Pavelec returns while Mason continues crash course in being Thrashers goalie
The fourth weekend of the Thrashers 2010-11 campaign is upon us, and with it comes the fourth straight Friday/Saturday back to backer. Tonight will see the 3-6-1 Buffalo Sabres returning to Thrasherville for the second time in a week and a half. Tomorrow night will be in St. Louis where the 5-1-2 Blues will be waiting. They blanked the Nashville Predators Thursday nigh behind Jaroslav Halak’s 24-save effort.
Halak is now 5-1-1 with an impressive 1.55 GAA and .939 SV%. He also has a pair of shutouts as well. The Blues’ netminder has benefited from playing behind a defense that has allowed a league-low 25.5 shots on goal per game.
As we in Thrasherville are painfully aware of, not all goalies are so fortunate.
With all that in mind, as the weekend’s action unfolds, one place on the ice I’m going to be paying a little more attention to than usual is the blue area just in front of the Thrashers’ goal. I’ll be doing so for two different reasons on both nights.
The area in front of Chris Mason's goal has been a very busy place this fall. The Thrashers netminder has faced an NHL-high 311 shots so far (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
First off, Chris Mason will be making his ninth start in ten games this evening. But in reality it will be his tenth consecutive game seeing how he played in all but the first couple of minutes of the season opener. He was, however, relieved after one period of play last Friday after Tampa Bay had built a 3-0 lead.
I’ve been hearing and reading concerns that Mason’s high GAA so far this season is the result of being overworked. As stated above, he has started eight of the nine games plus 57-plus minutes of the one he didn’t begin the game in. But it’s not just total ice time at play here.
The veteran netminder has had a crash course these past three weeks on just what being a Thrashers goalie can mean. Mason has had to face an NHL-high 311 shots during the first month of the season. Anaheim’s Jonas Hiller is second on that list with 294 total shots against…and he’s played in 10 games so far.
Third on the list, someone who is very familiar with this extreme SA/G dilemma…Kari Lehtonen, who has seen 283 shots so far during 531:49 TOI. His record is now 5-4-0 with a 2.93 GAA and .908 SV%.
To put the workload of Atlanta’s keeper in some perspective, facing 311 shots in 501:06 TOI is being forced to stop a puck every 96 or 97 seconds. And, if you break his ice time down into 60-minute increments, Mason has been facing 37.3 SA/G.
That’s way too many, (DUH5).
If I may take liberties with a line from the late, great Madeline Kahn in her role as Lili von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles…”Let’s face it boys, this goalkeeper is tired! Give him a break…don’t you know he’s poop?”
In contrast to Mason’s miseries, Halak has faced 179 shots during 424:36 TOI. That means he’s been called upon to kick out the puck once every two 2:25 or so, which equates to having just under 25 shots taken on him every 60 minutes worth of play.
Wednesday night in New York, though, the Thrashers did provide their goalie with a bit of relief, allowing only 28 SOG and Mason was able to turn aside 24 of them in the 6-4 win. This is made even more impressive when you considered that Atlanta was outshot 7-1 in the first several minutes of the opening period. They outshot them 26-21 from that point on.
Limiting the Rangers to but one power play chance certainly helped matters.
Then there will be Saturday night’s return of Ondrej Pavelec, who coach Craig Ramsay has said will be ‘tween the pipes tomorrow night. If so, it’ll be the first time since the young Czech fainting shortly after the puck dropped on opening night.
While very happy that Pavs is well enough to resume play, once back on the ice my focus will once again turn to his performance during games. Opie entered the season with some doubts circling around him regarding his NHL “readiness”, as his career 20-28-7, 3.32 GAA and .902 SV% would attest. But he finished off training camp/preseason on a positive note, stopping 28 of 30 he shots faced in Carolina in his last exhibition start and 29 of 31 before that in Nashville.
However, last Wednesday Opie played in Chicago during a conditioning start with the Wolves. He allowed 3 goals on 22 shots during the 4-1 loss to the Oklahoma City Barons. Not exactly the “springboard” one would want to re-enter NHL play on.
