now that Kovy is out for weeks, this should be the Thrashers anthem during this transitional period:



indeed, Thrashers, make 'em say UGH.

Thrashers Training Camp 23:23

this AM I ventured to Duluth, the site of the Thrashers training facility to witness some fine fine fine hockey. it's this time of year that really gets me going, like every other hockey fan. right now, the sky is the limit - your team can do no wrong and they can probably win the Stanley Cup. but, you know, haters wanna hate and lovers wanna love. lots of critics (or uninformed, for that matter) are dogging the Thrashers b/c of their off-season moves, lack of hockey interest in the South, Ilya Kovalchuk leaving the ATL by season's end - just retarded rumormongering. and maybe some of those people are right, maybe some of those aspects are correct. but you know what? I DON'T CARE. this is my team and this is my sport. whether the Thrashers are a playoff team or not, it doesn't matter to me b/c I will love this team to the end (or when they relocate to some remote part of Saskatchewan, so quoth the critics north of the border). that's why I travel over an hour to see my team practice - it's invigorating, full of hope and promise, and it's the best sport in the world.

do I really think the Thrashers have what it takes to play in the early summer months of 2010? absolutely! do I feel that Ilya Kovalchuk will remain w/ the Thrashers following this season? why the hell not?! like I said - every Sept holds so much hope for the future, regardless of what may lie ahead. the Thrashers could be bottom-dwellers (they won't), but I'll continue to come back to the team that I love.

enough meandering abt my subjectivity here, let's get to the heart of the matter - today.

the Thrashers are an enigmatic bunch right now, let's face it. they made strides in the off-season to significantly add more talent to the roster. enter Nik Antropov and Pavel Kubina. let's keep in mind previous off-season additions - Ken Klee, Niko Kapanen, Glen Metropolit, Jason Williams, Mike Dunham (I shudder to even think of the name)... I could go on. personally, I'll take the two players we brought in for this season over any of the others any day of the week. but b/c of past conditioning, us Thrashers fans are skeptical of the adds b/c none of the other, uh, "experiments" worked out to our advantage. only time will tell how Antropov and Kubina will work out, but you have to think that they will contribute much more than the others I mentioned.

and then there's the Kovalchuk issue, which will plague the team until he resigns... or doesn't. based on my viewing this AM, he was all smiles on the ice, having fun and spending time w/ Russians (Kozlov, Antropov, Afinogenov). Kovy does not appear to be a man w/ one foot out the door, and all local commentary on the issue doesn't even hint in that direction. the same could not be said about the Marian Hossa issue from a few seasons back, where it seemed as if negotiations are nowhere (they were) and Hossa was mailing in his gameday performances (he was) until he was relocated elsewhere. however, there is no extension on Kovalchuk's contract as of this moment. as a result, the questions and doubts remain and they will until something happens.

after watching practice (and a scrimmage) today, I was thrilled @ the prospect of what this season could become. there's hope on the horizon. this off-season for the Thrashers was the most pro-active I've seen and it still continues to head in that direction, w/ the tryout invites extended to Maxim Afinogenov, Manny Legace, and Dan Fritsche. Max adds speed and experience to the lineup and Legace brings much-needed stability to the goalie position, something the Thrashers lacked b/c of Kari Lehtonen's previous bouts w/ injuries (actually, that's not so previous as Kari is currently working out a back injury) and Johan Hedberg's spontaneity that's been a win-lose situation ever since he's been w/ the team.

seeing players like Kovalchuk smile endlessly, like Slava Kozlov constantly giving Legacy a hard time (that often resulted in much laughter in both players), like 18 year-old Evander Kane try and try and try to push his limits higher and higher in hopes of cracking the squad next month, like Toby Enstrom and Zach Bogosian stepping up into roles that maybe they aren't accustomed to just yet (but they are more than willing to play the part) - it just makes me endlessly happy to know that this Sept is as hopeful as it is for the Atlanta Thrashers and I cannot wait to see what's next for the team as they will battle it out all season long for what really matters - playoff hockey in Atlanta.

dang it, my glass of Kool Aid is all out! :D

the calm before the storm!

