Thrashers fans of the world are slightly upset. I come home from work today to finally find out that the Tampa Bay Lightning officially signed Antero Niittymaki to serve as back-up to Mike Smith.
this is terrible news out of Tampa and let me tell you why. Niittymaki's career numbers against Atlanta are
did you get that?
12 wins and 0 losses!
the streak against Kari Lehtonen runs even longer than that, dating back to their AHL days in 2004 (or, for that matter, BACK WHEN THEY WERE IN FINLAND!). those 12 wins contribute to Philadelphia's overall record of 25-4-6 against the Atlanta Thrashers.
ALMOST HALF OF A FRANCHISE'S WINS AGAINST A TEAM ARE B/C OF ONE GOALIE.
well, maybe Niitty's presence isn't the ONLY reason why Atlanta has done horrific versus the Flyers, but it definitely plays a large part. there's something about the Thrashers (and Lehtonen in particular) that causes a rise in Philly and Niittymaki is certainly it. each time the Thrashers attempt to play Lehts against his Finnish rival to try to PROVE something or OVERCOME some sort of PERSONAL/TEAM STRUGGLE, it fails miserably. even when Lehts DOESN'T get the start, Niittymaki has a career performance against the Thrashers.
do you see why this move by Tampa should bother Thrashers fans? we play the Lightning eight times over the season. EIGHT. you better believe that Niittymaki will start each and every one of those games until he loses (if that ever happens).
let's hope a change of scenery does Niittymaki terrible and he porks it up while lounging on the beach instead of hanging out by the Liberty Bell and running up and down lots of stairs.
0 comments:
Post a Comment