A Sign Of Things To Come?
It was a preseason game…yes, I know. But I can’t help but get the feeling that Monday night’s 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes was the type of thing Don Waddell, Rick Dudley and John Anderson had in mind when putting this team together.
Nick Antropov assisting on three goals. Hmmm…assists are what you’re looking for from a center on Ilya Kovalchuk’s line, right?
Pavel Kubina providing a goal on the power play…I’m definitely looking for a lot of that this year.
Mark Popovic driving forward to account for a goal…the kid is doing everything he can to make this team.
Oh, and a defense that allowed but 22 shots on goal…only seven in the first 30 minutes of play.
The go-ahead goal, which came at the 8:31 mark of the third period, was another example of what Thrashers’ fans are hoping to see more of in days to come. Antropov was skating between the circles and found Kovy with a nice drop pass. Kovy then fed Bryan Little who was cutting through on the right side, who then beat Canes goalie Michael Leighton.
Jimmy Slater finished of the scoring with two and a half minutes remaining…Boulton and Kubina with the assists. Heck, even World Be Free and to like seeing that!
Sure, it was just a preseason game…but hopefully it’s a sign of what we are in store for as the regular season unfolds. If so, Thrasherville will be a rockin’ place to be.
OK…Who Ticked Off The Great Thunder Maker?
OK…which one of you ticked off the Great Thunder Maker in the sky and caused him to bring all this rain upon us? Certainly it wasn’t me…I always behave myself!
It’s almost reaching Biblical proportions…the National Weather Service stated that 13 inches of rain in a 36-hour period in the Atlanta area. But wait…as the late, great Billy Mays would say…there’s more! That’s right, more is in the forecast.
It took me three hours to get from my office near 75/285 in Cobb County, to home in Acworth…as HOA president, I had to insect some flood damage to the community…to North Cobb High School to pick up the boys, to getting down to Philips Arena. Most of that time was spent in traffic between Acworth and Kennesaw because US-41 and many side streets were closed down.
Anyway…if you are out and about it in, please be careful. It’s nasty.
And Finally…
I’d like to give a big shout out to Russian, Smitty and World Be Free…all of whom I had the pleasure of meeting last night! WBP joined the Blueland Chronicle gang and myself for the last period, making it an already fun time just that much better.
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90 comments Add your comment
J.B.
September 22nd, 2009
11:52 am
Smoothie – I’ve said this before on the blog too. Russian never fails to provide excellent input. I always find the posts intelligent and entertaining. Excellent job Russian.
mutton
September 22nd, 2009
11:54 am
I just watched the highlights at the team site, and I gotta say, Kubina is sportin’ one hell of a shiner. Anyone else see that?
Smoothie
September 22nd, 2009
12:04 pm
I think the problem lies with the fact that in order to “demote” a player on a 1-way contract, he will have to clear waivers and then you risk losing the player to another GM who is looking to poach (think Rich Peverley). I bet the Preds would love to pay us back for that and would probably have some interest in a puck-mover like Salmela for their third tandem.
World Be Free
September 22nd, 2009
12:04 pm
Mutton-yeah we were talking at the game about the shiner. Don’t know where it came from, but he looks tough!
Smoothie
September 22nd, 2009
12:09 pm
Per NHLSCAP.com: “Whether a player has a 1-way or 2-way contract has absolutely no effect on his waiver status – it has to do with the number of years since the player signed his first NHL contract and the number of NHL games he’s played since signing”
Guess I was incorrect in my guessed assertion on the 1-way versus 2-way nature of a contract. Using the # of games or # of years criteria, it sounds like there is less risk associated with sending down Salmela, who will likely not have to clear waivers due to his lack of tenure.
Midfield
September 22nd, 2009
12:17 pm
Viking, there must be a few hidden Swedesh settlements scattered along the Appalachian, eh?
World Be Free
September 22nd, 2009
12:41 pm
And I would like to see Salmela stay instead of Boris. Not sure I will get my wish.
Smoothie
September 22nd, 2009
12:48 pm
WBF – I would not get your hopes up on Boris getting sent down. The organ-I-zation seems duly invested in seeing through the BoVal project in hopes of harnessing the potential of the next Zdeno Chara. Luckily, we may have the next coming of Paul Coffey in the form of Paul Postma.
Viking
September 22nd, 2009
12:52 pm
Midfield, this settlement has the character of heritage hermitage.
Smoothie
September 22nd, 2009
12:57 pm
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-rangers-averyinjured&prov=ap&type=lgns
Sean Avery, please get acquainted with Karma, she’s a real bitch!!
Smitty
September 22nd, 2009
1:04 pm
WBF
The league is getting away from the smaller faster skaters. There are still some but there is a definite shift towards the bigger players again. We might need Boris. I think they will give him one more year. He looked a lot better the end of last year.
Midifeld
September 22nd, 2009
1:42 pm
Sean might have made a comment about Ray’s girlfriend before the morning skate. His timing is off sometimes – kind of like in the series against the Caps.