I could think of worse ways to spend a Sunday!

prospect camp 2009 00:15

DSCF2180.JPG, originally uploaded by robbie dee.

one of the things I love abt the summer is vacation, esp the beach. strangely enough, another thing I look forward to during these ridiculously hot and arid times (at least in ATL) is hockey. about a month out from the Stanley Cup playoffs and just as the FREE AGENT FRENZY (emphasis added, w/ reverb) starts dying out, prospect camp comes around and diminishes those horrible hockey withdrawals for a little while... until September.

every July, some of the Atlanta Thrashers' youngest prospects come to Duluth's Ice Forum for about a week and take part in a camp, the Thrashers' Prospect Development Camp... like a sleep-away camp... only yr parents aren't trying to get rid of you for the summer and there are no pillow fights (yet to be confirmed) and there's no sneaking over to the girls' cabin and there's no horrible camp food, etc. these young'uns are out to prove their worth to the pros that are invested in them. you see, players like recently-drafted Evander Kane have yet to even taste what professional hockey has to offer. while this isn't exactly a crash-course of the NHL life, it provides these kids w/ a glimpse of what it could be like to run w/ the big leagues for a while.

for the past two, maybe three, years, I've made the trip to, a. reduce the noted hockey withdrawals, and, b. see the possible future of my beloved hockey team. every year, there's something/one special. for example, you get sneak-peeks @ players like Toby Enstrom or Zach Bogosian and before they get to skate w/ players like Ilya Kovalchuk or Slava Kozlov on a full-time basis, or, you get to witness some early hazing - as I once witnessed a fellow-camper taking the stick of then-recently-drafted Boris Valabik and put it into the protective net above the boards that are behind the goals, only to have Boris take advantage of his ridiculous height and grab it down, which caused a significant amt of laughs from players/coaches and fan-attendees alike.

it's always a treat to smell a hockey rink during the hazy days of July, hear the sounds of skate-on-ice action instead of the splashing of pool water (not that that's a bad thing), feel the cold sticking to yr bones as opposed to the sweat that lines yr forehead, and see the sport that you love so much when the only sport that gets the attn this time of year is baseball.

up for tomorrow is the first of three scrimmages that are due to take place over the week. the kids have practiced together for two days now and it will be interesting to see who will step it up early and make an impression and who clearly needs more work. there are always surprises @ camp b/c when you usually assume that the "bigger" names (i.e. Kane) have the best game there, some unknown kid to everyone will come and steal the thunder and leave an impression. I cannot wait!

Atlanta's achilles heel gets closer 18:26

Antero Niittymaki, originally uploaded by Bydand!.

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.

hey, UFA Day, what'll ya have, what'll ya have? 23:28

Pavel KUBINA (Czech Republic), originally uploaded by Patxi64.

it's UFA Day in the hockey world and that means that you shell out the $$$ for the players you want. if you're in Atlanta and you shell out the $$$, that's still not enough, as evidenced by last year's attempt at trying to secure Brian Campbell.

so what do the Atlanta Thrashers do knowing that they were hard-pressed to lure anyone over here? TRADE! and trade they did, adding a blueliner from Toronto by the name of Pavel Kubina. the move came @ a cost, however, w/ the departures of Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart. we take away a nice, young PKer in the form of Stuart and a somewhat declining XLB and add a puck-mover that's, as a result, offensively-minded... like Kubina.

in all honesty, I'm saddened by the loss of those two players. XLB was certainly a fan fave in Atlanta and it will be interesting to see how he performs for the Toronto crazies. Stuart has nice potential to become more and more in the league, a la Marc Savard when he was w/ Calgary and the NYR's. who knows how he'll turn out in a few years, but he displayed a lot of promise whenever he was up in the NHL and playing.

but adding Kubina is a step in the right direction. granted, I'm not the IN DEPTH fan I might've been a few years ago, so w/ that said, I'm not too familiar w/ Kubina and his style of play... or his playing habits of the past few seasons. what I keep on hearing is how this move will pay off for Atlanta in the immediate future. hearing that Kubina has another year remaining on his contract, I'm wondering how that will play out in the coming days, up until the end of '09-'10 (if he isn't given an extension before then). I still have yet to see any sort of reaction on his end, so who's to say how Kubina feels about this deal.

while the Thrashers didn't add a single soul from the UFA marketplace, I still feel fairly positive about this first acquisition. there's still the rest of the summer to pluck out some UFAs and we'll see what happens w/ the field as it starts to dwindle. but I think that for once, this first step is the best first step the Thrashers organization has taken in the summer in quite some time.

Evander Kane & ATL 15:08

Giants #9 Evander Kane, originally uploaded by paul clarke photos.

also, big congrats to Evander Kane and the rest of the 2009 class of draftees of the Atlanta Thrashers for the next step of their careers and dreams! I cannot wait to see Kane in a Thrashers jersey in the near future. he's a kid I could see Coach Anderson having a lot of fun w/. he's versatile up front and appears to be genuinely excited to play for Atlanta. here's to prospect camp in a few weeks!