rangers - 2007/10/18

Here we go - Coach Waddell has evened out his winning record behind the bend and the Thrashers did what hasn't been done yet this season - win. I mean, everything was in place for this night to be a success.

Power play goals? Check.
Penalty killing and even a shorty? Check.
Physical play? Check.
Leads into the second AND third periods? Check.
High energy and passion? Check.
Game-breaking goaltending? Check.

You name it, it was there. Granted, the Thrashers got a little sloppy towards the end of the game with a little goal barrage by the Rangers, but this 5-3 victory was a great one for Le Thrash.

The crowd was into it for the first time all season, which felt so appropriate. After the team went up 5-1 in the third, the "LET'S GO THRASHERS" chants were ridiculous and Philips Arena was rocking for the first time since the puck dropped on October 5th.

What really impressed me this evening was the play of (OMG) Todd White. I'm still not sold on the guy to be our main center, but he played a solid hockey game today. That goal he scored while Sterling was chilling out in the box was just incredible. It seemed like for the past six games, the Thrashers came out flat, without any sense of urgency, and appeared to throw in the towel even when the cards were slightly stacked against them. The heads-up and never-die play that White showed on that goal was great. He took the shot, thought the play was dead, but didn't stop there, where that kind of activity might not have occurred a few games ago. He realized that the puck was not stopped, and made a second effort to flick it into the netting to put the Atlanta team up for a third goal.

The only negative of the experience this evening was the fact that it appears that Kari Lehtonen cannot catch a break. During the preseason, he tweaked his groin that caused him to sit out of play for about a week or two. Then the 0-6 slide began and Kari was looking kinda dismal, even questioning his play and talents. And now, he suffers a groin strain in the game, not even halfway into the first period. Waddell makes it sound awfully similar to the injury that took him out of play for a few months at the beginning of the '05-'06 season. I hope that they are over-exaggerating the severity of it. Tomorrow we'll find out whether Freddy Brathwaite or Ondrej Pavelec get called up from Chi-town to ride the pines for a while.

Would it be beneficial to bring Pavelec up or give the opportunity to Brathwaite, who has several years of NHL experience under his belt? Time will tell, but it'll be quick because the Thrashers will meet the Lightning in Tampa tomorrow evening.

Back to the game, though... it's hard to determine whether this win feels so good because it's the first win OR because the Thrashers actually played well. The Thrashers were still outshot by eight shots, 36-28, so it might be of concern that the Thrashers aren't taking that many quality shots. It shouldn't be dismissed, however, that the team looked more offensive than they have been all season. There were fantastic opportunities all throughout the first period and some of the second. Posts were abused, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was sprawling in the crease left and right, and there was plenty of pressure on the Rangers in their zone.

All things aside, it feels damned good to get two points. It's even a little sweeter because Tampa, Washington, and Florida lost. You see, all is not lost just yet, believers. Up next on the agenda is Tampa and we'll see how the team responds to their first road trip without Mr. Hartley. Hopefully, come November 6th, the team will collect a few more points and gain a new leader.

Everything's about to change.

LET'S GO THRASHERS!

vs. the Caps - 2007/10/05

Of course, of course, the game result wasn't desired, but I loved being back in Philips for Opening Night last night. The banner raising ceremony was fantastic. All of the festivities for the celebration were great and got the crowd riled up for sure. Even the handing out of miniature banners to every fan was a nice touch, and I instantly know that it's going up on the mirror of my car. Really, win or lose though, it was definitely important to revel in the success of the performances of the previous season. While our showing in the playoffs wasn't exactly ideal, we still got there, we got a city ready for some playoff action, and the city, as a result, caught on and recognized that another professional sports team in the Atlanta area was ready to take charge.

Unfortunately, the banner provided the main reason for Blueland to "get on their feet". We just saw this with a bit of frequency:



I'm sure that Nylander enjoys pwning us some more after how he kinda man-handled us during the playoffs (with his old team, the New York Rangers). Here are my takes on the game.

• Offensively, we couldn't get anything started. Things weren't meshing and pucks were going everywhere, except it was a rare occurrence that these traveling pucks ever met their intended target - whether that be the back of the Capitals net or to another Thrashers player. Honestly, it was sloppy play that dominated the evening for the Thrashers. Sure, some players had strong showings, but they were brief and too abrupt.
  
• Defensively, things weren't tied together either. Players like Enstrom and Zhitnik were all over the place. This kind of play is expected from Mr. Zhit as he is a seasoned player, but with Enstrom, this was surprising that he could handle the load. If I had a defenseman of the game award for the Thrashers though, I'd give it to Havelid. I didn't notice him too much during the 5-on-5 action, but he was marvelous during the two 5-on-3's that the Thrashers had to endure. I also spotted him trying to move the puck around whenever he was in possession of it in the Caps' zone. I thought he did a great job.
  
• Despite three goals against, I still feel that Kari played well. I liked his movement, I liked his reaction time, and I loved his confidence. Maybe it was just me, but I could tell that Kari was ready to redeem himself after his last NHL action (the blowout at the Garden during game three last season). Even on the smallest of saves that me made, he steered the puck away with his blocker with authority. He meant business and that's great to have in a goalie. The first goal was spotty and Kari couldn't do much against it. The second goal, he was pretty much hung out to dry because of a defenseman's strong desire to hit behind the net, and that obviously left someone open for a good shot (which, I believe was the Nylander goal). But the third goal Kari could've seen, but I think there was too much of a screen going on in front of him to have enough vision of the play. As a whole, though, I'm still pleased with how Kari played. I hope he gets the start tonight in Tampa.
  
• The rookies were kinda unnoticed. Sterling did some nice things here and there, but he quickly got dumped in favor of Bryan Little. For some reason, Hartley changed his preseason lineups almost immediately. This was one example of that. Maybe it was Hartley rewarding Little for some good plays that caused him to go on the line. I even noticed that toward the end of the game, Little was put on the main power play unit. But back to Sterling... he created some turnovers that were admirable, but, as I mentioned earlier, things never set in and these turnovers would be for naught when there was an errant pass in the neutral zone. Enstrom was all over the place, was put in the "quarterback" position on the power play from the start and (let this theme ring again) couldn't get much together to create anything legitimate. I thought he played well in the Thrashers end (and he should!) and created a few hassles for the Caps in the corners that I liked. And then there was Bryan Little...
  
• For a while in the second, I forgot where Little was. I spotted him on the ice during the first period, but for some reason, I couldn't see him playing at all for a while. I was wondering if he was benched. Thinking about this silently to myself, I notice that he's back on the ice and with Kovy. Then, before you know it, he scores a die-hard (but flukey) goal with Kovy for his first NHL tally EVAR. As a whole, I was pleased with Little's performance, especially coming from someone as young as he is. Throughout the third, he was a fixture on the ice and that was something. However, aside from his goal, I think he was like every other Thrashers rookie and worked, but it wasn't enough.
  