AuburnZ
September 22nd, 2009
1:51 pm
Rawhide–nice to see you again last night. I don’t normally post, usually just read and lurk, but since you talked with our group for a while I thought I would post today.
The passing looked better and the defense seemed more in tune with the team. Pops looked like he is doing everything possible to make the team.
five_hole
September 22nd, 2009
2:01 pm
Smoothie I can’t wait for Avery to play Calgary. I’m sure Phaneuf has a very long memory. And, as the saying goes, “Revenge is a dish best served cold”.
Rawhide
September 22nd, 2009
2:16 pm
AuburnZ - It was great to see you all as well. I agree with you about Popovic…gonna be hard to keep him outa the lineup. Team defense looked good too…yeah, yeah, yeah…preseason and all that. But only allowing 22 SOG is something I’ll take anytime.
J.B.
September 22nd, 2009
3:00 pm
Pavs in goal Wednesday vs Nashville per Vivlamore’s twitter post.
…really thought they’d want to see Legace in action next.
Russian
September 22nd, 2009
3:05 pm
This is very strange. Why will Pavs start tomorrow? It is only one explanation, that he needs more game time to be a Number 1. Why do they keep Manny? Interesting.
GaVaHokie
September 22nd, 2009
3:09 pm
Coach said they wanted to play Pavs two more times in the last three preseason games. Waddell said they expect Pavs to be the starting goalie to start the season.
Starting to think we’re wasting Manny’s time.
J.B.
September 22nd, 2009
3:10 pm
My only guess is that they want to see Pavs in goal at home and figure there’s still two games after that to still have a look at Manny Legace. It may have something to do with not keeping OP out of the game for too long… not sure.
J.B.
September 22nd, 2009
3:26 pm
If what Hokie says re: Coach’s plan for Pavs holds true, that still leaves a game to have a look at Manny correct? Three preseason games remain; two @ home and one away? Is McIntyre still on the roster? I can’t see how they won’t cut/reassign a goalie tomorrow or Thursday…
J.B.
September 22nd, 2009
3:29 pm
Re: wasting Legace’s time… he’s not doing much else right now, I guess…
lee
September 22nd, 2009
3:37 pm
thanks bill.
GaVaHokie
September 22nd, 2009
3:49 pm
I can imagine Drew MacIntyre’s agent might be feeling the “Alan Walsh” syndrome right about now.
MacIntyre gets one game… the first game after a summer off… with all scrubs in front of him.
kracker
September 22nd, 2009
3:50 pm
I know they have Legace as a fall back guy, which we may need depending on how long it takes Kari to rehab, see if the surgery was effective, etc. DW is on record as saying he expected Pavs to start Oct 3. If so, do we carry 3 goalies for a while? Would Legace go down to Wolves? Or Moose?
Legace might not be our next Byron Dafoe but he could be close. I see him as an alternate backup and I hope we don’t have to play either backup as a starter for a long stretch to begin the season. Maybe we can out score ‘em for a while.
GaVaHokie
September 22nd, 2009
3:52 pm
Perhaps they want to see how Pavelec fairs against Nashville in comparison to MacIntyre?
Afterall, Legace has seen plenty of Nashville over the past several seasons (Central Division).
Thrashers Tickets Suck
September 22nd, 2009
3:56 pm
So I just paid 200 dollars for opening night and if you are a member of the ATL Thrashers facebook group, they are offering lower level tix for 30 bucks. I made a nice comment on the rip off to season tix holders and people like me and it was deleted.
Don’t think I will be going to more games after the first one.
Bob
September 22nd, 2009
4:19 pm
FB or just breathing, that $30 deal is for anyone. I feel bad for the season tix holders again, but they have to do what they have to do to get butts in the seats. I look at it this way, they’re taking money out of the scalpers pockets, I’m sure you can get lower level seats for $20 or $30 day of game outside from the homies, might as well drop the price and collect the cash themselves.
If the team is good, the fans will start to come back and then they’ll forego the good seats for $30 type deals (except for the weeknights, they’ll have to keep giving those away to get people to go down there with the horrific Atlanta traffic and 7pm starts).
Dwayne
September 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
I hope Unknown Wrist Shot, gets another start!!!! He looks awesome in Thrasher colors!!!
Anyone seen Stendec??? He ripped Mark Rictchted, whatever his name is, on the UGA blog after they were beat by Ok. St. I sure do miss him.
Dwayne
September 22nd, 2009
4:34 pm
Any tickets for the Oct. 24th bus ride/Sharks game left??
World Be Free
September 22nd, 2009
4:38 pm
Smoothie-I tend to agree with you on Boris, though I wish it were different. Boris reminds me of Slater, in the sense that the organization is going to stand by him becuase he’s a high draft pick. It’s not that I think he’s peaked, I just think he’s too slow. He reminds me of Dave Andreychuk; they both move with the speed of growing wood. He’s going to have to grow a pair to be anything close to Z in toughness. I will say that.
Smitty-I can hang out on Boris for another year, but he just reminds me too much of Jay McKee. Guys that big need to be taking the opposition out on a regular basis. Totally agree on the transition back to big guys, the old NHL. Kinda explains why Briere has lost some of his effectiveness, along with some nagging injuries. I don’t like Philly, but I have to say I am cheering for Briere to have a bounce back season. He’s a good dude.
