Atlanta Thrashers

Your Friday morning report from Thrashers practice.

As I wait for the players to take the ice, let’s pose a question.

With Max Afinogenov’s last-minute goal to force overtime Thursday against Boston, it got me thinking: Who is the Thrashers’  best offseason acquisition? I know it’s early, but the season is nearly at the quarter pole. You can make a case for Afinogenov, Pavel Kubina or Nik Antropov.

I asked John Anderson at the post-game press conference if he thought Afinogenov was the top off-season pickup. He said he likes all the new players and added of Max:  “Certainly, he’s taking the spotlight right now. Good for him. I’m happy for him. He’s resurging his whole career.”

Interested in what you folks think.

Ilya Kovalchuk did not practice today. That has been the pattern as he returns from his broken foot, to get some days off. Line combinations remained the same except that Jim Slater moved into Kovalchuk’s spot to skate with Nik Antropov and Max …

Continue reading As we near the season’s quarter mark, who is top acquisition so far? »

We are back for the morning practice report on Wednesday. I’m getting ready for three games in four days. I trust you are as well.

The news today is Bryan Little and Pavel Kubina are back on the ice and practicing. We will check further on their status after practice, but it looks like they will be ready for Boston on Thursday.

Ilya Kovlachuk is not practicing today. Will ask why. Probably just a precaution with the broken foot. No Boris Valabik either.

Special teams practice today. Here are the line combinations:

Blue: Little-Antropov-Afinogenov

Grey: Kozlov-White-Peverley

Orange: Kane-Reasoner-Armstrong

Red: Boulton-Slater-Thorburn

Let me pose this question, as I get more comfortable with the routine of covering games. Is there an interest in live blogging from the home games? I know there will be more local TV games coming up, so that won’t be an issue. I willing to try it for a couple of periods before I would need to turn my attention to writing.

Just curious what the …

Continue reading Little, Kubina return to practice »

The morning report from Thrashers practice on Tuesday is in.

Bryan Little and Pavel Kubina were on the ice prior to the start of practice. They skated – dressed in warmup suits – but left the ice before the start of team practice. Both are listed as “day-to-day” by head coach John Anderson with injuries. They did not appear (to the novice eye) to be hampered by the injuries.

Little has missed the past two games with a “slight groin strain.” Kubina missed Sunday’s game against Edmonton with “lower body soreness” after he was hit by shot in Friday’s game against Los Angeles.

I will see if there is any update about their status for Thursday’s game against Boston.

Here are the lines for the morning practice:

Light blue: Kovalchuk-Antropov-Afinogenov

Orange: White-Peverley-Kozlov

Grey: Kane- Reasoner-Armstrong

Yellow: Boulton-Slater-Thorburn

I will check back after practice and interviews with updates.

Continue reading Little, Kubina skate … but don’t practice »

The Thrashers are off today following Sunday’s win over Edmonton. Time to get some needed chores done around the house, but I wanted to post a new blog before I get started with my lengthy list.

Let’s pose a question before I return to practice on Tuesday morning. There we can check on the status of Pavel Kubina and Byran Little, who both missed yesterday’s game with injuries.

Johan Hedberg has gotten three of the last four starts in goal – missing only Friday’s game against Los Angeles. It was the second of the away-home back-to-back with the Islanders and Kings.

Do you think Moose is assuming the No. 1 goaltender job? Or is coach John Anderson riding the hot hand? Or is it all just part of a goalie rotation where both will play plenty?

Here are the early-season stats. Hedberg is ninth in the league in save percentage at .923. He has started five games (4-1) and relieved Ondrej Pavelec twice. Pavelec (6-5-1) is 17th with a .917 save percentage. He has started 12 games and …

Continue reading Moose is loose »

Back inside Philips Arena as the Thrashers hold an optional skate prior to tonight’s game against Los Angeles.

There are just 15 players on the ice. Ilya Kovalchuk was not one of the players taking part in the practice.

Those practicing are: Johan Hedberg, Ondrej Pavelec, Zach Bogosian, Boris Valabik, Tobias Enstrom, Anssi Salmela, Evander Kane, Jim Slater, Eric Boulton, Rich Peverley, Christoph Schubert, Mark Popovic, Todd White, Chris Thorburn and Marty Reasoner.

Noah Welch was on the ice when I got here, continuing to work after off-season knee surgery.

Some notes after Thursday’s game:

*With his goal and two assists, Rich Peverley now has points in 12 of the Thrashers’ 15 games this season.

*With a goal and an assist, Evander Kane had his first multiple-point game of his young career.