• Twenty-eight shots against Brent Johnson isn't enough. We needed more pressure on him because there were a few times throughout the game that he didn't make the best decisions or the best saves. He was sloppy and questionably came out of the crease on occasion, and as a result, the Thrashers should've capitalized on this and potted a few goals to make the game interesting.

Those are my opinions of the game. I had a great time returning to Philips for some real game action and the banner ceremony was an awesome way to kick off the season. It's a shame that the team kinda came out a little flat, but I don't expect that to last for too long because we all know that every single game matters.

vs. Panthers - 2007/09/28

No pics, but don't worry. My annual preseason trip up to Philips wasn't too late as I made it up there last Friday for the preseason finale against the Ice Cats, er, Panthers.

All day, I was thinking about the game. I couldn't help myself from going, really. So I ended up doing the 40+ minute drive up north, strolling casually up to the box office, and securing a $10 ticket in 413.

It was oddly comforting returning to the Arena. The sights, the sounds, the smells - it really is such a relief to come back to something so familiar. Even looking around, you could tell that I wasn't the only one reveling in this sentimentality. Season ticket holders were reuniting in their usual seats and meeting locations, some discussing their summers with their families, with conversations eventually leading to what really mattered inside the Arena - the hockey.

I decided to make the trip because I knew this was it. The players on the ice Friday were the players who were going to dress on October 5th. There was no questioning anyone's play, no high pressure situations leading to big mistakes (that really had no consequence anyway), and no one was scared to walk into the locker room afterwards because everyone on the ice had a guaranteed spot on the roster. This included rookies Bryan Little, Brett Sterling, Tobias Enstrom, and Mark Popovic. And because of these players, I was definitely chomping at the bit to see exactly what they were about in a game situation.

Usually preseason games are sloppy. Kids are joining the big guns of the team/league for however long the ride will last, leading to poor plays, questionable decisions, and comments to alleviate the pain, like, "He needs time in the minors, but he's gonna be great in x-amount of years!" Players are also sluggish from their summer break. These games just leave a lot to be desired, and they also have zero ramifications on the future (i.e. standings). The only thing players are playing for is practice, and the new guys are trying to deal with the pressure of trying to make the team. Missed passes, whiffed shots, and goaltending blips occur with frequency. Did any of that occur on Friday?

There are ways to interpret that. The Thrashers ended their preseason run with a 1-0 win over a division rival who was still trying to work out their own kinks with their roster. Scoring was infrequent, but that is not to diminish the quality of play. Sure, there were sluggish times as players were still attempting to acclimate themselves to the elevated style of play. Jim Slater was one who stood out with regards to this. There was a fanned shot that happened early in the first period that was courtesy of "AC" Slater and there were some other times during the matchup that Slater was witnessed stumbling down to the ice because of skating errors. There were also some plays that occurred with the rookies that demonstrated some mistakes that could've yielded goals from the opposition. Brett Sterling and Bryan Little demonstrated this a few times, passing through highly congested areas with the hopes of reaching their desired target and ending up turning the puck over.

However, with the "eh" comes the pretty good. Sterling made some fantastic moves with the puck and clearly demonstrates some puck-handling skills. There was one play in particular that really got me jazzed (yeah, I said it). In the third, when I moved down to 119, I had an excellent viewing position behind the Panthers' goal, which featured the great Tomas Vokoun. The puck was dumped into the Florida zone and Sterling was chasing it down. As he came around the net, Vokoun got there first and had possession. While Vokoun was going to steer the puck aside by lightly flicking it in the air to his right, Sterling noticeably caught up with the action, put his stick in the air, and took advantage of Vokoun's lack of strength here. Sterling plucked the puck out of the air, gained possession in an excellent spot in front of the net, and, with little threat around him, he took the shot and instantly wowed me with that kind of play. It was remarkable, actually.

It cannot go without mention that Kari Lehtonen returned to form... well, at least for that evening. Even though he had 30+ shots against him, I felt like he was barely tested throughout. That's definitely indicative of the defenders in front of Kari, and they definitely did a great job steering the action away from our franchise goalie. Kari had excellent movement, temporarily putting to rest the groin talk that always plagues him.

Was Kari's shutout against the Panthers noteworthy though? Absolutely. He's only played two to three preseason games and had nothing short of success throughout his time on the ice. The 1-0 victory he could log was also an excellent goalie duel because Vokoun is nothing to sneeze at (hm). While the Thrashers were outshot, I felt that our scoring opportunities were more, eh, "legitimate" and threatening. Note the Sterling play I mentioned earlier.

During training camp and the earlier preseason tilts, all I kept hearing about was the passing skills of Enstrom and his time on the power play. While his passing does look crisp, I didn't notice anything worth mentioning. He needs some more time, in my eyes, to really form an impression. He also displayed swift and quick movement on the ice, and also dispelled a bunch of scoring opportunities the Panthers might've had in the scoring lane.

The game was enough to bring me back to hockey, which really wasn't in doubt to begin with. Almost everything I love about the sport was on display Friday evening in Philips. The sounds of the National Anthem, the skate blades digging into the ice to gain another ounce of speed to create that breakout, the crowd rumbling "SHOOT IT!", the smell of a fresh sheet of ice in between periods, the last time I'd see three banners on the Thrashers side of the Arena (two of which are LOGO banners).

I'm so ready for this coming Friday though. The Arena was probably 1/2 full (if that) for the Panthers game and you could tell. Nothing will compare to the energy inside for the opening night. Well, there were those playoff games last season. This will come close to that, for sure. But it'll be the most intensity in that arena since those games that occurred so long ago. Bring it on already!

Recap: The Comas, 2007/07/30

Since the Arcade Fire show, there haven't been that many concerts on my radar. Granted, a bunch of great tunes were brought to the forefront between May and now (namely The National, LCD Soundsystem, Fields, etc.) and I've been slowly catching up on the past. I've never been a fan of classic rock. In fact, I never even took a minute to recognize it. I really cannot place a finger on why this genre of music has been so abrasive with me in the past, but I never could truly accept it. In the past few months, I've grown to appreciate older bands like The Police (sure, their reunion kinda helped their cause), Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, and the great Billy Joel. I HATE to deem this a "listening maturity", but that is a distinct possibility.



Regardless, with the job in Dahlonega coming to an end, I'm finally back, enjoying the aspects of being a little more free with life. The first show I went to since my return was a favorite of mine, The Comas, at the EARL. I've seen The Comas probably three times over the years and I just don't know where else to go with them. Their second album, A Def Needle in Tomorrow, really stuck with me and I realized their potential as a good indie rock band. Then I kinda forgot about 'em for a while and then on indietorrents a few years ago, I stumbled upon Conductor, which was just awesome. They were getting positive reviews for the album from left and right and the recognition was coming. I saw 'em once while they were touring for that record and it was a weird set. They were the main band that night (Vietnam opened) and they only played for what seemed like 30 minutes. The material was strictly from Conductor and it was completely amped up - sped up like woah, loud as anything, and just "whaaaaat?" I don't know what it was, but I left that show with a sour taste in my mouth.

