Operation ‘Take Sixth Place’ – Mission Accomplished! (well, at least for now)
I take you back to Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 pm. In that post, your humble blog host opined that there was a mathematical formula in which the Atlanta Thrashers could take over sixth place in the Eastern Conference. All that needed to happen was for Tampa Bay to beat Montreal and the Hurricanes defeat the Rangers that evening. Then, on Thursday night, Carolina needed to return home to take care of the Islanders and…most importantly…the Thrashers would then need to take care of there end of the deal by beating the Flyers in Philadelphia.
And with that…Operation “Take Sixth Place” was a go!
First, the Canes smacked New York 5-1 while the Bolts were shutting out the Habs….and we’re halfway home. Then tonight, Carolina continued to hold up their end of the deal by thumping the Islanders 4-1. Three down…one to go. All that was left was for the Thrashers to do their part in Philly.
Mission accomplished!
Well…I mean, at least we are in 6th place for now.
Behind a pair of goals from Jim Slater…and what in the world has gotten into this guy of late?…and one from Ilya Kovalchuk and Rich Peverley, the Thrashers did indeed catapult themselves into sole possession of sixth place in the east. They needed three in the third period to do so as they found themselves down 3-1 after 40 minutes of play.
Jim Slater celebrates his first goal of the night in the first period (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The eventual game-winner was an absolute thing of beauty as Evander Kane streaked up the left side boards, wrapped himself around the backside of the goal and found an open Slater in front who simply had to direst the puck into an empty net.
In fact, it was very similar to his first period tally…that assist also going to Kane.
Kovalchuk got things rolling just 29 seconds into the third when he slipped behind the Flyers defense on a faceoff from the left circle. He then gathered the puck and moved in from left to right, getting Ray Emery to drop to the ice before lifting it top-shelf.
Peverley then tied the score less than four minutes later via a breakout pass from Pavel Kubina…he raced in one-on-one with Emery and buried his shot. Todd White earned a secondary assist on the goal.
Slater’s second goal of the night then put the Thrashers up 4-3 at the 13:28 mark.
And as exciting as all that was…play of the night honors goes to Johan Hedberg, who was making his third consecutive start. With just under four minutes to play and the Thrashers nursing a one-goal lead, Simon Gagne raced into Atlanta zone on the left side… Moose raced from his net to cut him off at the pass, sliding in to poke the puck away. In the collision, Hedberg lost his helmet…and almost lost his head.
In fact, it almost looked like he did as his jersey came up over his noggin. As play continued, he jumped back to his skates looking like the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
For the night, Moose saved 34 of 37 shots faced and improved his season record to 12-8-4.
Tonight’s thrilling win, coupled with Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over Anaheim, means the Thrashers have won back-to-back regulation wins for the first time since last November when they shutout Philly 1-0 then beat Florida 4-3 two night’s later.
Hmmmm…oddly enough, that’s the same night that Panthers’ netminder Tomas Vokoun almost lost his head.
And Now…It’s On To Nashville
Saturday night the Atlanta Thrashers make their way to the Music City of Nashville, Tennessee to take on the Predators…and they will not be alone. Hundreds of Thrashers fans will taking part in the Atlanta Thrashers Fan Club’s invasion of Sommet Center by hopping on buses and making the journey to Nashville.
I will also be making my way to the capital of Tennessee along with The Blueland Chronicle boys.
Local authorities have been notified and placed on high alert.
And Speaking of Bus Trips
The Thrashers, TJ’s Bar & Grill and I are planning another Thrashers Party Bus trip on Saturday March 20 when the Flyers return to Philips Arena. Like last October’s Trip-A-Paloosa, the bus will depart TJ’s Bar and Grill in Alpharetta, drop fans off at Philips for the game, then return to TJ’s afterwards.
$55 buys ya a lower-level ticket to the game as well as gets ya on the bus and avail you to the drinks onboard. Prizes will also be raffled off on the way down.
If interested, please shoot an e-mail karin.beckman@atlantaspirit.com…or leave me a message below.
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154 comments Add your comment
GaVaHokie
January 29th, 2010
8:54 am
We have to come up with a new nickname for Moose. How about “Moose No-Head-berg”. Moose Nohedberg.
Good one, but I think Ben Wright’s is my favorite so far with “Icabod Moose”.
Hockey Biltong
January 29th, 2010
8:57 am
Rawhide, do you know what is up with Schubert???