But I temper that with what the whole meaning to the start was for, “conditioning”… to see if he’s physically ready to play again.
Regardless, having him cleared to play again is obviously great news. The sooner he gets back on the ice during an NHL game, the sooner this whole bizarre fainting episode can be placed behind him and things can return to some sense of “normalcy”…for Opie and the team.
If nothing else, having Pavelec back will allow Ramsay to provide Mason with a bit of rest from time to time, as was the plan prior to opening night’s odd occurrence.
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235 comments Add your comment
Curly
October 30th, 2010
10:49 pm
Pavs is awful in shoot-outs.
R. Stroz
October 30th, 2010
10:52 pm
Pavs looks like a fish out of water in shootouts.
MARCO……POLO
Eileen
October 30th, 2010
10:53 pm
Oh well, a point is a point. Pavs made some great saves. That is very encouraging. The Thrashers looked gassed in the last few minutes. Pavs is not the best in shootouts. 3 out of 4 pts in 2 nights is acceptable.
Tom Lysiak
October 30th, 2010
10:53 pm
Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Gotta learn to play with a lead and close the deal.
Michael
October 30th, 2010
10:54 pm
cue the stendek rant… i cant believe we lost, we looked soooo good through two periods…damn, this one hurts… and dont give me the atleast we got a point bs, we had a 2 goal lead with a period to go, this team is NOT ready to contend..to my disappointment
Curly
October 30th, 2010
10:55 pm
The common thread between last night’s game and tonight is that the Thrash can not finish off their opponents. Look at the Flyers (6-1) or Bruins (4-0) tonight. The good teams finish off their opponents. The Thrashers had an opportunity to do this in the second and top of the third periods. They had two 5 on 3’s they could not convert. (That first Blues goal which should have been goalie interference was the determining factor – but shouldn’t have been).
R. Stroz
October 30th, 2010
10:56 pm
When you can’t score on a five on three, you are bound to lose.
Brendan
October 30th, 2010
10:57 pm
Almost thought Burmistrov had scored to extend the shootout. Still, what does this say about our team? We’re 6:11 seconds away from a tremendous road victory. Instead, it turns into a 4-3, shootout loss. That shouldn’t happen, even if it is on the back end of a back-to-back. These games have to be converted into wins. The bottom line is … St. Louis outshot us … and won the game. That’s what the boxscore will show.
How does Ramsay “practice” playing with the lead? It can’t be simulated in practice. Every player on the ice knows its an exercise. If Ramsay tells the players, in practice, “pretend this is a game, and you’re up by two, with 10:00 left to play. I want the team with the lead to forechecking heavily.” It’s practice. That situation cannot be simulated, because it’s not real.
The key to Thrasher wins this year, will be coming from behind to get them. Around the league, Florida beat Montreal, 3-1. TB is up 2-0, on Phoenix. Pittsburgh shutout Carolina for us. Washington trails Calgary, 2-1. Go Flames!! That’s it, for the Southeast Division. Buffalo got jacked, 4-0, by Dalls. Don’t tell me that was Kari Lehtonen.
Curly
October 30th, 2010
11:03 pm
Brendan – Raycroft was in goal for Dallas tonight. Kari was taking a nap.
R. Stroz
October 30th, 2010
11:05 pm
Curly – Are you sure he wasn’t suffering from a hangover?
A point is better than I expected tonight. However, Pavelec isn’t going to steal any games with his positioning. Has Pavs ever won a shootout?
LAC
October 30th, 2010
11:07 pm
Brenden is right, this was a solid effort and then they started standing around and a point is lost.
What happened ? We were so undercontrol and then fell apart in the final seven minutes ?
Someone needs to pull young Zach aside and teach him to play DEFENSE. Same could be said for Hainsey, they were ungood tonight at the very best. So out of position it was unreal !
Better regroup for Florida or Fla. will burn us with their speed…
Brendan
October 30th, 2010
11:08 pm
Ilya Kovalchuk has made his way to Los Angeles tonight. I think the fans are letting him know that they didn’t appreciate him jerking them around during the offseason. It’s 1-0, Kings, by the way. Devils have got to start winning back-to-back games. Soon. Nobody gets eliminated in October. But, missed points come back to haunt you, in April.
