Thrashers shuffle off to Buffalo in desperate need of a win
Tonight the Thrashers will take on the Sabres up in Buffalo and are in desperate need of coming out western New York with a pair of points. Break it down however you like, tonight’s matchup is just the latest verse in this seasons, “Thrashers Need A Win Real Bad” song.
To illustrate this point let’s turn our attention to the Eastern Conference standings, shall we…
Atlanta and Buffalo both find themselves sitting in the ninth and tenth position in the Eastern Conference. Each has 60 points but the Sabres have two games in hand. Right above them are Carolina and the New York Rangers with 65 and 68 points respectively. The Rangers are coming off a shootout win against the Canes last night. And after their 3-2 win in Vancouver last night, Montreal sits in sixth place with 71 points.
Lurking just below is Toronto, Florida and New Jersey. Thanks to a 2-1 win over the Islanders, the Leafs are but a single point behind the Thrashers while the Panthers have 57 points. The Devils are sitting now at 56 points after Johan Hedberg turned aside all 19 Stars shots faced during a 1-0 win in Dallas.
New Jersey is now an amazing 16-1-2 in their last 19 games.
While the Thrashers attempt to rattle the Sabres tonight, Florida will be in Ottawa to play the Senators. Toronto plays in Montreal tomorrow. On Friday, Carolina hosts Pittsburgh, the Rangers are in Washington and the Devils are in Tampa.
It’s Not Easy Being Green in Blueland
Normally when the Buffalo Sabres are our opponents, I find myself with a serious case of goalie envy. I’ve always been a big Ryan Miller fan and have wished we could have someone like that manning the Thrashers nets over the past several years. But today, as the two teams prepare to square off, I find myself turning green because that organization is preparing to begin a new era under the ownership of Terry Pegula.
It appears Sabres fans will have an owner who not only is a huge fan of the team and the sport, but it looks like he has an understanding of what it takes to run a franchise.
Speaking at HSBC Arena yesterday, Pegula stated, “Starting today, there will be no financial mandates on the Buffalo Sabres hockey department”. He later added, “Starting today, the Buffalo Sabres’ reason for existence will be to win a Stanley Cup”.
Wow…imagine that.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had words of praise for the Sabres new owner adding that it was “a dream come true for the league because we know this franchise is in great hands”.
…sigh…
And Speaking of New Owners…
While is seems ownership issues will not be a problem up in Buffalo any time soon, we here in Thrasherville can still only hope for such a day. To help move that process forward, season ticket holder Chris Ciovacco is looking to get the attention of local elected officials in this video which he has asked me to share with you.
Ciovacco is the person who has started up the Keep The Thrashers movement and is planning a gathering at the Taco Mac next to Philips Arena Sunday afternoon. I’ll be there and hope to see you as well.
Where else I hope to see you is in the seats of Philips Arena come game time Friday and Sunday. Voicing concern is great and all that, and I support every fan’s efforts to show their support for the team. But nothing trumps butts in seats when it comes to showing any would-be investor that may be “kicking the tires” exactly what NHL hockey in this town can be again.
If you’re still looking to procure your tickets for this weekend and other upcoming games, again I invite you to click –>HERE<– and use the promo code RAWHIDE.
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234 comments Add your comment
Iron League 13
February 23rd, 2011
10:37 pm
KLS1 – I just want to recognize the awesome play that is your name. Well done.
Dan Bouchard
February 23rd, 2011
10:38 pm
Don…I’ve got a hankerin’ for some Chick-fil-a. Why don’t I grab you and Phil and we can talk Flames hockey for a while and try to sort out this mess? We knew what we were doin’!
Jake
February 23rd, 2011
10:39 pm
Just saw the score of tonight’s game. I think I know what that stench is.
sickofsucking
February 23rd, 2011
10:44 pm
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
Sage of Bluesland
February 23rd, 2011
10:45 pm
I see Iron League is crowing about being “right all along”….Uh-huh….You’re a little late to the party, chief…Get over yourself and please check your grammar PRIOR to hitting that little button called “Submit Comment”.
(Come on, folks, who is with me on these ridiculous “addendums” explaining his previous grammatical errors….No one cares, chief…)
Flagstaff
February 23rd, 2011
10:52 pm
I wish that I could be like I was as an early, young fan… always positive and hopeful that the team would do well. To be able to believe in the team.