GaVaHokie
January 29th, 2010
8:58 am
It’ll be interesting to see if Yahoo or other internet outlets pick up on the Moose moment… could be a good piece of publicity today, albeit embarassing.
Smoothie
January 29th, 2010
9:05 am
Ooops! Make that NINE POINTS total for Jimmah. I sholdnt post early in the morning just after waking up! At any rate, Jimbo + Kaner equals GOALS!
Now that Pevs is heating up, perhaps the goal-scoring will pick up now. Just need to get Max going again. Move Little back with Kane and Slates to shore up the D. Colby can be effective with Pevs and White or Kozlov if Max goes back to the top line RW.
Jimbo
January 29th, 2010
9:15 am
Good comeback and win in a tough arena. Again, the so-called Anderson System gave Phillip a number of odd man rushes in the second period and one near the end of the game. With a man advantage with a little over two minutes to go, we did nothing and Philly got the better chances. The System has no defensive component to it and we have to hold our breath at the end of every close game. Good to Slater getting rewarded for his perpetual hustle. Kane is setting him up for some very easy goals. He doesn’t have the hands to create his own chances.
TableHockey
January 29th, 2010
9:16 am
Hockey Biltong – Schubert is on IR with no surrent time table to return unless I’ve missed something lately. Not sure of the injury though I heard it was his hip.
Rawhide
January 29th, 2010
9:25 am
Rawhide, do you know what is up with Schubert???
Hockey Biltong – He’s on IR with a “lower body injury”. Last I heard, it was going to be 2-4 weeks.
Hollywould
January 29th, 2010
9:30 am
Can’t trade Hedberg/ he is keeping us in every game. Man, my son and I played the turtle play back 10 times. we couldn’t stop laughing. Kane plays like he is possessed. They all need his energy. Great win!!
Paminski
January 29th, 2010
9:55 am
If Slater keeps this up, WBF is going to have to get his own #23 jersey.
Blueland Traveler
January 29th, 2010
10:16 am
Anyone know the forecast for the Nashville area tomorrow?
LAC
January 29th, 2010
10:21 am
Hey Bill, found this in the Philly paper… So 10 years at $85 million is NOT enough and he is DONE speaking to Atlanta ? Have not heard this before…
Kovalchuk is slated to become an unrestricted free agent July 1 and said he is finished negotiating a possible extension with the Thrashers, who have made the playoffs just once in franchise history.
So it IS over, then get rid of him…???
Rawhide
January 29th, 2010
10:27 am
LAC – Take it all with a grain of salt. Who did they claim was the source for that info?
Do I know if it’s “done” or not? Nope…I don’t have a seat at the negotiation table. We’ll all just have to wait and see.
To be honest, I’m not too worried at the prospect of losing Kovy…I am, howver, terrified at the thought of Waddell being the one to negotiate the trade. I seriously fear that we are going to be sitting here 2 years from now waiting to see how certain prospected acquired in the deal will pan out to see if the “Kovy Trade of 2010″ was a success or not.
You know…kinda like we are now after the Marian Hossa trade…
Blueland Traveler – Right now there is a rain/snow/ice mix going on in Nashville. But for me, the big thing is what are the traveling conditions going to be like tomorrow morning from NW Georgia, through Chattanooga and up I-24. Right now…it looks un-good with that same mess hitting the area tonight and continuing through the AM.
James Brown
January 29th, 2010
10:34 am
Well I must say I enjoyed the third period………..took the girlfriend to play trivia at the local sports pub so I was glancing at the big screen at every opportunity to keep up with the game while trying to guess what hit The Steve Miller band had in England ten years after it was released…….ugh……………gotta love Jimmy Slater………….he has picked up his game big time…..and I do think that Boris` play has come a long way………I will agree with Brendan though…….things are a long way from being fixed………………I will continue to say that JA`s system has a “minor league” look to it……………if we make the playoffs it will be an early exit which I think will get DW and JA fired………………I`m glad we finally won two in row though…………..in regulation at that
Smitty
January 29th, 2010
10:47 am
You all be careful going over Monteagle.
Looks like Boris is finally coming around. Have to be very patient with the tall guys. Not everyone is a Tyler Myers.
Russian
January 29th, 2010
10:50 am
Please be careful who is going to drive tomorrow to Nashville. I want to see everyone com at Tuesday in Phillips Arena.