While reading (and being introduced to, actually) Bort's blog, I found out more and more about the recent shoegaze band Asobi Seksu. As a direct result to that, I found out that The Comas were actually opening for them on a tour last December. I thought it would be a great opportunity for a great show. Turns out that was the case, The Comas redeemed themselves, played some new material, and Asobi Seksu was quite fun. I was back into the mix. But once I started working in Dahlonega, I couldn't be there for the last Comas show back in June, their first Atlanta show promoting the newest release, Spells.

Upon hearing Spells, it didn't seem memorable to me. I can't tell if the band has changed their songwriting dynamic or if I've changed my listening preferences, but the record didn't stand out as much as the previous two had. I was hoping that the live gig would turn things around, both my feelings for the band and my reception of their new album. Turns out that wasn't exactly the case. The gig was more like a redux of their other show I saw at the Drunken Unicorn a while ago that was off the mark. It's just weird territory for the "main draw" of the evening taking the stage and the crowd at the bar thinned out so much from the opening bands, and I'm guessing the Comas picked up on this (how could they not?) and even had a hard time bringing their touring buddies (Great Northern, who were surprisingly elegant and, well, great) on stage for some help. Granted, I could care less about how many people are in attendance for the show, but I really felt like the band let it get to them... or the music itself just didn't pick up at all.

The tunes off Spells were nice, actually, and sat well with me. But the band's performance was lacking some kind of element of urgency. It was like the ultimate show to slouch in a chair. I just don't understand what went wrong. While I still appreciate The Comas a bunch, I think I'd seriously question seeing them again... at least in Atlanta. Maybe in an environment that's more receptive to what they do (they are stationed in New York currently), there would be better performer-audience vibes, but the energy was sucked out of the EARL that evening.

On the other hand, the first band of the evening worked with the EARL's audience well. They actually had the biggest draw of the evening. Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun officially started their live career together that night and they got a pretty good reception. Sure, some of the material needs some tweaking (both live and the songwriting), but their "fuzzrock" was well received and provided promise for a good local band to emerge out of the hazy Atlanta heat.



Great Northern (click for set)


Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun (click for set)

Recap: Thrashers Prospect Camp '07

Over at the Blueland Blog, you can find some really neat pieces on specific players (Holzapfel, LaVallee) that attended this year's Prospect Camp at the Ice Forum in Duluth. As a matter of fact, there are also some nice write-ups at Thrashers Talons and Southeast Shootout about how they felt about what went down late last week and earlier this week.

With that said, I made my appearance at the Ice Forum on Thursday and I definitely did not leave disappointed... well, at least not with the hockey. All of the players that participated in the week-long camp were either players that have contractual ties to the Thrashers organization (like recent draft picks like Bryan Little and Brett Sterling, for example) or players that Thrashers scouts felt like examining a little more. As a result, I basically had no idea who was who. I'm lucky if I can even remember the names of some notables, but forget it if I can pick out faces. So trying to track down Riley Holzapfel, Tobias Endstrom, and Chad Denny (among countless others) was damned near impossible. Sure, there were points that I could narrow it down, but it was essentially a crapshoot.

You could definitely tell that the Thrashers organization wasn't fooling around when they invited this current group of "baby Thrashers" (as I like to call 'em) to the camp. The potential for these kids to succeed is evident in their energy and skills that were on display. There were great defensive plays during the scrimaging, some absolutely gnarly offensive moves to the net, and the goaltending was just quality.

Oh yeah, I did have to mention the scrimaging, didn't I? It was noted on the Blueland Blog that 4-on-4 scrimaging took place this past Monday and that it would happen again on the last day of camp. As a result to that "announcement", I felt as if there were more people there than would typically be for a prospect camp of baby Thrashers. Regardless, it was an excellent turnout for Thrashers fans and hockey fans in general.

Hmm, back to the bit about the scrimaging... For the first hour or so, there were the typical drills and skating that has to occur at these kind of happenings. Goalies were tested, passes were tape-to-tape or bust, and skates were viciously cutting into the ice. Then the kids left the rink for about 15-20 minutes while the ice was resurfaced, and then the players who were all wearing sweaters of various colors earlier were now sporting either red or blue. The plus to this event, for me, was that everyone was numbered. The minus was that I still had no idea who was who. Either way, the scrimage itself was a neat thing to watch. It was evident that the players knew it was their last day together, so some guys really gave it their all. Of course, there were the occasional broken passes and whiffed shots, but a bunch of 'em wanted to prove their worth at this NHL prospect camp, goalies included.

The scrimage was broken into two 25-minute halves, and then it was surprisingly followed up by a shootout. I have almost no knowledge of what happens in the lower ranks of hockey, so I'm completely unfamilar if other leagues use the shootout as a means to determine a winner and a loser of a tie game. Maybe this was a new concept for the kids or maybe it was just for fun - I know I didn't expect it, that's for sure. It kind of resembled the first shootout that the Thrashers participated in during the first year it was put into effect. It was a preseason game against the Panthers (I think), and all of the preseason games included the shootout whether the game was over or if it was a tie. Call it practice for the real deal, if you will. And all I can remember from that inaugural shootout was Marc Savard going in for the shot, setting up, over-thinking it, and eventually making it a sloppy attempt that resulted in him kinda hugging the opposing goalie. That's not to say that this "prospect shootout" was along the same lines as that, but I could sense some unfamiliarity with it in both shooters and goalies.

As I've already mentioned, players did stand out, but I have no idea who they were. The only player I could honestly pick out was Bryan Little and he seemed to handle the puck well, just not in the one-on-one situations so much. As far as goalies, I noticed that Dan Turple is massive. I mean, the guy has to be 6'5" or something - he looked just tremendous in the crease. Either that's a good thing (for intimidation) or a bad thing (uh, five-hole?). One goalie was standing out during the scrimage, and I'm sure that was Ondrej Pavelec (based on what I keep reading from others who attended). The other guy (Perugini) didn't leave any kind of impression on me, and Dan Kamal's kid, Chris, was ballsy just being out there. It must've been an eye-opening experience to be right out of high school, being examined by minor league coaches and, well, the Thrashers, too. I gotta give the guy credit for sticking with it and keeping his head up. Personally, I would've been intimidated as anything trying to keep guys like Little and Sterling from scoring.