But I can’t.
Not until we get new owners.
R. Stroztradamus
February 23rd, 2011
10:53 pm
It’s time to start a new over/under prediction:
This go round is “On what date will the Devils surpass the Thrashers in points this season?”
Take the over or the under on March 11.
Mooseberg
February 23rd, 2011
10:53 pm
S. Cathy…..the Cow can be in goal, come on….YOU can do it.
Curly
February 23rd, 2011
10:54 pm
The bad news is… No playoffs.
The good news is… we are heading for a lottery draft pick the way things are going (winning 1 out of every 4-5 games).
Michael "the abbreviation"
February 23rd, 2011
11:04 pm
haha i told all of you optomistic people months ago that at that current time, and how well the team was playing, that at some point there would be a significant dropoff! Your response as a whole was no way abbreviation, thats not happening to THIS team. THIS team is different than previous teams in the past years, looks like I was correct, it gives me no satisfaction though as I too watch every game and root em on like the rest of yall. Heres to next year, sigh…
Michael "the abbreviation"
February 23rd, 2011
11:07 pm
Should have done more to keep Kovy, NOW DO YOU PEOPLE SEE THAT!?!?! Quit being haters, if you had to suffer through all the years of losing, you would leave too! Please Brendan, no more short story essay posts the rest of this crap season man, honestly, there cannot possibly be that much to say about this crapstick team, the Trashers
LAC
February 23rd, 2011
11:26 pm
I agree, Ramsey needs to step down, He has lost the team I feel, and it looks like John Anderson all over again. This loss was THE END, Period. No hope, No chance, Need to be SELLERS as we have ZERO playoff hopes, Great job Thrashers, fooled ALL of us into the thoughts this would eba GOOD season… Now THIS !
The players have NO system to speak of and we need another GOALTENDER, Pavs, you are a great BACKUP, but that’s about it.
But I bet after the season, the team is GONE and we can forget all this MESS once and for all !
Thrashers27
February 23rd, 2011
11:39 pm
RamsAy.
B. Thenet
February 23rd, 2011
11:46 pm
Rmsy
He loses the A’s until he stops failing at his job.
ashtray
February 23rd, 2011
11:55 pm
What the hell is with EMAILING renewal forms to the hockey season ticket holders???? You don’t even care enough or have the funds to send a postcard??
Now, That's a First!
February 24th, 2011
12:03 am
Is this the only sports organization in history that promoted a GM to president after missing the playoffs in 10 of 11 seasons, and then gives a four-year contract extension to the new GM for extending the mess to 11 out of 12 seasons? Unbelievable!
Joe Friday
February 24th, 2011
12:04 am
Finally coming around to seeing Ramsay has been a problem all year, eh? His system hasn’t worked for months, he needed to change it up at the new year, but nothing. This lineup hasn’t competed unless Pavs stood on his head, now that he’s playing normal, Ramsay is exposed.
that’s alright, add some more pieces to flesh out the core this summer, and come back ready to really compete next year, will Dudley have the stones to do what’s right at coach?
Alan R.
February 24th, 2011
12:07 am
ashtray – Click the link I posted at the bottom of page one. You’ll see these people have more than enough money. They’re just cheap.
ashtray
February 24th, 2011
12:09 am
URGENT NEWS HEADLINE:
The city of Winnipeg signs on to ASS, LLC as majority owner to KEEP ATLANTA THRASHERS the hell away from their city!
Then, It Must Be The Coach!
February 24th, 2011
12:13 am
Yes, by all means get rid of the coach. Does anyone bother to look at this roster? There is no secret that the bottom five teams in payroll are firmly out of the playoff race at this point.
Take away the 16 game anomaly from mid-Nov. to mid-Dec. and the team’s record is 13-24-8, or 34 points out of a possible 90…………………………
But you’ve found your scapegoat…Ramsay. Before it was Fraser was an idiot. Hartley lost the room. Anderson was too slack and now Ramsay is too old, too bald or doesn’t know what he’s doing after 40 years in the league. Yes sir Sage, we’ve been down this road before!
