Perfect ending to Thrashers 2009-10 season
While it may only serve to ease the fact that the Thrashers once again will be ending their season after only 82 games played, Sunday 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins to close out the 2009-10 campaign was a perfect way wrap things up.
Well…as “perfect” as it can be, I suppose, without a trip to the post-season.
First, the win itself gave Atlanta a 35-34-13 record for 83 points…which in the NHL world is considered a “winning” season. It is third-highest point total in franchise history…2005-06 they had 90 and the next season they won the Southeast Division with 97. In the Southeast Division they end up as the second place team, albeit 37 points behind Washington, who still have one game against Boston today.
Johan Hedberg makes one of his 33 saves against Pittsburgh Saturday night (Hyosub Shin, hshin/AJC)
Two players that may have played their final game in Thrasher blue came up big in this finale. Johan Hedberg kicked out 33 Penguins shots for his third shutout of the season…his career fourteenth. Moose finishes the year with a 21-16-6 record, .915 SV% and 2.62 GAA. And Slava Kozlov helped set up Bryan Little’s game winner in the second period. It was Kozzy’s shot from the left side that was batted around in front of Marc-Andre Fleury’s goal that was eventually but into the net. It was Kozlov’s 18th assist of the year and he finished up with 8 goals and 26 overall points.
“Even though we are disappointed [in not making the playoffs], I think we did a lot of things better this year than last, Hedberg remarked afterwards. “You have to keep building…Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
Not to be overlooked here is Evander Kane’s right cross that put Matt Cooke on the ice in a flash. Cooke had elbowed the rookie early on in the second …possibly taking exception to Kane’s audacity to actually play physical hockey with Sidney Crosby…and offered to take a dance with Kane.
Evander obliged.
“He challenged me and asked me to fight, and I was not going to back down”, Kane said. “It’s part of the game”.
Coach John Anderson address the fight and what lead up to it may saying, “If they take exception to who gets hit out there, does that mean you are supposed to start a fight?”. Continuing he added, “I don’t get it…Crosby is so great for the game, but when you are always around the puck, you’re going to get hit a little bit. Every time he gets body checked, does that mean somebody is going to get attacked”?
“Cooke came around an 18-year old. What goes around comes around. That’s all I can tell you”.
Matt Cooke is helped off the ice after Evander Kane's right cross put him there (AP/John Amis)
I guess coach was alluding to Cooke’s blind-side elbow of Marc Savard last month. And while I happy to see Cooke make his way from the ice on his own power…I also hope Savy has gotten a chance to enjoy the replay.
Karma and all that, ya know….
With the loss, combined with New Jersey’s 7-1 pounding of the Islanders, the Penguins will finish behind the Devils in the Atlantic Division, fourth in the Eastern Conference and will face Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs. New Jersey leads Buffalo by one point going into today’s final day of play in the regular season…both they and the Sabres have games to determine the second and third seeds in the east.
But to me…the best part of the festivities that took place on the ice of Philips Arena came shortly after the game when the Benning’s…a.k.a. The Kiss Cam couple…was presented with the 7th Fan Award. This was made even that much better when Mrs. Benning was able to walk out with her husband to receive the award fro Darren Eliot and Nik Antropov, who earlier was named the team’s MVP.
Mrs. Benning asked for the #4 jersey off of Zach Bogosian’s back…but she also quick to let Antropov know she liked him too.
Last month, we discussed the Kiss Cam couple and the possibility of seeing them named as 7th Fan. Immediately I began to hear from so many of you in your comments, e-mails and discussion in person at the games at how you too would like to see this happen. You wrote your letters and sent in your email and saw that it happened.
You should reach around and give yourselves a nice pat on the back because it helped make for a perfect ending to this Thrashers 2009-10 season.
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125 comments Add your comment
Matt
April 11th, 2010
7:49 pm
Wow, Slava, don’t know if that’s sour grapes or what, but that is just lighting a can of gasoline and tossing it into the ASG boardroom. (BTW, in my opinion Kozlov deserved to be benched for his play this year). I agree with his basic premise, that the team is lost and does know what in the heck they are supposed to be doing. And for the team to have continually played only the last 20 minutes of a game and sleep walked thru the first two thirds, points directly to the coaching staff as it happened time after time.