Pics will be posted soon... and that's the only disappointment I have with the afternoon in Duluth. Sooner or later I'm going to take a class or two in photography and figure out how to take some action pics and make them look decent. Either my timing was off whenever I tried to take a pic or whatever I did shoot came out overly blurred. There are a select few that I feel mildly satisfied with and I'll put those up on flickr in the next hour or so.

Up next - let's discuss the schedule, shall we?! We'll save that topic for the weekend.

It's so great to be blogging hockey again!

ECQ Game 1 - vs. the Ranguhs (clicky)

Let's just start this off the bat with this - it was probably about 10 minutes prior to the pre-game skate that bunches of Thrashers fans were surrounding the home bench and spilling over to where Kari would be in goal for the start of the game... and there were massive chants of "LET'S GO THRASHERS!"

The home team representation witnessed last nite was unbelievable. That kind of atmosphere was what I truly expected on Saturday's season finale against Tampa Bay - and I was somewhat let down because it just wasn't there. Last nite's playoff opener, however, I felt it. I was immersed in it. You knew that this was a special nite and that Philips was going to be a magical place.

Oh, and how I was not once disappointed. There were times I thought I considered ear plugs because it was that darned loud. To have so many fans adorned in Thrashers blue and constantly keeping with "LET'S GO THRASHERS" chants and the "LUNDQVIST - YOU SUCK!" heckles ("heckle" is an injustice to what really occurred), it was so special. The fans of the Atlanta Thrashers are no Atlanta Braves fans, I'll tell you that. There was no sitting down and being so casual and numb to the idea that the Thrashers were fighting for their lives last nite, proving a point that we as both a team and city will not back down and we WILL make our presence known to whoever, and at any time.

Before the game starts? Yell your heart out.

After going down a goal? Come back louder than ever.

Getting down two goals? Well, the Blueland faithful was a little more reserved, but we never left the building.

Scoring a goal to cut the Rangers' lead in half? Words cannot express how amazing it felt to be a part of that experience.

It was just insane! I only wish I could make any of the remaining games for this series. Knowing that I'll have a difficult time trying to watch Saturday's matinee affair on television hurts so bad, especially after how this game went.

And I haven't even mentioned THE GAME yet.

I couldn't be more proud to represent the team that I love. They put it out there and tried their hardest to come back and really stick it to the opposition, even after some mistakes that eventually cost them the game. But whatever - with that kind of support and backing, it's going to be very difficult to be down for long if you are the Atlanta Thrashers.

As for the game itself, it wasn't so bad. The shot total was 38 to 24, in favor of the Rangers, and it was noticeable that the defence wasn't as strong as it should've been. Granted, they played some great hockey for some of the game (mainly in the third), but there were moments of desperation, yelling, "GET AGGRESSIVE!"

There wasn't a moment that crossed my mind that we'd take this series easily, and that game only proved that. John Kincade (local sports radio personality) forecasted a series result of four-to-one in favor of the Thrashers - uh, impossible. It's gonna be tight, it's gonna be nail-biting, and it's gonna be awesome.

Here are the things that concerned me the most about this game:

- the inexperience issue - Sure, on paper, we have a lot of playoff experience from members of the team, but as a unit (and as a city), it's either non-existant or absent for 27 years. I can handle a loss from the home team if it means that they can finally settle down, get all of the nerves and anxiety that this initial meeting caused behind them, and really play the game that they hinted at during last nite's loss. There were a lot of nervous guys on that ice and it showed. But if a nervous squad leads you to a one-goal loss, I'd hate to see what this team does when they are completely confident in themselves.

- the lack of power - There has been a lot of talk about Marian Hossa's invisibility during his time in Ottawa (regarding their playoff appearances). Last nite, not a single member of the Thrashers upper echelon of scorers appeared on the scoring sheet (save for Tkachuk's helper on the wonderful Belanger tally in the first). In order for this team to thrive and really persevere, Kovy, Hossa, and Slava need to show up. Do I really think that the Rangers' defensive corps shut them down that much to make them ineffective during that game? No. I think this ties into my first point.

- Kari's shakiness - Initially, I thought he was really holding himself together. That Jagr goal to start it all was just amazing and Kari had nothing on it. But as time went by, you could tell that his head was catching up with him. It eventually did as he lost a second somewhere and couldn't handle a rebound as he should've and it resulted in the game winner from Nylander. He needs to zen out somewhere, channel that part of his personality that "asks for the do-or-die situation", and wade in it. We know that Kari can be a difference-maker. Same as the previous point, this also applies to my first comment on the game.

Things that I could preach on forever about from the game:

- physicality - Since when have the Thrashers EVER pushed anyone around? Last nite, it was apparent that was a part of their agenda and they carried it out throughout the duration of the game. I mean, when players like Kovalchuk take out members of the opposition, that says something. And the Exelby hits? Yeah, they are expected, but he was seriously packing some juice when he LEVELED Sean Avery and FLATTENED Jagr in the third. The hits kept on coming and I loved that the team came out firing on a physical level. They weren't going to be pushed around by a team that a lot of people predict will survive this series. If they are going to go down, at least the Thrashers will go down in a blaze of glory.

- scoring from WHERE?! - We knew that Belanger was a nice addition when he racked up a bunch of points after the deadline, so his great deflection to start the Thrashers mark on the playoffs wasn't that surprising. Goals from Pascal Dupuis and especially Shane Hnidy were unexpected and probably a surprise to Rags' goalie Lundqvist and the rest of their defense. Brad Larsen and Nic Havelid got some great credit on the scoresheet, too. In the playoffs, you cannot solely rely on your big guns; everyone needs to produce. While the "Three Sticks Mafia" was held scoreless, our other "no-names" picked up the slack when they needed to and proved themselves. Awesome.

- power play - As of right now, we're 50% on the power play, which is nice! The fact that we even scored on our first chance, I must admit my mouth kinda dropped there. The management of special teams in the playoffs is almost as important as big-time goaltending. That the Thrashers cashed in on their first chance must be a morale booster for the team, a team that noticeably struggled throughout the regular season with these kind of scoring advantages. While we didn't exactly continue our earlier success on the late Pock penalty, we can say that we scored ONE. Now we have an idea on how to play it for the next three games, hopefully more!

So, Blueland faithful, be proud in your team today. They really showed up, as did every one of you. Anyone who questions the loyalty and passion for this team needs to be examined because we really proved ourselves out there - as a team, as fans, and as a city. There is no doubt in my mind that Saturday's game is going to be any different in terms of play. Hopefully the result will be reciprocal!

Let's go Thrashers!

