Updates: Lehtonen back in, Valabik out
Your Monday morning Thrashers practice report:
UPDATE:
* Kari Lehtonen was back at practice and got a lot of work. He says he is NHL ready. Coach John Anderson said there is no timetable for him to get into a game. He will make the three-game road trip.
*The extent of Boris Valabik’s knee injury is not known. They are waiting a few more days to let the swelling go down to determine the next step. The initial thought is he tore the ACL.
*There are no plans to recall anyone from AHL. They will play with the six defenseman. Christoph Schubert’s return is not imminent. He hasn’t begun skating yet, although was walking around the locker room today without a limp.
Team is back to three goaltenders. Kari Lehtonen is back from his conditioning stint at AHL Chicago and working with assistant coach Steve Weeks along side Johan Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec.
Newcomers Johnny Oduya and Niclas Bergfors are on the ice for their first practice as Thrashers.
Boris Valabik is not on the ice. He hurt his leg Friday against Washington. I see from some bloggers have posted that GM Don Waddell said the injury is to his ACL. I will report following practice.
Here are the line combinations:
Blue: Bergfors-Antropov-Little
Gray: White-Peverley-Afinogenov
Orange: Kane-Slater-Armstrong
Red: Boulton-Reasoner-Thorburn/Kozlov
I’ll get this posted and come back after interviews and update.
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71 comments Add your comment
Mike
February 8th, 2010
10:36 pm
That was a tough game to watch. There is a part of me that wanted to see the Devils win so the Flyers wouldn’t get any more points. Then there was a part of me that didn’t want the Devils to win since Kovy lied to the fans. Tough decision on who to root for.
Soup Nazi
February 8th, 2010
11:13 pm
Kovy, no soup for you!
Tweets that mention Lehtonen returns to practice after conditioning stint | Atlanta Thrashers -- Topsy.com
February 8th, 2010
11:41 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sports Fanatic, Dental Plans, Chris Vivlamore, Holly Haviland, SLBD_Thrashers and others. SLBD_Thrashers said: Lehtonen back in, Valabik out http://bit.ly/983voS #nhl #thrashers [...]
DaveR
February 8th, 2010
11:41 pm
I’m a Devils fan. Stopped by to see what you guys would be saying about Bergfors & Oduya.
Bergie never says much when he’s interviewed — So don’t misread his reserved manner as an indication that he’s unhappy to be there. Or, he may very well be unhappy.
He’s a quick skater, with a knack for controlling the puck in traffic, good at battling for the puck along the boards, great at finding open ice, a good shot, and a good passer. His defensive game isn’t as strong. He got a lot of PP time in NJ, and no PK time.
Oduya is an upgrade over Salmela (who got his clock cleaned tonight on a hit that I hope will get the Flyers’ Carter a suspension). Oduya can move the puck well from the defensive zone, play the point on the PP, and generally plays solid D. He’s an excellent skater, and plays well positionally.
So far I think you guys got the best end of the deal. Kovy is altering the way the Devils play, esp on the power play — and so far they’re not looking too good when he’s on the ice. He took, what, 9 shots tonight — and God knows how many he fired into the glass.
I hope I’m wrong about him, for the Devils’ sake.
stendec
February 9th, 2010
12:47 am
All of you thought I was way off base about Ilya Kovalchuk being a cancer to my team!
This following is from a New Jersey Devil fan:
So far I think you guys got the best end of the deal*. Kovy is altering the way the Devils play*, esp on the power play* — and so far they’re not looking too good when he’s on the ice*. He took, what, 9 shots tonight* — and God knows how many he fired into the glass****.
Consider these things (*) smiling faces since I do not have a clue how to place them in my posts. Maybe soon Devil fans will be ready to tar and feather the choker themselves.
All of us have been watching the KOvalchoke ice follies for years. Not a critical success in another venue either. Tsk task tsk. Maybe New Jersey will take Sori Letemin too. Just asking!