LAC
April 11th, 2010
8:02 pm
I saw that waddell thinks he will return, and the team made great progress…. NOT !
waddell cannot evaluate players, he is simply outclassed by ALL other NHL GM’s and
simply put… Is not up to the job.
If I had an employee with his track record, simple… He Is GONE !
FYI for those who may have missed it last night… The HNIC discussion group ripped waddell and said he should be replaced… As one Mike Milbury said, and I am NOT one of his fans,
“Ten years and they have NOTHING to show for it, he needs to go so the Thrashers CAN get better.”
Pierre Labron echoed the same comments, saying even though they have some nice young players… How many years have they been saying that ???
These owners as BAD as they are, better pull the plug on the waddell show right now. He STINKS, but what really really gets me is The LIAR waddell is, a complete LIAR from start to finish. Like Sage said, During the interview last night he never looked at the camera NOT ONCE ! Always
looking down, which is just what LIARS do.
So do us a favor “don” go back to Detroit and sell used cars, You can LIE all the time there !
EA
April 11th, 2010
8:06 pm
Slava is a person I believe 100 percent. It sure puts a clear light on why Kovy left.
Chris16
April 11th, 2010
9:13 pm
First I have enjoyed reading the blogging,Thanks Rawhide for making a great place to come to. Like my friend Rightshot this was a very insteresting season. Man Kane what a punch K.O. Cook I wonder if Holfield saw that punch? Oh what happened with the Jersey Off There Backs The Bluecrew Version?
Pittsburgh Pirate Fan
April 11th, 2010
9:15 pm
I keep asking the same question-Why is this so complicated?
Better yet, why would an ownership WANT to lose games, fans and money? It is obvious that the manager in charge of hockey cannot do the job, the track record is clear for everyone to see. I do not dislike Waddell, or want to see anyone lose their jobs. We have all been impacted by this horrible economy.
But you look at this team, where it has been, the stars that have left and the bleak future and ask the same question-
Why is this so complicated? There’s better hockey men available to do this job.
Joe Friday
April 11th, 2010
10:29 pm
Rawhide, thanks for posting the link. Just got home from a week at the beach and didn’t see it, kudos to Kane!
Now I did get to a TV last night in time to see the coverage of the Bennings win the 7th man. Great job, Rawhide, stroz, and all. Great job getting that done, my wife and I watched that and agreed “that’ll be us one day”.
Now, please say your prayers before you go to bed that what we all need to have happen, happens tomorrow. I will be clicking refresh on the AJC site all day to hear breaking news of a presser being called by the Spirit Squad. If they don’t, we’re poly-screwed, once again.
Brendan
April 11th, 2010
10:32 pm
I know this is jumping the gun, big-time, but the stars aligned today completely in OPPOSITE of what I wanted. If you’re a fan of the Capitals and Blackhawks, I think things did align pretty nicely. Here’s how I see playoffs going down.
Washington takes out Montreal in four or five. They advance easily. New Jersey puts Philly away in five. No surprise there. Boston, I think, has a shot at knocking off Buffalo. That’s where my 1st round upset is in the East. It’s the “Tuukka Rask Show,” and he’ll steal that series from a deeper and better Buffalo team. And Pittsburgh takes out Ottawa in six spirited games.
That sets up # 1 Washington vs. # 6 Boston. Caps roll easily enough in five. New Jersey and Pittsburgh go the distance, with the Penguins winning. That sets up the big rematch between the Caps and Penguins, for the Conference Championship. That one’s a coin flip. I’m leaning towards Washington, this time. For the Penguins, it’s their THIRD STRAIGHT TIME in the CF. Let’s just say the Capitals win.
