Thrashers Team Report

The Bruins game on the 23rd was not so much a lack of Atlanta discipline as it was a lack of officiating. The Kane goal was good. No goaltender interference. The blown calls stacked up to be the deciding factor of this game and it really pissed me off.

We have a local team in Columbus Georgia named the Columbus Cottonmouths (Southeastern Professional Hockey League... SPHL). The "Snakes" originally started in the Central Hockey League (CHL) around 1997. That was a no-holds bared "Slap Shot" style league that was incredibly fun to watch.

The Snakes went up as high as the ECHL for two seasons, but the travel cost killed this small town team. We dropped to the SPHL and have been exciting every since. Sure, it's at a level of the old Scotty Bowman Beer Leagues, but it is exciting and fun hockey three or four home games per month.

The officialting I saw during the Bruins game was at the SPHL level. I was surprised that the lindsmen and refs could keep control and there were no bench clearing brawls with goalies going at it at center ice while fans threw beer at the coaches.

WTF? That game sucked. And I know that rhymes... thanks refs. Thanks a hell of a lot. Enjoy your Winter Classic.

What is going on with White? When I see the same player in the camera frame for each highlighted screwup I start to think "Something's wrong with this guy."

I would bench him or send him down for a bit. You can't go from "impressive" last season to "WTF" the next season.

Anderson needs to deal with White.

Seems like the foot has been inserted in the mouth of all the naysayers' comments that I have read on here. The Thrash D is not that bad. It's not small, either, like one said. Enstrom is the only one under 6', 200 lbs. Top 10 in PK and top 5 in PP = SUCCESS in the NHL. Solid goaltending and Moose has been surprising me all year. Never thought I would be happy to see him play.

there is all this talk of the Thrashers dealing with the Lehtonen issue poorly (ex. should have gotten rid of him years ago)... Waddell and ownership are a joke, etc. However, what about the Islanders? Dipietro signed for something like 15 years and will be lucky if he can even walk by the time he has about 8 years left on his contract! He puts Lehtonen in the running for the iron man award.

As a Penguins fan, I'm totally unbiased to the situation. I won't say Waddell is good, but I will suggest there might be worse!

And Bob Gainey has had an impressive career as a GM, but is it possible that the death of his daughter has put his focus in other places the past couple of years? He has made some really poor GM decisions. Why would anyone allow THAT many players on your team to become free agents at the end of the season. Shouldn't he be looking at that when figuring out the number of years to put on a player's contract? You can't expect to bring in 10 new players and instantly build chemistry. Although he signed some solid FAs last summer, he still put the team in a terrible situation losing all those guys at the same time.

I don't have an "IN", like Mr. Walter the "expert", but that is two cents coming from a former university coach. And for Thrashers fans, I knew Dan Snyder personally when he played junior in Owen Sound... he used to help out my hockey team when I was peewee... sad, sad day when he died.

Wow, I'm so proud of this team so far this season. What a good group of guys. It is fun to watch them compete now, unlike other years where I was totally bummed out. Good Job Guys!

".....Antropov’s unwillingness to shoot soon could become a bigger issue...."

No kidding. What is up with Antropov? I have never really watched him play before he joined the Thrashers, and I'm impressed whith how he moves the puck (good protection, laser beam passing, great neutral zone decisions), but I swear that I'm about to throw my beer can at the TV the next time I see him dish to a double teamed Kovy when he's got a (wide) open scoring oppertunity between the face off dots.

Anyone know if this is new (lack of shooting) or if this is something that he has always had problems with?

We'd have another 9 goals so far (pretty sure) if he would let go.

Other than that, I like him and Kovy together. And I'm sure Kovy was just being nice... Ilya would love to see him step up and fire the puck in the back of the net.

It looks like Pavelec didn't get the shutout because he only played 59 minutes. I didn't watch the game. How can that be?

Please disregard Walter U - he cuts and pastes the same diatribe over and over in the comment boards. Waste of space.

Any reason why Yahoo isn't giving Pavelec the shutout? Just noticed that he hasn't been given the stat for a fine performance that he definitely deserved.

THATS what I'm talking about Kozzy! Good job man, finally got the scoring god to give you a nod. Keep it up, you crazy russian!

Anyone know what happened to the kid (Kane?) Nothing online so far.

I've not seen Slava score since last season. He has been so good, especially on the power play, walking the puck in front of the net down low below the faceoff dot. I've seen few of these types of plays this season.

I sure do like Kozzy, but he needs to score. It must be killing him. He's a stong and quiet leader who lets his play speak for itself... but he is playing poorly so far. I hope it will break open for him in a big way during this extended home stretch.

Has anyone seen Slava Kozlov? Why so few minutes? Especially on the power play, where he has excelled the last several years!?

Well Ron P... thanks for sharing.

While atlanta might look better this year, they still stand no chance in the east....i mean even tho they play in the worst divison, their chances of making the playoffs are small, let alone making a run.....there defense is small and kidna soft, goalies situation is probably worst in the league, and as as long as you shut down kovalchuk its a walk in the park, little antropov kane afinogenov kozlov are not scaring anybody.....and besides will ilya even sign with them or go to russia or another nhl team, he feels that the thrashers are the best they been this year, but what if they dont pan out? i feel like hell just give up.....this is a mickey mouse orginization adn they stand no chance with the caps, flyers, penguins, devils, and bruins...the east is to strong

God damnit!! Kari Lehtonen u better get back soon!!! As ur fan this is quite frustrating! Great game against Jersey guys!

well damn!