++STENDEC++
Devilsfan80
February 9th, 2010
1:16 am
DaveR,
It’s been all of 3 games we have had Kovalchuk. How about you wait till the end of the season before you judge the guy. He hasn’t even had a full practice with the team yet for Christ sake. It’s not like the Devils were playing great before he was on the team.
Jd
February 9th, 2010
7:51 am
I though D-Wad told the Town Hall that Let-None-In was being traded. Was D-Wad just lying again?
GaVaHokie
February 9th, 2010
8:20 am
Well, look at it this way… anyone who wants to trade for Lehtonen is gonna want to see him in action… let’s just pray he plays well enough to give us a good return.
Russian
February 9th, 2010
8:55 am
Absolutely. Kari should play all 3 games, at least two (Colorado and Chickago).
DaveR
February 9th, 2010
9:08 am
DevilsFan80-
I don’t want to judge Kovy too quickly – But at the same time he’s just a rental, so there’s not a lot of time for this trade to either pan out or flame out.
After 3 games, the Devils have already received over 10% of whatever contribution he’ll be making to our team before the reg season ends.
Atlanta, meanwhile, has 2 players that I (for one) will be missing for years to come.
Alan R.
February 9th, 2010
9:34 am
Devil’s Fans:
Welcome to the blog. Hope you guys can stick around and hope with us that Atlanta can make the playoffs.
From an Atlanta standpoint on Kovalchuk: He tore it up after he was named captain last year, and that continued through the first quarter of this year. After that, he started floating. His play was listless, and defensive responsibility wasn’t even an afterthought for the guy. Some said he wanted out, while a couple of us thought he might have been saving all his strong, physical play for the Olympics.
So far, it looks like he did want out… but he’s also saving himself for the Olympics. I hope he can come back from the Olympics strong and help you guys out. I really like Kovalchuk, but have hated the way he’s played with us since December.
Smoothie
February 9th, 2010
10:00 am
Devils fans – Alan R hit the nail on the head. Kovy can be great when he puts his mind to it, but there are some big holes in his game. For too long they have been dismissed as “part of his game that makes him so dangerous / effective” and he hasn’t had to be totally accountable for his lapses. Surely he will come up big for you several times this season, but only time will tell if it will be good for the Devils in terms of the big picture and chemistry for the playoffs. The have been stretches, like the last 35 games of last year after getting the C, and in the middle of the ‘07-’08 campaign when he absolutely carried the team while Hossa floated around like he could give a flying you know what. When it’s all said and done, I do think the Thrashers will make out far better in this trade unless somehow sweet Lou convinces Kovy to stay for a couple of years. Bergfors excites me the most as he seems to have skill components to his game that Kovy lacked. Oduya is the epitome of solid and he should gel nicely with our D-corps. As for Cormier, I could give a crap unless he has an epiphany w/r/t his dirty play. I don’t know enough about him to judge his game though.
Devils fans, thanks for stopping by and please don’t hesitate to visit our “Fan Blog” managed by Big Willy Tiller as it is updated quite frequently with new content and gets people debating the topics of the day / week. Vivlamore, our beat writer does a good job reporting on the team, but he doesn’t really have time to make this a more “interactive” forum for the fans.
Here’s the linky: http://blogs.ajc.com/iceman-thrashers-blog/
rob
February 9th, 2010
10:30 am
I think we let the new guys soak in the whole trade and get a feel for the town before you go pressing them. If they want to come out and talk, fine, but otherwise I say we cheer them on at the games and hope they feed off of that and decide that this is a good place to play some hockey. Looked like thay were pretty happy Saturday night after the cheering we gave them, I hope we can continue that for them and the rest of the team as well. Next month will be telling with the number of home games during the week and so much at stake. Don’t want someone to come in and take away points because it wasn’t a true “away” game for them, and by that I am sure we all know what I mean. The playoffs have already started here, and only good hockey will get us there. Hopefully the Olympic rest will do us good and we don’t lose anyone there to injury.