*The Thrashers scored two goals in a span of :25 in the second period, setting a new franchise record for the quickest two goals in the middle frame. The franchise record for quickest two …

Continue reading Kovalchuk skips optional practice »

UPDATE: Let’s sum up this whole crazy 24 hours on the Ilya Kovalchuk ordeal. He is back to being a game-time decision, one that Thrashers coach John Anderson’s gut thinks will play, tonight against the Rangers. Kovlachuk left before the start of Wednesday’s practice with soreness in his foot. This after Anderson told me he was 95 percent sure Kovalchuk would return from his broken foot. Anderson called him a game-time decision. Hours later the organization said he would not play and was not making the trip to New York. Hours after that we discovered that Kovlachuk did travel with the team to New York. Now he skated and may return tonight after all. Thus completing the full circle back to where we started. But what a trip.

UPDATE II: Kovalchuk and Kane in the lineup tonight. Jim Slater, Anssi Salmela and Spencer Machacek are the scratches.

I’ll leave the original blog below for those who care.

So we wake up this morning to find out that Ilya Kovalchuk has indeed traveled with …

Continue reading Kovalchuk returns to lineup against Rangers »

The Thrashers are practicing at Philips Arena this morning before they leave for New York for the first of an away-home back-to-back with Rangers and L.A. Kings.

The big question you have is who is in attendance – as in Ilya Kovalchuk. Yes. He was on the ice before the start of practice, dressed and skating. It looks like his foot responded well after yesterday’s practice.  However, as practice started he left the ice and Rich Peverley put on a yellow practice jersey along with Nik Antropov and Max Afinogenov. I think it was planned because the extra yellow jersey was already on the bench. I will verify everything after  practice.

Evander Kane is back at practice. He missed Tuesday’s workout to have his foot examined. He is skating and shows no signs of being slowed by a shot off the foot he took  Sunday. Boris Valabik is also dressed and skating.

Here are the lines:

Antropov-Peverley-Afinogenov

Kozlov-White-Little

Armstong-Reasoner-Kane

Boulton-Slater-Thorburn

I will keep …

Continue reading Kovalchuk warms up, leaves practice »

Let’s not bury the lead. Ilya Kovalchuk has just taken the practice ice for the Thrashers. The captain, who suffered a broken bone in his foot less than three weeks ago, is dressed and skating. Teammates  said he was a fast healer. He was expected to miss four to six weeks after the injury.

He is dressed in light blue practice jersey along with Nik Antropov and Max Afinogenov.

I will obviously get you more news as soon as practice is over.

When I got to practice injured defenseman Boris Valabik was also skating.

He, and fellow defenseman Noah Welch, were dressed in full gear and going through drills with strength coach Ray Bear before practice started. It’s the first I’ve seen Valabik on the ice since his surgery several weeks ago. He is also taking the ice for the practice, the lone player dressed in red practice jersey.

Valabik, as you recall, had ankle surgery in early October for a high sprain after taking a fall in practice. He was placed on injured reserve and thought …

Continue reading Kovalchuk takes part in Thrashers practice »

The Thrashers are off today following Sunday’s shootout win over St. Louis.

However, let’s not let that stop us from blogging. I’m sure you’ve noticed that the last seven Thrashers goals, over two and a half games, have come from defensemen.  After Bryan Little scored against Columbus on Thursday the Thrashers have gotten goals from: Tobias Enstrom and Pavel Kubina against the Blue Jackets, Zach Bogosian, Kubina and Christoph Schubert against the Islanders and Enstrom and Ron Hainsey against the Blues.

Concerned? Sure you like scoring from the defense, but all the scoring?

It’s funny because on Friday, the day after the Columbus game, I asked coach John Anderson about Enstrom. It seemed, to me, that he was hesitant to shoot from the point. I wanted to see if Anderson thought I was off base. This is what he said:

“I don’t think Toby is the kind of player that thinks shoot first. I’ve been talking to him about it. He’s got a pretty good shot. You’ve obvioulsy seen that. …

Continue reading Last seven Thrashers goals from defensemen »

I was all set to post this blog with the morning practice lines being the same, but ….

As the skate was about to begin, Evander Kane and Slava Kozlov switched jerseys. That means the lines for practice this morning are:

Kane-Antropov-Afinogenov

Peverley-White-Little

Kozlov-Reasoner-Armstrong

Boulton-Slater-Thorburn

I’ll see what coach John Anderson says about the line change for the practice after interviews. Maybe he’s just trying to mix it up a little bit.

I spent the morning looking to see if there was a statistical reason the Thrashers are so different on the road (5-1-1) and at home (1-5-0). A couple of stats jumped out:

1. They kill 89.7 percent of penalties on the road; 76.2 percent at home.

2. They have 118 hits on the road (two more games); 57 at home.

3. They have 91 blocked shots on the road; 63 at home.

I also came across this about their slow starts:

1. Record when the score first: 4-0; Record when opposition scores first: 2-5-1

2. Recorde when trailing after …

Continue reading Kane and Kozlov switch practice jerseys »