Updated II: Mason to face Panthers, Pavelec to face Blue Jackets

Here are a couple of notes from Tuesday’s practice before departing for Florida:

Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said Chris Mason will start in goal Wednesday at Florida and Ondrej Pavelec will get the start Thursday against Columbus at Philips Arena. It will be Pavelec’s first start at home since he lost consciousness and collapsed in the season opener Oct. 8.

Getting Pavelec the home start was the determining factor in setting the rotation, according to Ramsay.

“Mason deserves to play, of course, because he’s been so good,” Ramsay said. “He’s had a couple days rest. He should be ready to go in Florida. It’s time for Pavelec to play a home game. With the back-to-back, it just made sense.”

In other news:

*Bryan Little (concussion) and Freddy Meyer (mid-body) did not make the trip to Florida as they recover from injuries. They did not practice Tuesday. Meyer was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 23 later in the day.

“Freddy is just not coming and Bryan is still being evaluated just to make sure we are not pushing it,” Ramsay said.

Ramsay said there are no further test results for Little.

* Brent Sopel did not practice on Tuesday. He was given the day off but traveled with the team to Florida. The Thrashers re-called defenseman Noah Welch from AHL Chicago on Tuesday as a precaution.

* The Thrashers placed defenseman Boris Valabik on re-entry waivers on Tuesday. The Thrashers are likely looking to see if someone will claim him at half his NHL salary. This is the way the Thrashers obtained Christoph Schubert last season.

* The Thrashers line combinations remained the same for Tuesday’s practice.

Kane-Antropov-Thorburn

Ladd-Peverley-Bergfors

Eager-Burmstrov-Stewart

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