**Rawhide** – That’s it. No IF. We just jump to 6-th place. Good game!
moriler
January 29th, 2010
10:53 am
(covers eyes) cannot… keep… coming from behind…
Oh well. At least we played two periods in this one, and if you’re gonna be a 40-minute team, the 1st and 3rd are the ones that matter the most. And it was certainly amusing, to say the least. Still astonished that Slater has turned into something worthwhile (finally!), but certainly not going to complain — better late than never to learn that while hard work and hustle won’t make you an Ovechkin, it’ll certainly keep you on the roster and the ice.
So we’re in 6th place… sort of. Let’s run the numbers real quick.
– We’ve got two in hand vs. Ottawa and Pittsburgh, but we’re 8 and 11 points back respectively; no motion there.
– Philly has one in hand and is one point back, so they control whether they want 6th place.
– Boston has two in hand and is two points back; they control whether they want 7th place.
– The Panters, Ranjerks, and desHabillees are all a point back, but either have no games in hand or have played more games. They can’t pass us without our help.
– Tampa has one in hand and is two points back, but has 2 fewer wins than we do so loses any tiebreaker.
– The Islanders are two back and have played two more games; they are in real danger of becoming only-spoilers this season, the way the Leafs and Canes already are.
So, really, we have a solid grasp on 8th place. That’s about right considering the way we’ve been playing (and the way the rest of the conference has been playing; we may not be fabulous, but we only have to be better than 7 other teams to get in).
Kovy — I wish this was over one way or the other. If he’s asking too much, he’s asking too much and we need to get rid of him. I wouldn’t want to pay even the amount that’s reportedly offered for a one-way winger, elite sniper skillz or not, and sudden defensive outburst (a full-speed backcheck? really? did i see that?) or not.
We’ll see against Nashville, I guess. Won’t be an easy game, but the Preds’ arena isn’t all that scary. Hopefully we can play this one with a lead for a change…
R. Stroz
January 29th, 2010
10:58 am
I-24 going up and down Mounteagle will be shut down if the current forecast holds.
Nikita
January 29th, 2010
11:06 am
I really enjoyed last night’s game. I hoped to see it in Philly so I could keep those two intrepid Thrasher fans shown on the telly company, but my work scheduled didn’t allow it.
Ah, Moose. His play last night was pretty darn good. And I say pretty darn good, because in the third he got punchy. The turtle play was a good example, and he was well out of his net several times when it wasn’t the best timing. That said, it worked out and he played his heart out.
Jimmy Slater was on fire. So was Evander Kane.
And White, Antropov, and Enstrom played very solid games.
Mr. Heat Miser
January 29th, 2010
11:10 am
I’ve heard that 41A is an alternate route that trucks take during inclement weather. Or we could always cut up I-65 in Alabama.
Mr. Heat Miser
January 29th, 2010
11:13 am
Regardless of the weather – we will be tailgating.
LAC
January 29th, 2010
11:30 am
Always the LONGER route I-20 to B’ham and up I-65, flat all the way to Nashville…
about 275 that way, compared to 240 via I-75/I-24…
jt
January 29th, 2010
11:31 am
I’m a huge fan and live in Columbus
Rawhide
January 29th, 2010
11:36 am
LAC – Thanks…good to know.
jt – So…you’re say that you are a “huge” fan, as in your support for the team…or you are just a “huge fan”???
Either way…good to have you along!
LAC
January 29th, 2010
11:45 am
Bill, the story was by a beat writer in Phila. I did not pick up his name, but it was in the Flyers scetion of the Philly paper..
J(Z)
January 29th, 2010
11:49 am
Yeah so what are the non-bus riders travel plans. Heck, I wonder what route the bus is gonna take with this weather. I’ve never been to or even through Nashville so I don’t have any idea what to make of this weather. Hopefully they’re better equipped to deal with snow/ice than we are!!!
Spud Webb
January 29th, 2010
11:52 am
Lol, I’m opening my mouth and eating some crow right now!! Hats off to Jimmy Slater. I was very vocal at the beginning of the season to get him out of here!! Watching him right now is amazing and a credit to him. He’s been our best player over the last few weeks!!! Good Job Jimmy!!