Yes, like not holding on to a 2-goal lead, with 6:11 left in regulation. I’m still in shock. Maybe the Blues strategy is “rope-a-dope?”
Alan R.
October 30th, 2010
11:08 pm
First and foremost: Those 5-on-3s MUST be converted. We should have had the game firmly in hand at that point.
Second: Bogosian is not ready to play. He’s still really slow out there. He needs some rehab time in Chicago, I think; two or three games ought to do it.
Third: Pavelec needs– NEEDS to work with our new goalie consultant on the shootout. There’s no avoiding that.
Fourth: The team really needs to learn to recover from those bad fluke goals. Those two goals in the third the Blues scored really sucked the momentum out of us. I think a timeout should have been called (one that didn’t involve the tossing of the hats, but a real timeout) to try and get the boys in gear. Get Sopel or Byfuglien to energize the group.
Lastly: I enjoyed chatting with some of you all who visited the feed site on Alpha2Zulu tonight. If you still don’t know what login name I was using, then I’m not sure how to explain it to you, but it should have been obvious.
We have some amazing talent on this team, and we can definitely put up some goals. We ended the month better than I expected, with a record of 5-4-2. We should have won this, because we had the game firmly in hand. Chalk it up to growing pains, and let’s get on with November.
LAC
October 30th, 2010
11:11 pm
Believe it or NOT, we are at the TOP of the Eastern Confrence in scoring…
Like third overall in the whole NHL and Yet Again at or near the BOTTOM in goals against…
Smoothie
October 30th, 2010
11:16 pm
The Atlanta Thrashers Are…
…Choke-tacular!!
Thrashy Thrashy
October 30th, 2010
11:21 pm
The defense looked good until it mattered the most tonight. We’re lucky we held on for that point. It was looking really, really bad.
I’m not worried about the offense at all. We have plenty of scoring talent. We need more guys to backcheck like Burmy, though. Otherwise, we’re gonna be a typical Thrasher club.
(Oh, and I’m guessing you’re the original Alan, Alan R., but I have an older brother named Alan, so he’s the original to me, lousy punk non-hockey lover though he is.)
Alan R.
October 30th, 2010
11:35 pm
That would be me. I didn’t realize that was a Chatango chat until I started using it. I’m a member of a few other sites that use that kind of chatbox, and was too lazy to change my name to something different. They know me there as “Alan,” but that name is taken. So when I created my login, I added something so those folks would recognize me.
I’m unhappy with tonight, but will take the loser point. We have a rematch with them in December, and I’m confident we’ll look like a better team by then.
Brendan
October 30th, 2010
11:42 pm
Ladd, Antrpov, and Thorburn were all -2. The Capitals have tallied 3 PPG’s here in the 2nd period, to take a 6-2 lead over Calgary. I’d have to think Kiprussoff’s night is over. TB shutout Phoenix, 3-0. Speaking of shutouts, the Maple Leafs outshot the NY Rangers, 36-24, but lost, 2-0. What’s the deal with the Rangers? They’re having a pretty decent October, for a team saddled with Erik Christensen and Todd White.
Alan R.
October 30th, 2010
11:43 pm
On the bright side for tonight, our PP is starting to look dangerous (nevermind the missed 5-on-3s from the third), and our PK is starting to look good as well. Pavelec stood tall, and I’d hardly fault him for the goals.
The first one should have been goalie interference, but I digress.
Brendan
October 30th, 2010
11:52 pm
Curly, are you sure Kari was merely sleeping? Good for Raycroft, though.
San Jose is now beating up Anaheim, 3-0. The Kings continue to lead the Devils.
It’s official, I’ve named Andrew Ladd the “Thrasher of the Month.” On to November. Who will be “Mr. November?” I’m looking at Evander Kane.