Bill-sorry to have jumped off the Slater Red Flyer Wagon so soon, but it’s Jimmy and I just can’t take him seriously.
World Be Free
September 22nd, 2009
4:48 pm
I think the goaltending situation is the most interesting – and most crucial aspect of this training camp. Moose is very popular, Legace seems to bring some veteran leadership, Pavs is inconsistent and Kari a physical basket case. Somebody has to step up; this is an opportunity to 1 of the 4 to seize the number one position.
So I’ll throw the question out there-who do you people feel will be the number one goalie opening night?
Can the guy who has it Oct 3 keep it past November 1?
I would have liked to see Kubina play against Staal last night. Pavel vs. a real, physical number one center. If I were Toronto, I would have kept Kubina to teach Luke Schenn how to play defense. So who will mentor Schenn now? LEafs fans, as “great” as they are supposed to be, don’t think that far.
Rawhide
September 22nd, 2009
4:48 pm
Any tickets for the Oct. 24th bus ride/Sharks game left??
Dwayne – Yes there are. Here’s a link with info to order tixs and get on board. Hope to see you and many others there…it’ll be a blast!
World Be Free
September 22nd, 2009
4:51 pm
Kracker-I keep forgetting Dafoe played for us, along with Last Call Norm, Steve Shields and a host of others. Shields was a great fighter.
World Be Free
September 22nd, 2009
5:06 pm
I know we already have alotta players, but will management risk the temptation of some of the players that will be available via waivers right before the start of the season? Hummmm?
Dwayne
September 22nd, 2009
6:09 pm
Thanks Bill, I’ll call her before the end of the week.
ukyo (THS)
September 22nd, 2009
6:35 pm
A bit late to the party, but I fell compelled to post (finally). I’ve lurked here for a long time but have only posted once…
Last night’s game was a good one. I was very impressed with Popovic! I still can’t believe Peverley didn’t bury that shorty on his breakaway. I honestly feel if it’s one on one, Pevs versus the goalie, the lamp will be lit. I was shocked when he held the puck just a little too long and didn’t get the needed elevation.
The team over all played great. Passing seemed to get better as the night went on. Kubina’s goal was ugly. He had an entire open net but didn’t get all of the puck and ended up with a lucky bounce off Leighton that went in. Hey… we’ll take it. Same thing with Popovic. That was picking up the garbage all the way. But… the Antropov, Kovy, Little goal was almost too perfect. I wish that was televised so I could video capture it. Excellence in execution all the way. I hope we see a lot more of that this year.
I was worried that Little would be too busy trying to get the puck to Kovy and would be skipping out on good chances to shoot. I hope he keeps doing exactly what he was doing last night. Honestly I would like to see Little back on the line with Kozzie and White. Put Peverley up on the first line with Antropov and Kovy. If the Little White Russian line played anything like they did last year, we would have an offensive explosion!
I guess that’s all I have. Back to lurking. Great blog, Rawhide. Oh… I saw you last night heading out the tunnel over between 210 and 211 before the game started, but I couldn’t get over there before you were out. I’ll try to catch up with you for a reintroduction at the Nashville game.
@Russian -
What section were you in for the game against the Hurricanes?
Hockey Biltong
September 22nd, 2009
6:38 pm
Marta worked just fine last night!!!! I was worried about submerging, but no sweat!!!
Rawhide
September 22nd, 2009
7:06 pm
ukyo (THS) – Thanks, but it’s never too late to join this party…and there’s no cover charge!
Great remarks on the game last night…escpecially the Peverley breakaway chance. I would think he nets that 99 times outa 100.
I won’t be there tomorrow night, but I will Sunday…section 119. Please do come over and say “howdy”!
Oh, and now that you’ve posted a comment, you can’t go back to lurking. You’re now officially a part of the frey!
Dwayne – You’re welcome…all part of the service!
Hockey Biltong – As always, a pleasure to see you and the lovely Mrs. Biltong last night! Glad you got home OK on the train.
Thrashers27
September 23rd, 2009
2:43 am
I was thinking about Salmella earlier in the week…If he is sent down and is exposed, I doubt anyone will grab him. Even if he were to be snatched up off of waivers I don’t think it would be worth crying over. At this point I haven’t seen any more promise from him than I have out of Postma, Popovic, Oystrick, Kulda, Boris and any number of prospects we have waiting in the wings. It seems like a bad thing to expose Anssi to the waiver wires, but I think it speaks well for the team when a guy like that isn’t a shoe-in to make the squad.
GaVaHokie
September 23rd, 2009
8:34 am
ukyo… don’t be a stranger!
Thrashers27… I get what you’re saying about Salmela, but I’m not sure I’m ready to trust Postma or Kulda to an 82 game season. As impressive as they’ve been, I still think they’re going to Chicago on Thursday. If Popovic continues to impress, than Oystrick may be going with them.
I’m ready to predict that Boris, Popovic and Salmela get the 5, 6, 7 spots.