Hey Walter U, its nice to know that you have a closer relationship then others on here. I wonder how you could know this from reading a blog. I do have to agree with you that the NHL is a close community. They are a country club and I think its kinda a joke. Being in this country club doesn`t mean you are an expert in hockey. Take Toronto for example: they hire John F. as their manager. Why because his dad played pro hockey. He was a crappy GM, I could have done better. But then again the leaf`s owners are their own victims. Atlanta looks like they got an offensive power house this year, though I think the coach is making a mistake not playing Kane on the power play. I feel sorry for you Atlanta fans I know how it feels to watch your club suffer from poor managment. I decided to jump ship and sheer for the Ottawa. There is only so much a fan can take, loyalty should work both ways.
Good luck Atlanta I hope Ottawa meets you in the play offs!

Schubert was a great pick up, as he provides a physical element (punishing body checks) like Boris the Impaler yet unlike Valabik, he can actually skate and play solid defense. If that second line can wake up and start scoring this team could surprise people this season as the D is better and deeper than it's ever been.

Awesome second game!!!!! Kovy was amazing very nice! hope we can keep it up :)

They sho did walk that walk hehe.... but i hope they can keep it up. Guys played good but when they get a nice lead they always get too comfortable. As for the Kari thing, well what can i say i am a fan i know i know- its hard being his fan sooooo frustrating but he has talent its there but he's never played for a whole season hes never had time to show his full potential nor fully develop into a #1 goalie. Uh its just agonizing! You cant really blame him for getting hurt its just bound to happen but really! I hope he gets better soon and comes back strong for his sake! And Mr. Waddell...holding everything and everyone back!

Rob, you poor, poor man. You are typical of the diehard fan that keeps most teams in this league hoping against hope that have inept GM's like Don Waddell. I too have been with the Thrashers from the very beginning but on a much closer relationship than you . What I have witnessed is total inept management from the owners on down. Don Waddell is a joke in the league. The NHL is a very close community of hockey folks that understand more of the game than anybody realizes. And that includes the players. One case in point against Waddell is that free agents would rather play in Europe or Russia than play for the Thrashers. Why? Because he continues to put on the ice an inferior product. The elite players know their playing career is a limited amount of time and don't want to waste chances to excell on a team with losers. When you continue to keep on the payroll players like Eric Boulton you are not making progress. The owners also share responsibility for this teams poor performance. None of them know enoughabout the sport or the league to make decisions that help the on ice product. When an owner admits that he asks his teenage son for advice on who the team should trade for you get the idea that maybe he's in the wrong business. But being Ted Turner's son in law makes it easier to screw up. When another GM tells me that Don is a joke in the league and can be taken advantage of in trades I have to wonder why he's still in charge. Do the owners really want to spend the dollars to put a winner on the ice or do they get it? This franchise is a joke. Fromn the very beginning it was destined to fail. Cliff Fletcher wanted to return to Atlanta and put Atlanta hockey back on the map.
Jiggs McDonald sent an audition tape to apply for the Thrashers job. Neither one was given the courtesy of a denial. Both are in the Hall of Fame. What a joke Thrasher hockey is along with the Great Turtleneck, Don Waddell.
Hey rob, find a new team to cheer for....

Look, Don Wadell has done what has had to be done to keep this team focused on hockey and NOT focused on the question, "Just who the hell owns us and what the hell are they thinking?" We've been in the league for a decade now and have one playoff appearance. But I know darn well that any one of us can go back in time, using the internet, and point to teams (yes, even original six teams), that have failed to make playoffs in such a short amount of time. I love my Thrashers. I am a fan, a day 1 fan (meaning that I was present for their first ever hockey game played against another NHL team, even if it was an exhibition game, held in Columbus Georgia against the Nashville Predators). I was there, and only 3,000 people on earth can claim that fact. This is my team, good bad and UGLY. And they have been UGLY in the past. Now... now I think they are good. But good teams don't always have success. Don Wadell is doing what he can do. Him being here from the beginning, during the bad and UGLY, is important. He has a good coach now. He has some good goalies now. If Kari can keep his groin connected he will be solid. I do remember a bunch of goalies that should have never been in the NHL playing for us. And the great goalie rotation a few seasons ago... I think we'll make playoffs this upcoming season. And I think we'll go past round one. I only wish we had a top of the world Center to pass for Kovy. We had one for awhile... I'd like to see that again.

Thanks for listing Hurricanes' draft picks on the Thrashers Team Report. That's some fine editing, Yahoo! Sports.

don wadell should go work at home depot. . no one knows what they are talking about. this man needs to pack kari in a bus. and take themselvs to losersville.I LOVE hockey. if wadell keeps this up THE FLAMES will happen again.

And on top of all that is wrong with Thrasher management they have trainers that don't have experience with hockey players. I guess paying less is more important than paying for the best. What a joke Thrashers management is. And now I here that the current owners are hoping big time to be able to sell their interests just to get out from under the burden of running a franchise. Maybe rutherford should ask his teenage son what he should do like he did with trades over the past 8 years. Is this incredible or what? I am besides myself....