Recap & Photos: The Thermals & The Big Sleep

Thursday nite I kinda-sorta took a gamble and made my way to Atlanta's Drunken Unicorn to get a taste of Portland, Oregon's The Thermals and Brooklyn's The Big Sleep. I've known about The Thermals for a few years now, but I've always neglected to look into them some more. Apparently 2006 was a big year for them as their album The Blood The Body The Machine did not go unnoticed and ended up on a few top-10 lists as "Best in '06" material. As is the norm, with a bunch of hype, I want to see if it's worth buying into. So I got a copy of said album and it wasn't too bad. I don't think it was as good as some lists were making it out to be, but it was a nice listen. The tracks were a little repetitive, but not that that's a bad thing. I just wasn't gripped to listen to the album time and time again, the way amazing releases do.

When I found out that they were coming to Atlanta, touring behind this record, I decided I'd try it out and see what they have to offer. Well, I was pretty much blown away. And that's what I love about live shows - you take a record that is OK, have the band play it live, and it becomes sonically destroying. The show on Thursday nite was a non-stop rock fest and The Thermals really brought it out. Despite their backup guitar player hobbling around on crutches prior to their set and nursing an obviously hurting ankle, all four of 'em brought it on stage. What I also loved about this show was the antics of singer Hutch Harris. I mean, can a guy be any more dramatic during a show? It was all done in a cheesy kinda fashion, but I still appreciated the crap out of it.



Also, I never heard them before (but read some about them in blogs), but The Big Sleep opened for The Thermals and they were surprisingly awesome. They played some loud, murky riffs that just tore the roof off the Unicorn and didn't need vocals to get their point across. A few songs did have some vocals, but their music was just so ferocious and moving. They were just really good. Glad that I got there early enough to catch their set.

More photos can be found at the flickr site, but here are some samples. The Thermals' setlist is also on flickr, if you're interested in what they played.







The Thermals' myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thethermals
The Big Sleep's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sonofthetiger

vs. Le Habs - 2007/03/08

Wow, so THAT was a game! It was apparent that Huet was not even a blip on Montreal's radar tonite. That just goes to show you how crucial goaltending is in this sport. While Huet was struggling before his season-ending injury, he is still a force to be reckoned with, and that was proven when he (and I guess the rest of the Habs, too) dominated the last time the Thrash hosted 'em back in January.

Starting tonite was 21 year-old rookie Jaroslav Halak, someone who the Canadiens suggested would be their man in the net to make their run to the playoffs... over somewhat-seasoned David Aebischer, who really is more successful as a backup. This decision ended up killing the Canadiens' nite as the Thrashers seemed to find ways to score five unanswered goals halfway through the game on only 15 shots. I couldn't help but feel bad for the guy as the fourth Thrashers goal by Belanger just sailed into an open net as a result of a complete defensive breakdown of Montreal. But the rest of the Thrashers' tallies were great marks that, most importantly, stood for an entire 60 minutes.

Two things about the Thrashers really impressed me during this game:

a. After going into the third up by a five goal margin, Atlanta kept their cool and didn't try to outplay Montreal and go for the senseless kill. The kind of play demonstrated in the third was a strong, consistent, and, yes, SMART. There were opportunities that the Thrashers could've started something, but they didn't. There was a realization that, "Hey, we're up huge against a team that we've stumbled against a few times in the past... let's not eff this up, boys!" I never felt this lead was in jeopardy, and that's saying something considering the Thrashers are/were a team that is/was known for blowing any kind of lead going into the third halfway during this season. Three-goal leads weren't any safer than a one-goal margin a month or so ago. Now, there's something about the players in Blueland Blue that eminates the feeling of, well, SECURITY. For once, can I get an AMEN?!
b. At the end of the second period, during a stoppage of play, Kovy was pissed at some comment from (I presume) Bouillon, and that started some skirmishing in the Canadiens' defensive zone. A few pushes and shoves later, it was evident that something else was brewing here and Keith Tkachuk came to Kovy's side and manhandled Bouillon to the ground. I mean, for a player that was acquired less than two weeks ago to come to the aid of a new teammate, I saw it as huge. It's been said over and over again that Tkachuk believes in the Thrashers chances for the playoff push in April. This kind of camaraderie (sp?) was so encouraging and made me feel like that kind of, uh, "brotherhood" would fit in nicely when the free agency window opens July 1. Could Tkachuk make for a great captain of the next, uh, successful wave in Blueland? I'm just sayin' here, kids.

As a whole, I was very impressed with the play tonite. It was a different team on the ice today than what was represented on Tuesday. This team had an objective from the get-go and played until the game's outcome was already decided. This team had no plans of letting go of the stranglehold lead they established at the midway point and never turned back. A little teamwork and "I've got your back" mentality went a long way and some players really proved their value to the rest of the squad as well as the fans in attendance. The next game is Saturday nite in Florida against familiar foes, the Panthers yet again. Here's to hoping that we really show ourselves then, just as we did Blueland proud this evening.

at Avs & at Canucks - 2006/02/08 & 02/10

Ah, the fabled west coast road trip. This time of the year for the Thrashers usually brings much displeasure and a slipping in the standings. While that's mentioned, that could easily happen. With the resurgency of division rivals (eh, and Stanley Cup Champions) Carolina, and the way that Tampa has brought things to the table (finally), the Thrashers' division lead that was once a fair amount away from the competition is now is jeopardy. As I just mentioned, this "circus swing" usually casts a crappy spell on the Birds and this critical part of the season happens to arrive at just the right time for a fight for supremacy in the Southeast. (Note: When this road trip happens, it's a the same time the circus comes to Philips, hence, "circus swing".)

At least things were silenced for an evening against the once-almighty Colorado Avalanche. A team that was extremely rich with talent and winning in the forms of Sakic, Hejduk, Roy, Blake, Forsberg, and Tanguay (among others) is now reduced to a pile of rubble and anything left over from that era. Joe Sakic is a legend and a dynamic force to reckon with, so that piece of the puzzle is still there. But all other aspects of those amazing teams that ruled the NHL for a few years are in shambles. After trading away David Aebischer for Jose Theodore, the Avs are still trying to figure out their goaltending situation. And, while promising, their young kids do hint at brighter days ahead, with Stasny, Wolski, and Svatos. But this team isn't even a shadow of what they once were.

All of the things mentioned above were the ultimate downfall of the Avs at the hands (wings?) of the Thrash. Shaky goaltending from Theodore (and nice playmaking from Le Thrash, too!) resulted in a quick 3-0 lead... and it's unfortunate that leads like that after the first period cause a Thrashers fan to wonder, "How long is THIS lead gonna last?" There's no denying it, everyone had to be thinking it. After blowing leads against mediocre teams in the past, a three-goal lead against the disappointing Avs was nice, there was the possibility of it reversing. However, the Thrash didn't quit and continued to play a pretty good game in Denver.