Love Kane, looks like he’s got his legs back!! Nice win for sure, speaking to my brother in Philly now, he’s pissed!!! ahhahahahahahahh
Not Blind
January 29th, 2010
12:03 pm
They have got to put a string of wins together for any of it to mean anything.
If Kovy has actually quit talking to DW then I would expect to see the ‘C’ stripped off him pretty quick. If they do that they shouldn’t name another C or else rotate the C for the rest of the season.
Dwayne
January 29th, 2010
12:05 pm
If JA breaks up the ASK line, JA will no longer stand for John Anderson.
Be safe in your travels!! Where is our good buddy Stendec? I sure do miss him.++DWAYNE++
Dwayne
January 29th, 2010
12:12 pm
Here’s hoping Wash. Buff. and ANA. take care of business tonite……….WTF, now have a beer!!
World Be Free
January 29th, 2010
12:14 pm
Biltong-I will be there, just don’t know where I am sitting yet. Please keep me posted on where you will be.
Mrs. Zoomo
January 29th, 2010
12:18 pm
For those of you concerned about the driving conditions tomorrow (being the weather freak I am driving Zoomo crazy about it) I saw on the Atlanta Thrashers Fan Club FB page that the bus driver, company (?) talked to the Tenessee DOT who said they are already lined up for action on the interstates. I guess if the bus can make it the rest of us can!!!!
World Be Free
January 29th, 2010
12:24 pm
Table Hockey-I think if Moose has a future here, it’s as a goalie coach. I cannot see retaining Steve weeks unless Pavs faults are corrected. That’s what a specialty coach is supposed to do.
LAC-on the Tampa situation-
I have said it before that the league does not want to see teams moved. They want stability in the form of establishing teams and cities. Phoenix is the most obvious example. Somebody used the example of the NFL moving 2 teams out of L.A. The NFL has a history of letting teams move around and their hands are kinda tied after the Raiders moved to L.A., then back to Oakland.
BTW-L.A. will get a 3rd franchise when Ralph Wilson dies and the Bills move from Buffalo to Los Angeles.
Bettman doesn’t like teams moving.
J.B.
January 29th, 2010
12:37 pm
Here’s a link to the article in the philly paper that states Kovy SAID he was through negotiating with Atlanta, though no quote is provided…
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/83010732.html
I’ve tweeted Jay Grossman, Ben, and Chris to see if it’s true and if I get a response. I’ll post another comment if I do.
J.B.
January 29th, 2010
12:52 pm
Chris Vivlamore seems to think that Kovy hasn’t shut the door on negotiations with Atlanta, he’s just done talking about it… completely.
World Be Free
January 29th, 2010
12:56 pm
Dwayne-Sabres are concerned with Ottawa being in their rear view mirror and Marc Savard is coming back for the “Brunes” tonight.
FlamesFan
January 29th, 2010
1:35 pm
That Philly article also states that DW will not allow for other teams to negotiate an extension with Kovy if a deal is made. If this is true, then it means one of two things: 1) negotiations really are continuing (per Vivlamore) or 2) Kovy’s trade value is significantly reduced, which makes DW a bigger idiot than any of us ever imagined.
Kovy did look good last night. Can we arrange for 8 other scouts to be at all of our games?
Moose’s great play of late will probably earn him a spot on a contender. Hopefully we will get some value for him.
Rawhide
January 29th, 2010
1:45 pm
Mrs. Zoomo - Thanks for the update! I just sent Mr. Zoomo my contact info via e-mail. While you are on the way up, give me updates if you feel it necessary.
Tell the little guy I said “hello”.
(That would be your son…not Zoomo).
Bluenote
January 29th, 2010
2:05 pm
Spud I am with you 100%…Few things have pleased me more than to be wrong. I would have traded him for a case of pucks (or maybe Export Ale) at the beginning of the season. His work ethic and attitude have been terrific. If it could only be bottled and passed around the locker room….