Out West, I see # 1 San Jose taking out # 8 Colorado in six games. I see # 7 Nashville winning two games, but no more, vs. # 2 Chicago. I see the # 6 L.A. Kings pushing # 3 Vancouver to the limit, but losing in seven, for a great playoff debut for the “new” L.A. Kings. In the # 4 vs. # 5 matchup, I like the Red Wings over the Coyotes, though I’ll be rooting for Phoenix.
In the CSF, that sets up # 1 San Jose vs. # 5 Detroit. I like the Red Wings to roll in six games over the Sharks. I’ll probably be rooting FOR Detroit in that one. Or rather, I’ll be rooting AGAINST Dany Heatley. The other series is # 2 Chicago vs. # 3 Vancouver. Same deal as last years, Blackhawks in six. That sets up, “tah-dah,” a rematch of last year, between the Blackhawks and the Red Wings. This time, Chicago wins, in seven.
Okay, that sets up Chicago vs. Washington for the Cup. Might be Chicago vs. Pittsburgh. Either way, I like the Eastern Conference Champion to win the Cup. It’ll be a great run by Chicago. The Blackhawks knock off Nashville, Vancouver, then Detroit to get to the Finals. The Capitals defeat Montreal, Boston, and Pittsburgh to get there. Ovechkin gets his ring. The league celebrate its “History Will Be Made” promotion, happy as clams that the last two Cups have been won by their “show ponies,” Crosby and Ovechkin. That’s how I see it. In a way, I hope I’m wrong. I hope it somehow winds up some combination of Los Angeles-Nashville-Phoenix in the Western Conference Finals and Buffalo vs. Washington in the East. This way, we’re guaranteed to have a “never before” Stanley Cup Champion.
ben
April 11th, 2010
10:40 pm
let’s go KOVY!
Hockey Biltong
April 11th, 2010
11:22 pm
Kane will be awesome next year. Let’s hope Don moves up and on. C’mon Duds!!!!
We need a Good goalie, two great centers and very good dman who can get the puck out without being intimidated or easily read. Which means we should be saying goombye to some folks to make room…
Tom (Capital T Tom)
April 11th, 2010
11:31 pm
Let’s put it this way. If we do not have a change in GM during the next week, I am going to have to rethink the whole Thrasher’s fan process.
It will be a case of I did not leave you, you left me. You just never knew it.
Sharon
April 12th, 2010
1:53 am
Oh Slava, you just made my day
Sharon
April 12th, 2010
2:17 am
Here’s my nutshell version of playoff picks for the first round. I have an upset in here and I’m sticking with it (haha)!
Eastern Conference
Washington vs Montreal = Washington (4)
New Jersey vs Philadelphia = New Jersey (6)
Buffalo vs Boston = Buffalo (6)
Pittsburgh vs Ottawa = Pittsburgh (6)
Western Conference
San Jose vs Colorado = San Jose (6)
Chicago vs Nashville = Nashville (7)
Vancouver vs Los Angeles = Vancouver (5)
Phoenix vs Detroit = Detroit (6)
World Be Free
April 12th, 2010
5:45 am
Cooke is a punk-another tough guy wearing a visor.
He needs to get knocked out 10-12 more times for me to be satified, after all his cheap shot hits.
Betcha Marc Savard is smiling somewhere
The Real Thrash
April 12th, 2010
6:54 am
Nice sugar-coating. We finished 23rd in the league in points. Tied for 23rd in wins. 10th in the conference. 3-5-2 in last 10. It’s about winning and nothing else. Perfect ending, I think not!
Lee
April 12th, 2010
6:55 am
Dumb Wad is coming back!!! Yay! Let’s throw a party! *sarcasm*
TableHockey
April 12th, 2010
7:13 am
What a great game – I hate that I wasn’t able to attend in person but what can you do with a 5 week old at home?
Was really glad to see the Benning’s win the 7th man award.
