Pavelec Appears To Have The Upper Hand

The guy I’d secretly hoped we’d get as goalie coach is Eddie Belfour-now say what you want about some of his notorious off-ice episodes, beating up one of his teammates (did it happen or is it myth?)-all that other crap-fact f the matter is, Eddie was one of the best in his day, and while a lot of that can be attributed to his will to win and ability, if you ask him why he had such a successful career, one of the first things he’ll mention is his tutelage under the Soviet legend Tretiak (nice little story found aqui-> http://belfourstars.tripod.com/id56.html )… now, I know that Tretiak’s under contract to Chicago as well as the Russian National team and I think a KHL team-don’t think we can get him [Tretiak] (although maybe Ilya could make a call?), but I would think that Belfour would’ve been a great option as well. Further kudos to Davidson and the organization he’s building out there in St. Louis.

Who do you guys think we should try and get as a goalies coach?

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OOPS, I left out one important detail: the ticket is FREE.

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Glovesave: Don’t get me wrong, I’d clearly rather have Lehtonen over Pavelec. Lehtonen is easily the better goalie. All I wanted to point out is that if it’s between Pavelec and Hedberg, I’d rather it be Pavelec.

Thanks for the positional expertise, by the way. I remember watching Lehtonen in the world juniors when Lupul kept potting goals up over Kari’s shoulder. Lehtonen was going down to early and defitely leaning forward. He seemed to correct it during that very game.

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Kane vs Afinogenov..which may also decide where Peverley ends up playing

This is the strangest situation, because it’s actually Afinogenov v. Peverley with Kane ramifications.

If Afinogenov proves to be more valuable on 2nd line RW then Peverley, than Pevs goes to 3rd line LW and Kane goes to Juniors.

If Pevs is equal or greater than Afinogenov on 2nd line RW, then Afinogenov doesn’t get signed and Kane still has a shot at 3rd Line LW.

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Check yer email kids

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GVH, you may be right because we really don’t know what the coaches are thinking. But I surmise that if they are singularly impressed with Afinogenov’s conditioning, speed, stamina and chemistry in the pre-season, they will sign him and then send Kane down. If they have some questions about Max and do not think he’ll add value, then Kane gets his 9 or 10 games sooner than later. They might surprise us and sign M.A. and keep Kane anyway if someone like Fritsche or Thorburn impresses enough on the PK to nail down the 12 spot. Then it’s a game of musical chairs on the Top 9 involving Kane, Afino, White & Pevs.

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We could really screw things around and get something like this…

Kovy Antro Little
Kane Pevs Afinogenov
Kozy Reasoner Army
Boulton White Slater

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Actually…

Kovy Antro Little (Scoring)
Kane Peverley Afinogenov (Scoring)
Kozlov White Army (Scoring/Checking)
Boulton Reasoner Slater (Checking/Energy)

… the trick is to not get bogged down mentally with last years combinations.

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Thanks Hokie for the link!

I’m like Sara and her points of view. Last year was last year and Pavs has had more experiences since then and has already made a serious case for the job already in Tampa. I like both Moose and Manny,very thankful to have them for depth and maybe help out….but I got a good feeling about the kid. I’m not really panicing at all cause I feel Pavs is more “hungry” for the #1 spot than the rest are.

And I too felt Postma would be great…. but Popovic is very determined,i hope he keeps it up. Those last D slots is shaping up to be the best battle for blueline play for us aslong as I can think back.
In no paticular order;
Valabik
Salmella
Oystrick
Popovic to battle it out for the 5,6, and 7th(depth/pressbox positions. I was hoping Kulda would have a better dog in this race for this year but guess not. He,Postma, and Lewis as pointed out earlier can provide good serviceable depth insurance for the season. But this is a great battle, so let the best man win!

And I’m praying that mad max shows some great skill with his speed 2nite as well.

I know it may end Kane’s ability to stick around,but Kane was drafted to play on the top 2 lines and the only way he’s going to keep getting better is have those “real” minutes and he just isn’t goin to here right now as our top 6 is looking very stacked up.

I know he’s busted his butt to stay,but just “giving” it to him isn’t the way to go. IF mad max gels well,the adversity of goin back down to juniors for only one more season should keep him fired up to make it at a later date.

