Thrashers ‘fire’ Ben Eager all the way to San Jose
The last time we saw Ben Eager play was on January 7th when he skated off the ice of Philips Arena after receiving a match penalty for sucker punching former Thrasher Colby Armstrong. 14 of his team-high 77 penalty minutes came during that forgetful game…and afterwards I made it clear I would not mind it if he never donned an Atlanta jersey again. If GM Rick Dudley traded him away for a fifth or sixth round pick, that suited me just fine. Many of you agreed.
Well… looks like we got our wish.
Ben Eager celebrates one of his 3 goals as an Atlanta Thrasher last November. On Tuesday he was thrown to the Sharks by general manager Rick Dudley AP Photo/Gregory Smith)
As I’m sure you’ve heard, once he served his four-game suspension for that incident, the Atlanta Thrashers traded away Eager to the San Jose Sharks Tuesday. The move really came as little surprise given the amount of time he had already spent in coach Ramsay’s doghouse this season. In exchange for the 23rd overall pick by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2002 draft, the Thrashers will get to use the Sharks fifth pick in this summer’s draft.
To place that return in some perspective, let’s try to see exactly what such a pick might procure for Rick Dudley down the road, shall we.
As of the time the deal went down between the Sharks and Thrashers, San Jose was 21st in the NHL standings with a .543 points winning percentage. If they were to wind up at that spot in the standing after the season ends, that would mean they would own the 10th pick in each round. So, here’s a list of players taken at that spot in the fifth round over the past five drafts.
2006: The Minnesota Wild took goalie Bryan Pitton with the tenth selection in round number five that year.
2007: Defenseman John Lee was selected by the Florida Panthers.
2008: The Vancouver Canucks took center Prab Rai.
2009: Forward Matt Kennedy heard his name called by the Carolina Hurricanes.
2010: Last summer, the New York Rangers picked up Jason Wilson.
Now, I’m in no way shape, matter or form trying to degrade or insult any of the above mentioned players…certainly they are talented and promising enough to be drafted by an NHL team and that’s an accomplishment in and of itself. Plus, there really is no way in predicting just where that pick will eventually land. But to see the Thrashers basically give Ben Eager away to another NHL team in exchange for a prospect that will be chosen with the 130th or so pick in five months pretty much says all that needs to be said about what the Thrashers organization felt about Eager’s time with us.
Ben Eager...You're FIRED!
If there is a way to “fire” a player in the middle of a season…then basically Dudley just “Donald Trumped” Ben Eager’s butt all the way to the San Francisco Bay area.
Truth be told, I’m just fine with that. If Eager was not going to be a part of the whole collective effort to help push this team to the postseason, then it’s best to go ahead and get him out of the way as soon as possible. Better to get a 5th rounder for him now then let him clog up a roster spot while waiting for something only slightly better. After all, that’s a roster spot someone else…at this point and time, Spencer Machacek…could be filling.
And if Eager…after being ‘fired’ all the way to San Jose…finds himself in a better place for his own personal and future growth, then that’s fine too.
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115 comments Add your comment
Runner
January 19th, 2011
1:26 am
littlemsmonk – I am talking about those comments! Chicago is so small…
Cornbread
January 19th, 2011
1:54 am
Get ‘em Rawhide!
littlemsmonk
January 19th, 2011
2:15 am
Runner,
As I stated before, if you had an e-mail…….
Until then, take care.
Nate
January 19th, 2011
6:45 am
Nice retort Rawhide. Made me laugh.
Dwayne
January 19th, 2011
8:26 am
Rawhide, that was some good reading.
Hockeunut
January 19th, 2011
9:01 am
Playing like a pro is a nice thought but thr Trashers dont know what that means so now the scum is gone it is time to move on and trade Zach who is becoming a thorne in the fans opinion
Hockey Biltong
January 19th, 2011
9:21 am
Ok, so I’m hoping for Seabrook and Penner and Moulson. Move Zach to forward.
Red Light
January 19th, 2011
9:24 am
Smoothie:
It’s a desperate act moving a 20-year-old up to forward because he’s “failing” at his intended position. He’s a north-south guy, not going to do much in the stick-handling or puck possession game, but his size, speed and shot could work on the wing. I don’t see it happening on a long-term basis.