Will be interesting to see what ATL does in the off-season. Not even an hour after the game Pierre LeBrun over at ESPN was saying that he heard rumblings that Atlanta would replace their coach. Should be an interesting off-season…
R. Stroz
April 12th, 2010
7:24 am
An interesting twist, someone changed their tune on the Seventh Man Award to appear on the Wright (intended play on spelling/word) side of the equation:
From This:
http://twitter.com/BenThrashers/status/10672327904
To This:
http://www.bluelandblog2.com/2010/04/11/kiss-cam-couple-wins-7th-man-award/
Bs Fan
April 12th, 2010
7:33 am
Thank you Mr Kane! My only complaint is that you should have let Cooke fall to the ice instead of holding his jersey on the way down. That way, perhaps his concussion would have been more severe.
World Be Free
April 12th, 2010
8:03 am
Don’t mean to jump the subject here-Calgary is desperate to move salary. One of the players talked about being available for a song is Cory Sarich.
I would jump on a deal to get Sarich, especially if Kubina decides to test the free agent market. Sarich played in Tampa Bay with Kubina, has a few more years on his contract. Cory is a good, hard hitting defensemen that could thrive here in Atlanta.
EA
April 12th, 2010
8:26 am
The AP ran a story in USA Today that states John Anderson is on shaky ground.
World Be Free
April 12th, 2010
8:31 am
EA-Spector is saying the same thing today.
rob
April 12th, 2010
8:36 am
SLAVA SLAVA SLAVA SLAVA……OK now how about a few questions following up with some others who have left!!! LMAO The owners/gm/coach are the joke of the league……and now there is actually talk of it! Keep up the good work on it. DUMB WAD must go!!! and take JA with you!!!
On a related note, Antropov said it after the game…..the team (players) need more passion from the fans….and in order to get more fans back, ASG has to see the writing on the wall. So do they do the right thing, or let down the next leader for this team before he even gets started? If people take his comment with those of Slava, and the growing public outcry OUTSIDE of Atlanta over how piss poor the team is run…..it has to change, right????? Please!!!!
Cliff Fletcher
April 12th, 2010
9:01 am
Everybody seems to know what the problem is-but nobody is doing anything about it.
Anyone remember Ted Septien, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the late 70’s-early 1980’s? People shook their heads at how poorly he ran the Cavs almost into the ground.
Same thing is happening here-too bad Nik couldn’t add to his comments reflecting on how the team is ran.
thebigharybeast
April 12th, 2010
9:58 am
Kane is very much the man of the moment. Dare I say it was a “shot heard round the world!”
As to Kozlov, he has been class act in all his time here. I can understand his frustration and after reading the article you have to agree with him. The past two season with the thrashers has been pass-pass- lose it in the neutral zone. I agree that Anderson’s system doesnt work. He needs to go back to the minors.
In another article from the AJC, Don Waddell is quoted as saying that he expects to be back with the franchise next season. Please let this be inline with his other expetations through the years . . . playoffs in five years . . . Savard will be staying . . . Hossa will be staying . . . the playoffs are guaranteed . . . Kovy will be staying . . .
Now to go purchase Waddell’s autobiography “Great Expectations.”
Rawhide
April 12th, 2010
10:00 am
As has been rumored…big changes in Tampa Bay.
DWTOOL
April 12th, 2010
10:12 am
Thanks for recommending the new moniker Redlight! TB struggles for two years and clears house. We languish for ten years and call it progress – 100%.
And Stroz – Changing positions in mid stream is par for the course in this organ-I-zation.
Savannah Blueland Fan
April 12th, 2010
10:26 am
TB has taken the lead…………we should follow.
Joe Friday
April 12th, 2010
10:46 am
Patiently awaiting the Spirit Squad to call the presser and do what needs to be done, if we’re to have any hope for next year(s)
frenchy
April 12th, 2010
10:49 am
The bolts fired their GM and coach! Maybe we should get the hint here…. Remember last year when the Avs didn’t make the playoffs? they cleaned house too…that’s what REAL organization do when they don’t get results!
Red Light
April 12th, 2010
11:15 am
“Hope is not a strategy”
rob
April 12th, 2010
11:17 am
How many of the Octoclusterf*$@s even know they are part owner of a hockey team? Or have a history of the sport? Or have even a passing interest in it? Can they name the team, coach, or more than 3 players? Do they even know where they play?