I guess the same could apply to the Canucks, too. They never had great success in the playoffs, but during the season, they were a very strong team a few years ago (I'm thinking of immediately prior to the lockout). It's like they could tear through the opposition with the likes of Bertuzzi, Naslund, Morrison, and with strong defense from Ohlund and Jovanovski, and reliable goaltending with Cloutier. With past disappointments in the playoffs and the new CBA in place, the team changed its appearance. While retaining the extraordinary Sedin twins (they are unstoppable) and still hanging onto Naslund and Morrison, Vancouver shipped out the problem-child in Bertuzzi and the unfolding Cloutier and the stalwart defensemen in Jovo. They also decided that Anson Carter, who had a career year with the Sedins (who also had great seasons themselves), wasn't worth the money and let him loose to come back to earth over in Columbus. Instead, the Canucks aimed to correct the problem that plagued them the most during the post-season - goalies - and welcomed ex-Florida netminder Roberto Luongo into the fold. He was viewed as the man who could turn things around for a squad that really relied on its goaltending and it was never there when the team needed that presense the most.

Saturday night, Luongo was the difference-maker. It was games like that that Luongo was brought into Vancouver. While he wasn't consistently tested throughout the game, the last few minutes could've led to a Thrashers come-from-behind victory as opposed to what was a Canucks win. He kept the team in it and ultimately won the game for Vancouver. I'm sure it was a little nice to win over a team that had your number a bunch in the past, as a former member of the Southeast Division.

It was a complete relief to see us convert on a 5-on-3 opportunity. For a while, I thought it wasn't going to happen. In instances like that, you have to keep the puck moving to throw off the three players that are somehow going to stop the play or at least try to have a say in it. Several times during that minute of the two-man advantage, there was too much hesitation with the puck and it looks like nothing was even going to get started. There was even a bit of a struggle to even set up the plays in the Canucks' zone. But for Kovy to get the second Thrashers goal, that was redeeming. There was good puck movement and it resulted in revving up the team.

The game didn't move as fast as other games (like against Buffalo or Carolina), but the spirit was there. The last minutes of the game made up for it as the Thrash tried any kind of opportunity to beat Luongo for a point in the matter. Now, that didn't happen, but it was a nice effort from the team. The Thrashers know what's on the line - a top-three seed in the playoffs - and they know the consequences if they don't play .500 hockey on this road trip. So this team needs to perform the entire way through these games. Faltering and losing sight of the game in a mere 10 seconds can cause the team the game (it did). This is hockey we're talking about here. But these next games against the Oil and the Flames are no walks in the park.

The Oil game could be like the win against the Avs. I'm certain that Hedberg will have the start in the nets tonight to rest an over-worked Kari Lehtonen (finally!). So Moose needs to have a big game to go against the bigger names in the Edmonton lineup like Smyth, Lupul, Hemsky, and, of course, Dwayne Roloson.

And I have little doubt in my mind that it'll be another Finnish matchup on Tuesday, with Kari battling it out against Miikka Kiprusoff in Calgary. They are a team that is trying to make a push for a number one seed in the extremely tight Northwest Division. While a team like Edmonton is on the outside looking in at this point, Calgary is in the midst of a three-way tie for first in the Northwest, along with Vancouver and a Minnesota team on the rise with the return of Gaborik. With the recent acquisition a heralded defenseman in Brad Stuart from Boston, the team looks ready to make a charge away from the others in their division. I mean, Dion Phaneuf cannot do it alone for the Flames. I'm sure that Calgary has some depth in their defense, but Stuart sures it up some more and also tells others in the Northwest that Calgary is serious. It'll be interesting to watch the rest of their season unfold and see where they end up at the end.

vs. Slugs - 2007/02/06

What really drove me crazy about this game was, a. seeing too much of the above, only sub out Kotalik for Briere, and, b. yeah, the crowd.

I do initially regret the timing of this post because this is happening two days after the game and my memory of how things played out is kinda fuzzy. About the game, since I've apparently started a trend here, two things really stick out: a. how much Daniel Briere is a tool (in a purely competitive way), and, b. how the third Sabres goal was just karma acting against us... for some reason unknown to me or the team at this point.

The stuff about Briere that gets me the most is the ridiculous, over-the-top fist-pumps after the goals he scored. I know, I know - it's all out of passion and I won't deny that. And, believe me, I love it when I see Kovalchuk go nutty after scoring a crucial goal. As a matter of fact, I've envisioned myself doing one of those knee-to-the-ground, fist-in-the-air kinda poses... well, that would happen after I get a powerful strike in bowling, but that never seems to happen when I plan out the celebration. Regardless, I love seeing passion in the game and Briere had it. If he were on the Thrashers, he'd be a savior. As a member of the Sabres, he's a tool. That's just how it is.

And about that third Buffalo goal - total crap. Granted, I saw the "penalty" against deVries from the other side of the rink, but it definitely did not look like a clear hook on Max (if that's who it was, which I'm pretty sure it was him)... or much of a hook at all. You know, I would've settled for an old-fashioned penalty kill and it was looking just like that... until the blunder by Sutton that basically cost us the game. Without much around him and a puck that was not obstructed in the slightest, he attempted to push the puck out of the zone or just away from the opposition. Instead? He completely whiffs at it, it magically goes into Buffalo's possession, and Briere takes care of the rest. And cue the previous paragraph.

That goal made me so mad at just about everything in the world. It's probably a good thing for you readers (if any!) that this post is delayed only because it would've been a rant fest that would've featured a pissed-off blogger. Yeah, we all want that.

Uh, what?

A few words with regard to the crowd from that night, too... seriously, where did all of those fans come from? During that first period, I forgot where I was because there was soooo much Buffalo support there and they definitely made their presence known. An assortment of jerseys (confused team, I say), signs, and rampant Buffalo-themed chants were all over the place and stayed that way until the third when the Thrashers fans could finally have the energy (and getting over the shock) to at least even out the so-called "home ice advantage". Early on, it was very scary, as I've never encountered an arena that was filled with so many fans from the opposition before. As we got through the game, though, I really felt like were were at, like, game five of the playoffs... with all of the back-and-forth fans had with each other, as well as the scoring and playmaking. It was ridiculous. I heard talk that some of those fans were actually bussed in - from where?

I mean, if all of those bandwagoneers were from the Atlanta area (probably transplants, but whatevs), seriously why go into an arena where you live and openly be jerky and ass about being a fan of the visiting team? Sure, I'm a New York Mets fan. But when they come to Turner, I don't become overtly pricky about where my allegiances lie. I don't have a need to seek safety in numbers - I do all of the celebrating to myself, or it spills over to my family members. More often than not, the Braves own the Mets, so I really don't have much celebrating to do in the first place! But with saying that, I just don't see how all of those Buffalo fans at the game were from out of town, were into Buffalo for yearrrrrs, and safely went to their North Atlanta home after the game, had a nice night of victory sleep (the best kind!), and further continued their lives IN GEORGIA the next day. This mentality spilled out everywhere after the game and it really blew my mind. From almost seeing a fist-fight in the food court to reciprocating chants while killing time waiting for a MARTA train (that took FOREVERRRR, BTW), I've never witnessed more punkish behavior from a specific group of fans before. While it was nice to see the crowd feeling the game and really getting into it, let it die soon afterwards. When the Thrash tore it up on Long Island back in November, yeah, I won't lie, I let out a few "Let's Go Thrashers" chants in the parking lot that weren't too over-the-top (subjective there). But I let my jersey do the talking the rest of the night. There's no need for opposing fans to have continual knives in their back as they leave their HOME arena. Ridiculous.