Zach is having a tough time right now, but in all fairness, I think the question that begs to be asked…why is he averaging 21 minutes of ice time per game? His lowest total for ice time all year is 17:20.
BTW, I know the answer to the question posed above. Anyone else?
Red Light
January 19th, 2011
9:25 am
Good luck with that Biltong!
JB
January 19th, 2011
10:23 am
for what it’s worth, i think they just plugged in zach at forward for practice simply due to lack of warm bodies to play forward. if he ends up playing up front during a game, i’ll be beyond shocked. much ado about nothing imo.
ZAvalanche
January 19th, 2011
10:24 am
@ Rawhide
LOL! Well stated and I hope to not p!ss off the resident blog-master and get called out like that. Made my morning!
glovesave29
January 19th, 2011
10:45 am
Best way to understand a forward is to be one for a while. My guess this is to get the pressure off of ZB and let him have a bit of fun. While he is up there, perhaps he can learn to think a bit as a forward – thus use that knowledge back on D. If he shows a natural talent for it, well then Rammer has another two way weapon.
Badger Bob
January 19th, 2011
10:59 am
RL, I’ll bite. Because he is a conditioning monster? His 21 minutes allows the older Hainsey/Sopel pairing to have just 16 min/night. I believe we’d be less happy with Hainsey/Sopel if they logged another 1-2 shifts/period.
Now tell me the real answer!
SomaAtl95
January 19th, 2011
10:59 am
World English Dictionary
xenophobia (ˌzɛnəˈfəʊbɪə)
— n
hatred or fear of foreigners or strangers or of their politics or culture
xeno’phobic
— adj .
Used in a sentence – Greg is your typical Xenophobic poster on this blog. His hatred and outright contempt for an area he has probably never visited is quite disturbing. If he were to follow all the guidelines set forth by Rawhide to properly troll around in our little ice rink then maybe, just maybe we wouldn’t make such generalizations about Canada –
Curling must only be fun after a case of Moulson. Everywhere they call it watching a rock slide down an icy hill while using a broom to clean ice – the only abundant thing Canada has to offer.
Since Canada loves the Maple Leaf (as pictured on your flag) then its syrup must be used as the #1 condiment of the area – where most of the world uses Ketchup you crazy Canuckleheads use it on everything from hamburgers to french fries – and must be used in tandem with “Family Planning” materials as lubrication since its so abundant in the area.
A moose is to Canada what a sheep is to Scotland – some are for meat, most are for mate.
You see Greg, there are fans here who know just as much about Hockey as you do, and even though we have been the red headed stepchild of the league we still defend our team, win, lose or draw. Atlanta is quite the “Melting Pot” of cultures and has a population that is 1/6th of the population OF YOUR ENTIRE COUNTRY. Most of us die hard fans have been to your beautiful country and love it, the only downside are the hockey fans (such as yourself) that go out of their way to trash us in any way possible. If its not because of the teams performance, its because of attendance, when its not because of attendance its because of the uniforms and when its not because of the uniforms its because you think you deserve a team more than we do. Its got old early in the LAST DECADE.
Your fellow countrymen like to bring up the fact that the Diques and Jets were taken away. Watched any good Flames games? Ever notice the “Burning” A on the Alternate Captains sweater? We in Atlanta sure recognize it since the team was named after Atlanta history and then stolen away from us – imagine how upset Atlanta Flames fans were when Calgary held the cup just a few years after bolting from the area…
We respect the fact that you all feel a sense of entitlement when it comes to hockey, we just wish you guys would either support expansion or maybe pick on a different team for once. Before anyone complains, my insults about Canada were only in jest, just trying to prove a point that generalizations can swing on both sides of the border.
Until you visit our city and talk to us Thrashers fans then don’t generalize who we are!
And a note to normal posters – said I was taking some time to lurk (SOB really got under my skin after the Toronto game), I have lurked and waited for the perfect time to come back. Today was that day
Joe Friday
January 19th, 2011
11:07 am
There is no way, 0 chance, not gonna happen, that they’re going to move Bogosian to forward. They were just short on bodies and moved him up there to practice, don’t read anything into that. Ain’t gonna happen, he’s a franchise dman.