Q: If you were Coach Ramsay, would you give Pavelec the next start, to help him quickly move past this loss?
stendek
October 31st, 2010
12:02 am
Marshmallow Mason is terrible. Damn terrible. Unfortunately baldie was always battling from behind. Pathetic Pavs does not have that excuse! The sieve choked in fine Kari Lehtonen fashion during an unacceptable shootout loss against Saint Louis. Thrashers held lead until Pavs materialized into Sori Letemin! Damn nauseating turn of events. If the bestard cannot perform any better than that then trade his sorry a$$ or sit him on bench. No more LaLa Land losers in Thrasher net please. One will always be damn plenty. Way to coach em up Craig Petrino! What a bunch of heartless untalented scumballs! STENDEK
Brendan
October 31st, 2010
12:03 am
I love that these Kings fans are “booing” Kovalchuk every time he touches the puck. By the way, it’s now 2-0, Kings. The Flames aren’t going to do us any favors tonight, in Calgary.
Brendan
October 31st, 2010
12:07 am
Red Light, this Matt Taormina has struck again! He must be a find for the Devils. It’s 2-1, now.
Kings just responded, immediately, to restore the two-goal lead, 3-1. This game is on Center Ice. Kovy has been hearing it from the locals in Los Angeles.
stendek
October 31st, 2010
12:11 am
Marshmallow Mason? Uh, no. Pathetic Pavs? Uh, no. Suit up Craig Petrino. Make the bum EARN his paycheck! Not earning it as coach! This loss was totally unacceptable. Despite what damn brainless optimistic sheep contend! Baa boys and girls. Idiots! STENDEK
stendek petrino
October 31st, 2010
12:12 am
Howdy, folks.
Smoothie
October 31st, 2010
12:13 am
Power play was far from stellar tonite despite the two-goals in the first period. It may have produced good chances in the first, but they stopped attacking the crease when they had the 6 straight minutes of man-advantage to start the 3rd. They earned those calls with their hard work in the neutral zone and by churning those legs and exploiting St. Louis’ impatience. But you don’t score on the PP when you’re consistently settling for point shots without a double stack or a swarm of sticks in tight when the puck is on net. Also too many missed shots high and wide of the net when trying to score the dagger. Don’t get cute, just pound the damn thing, no C-RAM it down Halak’s throat. Instead, their cavalier approach gave STL life and all the momentum. Like Brendan said, “safe is death” so why did we fall back into a passive shell? Effin aye son of a, well, you know who. Time for butt-munch sheep-herder to come out of hiding I suppose. Goin to bed. CRAP!
stendek
October 31st, 2010
12:38 am
Salt in fresh wounds…
http://stendek7.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/ondrej-pavelec-return-keys-another-thrasher-giveaway-defeat/
stendek
October 31st, 2010
12:48 am
Alan R…We ended the month better than I expected, with a record of 5-4-2. We should have won this, because we had the game firmly in hand…Believe in tooth fairy too? Please spare us friend. Thrashers are no better than previous versions. Will see it my way after several lengthy losing streaks which are on horizon. Look for them! STENDEK
Michael
October 31st, 2010
1:02 am
sure pavelec played great for 3 periods and overtime…but when it matters most..shootout.. pavs transformed into sori letemin pavs!!! stendek is right..this team has destiny….in the trash can!!
Michael
October 31st, 2010
1:06 am
sorry azz craig petrino and pavs patrino!! what a combo!! hey guys. you should have saved that collasal defeat for home ice, where you usually pull that residue!! heartless trash bags
Rawhide
October 31st, 2010
10:06 am
Over the course of the last three games, no les than six Thrashers have scored their first goal of the season. This leaves us with the question…which one will be last off of Schnide Island?
Red Light
October 31st, 2010
10:12 am
Well, I see many have reverted to fault-finding again, even after taking five of six points. As I said yesterday, no lead is safe in a Thrashers game. Pav has had trouble in the shootout, but he got you to the shootout so it’s a small victory.
Maintain the same pace all year and this team gets 89 points, good enough for 9th or 10th, or am I being obtuse?
Red Light
October 31st, 2010
10:13 am
Got the Big “R” from Rawhide. Darn.
R. Stroz
November 1st, 2010
7:56 pm
LAST!
Rawhide
November 5th, 2010
8:44 am
R. Stroz – Nope.