Let's just hope it isn't as vicious on March 18 when the Slugs return to the Phil for what is sure to be an important meeting for these two teams.

vs. Flyers - 2007/02/03

Wow, so that was another miserable effort by a team that looks like it's losing some of it's mojo, and for sure some of its lead in the standings. After trying to deal with terrible traffic and an even worse parking situation, I missed the entire first period. The first goal sounded like it was primiarily Kari's fault and we ended up catching the Kovalchuk tally and then somehow made our way through maze-esque parking lots and meandering through thousands of cars and other misled cattle, err, people.

I mean, we were able to score some pretty amazing seats for the game, but I just wish that the Thrashers gave us reason to celebrate. This game was mediocre, mildly stated. The power play is in shambles, any kind of special teams that we have really appears non-existant, and our defense seems to be more effective at planting roots into the ice at Philips than actually moving around and trying to work the opposition. What comes to mind with these problems is not the players - I really feel that there is something that isn't being activated by Coach Hartley. I just don't see how we have all of the talent in the world and we cannot do a damned thing on the power play, ESPECIALLY on the 5-on-3 opportunities that should be no-brainers. Luckily for us, we only took three penalties last night, so who knows how well the penalty kill units would've worked if they were actually put to the task. But the issue with the power play is mind-boggling.

It really does appear that the team is disintegrating or becoming disabled. We're not being figured out by the worst teams in the league, we're just not playing to the potential that we know we have. The last thing the Flyers are concerned about is watching hours of tape to try to figure out the first-place Thrashers and how to topple their system. If it was a legitimate playoff race, I could see the sense of urgency for the Flyers squad. Seeing how they are the WORST IN THE LEAGUE in terms of standings/points, the Flyers had nothing to lose, didn't care about what happened, and actually played. I'm sure if they were down a few goals, morale would've dipped and the game would've been our's. But then again, who knows, considering we have little evidence that the Thrashers know the definition of what a "comfortable lead" is!

Yes, I'm very frustrated. I'm neither a coach nor a trained hockey-wiz, but I know that something needs to be done to light a fire up the collective ass of the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team. Last night, I saw very little emotion brought to the ice and lack of spirit brings lack of drive. Why push for anything more if you don't feel it inside? All of the mistakes and mishaps this team has endured this season are purely mental errors. Maybe getting rid of Hartley and bringing in someone more qualified like, say, Dr. Phil would have more of an effect on the Thrashers mindset than what Hartley is currently exuding.

While it is hard to believe that there were any positives to the evening, GM Don Waddell's appearance to the crowd (regardless of how big/small) for the 680 post-game show was a bold move... commendable, even. A lot of fans would love to get their chance with DW and just put him up in front of a firing squad and the chance was there last night. Granted, I also missed a bunch of the post-game show due to the five-mile trek back to the core of the earth for my car, but what I did hear sounded like the situation was neutralized. DW mentioned that something needs to happen to bring either more defensive aspects to the team or a notable center to get this team moving in the direction that it should be. Funny, because I really thought the rotation of Kapanen/Rucchin/Metropolit at center was working for a while... hmm... right.

I did notice this morning that the great Thrashers Talons site analyzed some figures after the Islanders debacle from Thursday night. There are a couple of entries that bring attention to different aspects of the team and, as always, are very interesting and especially enlightening. This is good for someone like me who doesn't have the time to plug in numbers into my so-called "correlational calculator" and make connections from that. Another post looms on the horizon has The Falconer aims to be coach for a minute and make suggestions for the team that would not address any trade/player-movement issues. Sounds good to me! Keep your eyes tuned there as I'm sure that's coming up later on tonight.

vs. 'Duhs - 2007/02/01

After responding from some great mishaps (against the Isles - but with a win - and against the Flyers), the Thrashers had the momentum carry over from their great win over Jersey the other night... at least, you would think that would happen. Granted, I did get to the game about 5-10 minutes late, so I definitely cannot attest to how they came out of the gate. With Jon Sim coming up with an early goal though, it seemed as if the Thrash could finally get something started and perhaps finish it. Walking into Philips, I discovered that the score was already tied up even though I just heard the goal on 680 from the parking lot across the street.

Finally getting a seat, I was able to assess the situation and witness the game for what I thought it was worth.

For all the Dunham haters out there, the guy was the second star of the game and pretty much deserved it. Granted, the Isles played some trusty defense and killed off a bunch of penalties. That's not to say that the Thrashers had their chances though.

With five power plays (including an early 5-on-3), the Thrashers' power play unit that includes Hossa, Kovalchuk, and Kozlov - three guys you think would be able to outplay opponents' PK units and score in numbers - once again proved inept at the chances handed to them.

There were several moments during the game that the Thrash should've been up a few goals. There were fantastic opportunities to cash in on. There were attempts by Kapanen with great shooting angles - but this was quickly minimalized by Niko's lack of puck-handling in some intense situations. There was a penalty shot from Hossa that could've started something in the Thrashers' favor - but the goalpost let off a resounding "NOPE!" And Kovy had shot after shot that could've hit some kind of twine in the back of the net - but it seemed like for every shot fired, Dunham had an answer.

Yes, THAT Dunham.

Did he play outstanding tonight? Not necessarily, as there were moments (but not many, unfortunately) that he would find himself in poor positioning or unsure as to what to do with the puck. For the vast majority of the game, however, Dunham was everything that he was not during his tenure with the Thrashers last season - a reliable asset that the Isles pretty much banked on for the duration of the evening. Did he play solid hockey for close to 60 minutes? I'd say so.

And with his history with this Atlanta team, for the Isles to get that kind of win in our building, with him manning the nets - it's really unforgivable. It makes you very angry as a Thrashers fan. After all of the misery and hardships the team and its followers had to endure last year, the one person we hoped would pull through would be the back-up goalie. Mike Dunham really gave no evidence of that to the team last season. And for him to just casually walk out of Philips knowing that he played his heart out to prove himself in front of probably close to 13000 people (maybe I'm being generous? It was a week night) - it just boggles my mind how this kind of player didn't show up AT ALL last season.