The reason they skate him 21 minutes is because you got to play to learn and he’s the franchise dman that is the future for the club. They’re trying to teach him and let him play situationally against competition, he’s not going to learn playing third pairing minutes against other 4 lines.
Badger Bob
January 19th, 2011
11:15 am
Well rebutted, Rawhide and Soma!
For those of you wanting to ignore the troll, I suggest reading comments on TSN for every Thrashers related story to help in your Canatroll desensitization training. For instance, last night a Canatroll suggested the Eager trade was the Thrashers “dumping salary” because they “couldn’t make the playoffs”. Facts never concern trolls (savings of only ~$100k Eager vs Machacek; Thrashers on the playoff bubble).
Hockey Biltong
January 19th, 2011
11:22 am
I would like the experiment of Zach tasting forward life, if only temporarily. It might help him break out of his slump, or whatever you’d like to call his malady. Even if it was only one game. Unorthodoxy won’t hurt.
And yeah, Red Light, I am dreaming about signings.
And Greg may be from another continent,never mind country…..
SomaAtl95
January 19th, 2011
11:28 am
Bob, I am no stranger to TSN. The comments there crack me up, and I stopped posting comments there when they stopped putting my comments there (I guess once the mods see them they delete them even though every attempted post has a point and is relevant to their conversation) I see your posts there as one of the few voices of reason in a room full of nasty comments about the Thrashers, Atlanta, Georgia or the USA in general. It still ticks me off to no end that we can’t post trash talk in their forums due to every comment being sent to moderators first, yet they enjoy our right to free speech by trolling their crap in our forum.
Diego from Lilburn
January 19th, 2011
11:28 am
Hahaha! Best troll smackdown since Bilbo and Gandalf!
Also, I still think the main reason (there are many) why the Thrashers don’t have a stronger fan base is because Atlanta is not populated by Atlantans. It’s populated by people who got tired of snow and moved here (haha! last week was a joke on them!) but still retained their loyalty to the team they grew up with. Evidence of this is obvious every time the Flyers, Rangers, Devils, etc. come to town. Lots of hockey fans in attendance on those nights, just wearing the wrong jersey. Those folks all didn’t drive down just for the night.
Maybe if the owners can keep a winning team on the books for a few seasons then some of those transplants (and us natives don’t mind you being here as long as you admit you like it better here than where you came from) might trade in those other (garishly colored) jerseys for True Blue.
Red Light
January 19th, 2011
11:28 am
Badger Bob, I am providing a queue to Joe Friday with the comments below! Beware the argument.
My real, yet conjured answer is that Johnny Oduya is so good that he can make up for the shortcomings of his other mate on the blueline. No, he isn’t perfect and will make mistakes just like any other regular, but the more I watch him play the more I appreciate what he is able to do, despite being caught in so many bad situations. The guy can skate, pass and shoot (albeit wide most of the time) and while he doesn’t take the body often he doesn’t shy away from it either. He’s currently 4th on the team in blocked shots and third in takeaways.
The downside is that he has been on the ice for more opposition goals by a significant margin over the next closest Thrasher Enstrom, but 28 of those goals allowed were shorthanded and he is averaging more than 3 minutes per game on the penalty kill. His plus/minus has suffered, but he is on the ice a ton when the Thrashers are trying to hold a lead, although there haven’t been many of those instances lately.
SomaAtl95
January 19th, 2011
11:41 am
Hey Diego,
If the Thrashers make it deep into the playoffs I will dress as Gandalf and will hold a poster with the name of the opposing team and in bold letters it will say “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”
Would be ironic if it were the Flames we ended up playing as the Balrog was shrouded in flames
Darren
January 19th, 2011
11:41 am
All true points, Red Light, but my biggest problem with Oduya is that he doesn’t want to be here. He made that clear from the beginning. As you noted, too, he has been on the ice for 69 goals this season, way, way more than any other Thrasher (and it’s not even close).
I agree with you that fundamentally he’s got the skills in each of those departments to be good overall defenseman, but he isn’t putting it together this season. As you noted, too, his shot is not at all accurate. For a defenseman being paid an average of $3.5 per season, that’s simply not acceptable.