Travelers… be safe and have a great trip to Music City
PJ
January 29th, 2010
2:29 pm
Anyone interested in two tickets to the Nashville game? I have two lower bowl tix, would love to make trade…..contact slpjlay@gmail.com
rob
January 29th, 2010
2:39 pm
Anytime the HATED Flyers lose is a GREAT night!!!! Thankfully they sucked the big one and missed our mistakes. Great win, the puck bounces good for us finally. Seemed there were way too many odd man rushes by them though, and how many times did Kubina get beat wide? It was nice to see Kane make Pronger look so bad on the first goal…..I just said a little prayer that Pronger didn’t remember that later and pull a cheap shot for it! I wouldn’t mess with the Slater/Kane/Armstrong line. Colby may have found new life there. Don’t think it’s to get a trade either. Hard work is contagious and maybe Slater/Kane are rubbing off on him. Peverley deserves better than White unless he can somehow get him going in the right direction too. I agree with the early post about getting rid of Waddell. If the team can overcome this and compete in spite of it….signs on the glass saying “TRADE THE GM!!!!”, or “Thrashers win in spite of Waddell’s efforts” LOL Don’t let him get the credit for the teams success (if it happens). He has taken all the hopes of the first fans and dumped on them, and so he needs to know how the fans feel about him. Come back to the game!!! Cheer the guys and boo the GM! Instead of telling the other goalie he sucks, how about Waddell sucks? Or Waddell sucks too??? We can loose Kovy and Waddell and start out anew. LET’S GO THRASHERS!!!!!
hip czech
January 29th, 2010
3:04 pm
good read here:
http://www.japersrink.com/2010/1/27/1269369/why-ilya-kovalchuk-isnt-the-poster
These paragraph is right on…
The Thrashers have a miserable history, and they’ve miserable management for their entire history. They let Steve Staios and Andrew Brunette walk. They drafted Patrick Stefan over Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. They traded Braydon Coburn for Alexei Zhitnik. Beyond top fifteen picks, their draft history is terrible. A team that doesn’t draft well, makes short-sighted and lopsided trades, and lets solid role players walk away shouldn’t succeed. The goal of a capped league is to create a more level playing field, not create parity at all costs despite organizational management.
Lee
January 29th, 2010
3:12 pm
Slats is a BEAST! Man, he’s one of my favorite players that never gives up.
Um, so if we lose to Nashville where will we be in Standings?
Dwayne
January 29th, 2010
3:16 pm
Armstong/Slater/Kane…The ASK line, someone gave them the name on Viv’s blog….so here is the ? I asked them.
Lets say, the ASK line stays together for the remaining of the year, and play well, maybe help lead us to a playoff berth. Do you try to give Armstrong a 2 or 3 year deal for decent bucks??
Diego from Lilburn
January 29th, 2010
3:26 pm
I wonder if Kovy was reading Rawhide’s blog yesterday before the game and got tired of us all dogging him for his weak defense? He actually had some serious hustle on that awesome backcheck in the first. It saved a solid scoring chance.
Kovy – Hats off. Props where props are due. Now don’t go back to skating figure eights at the blueline tomorrow in Nashville…
LAC
January 29th, 2010
3:39 pm
Thanks JB, for the link… Hip Czech got it RIGHT.
Lastly Ice in Huntsville and 6-8 inches tonight in Nashville. Too bad Amtrak cannot run a special out of the parking lot under the Philips, would be neat, since the train could stop a block away from the Somet Center, no driving and a LOT of fun !
Eileen
January 29th, 2010
4:10 pm
Mrs. Zoomo, everything I am reading is painting a pretty bleak picture of the road conditions. Is the fan club going to give any further updates on the weather? Thanks so much for your earlier information.
Thrashers27
January 29th, 2010
4:11 pm
J.B.,
Take into consideration that the article you provided the link to says that quote is from Kovy, but provides no attribution.
I keep hearing that quote, but I have yet to see what source got that quote from Kovy. It really is bad journalism for that publication to print such a quote without attribution.
billybobjoebob
January 29th, 2010
4:34 pm
good win thrashers keep it up… Philly sucks more than the thrash to give up a 2 goal lead in the 3rd. Keep this up and make your fan base happy, go and get a playoff spot, win a playoff game, and kovy will stay. However, if they lose a couple, and dont get a spot in the playoffs the whole franchise will be in serious trouble. For now, go thrashers.
Mrs. Zoomo
January 29th, 2010
4:45 pm
Eileen – I agree, it sounds like the roads are really bad, but the storm is supposed to be moving east tomorrow. I’m not sure what the fan club is doing…or what the status of the bus is. We are planning on driving up tomorrow but taking a wait and see approach…checking the weather and road conditions tomorrow. Keeping our fingers crossed!!!!
Pull Over!
January 29th, 2010
4:53 pm
http://www.tennessean.com/
100th !!!!!!