So looking at the game from that viewpoint, I'm pretty much disappointed, frustrated, and pretty pissed. I'm disappointed that our team, with as much fire-power it possesses, cannot get itself started on any kind of roll lately. I'm frustrated because it's really appearing that our team isn't used to being in the position that they are currently in - as one of the top teams in the NHL - and that they can't seem to handle it (or that kind of respect) in game situations. And I'm livid because of Dunham and how this kind of talent and promise didn't present itself during a season when we needed it the most... and now he seems to be thriving in the role as someone who can be relied upon.

We'll see how things turn out against the Flyers on Saturday.

vs. 'Duhs - 2007/01/26

So the last entry started out how I intended it, but then it just turned into a retread of the blog night... which is fine, because that definitely deserved to be put out there. And since this wasn't mentioned ANYWHERE in that entry, I just wanted to thank Ben, Micah, and anyone else of the Thrashers who was responsible for putting together the blog night because it was something that I'll always remember whenever I go to a game or event at Philips. Not all teams are doing things like that for their fans/internet contingency, so for the Thrash to take the next step is just great and I hope it happens again.

As for the game, it started off somewhat akin to how the first Islanders game this season began - DiPietro turns to swiss cheese and coughs up a few softies to give the Thrash a decently-sized lead. A few things were not similar to the first meeting though - the soft goals did not hold up and DiPietro got yanked in favor of the much-loved, appreciated, and celebrated goalie in Thrashers history, Mike Dunham (uh, note the sarcasm).

Yes, yes - everyone knows the significance of this, but we'll get past that.

I wished Ted Nolan stuck it out with D.P. for a little more because, unlike most everyone else, this season I really do have a bit of fear in Dunham. Last season's stay with the Thrash was more of an aberration on his career. While never a true, reliable number one goalie in the league, he definitely did have some power years with Nashville and even with the Rangers. Somehow, things were off last year, including injuries, and Dunham was cast out of Atlanta in favor of Johan Hedberg. But with comments like, "Just put the puck on Dunham and he'll take care of the rest," or, "Get him moving and he'll be out of position like he usually is," or really anything negative, this isn't the year to say that about Mike. Unfortunately for us Thrash fans, Dunham is having an average year and being a suitable backup.

After letting in three goals on five shots in about six minutes' worth of play, DiPietro's bad work was negated by solid work by Dunham. The Thrash put on some quality shots and Dunham was there to answer. With a combination of a little slacking off after the three-goal barrage in the first, Hossa's absence throughout most of the second, and Dunham, the Islanders were able to creep back into the game and made it more exciting than it should've been. The game should've been over after the third goal of the night and the Thrashers should've kicked their game into high gear. Fortunately, there were only two penalties against the Thrash, so the Isles PP units weren't able to apply that much pressure.

As a whole, started the game off with a bang, but the team hesitated to either jump start themselves or jump over a few hurdles between the astonishing start and incredible end.

What still amazes me is the HOSSA chants that blow off the arena's top each time he does ANYTHING noteworthy. When he goes down with an apparent injury, HOSSA heats up. When he comes off the ice with an injury, HOSSA. After coming back from what appeared to be a career-ending (sarcasm, *knocks wood*) injury, HOSSA. After he scores a goal 19 seconds after coming back... eh, that's implied. I mean, it's getting to the point that if Marian Hossa has exact change when paying for a hamburger, a HOSSA party will ensue. It's ridiculous... but you know it's true. There's no denying the passion and the energy that Hossa brings to the lineup and it's even more amazing that the fans bring that same spirit right back, trying to get him off the ice, trying to get him to score that game-winner, trying to get him to do anything for the win. He's the true team player and he deserves any kind of HOSSA (yeah, respect works here, too) he can get.

Recap: Blog Night @ Philips

Maybe it was fate... destiny... or really just poor goaltending from D.P. Who knows - but on the Thrashers' inaugural bloggers night, the Thrashers set the tone early (like, "six minutes" early, too), made Rick DiPietro believe he was swiss cheese, and led to a few glares directed towards me from other bloggers in the press box. I don't really think I need to clarify that.

I could do an entire narrative-style post about how the night progressed, but I won't do that. Seems more personal and, eh, livejournal than what I think should be represented. I mean, what I was a part of on Friday night was pretty amazing.

Aiming to be more progressive with their audience (primarily their internet audience), the Atlanta Thrashers opened their press box to anyone with an Atlanta-area blog - to see what it's like to be a member of the press, to tell the story of the experience, to just spread the word that there's a pretty damned good hockey team in town and to look at how some of their most important fans are treated. I'm sure that there are teams around the league that open their doors to bloggers/outsiders as much as the Thrashers did the other evening (the Capitals instantly come to mind). But to have this kind of respect and responsibility bestowed upon a few faceless bloggers is pretty damned trustworthy and forward-thinking. We were handed personalized press passes (with access to nearly everywhere, at any time, although I didn't take advantage of the latter), massive amounts of literature about the game/players/stats from around the league, and given a seat on the ninth floor of Philips Arena to watch the game.

I don't have a laptop, so I initially felt awkward being a blogger, but unable to immediately represent myself at the game. So I sweet-talked the ladyfriend and used her's for the evening. Turns out that I actually felt more awkward WITH it because I couldn't pay attention to the game. To actually devote a few minutes of typing during a fast-paced hockey game was a little more difficult that I thought and, in the end, it wasn't the way I wanted to go about the evening. It was pretty neat to be at the game, have any kind of information at your side (by way of all of the papers that were dished out), and check out instant updates online of what was happening. For example, when Hossa went down in the second in anticipation of an injury, minutes later it was brought to my attention that news of it made it to the NHL wires that Hossa was out indefinitely. This was probably no more than five minutes later after the incident. That's something I would've missed if I were watching the game on TV or anywhere else. With the internet, it's pretty ridiculous how fast things develop... and unravel. I mean, the same article that was very quick to report that Hossa was out is now reporting that he did go down, but came back to score the fourth Thrashers goal of the night (link).

It was also great to have the chance of being a member of the press. I really felt like wearing a press hat, but I'm assuming that wouldn't have gone over too well. It was weird enough wearing a jersey or trying to NOT cheer/yell/etc. or be "just a fan" in the press area. Other than those aspects of it, it's basically a dream job for me. To have that kind of positioning during the game, the kind of freedom around the arena, and just write... especially about something I'm fairly passionate about (ha!)... I couldn't think of anything there that's negative. So to say that my experience on Friday was anything short of amazing would be a complete lie. I had a ton of fun doing something that maybe I'll do again, maybe not (only of that opportunity never arises).

I wish that the bloggers could've either talked some more or that there was an opportunity made to talk about what they represent online and how they feel about the position they were in on Friday (i.e. bloggers with press credentials?). That would've been nice, but then again, we're not talking college classes here... we're only talking about hockey games.

But as a whole, it was pretty awesome Friday and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I took a few pics of stuff that happened that evening, and the album is found on my flickr site. Take a look and see what I saw!