Now, last year, he actually had MORE time per game (over 30 seconds per game more) on the PK, and had much, much better numbers. THAT Johnny Oduya would be a welcome addition to the team. He’s having a poor season this year, and not all of that can or should be attributed to being partnered with Bogosian. There is no question that Bogosian must be better, but Oduya’s the veteran, and needs to be held to a higher standard.
It is interesting that if you dig into the numbers, Sopel has been by FAR the best defenseman (in terms of goals allowed per minute) at even strength, followed by Hainsey.
Red Light
January 19th, 2011
12:39 pm
True Darren about Hainsey and Sopel. They have played very well, but they also don’t log the minutes. You watch over the course of the next few games, and you’ll no doubt see at the most crucial moments which defensemen Ramsay puts on the ice. There’s a reason for it.
He never said that he didn’t want to be here, and I know for a fact he enjoys Ramsay’s system, and the city.
Smoothie
January 19th, 2011
12:42 pm
Darren – you keep discounting the fact that Oduya always plays with a) Bogosian at ES b) Sopel on the PK and c) the fill-in injury replacement. Oduya’s partners are dragging him down. Like Red Light says, its amazing the amount of trouble he escapes on his own during a game. There is a reason he was asked to play on the SWE Olympic team. He is so much better than Bogey and even Sopel its not even funny. In some cases stats lie and this is one of them. Watch JO closely next game and count the number of times he escapes trouble after his partner puts him in a bad spot.
World Be Free
January 19th, 2011
1:00 pm
One of the best things about the Thrashers this year is Hainsey – the fact that the coaches have found a spot for him to play to his abilities. He has the tools to be as good as he is today, in the right situations as noted by Red Light. That’s the sign of good coaching-knowing their players’ abilities and not putting them in spots to fail. It hasn’t worked with everyone, but it has with Ron.
Like Dirty Hairy once said “man’s go to know his limitations.”
World Be Free
January 19th, 2011
1:01 pm
“A man’s got to know his limitations.” that’s better
Red Light
January 19th, 2011
1:11 pm
Excellent point World Be Free. Some defensemen just can’t play 23+ minutes a game and be effective.
Cliff Fletcher
January 19th, 2011
1:13 pm
Interesting article on how Hockey Canada “treats” a hockey league playing in Canada that is comprised mostly of foreign-born (Russian) players-
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/independent-league-stands-its-ground/article1875236/
Can you imagine what the Canadian press who say if we as Americans did the same to a league comprised of Mexican baseball players?
Dwayne
January 19th, 2011
1:13 pm
Johnny O and Kaberle…wow, can we get Kaberle as a rental?
Dwayne
January 19th, 2011
1:15 pm
Buff n Toby
JO and Kaberle
Sopel and Hainsey
glovesave29
January 19th, 2011
1:51 pm
This whole Greg issue is my fault. As a kid, I played goalie for the junior Flames travel team. We played in numerous tournaments in Canada. They’d see Atlanta as our home on their schedule and immediately they’d chalk it up in the “win” column. Most of the time, we destroyed them. Usually they were so busy admiring their skating and stick handling prowess, that they forgot to play as a team. We didn’t. Greg, obviously you suited up for one of those teams in Guelph, Kamloops or Regina that got YOUR BUTT SPANKED by a bunch of southern boys…GET OVER IT.
Iron League 13
January 19th, 2011
2:06 pm
Not surprised about this move at all. I do think we GAVE him away, which I understand. A fifth round pick as a return speaks in volumes. There was clearly more to this than just his last debacle, er…I mean game.
World Be Free
January 19th, 2011
2:14 pm
Red Light- play 23+ minutes per game and/or play against the opposition’s top lines.
Hoof Arted
January 19th, 2011
2:15 pm
Best – B!tch slapping – Of a – BlogTroll – Ever!
World Be Free
January 19th, 2011
2:19 pm
Canadians are much like the British. Most of my Canadian acquaintances are real excellent people, alotta fun. But Canadian hockey fans can be like British soccer fans, a bit loony, unreasonable, nonsensical and slightly out of control. These symptoms are often brought on by nationalism and belief that what they have is always better than what you have, therefore you don’t deserve to have what they have.
Does that make sense? I know these are general statements, but …..