Jarndyce
February 9th, 2010
10:31 am
Anyone thinking that a return for Lehtonen will be more than a 4th round pick is delusional. I’ve said it all year long, you simply can’t trade Lehtonen and expect any kind of return. Will that stop DW from trading him? That depends on whether or not he (and/or Anderson) believes his presence is more detrimental to the team than any return they might receive. If a goalie is going to be traded, it has to be Hedberg. He’s the only one who might bring enough return to make the move worthwhile.
Trade Hedberg, let Lehtonen and Pavelec battle to see who will be here next year. If Lehtonen proves he’s an NHL-ready player, then trading him at the draft would bring a much better return than trying to move him now.
Big
February 9th, 2010
10:34 am
Apparently, nobody wants to room with Boulton because he snores.
http://tinyurl.com/ydq557x
DaveR
February 9th, 2010
12:02 pm
Alan R-
Thanks.
I don’t think Kovy has been “saving himself” for the Olympics since he joined the Devils. He’s been trying hard to contribute, and maybe is pressing too hard to do so. And his new teammates are guilty of trying too hard to feed him the puck, making the Devils’ PP very predictable. He’s been gobbling up tons of ice time, especially on the power play, but all of that is with the blessing of the Coach.
Obviously, I’m not cheering for Kovy to fall flat over here. Hopefully with some chance to get more familiar with his new team, the team as whole will be much improved by what he brings. The Devils looked great last night against Philly, until things sorta broke down at the end of the 2d period when they gave up 2 quick goals. That wasn’t Kovy’s fault. They had a lot of PP chances in the 3rd, and they couldn’t cash in. Kovy bears some of the blame for that, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort on his part.
If you guys are interested, here’s a link to the Devils’ most active website. It’s excellent. There are exceptions, but the discussion there is generally civil and knowledgeable.
http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/
Devilsfan80
February 9th, 2010
12:35 pm
DaveR,
I know there isn’t a lot of time but it helps for him to get a practice with the team and gel with his line mates. He took 9 shots against the Flyers and I’m positive they will start going in soon.
To Thrasher fans,
Thanks for the welcome. I’ll be following the Thrashers more closely cause I’ve been a fan of Bergie since the Devils drafted him. I’m hoping he does good things for you guys. I also hope Oduya can return to his form of last season. He’s an exciting guy to watch when he’s at his best.
J.B.
February 9th, 2010
1:21 pm
Dave –
And his new teammates are guilty of trying too hard to feed him the puck, making the Devils’ PP very predictable.
This is a problem Thrashers fans have experienced for the last few months alot and for years to an extent. Unless y’alls coach can tweak something, expect the Devils PP% to drop somewhat. This is one of the reasons alot of us down here feel Kovy isn’t worth the money he’s asking for.
Glad to have you jumping online here, following the thrash closer, and giving us the goods on Oduya & Bergfors.
Alan R.
February 9th, 2010
2:13 pm
I honestly didn’t like him sucking up the full two minutes of PP time here. If any of you two Devils fans flipped to the Florida@Atlanta game on Saturday (and even the Atlanta@Washington game the night before), you may have witnessed an actual cycle on our power plays. For many of us, this was a first on this Atlanta team..
DaveR
February 9th, 2010
3:58 pm
I DVR’d both Atl games on Center Ice. I like Bergie too, and wanted to see how he did for you.
He’s been good at cycling, even strength or on the PP, with the Devils, esp when matched with hustle/skill guys like Parise and Zajak. The last 2 games, he hadn’t practiced yet with your club, so you didn’t get to see him on the PP yet, but that might be where he will shine the most. I’m sure your Coach will be using him on the PP from here on out.
Don’t know how long my wife will tolerate my watching 2 games a night…
Brendan
February 9th, 2010
5:34 pm
My point on the Lehtonen trade is this. If ALLLLLLL you get for him is a 4th round pick, the trade’s not worth making. Might as well hang on to the guy and re-sign him cheaply. If someone is crazy enough to make him an RFA offersheet, take the draft picks, unless the compensation is only a 3rd round pick. Then match the offer. An offer where the compensation is that low is a resonably price contract.