Note to ASG:
ASG,
Please realize your ineptnitude and ignorance of all matters hockey, realize you are your own worst enemy(ies) and get a clue (one NOT taken from someone named, associated with, or who has a postive impression of, a certain Don Waddell AKA Dumb Wad)
PLEASE GET SOME EXPERIENCED HOCKEY HELP HERE!!!
Respectfully,
The FANS who support your hockey team.
drajax
April 12th, 2010
11:20 am
read what kozlov said; couldnt agree more. the team has talent and has lost great talent, Waddell brought that talent in and because of financial restraints couldn’t keep the talent. I don’t blame Waddell for that any more than I can blame Scherholz and Wren for the Braves failures, ownership didn’t want to improve the product. I fault Waddell for not being able to find a good coach.
World Be Free
April 12th, 2010
11:37 am
Congrats to Jimmy Slater for winning the Dan Snyder Award. I never thought I would be an advocate for Slater’s resigning, but Jimmy has made a fan of me this year.
Just shows yu what time in the press box can do for a player as a motivator.
World Be Free
April 12th, 2010
11:40 am
Brendan, I agree on Boston over Buffalo.
Sabres are pretty beat up right now.
Rask can stone Buffalo.
Sabres can win if the Broons are too tired from the stretch drive; Boston has been in playoff mode for 2 weeks +.
Badger
April 12th, 2010
11:41 am
WOW . . . what a joke how people have taken Kozlov’s words as gospel to the reason the Thrasher’s missed the playoffs. When he played on the top line last year with White and Little they combined for 79 goals and 200 points did he find problems with the coaching staff being “not prepared for games.” White’s point production dropped 47 points (albeit 17 less games) and Little’s 17 points but you don’t hear them sewering the coaching staff. White and Little will be here next and hopefully the door hits Kozlov on his way out. It is a terrible way to end seven years of 80+ games per year but lets face it, he wasn’t coming back anyways. Antropov, Peverley and Enstrom had career best years. Afinogenov and Kubina had there second best stat years of lengthy careers. Bogosian and Kane showed continual improvement throughout the year. I am sure none of these players minded playing under this coaching staff. There is no harder sell for a coach than to lose your franchise player and make twenty players believe they are still just as good. This coaching staff did that. The 11 years in Atlanta have had 12 first round draft picks of which 4 are on the team !!!(Bogosian and Kane are two of them). It started in 1999 with our first ever number one pick Patrik Stefan . . . the same year the Sedin’s went two and three. There is one person that has been driving since then . . . are they really going to let him blame another coaching staff??? Sounds like Kozlov should be the next GM.
Mrs. DWTOO
April 12th, 2010
11:49 am
Can the ASG fire themselves? Please?
World Be Free
April 12th, 2010
12:15 pm
We have the 8th overall pick, is my math correct?
Cliff Fletcher
April 12th, 2010
12:17 pm
Tochett and Lawton were fired for having a poor season.
Tampa had 80 points, Atlanta had 83 points.
Nice to see TB’s ownership has expections.
Dwayne
April 12th, 2010
12:21 pm
I’ll start with saying Don does not get a pass, he should be fired. But is it his fault the Little, White Russian line was no where near as good as last year? What would have the Thrashers record been had they produced 80% of last years totals? Intresting.
rob
April 12th, 2010
12:36 pm
breaking news out of Atlanta here on ESPN. The Thrashers have signed Donnie Brilliance to an extension as the GM!!! Who are these owners? Gotta be one of the worst moves ever, other than hiring the guy in the first place. In response to this report, Bettman has stated that as soon as the Stanley Cup is handed out, crews will be on the way to Atlanta to take over the team and clean up 10 years of utterly horrible ownership and management in an attempt to restore the fanbase that once was. They will however, be keeping the teams logo and colors the same, as they give the team something other than the typical red black or blue combos that so many other teams have. Look at the outcry in Buffalo when they tried said marketing ploy. Bettman said the first order of business will be finding a quality #1 goalie for the team, and finding a coach with knowledge of what it takes to compete at the NHL level. Check back for further on this story as it continues to develop…. and now back to baseball ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
alex
April 12th, 2010
12:51 pm
bolts should ask permission thrashers to talk with don waddell about opening gm position for no avail. unlike kovy heatley, savard, hossa, staios, kaberle, brunett this man is not replacebale in atlanta. thank you don now i am sure we going to beat record for most miss playoff unless commish get sick and tired and relocate.