Iron League 13
January 19th, 2011
2:25 pm
I like how several posters and Rawhide himself hit that chicken-bleep troll right back. IMHO we should give em the verbal lumber every time. You’ll notice that in most cases they knock it off after they do the usual hit & run limp wristed slappy slap, hence chicken-bleep. Go Team!!!
LET’S GO THRASHERS!!!
ATL fan
January 19th, 2011
2:31 pm
Hey, anyone notice that Carolina is a -8 on the year. They were even 2 games ago.
Red Light
January 19th, 2011
2:32 pm
Most Canadians have an inferiority complex and are worried that any day their country will be annexed into the USA.
Jason
January 19th, 2011
2:36 pm
ATL Fan: Giving up 7 to Boston will do that to a team….
drajax
January 19th, 2011
2:41 pm
I think we will miss his enthusiasm and hard hitting manner of play, which is what I see missing in the team in their recent losses. His punching of Armstrong will cause a lot of players to congratulate him.
Iron League 13
January 19th, 2011
2:44 pm
WBF, hit the nail on the head. Soccer being my other sport of choice, I’ve encountered exactly the same thing there too…with Africans, South Americans, Europeans, basically to the rest of the world everything we do in soccer is silly and pathetic, we’re not worthy. Xenophobia might be a fitting way to describe it.
Totally off topic, but here’s how dumb it gets. Most English speaking soccer cultures have a problem (a BIG PROBLEM) with us calling association football, “soccer”. But the word, soccer is of 19th century ENGLISH (as in from the country of England) origin. Yet even after pointing that fact out, well we’re not an inch closer to being worthy of the game.
Anywho, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if southern BC (Vancouver, Victoria, etc.) can “love hockey” and produce top knotch ice hockey players, then we can to. Just wiki their winter weather or really lack thereof. It’s all about the love of the game and access to play on refridgerated ice, WHICH ATLANTA HAS BOTH. If they don’t get it, tough.
Iron League 13
January 19th, 2011
2:46 pm
refrigerator rather
ThrasherTim
January 19th, 2011
2:46 pm
Glad to see a couple of posters backing up Johnny O. Johnny is not our problem on D. Go take a look at Johnny’s old team, the Devils. It’s pretty common knowledge that their D isn’t as good this year (along with Brodeur) and part of that can be attributed to Johnny leaving. It would be nice if JO was a bigger body, especially to support the PK, but you can’t have everything.
Iron League 13
January 19th, 2011
2:50 pm
Oh yeah, sorry to finish my incomplete botched soccer analogy. I should point out that association football was codified in England. Modern soccer IS an English game.
SomaAtl95
January 19th, 2011
2:58 pm
From here on out whenever we get hit by a troll that makes it obvious that they are from Canada and deserve our team more than we do I’m going to end my retorts with “Canada: Americas Hat”
I have nothing against their people or their country. The last time I was in Toronto I was laughed at by hockey fans (sporting the original white away jersey that the Thrashers had) but was welcomed by the rest of the people there. I only insist on lashing out as defense.
Anyways – on topic (because I haven’t been yet in this thread) it was good to see Ben go. I would have been happy with a bag of pucks after that Toronto game when his last name changed from “Eager” to “Dover”.
World Be Free
January 19th, 2011
3:04 pm
Tom-I have no issue with Oduya.
My had a Canadian buddy in Buffalo – used to tick him off when I referred to Canada as “the 51st state”. All in good fun though, he’s a beer drinking buddy-naturally!
Red Light
January 19th, 2011
3:21 pm
Brian Burke on Beauchemin: “We have never offered him in a deal,” Burke said. “We believe in him.”
Darn!
Rawhide
January 19th, 2011
3:51 pm
Per C-Viv tweet: “#Thrashers could recall a forward as precaution with injuries.”
No word on which one as of yet.
Joe McGrath
January 19th, 2011
4:15 pm
When is it going to happen? When will I read the headline “Thrasher’s acquire ____________ and ____________ from the __________for draft picks” I’m currently frustrated watching these guys. Is it lack of desire? Lack of depth? Jimmy Slater, Evander Kane and Matt Modin get hurt and it all goes to pot? Really? We need 2-3 veteran players to make it through “The Push.” The Atlanta Thrashers should win the SED, not squeek in against the Flyers.
World Be Free
January 19th, 2011
4:16 pm
Are we recalling Bourret?