But, I was wondering this….. WHY not let Kane go to Chicago? What are the pros/cons that i’m not seeing or knowing? Cause it just seems alot automatically have him goin back down to juniors instead. I can’t help but feel Mad Max at this moment would give our 2nd-3rd lines more offensive bite.

Thanks in advance for any helpful info you wanna add. I just hope that ya’ll don’t feel i’m playa hatin on Kane. I LOVE the kid but just feel we may be rushing him into the big show and it may hurt him more than help. LET’S GO THRASHERS!!!!!

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Is this the article in question, Smitty?

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Arthropod did not win many face offs. I remember mentioning it to my s.i.

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Obviously I did not see the game but looking at the stats we gave up 37 shots and 4 goals, 2 in last minutes of the game. Valabek was a -2 while Borgosian was a +3. Mr Gratton will have a nice memory to take down to the minors with 2 goals and Andro has a goal and an assist.

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JB– i dont know if i agree with your comment about gratton i think this preseason he has certainly shown himself to be a worthy candidate for this team i think he has a shot of taking someones position.

I really dont like the 37 shots. that is just looking to the past with this thrashers defense.
also 2 goals in the last 2 minutes? Reminds me of our problem last year and i dont like it

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I saw tonight’s game and came away with several of my roster questions answered (at least in my own mind). I have been on the fence about each of these players.

1) Kane is not ready to play up here. He was tentative and average at best, and I think that’s being generous. He was also not strong on the puck. I wish he could play in the AHL, because like a lot of you, I’m not sure that another year in Juniors will give him the experience with speed and size that he needs. If he plays in Atlanta this year, even just for 9 games, I see a couple of things happening. One, we will be fielding a weaker team than we otherwise could at the start of the season and I think we are all agreed that we need to start strong. Two, Evander’s confidence may take a significant hit, and we all know how that can turn out. If this was a “rebuilding” year, then I might say yes, let’s give him a half season to come around, but it is not.

2) Afinogenov definitely gets the nod over Kane. His speed was evident and generally effective, and his stick handling was also generally superior. He also had a little time on the penalty kill, and held his own.

3) Gratton over Bolts. I hate to say it, but his superior offensive play combined with his experience as a “tough guy”, gives him the nod in my book. And it wasn’t just the fact that he scored 2 goals, but that he consistently put himself in position to score without sacrificing his game in other ways. Can you imagine how we would be raving if Boulton had scored twice. If Waddell is true to his word, (insert snickers and uproarious laughter) about ignoring contract considerations to put the best team on the ice I think Gratton gets the nod.

4) As good as Oystrick has looked at times, I think he may have played himself out of a role with the big club tonight. He misread, or misplayed the puck, pinching up. several times tonight, directly resulting in at least one goal, and didn’t assert himself offensively at all. Popovic was unremarkable offensively also tonight, but I never saw him as a liability defensively tonight.

Valabik also looked like a liability tonight, in addition to his 2 penalties. His skating is still not where it needs to be, and he seems to still be quite a ways away from knowing how to use his size in the NHL. I must say he did make one nice hip check against the board in the first period, but ended up on the ice himself. I think the Thrashers are committed to Boris for this year to see if the sleeping giant will awake, but I have not seen his size be enough of an asset to overcome his deficits. Postma looked NHL ready to me on Monday, but I think a year at Chicago will be best in the long run for both him and Kulda. They should both push hard for a seat at the main table next season.

Peverley was also a bit disappointing, but still showed his puck control skill. I am afraid though, that as in Nashville, he will flounder if he is not playing with highly skilled players. Thorburn showed some good puck control and patience with the puck and didn’t looked nearly as bad tonight on the PK as on Monday. Fritsche did not distinguish himself in my mind tonight and Stapleton looked comfortable if not outstanding, playing at this level. Even thought Crabb had a goal, (off a fantastic pass by Bogosian) I would say he did not have a great game and did not really show his speed and was not confident with his decision making.

So my opening night line-up would be:

Kovy – Antropov – Little

Kozlov – White – Afinogenov

Peverley – Reasoner – Armstrong

Gratton – Slater – Fritsche/Thorburn

Enstrom – Bogosian

Hansey – Kubina

Popovic – Salmela/Valabik

Armstrong and Hansey’s injuries do not sound like they would prevent them from playing on opening night.

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