Badger
April 12th, 2010
1:21 pm
The team goals for and against difference was -23 last year and -22 this year. The problem is getting the big goal because the last two seasons saw the same number of wins at 35 but the ties doubled. That increased number of ties ( league average is 10 per team with the 14 teams that didn’t make playoffs at 11.4 ties per team) kept us out of the playoffs. Six ties last year to thirteen this year is 7 points which puts us in seventh. Backstrom and Semin are restricted free agents but what has this front office done with first round draft picks anyways . . . Stefan, Lehtonen, Slater, Coburn, Valabik, Bourret, should I stop??????
TableHockey
April 12th, 2010
1:29 pm
World Be Free – you are correct – we have 8th overall. Most likely not going to be a player they will be able to ice next season. Unless our ping-pong shows up. That would move us up to 3rd.
There are a couple shaky KHL players in the draft – but surely ATL wouldn’t take that gampble after the Ilya II incident.
World Be Free
April 12th, 2010
1:54 pm
Thanks T-Hockey and I agree on not taking a Russian player with #8, with the shakey nature of our relationship with the KHL and the option of these players staying home. This isn’t a bad draft, but very little is for sure after #2.
GaVaHokie
April 12th, 2010
2:18 pm
From the Falconer… Dudley rumored to be taking GM position, Waddell to move up to President.
http://www.birdwatchersanonymous.com/2010/4/12/1416651/rumor-dudley-to-become-gm-waddell
R. Stroz
April 12th, 2010
2:30 pm
Next season, I hope Heat Miser takes the Seventh Man.
I look forward to him getting his hands on the microphone.
Smoothie
April 12th, 2010
2:43 pm
At # 8, I’m hoping we select the up and coming Nino Neidereiter from Switzerland who really made a name for himself at the U20 Worlds. Problem is he may go 5-7 with his stock rising so quickly and we’ll be stupid enough to risk taking Kiril Kabanov since he’s been blacklisted in Russia by the coach of their Jr. National Team. He has said all along that his dream is to play in the NHL and that seems to have rankled some folks over in his homeland. I’m sure his dream will die when Don Waddell selects him with the 8th overall pick. Hello KHL!
LAC
April 12th, 2010
3:00 pm
Nice to see Tampa wants to WIN and fired their loser coach and bad GM, funny how that does not work here, a GM who has TEN years of FAILURE. Can Anyone answer as to WHY
they are afraid of getting rid of this worm waddell ? gee Whiz, I bet it is because he may then give away thrasher secrets… AKA… LOSING !
Good for Tampa, BOO for Atlanta !
Joe Friday
April 12th, 2010
3:04 pm
“Dudley rumored to be taking GM position”
Excellent news.
“Waddell to move up to President.”
Terrible news. Waddell must be purged from the operations of the hockey club, we need a fresh start, not just putting a new face out there to make it seem to the fans that true change has been made.
LAC
April 12th, 2010
3:06 pm
Forgot this… From Tampa… and RAWHIDE !
“Our hockey operations department needs a fresh start in order to help us fulfil our goal of being a world-class organization,” Lightning owner Jeff Vinik said in a release.
How REFRESHING !!!!! They want positive CHANGE, we continue to be stuck in the MUD like ALWAYS.
Notice two things… One there is an OWNER, not a group of IDIOTS running Tampa and
World Class Team… Commitment and positive changes, meanwhile here the same garbage that will never change until waddell is FIRED, not moved up FIRED, He SUCKS !