26th Edmonton $45.7 million
27th St. Louis $45.3 million
28th Colorado $42.7 million
29th Atlanta $42.3 million
30th NY Isles $41 million
ashtray
February 24th, 2011
12:16 am
Alan R., I knew they were cheap years ago when everything started unraveling. Why doesn’t Rutherford Seydel run around slapping hands during the intermissions anymore? Why doesn’t Levenson bring his mom to eat at the CNN center before games anymore? Losers.
Everyone should read, “We Could’ve Lost Without You” by Bob Hope. It’s about how Turner tried to kill the Hawks and move them to Charlotte when he started SportsSouth. Too bad, he hired a 27 yr. old to be a first time GM and kill the team, but Stan Kasten failed at that and made the team exciting and successful. The recipe remained and was handed down to this group.
But thanks, I see that the Ebay Boys simply pass on someone else’s intellectual property through newsletters. They have no idea how to run a tangible business.
Thrashy Thrashy
February 24th, 2011
1:55 am
This isn’t Ramsay’s fault.
Anyone who has watched this organization since its inception knows that it ain’t the coach.
Acer
February 24th, 2011
3:22 am
The last reason for last season’s distraction circled around Ilya Kovalchuk and his new contract. What’s it gonna be this season? Buff extended, Dudley extended and Ladd is thinking about extending. Oh…I almost forgot about the ownership circus. My guts tell me that inbounding moving vans with Manitoba license plates play a huge role.
Sage of Bluesland
February 24th, 2011
7:28 am
I’ve never blamed the coach exclusively for this mess–if anything, I’ve laughed at those who think that “all we have to do” is fire the coach, “change the system” and, magically, things will get better.
(or, my favorite: make “adjustments”.)
Pure fantasy.
For Heaven’s sake, LOOK what he has to work with!
World Be Free
February 24th, 2011
7:35 am
Not sure if the issue is the system or the coach’s inability to get the players to play 60 minutes. Whatever it is, it does not work – period and a change is required. This season was a climb to the top of the mountain only to land up in the Mariannas Trench.
hotrod
February 24th, 2011
7:40 am
Dandy Don, can you reach over and grab that light switch ?
R. Stroz
February 24th, 2011
7:51 am
Anyone else hear the birds outside singing CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP?
jimbo
February 24th, 2011
7:59 am
A sad ending to what appeared to be very promising at the beginning. The Hockey Whisperer, aka Clueless Craig, told Buffalo radio that we didn’t execute. Duh! Duh! Execute what? I have no seen any strategic shifts all season. Time to become a seller. Maybe someone likes Antropov, Steward, Bergfors, Johnny O. or our two Stars on Skates- Thorburn and Boulton. Nice to see Stuart show a iittle grit. The Fat Lady sang and left the building. Turn off the lights.
World Be Free
February 24th, 2011
8:05 am
I think everone should refrain from the “we are moving to Winnipeg” stuff until there is a definate decision to do so. Bettman does not want to give up a top 10 U.S. TV market in exchange for the Canadian Prairies at a time when he is trying to get a new TV deal, one that would benefit the entire league. No need to rehash “the issues”, they are obvious and already well-documented. There is enough blame to go around on this franchise, that’s for sure.
The trade deadline is coming up and we all know by now the Thrashers are not a playoff team. Time to identify who will be here next year and who will not be here. If there’s a tradeable asset, make the deal for a pick or better yet a prospect. I hate to say it folks, but look to the future and hope that the future of the team is here in Atlanta. Can’t change the past, just hope for a better future and that is a big HOPE.
Part of this process has to be finding a new mionor league home. The relationship with the Wolves does not work. Dudley has to find a new relationship out there other than just sending players to the ECHL to get playing time.
Iron League 13
February 24th, 2011
8:13 am
Sage – Eat ** you effing ****. First off I started coming on here as Razorneck13 BEFORE the season and BEFORE I knew eff all about you. Second I was stating so much BEFORE the season. Third, this is a flippin blog post, if you wanna correct grammar go teach elementary school. _nlm.
Iron League 13
February 24th, 2011
8:15 am
Sage – One more thing I already said I was patting myself on the back for having NOT bought into this team being ALL that before they had their little streak. Try reading as you didn’t call me out on anything other than nit picky grammar BS. Again,_nlm .
Iron League 13
February 24th, 2011
8:23 am
Sage – Amazing how you and maybe one other (unnamed) guy suppossedly have the exclusive right to claim that you both had been the only one’s hating the F.A.S.,LLC all along or predicting another miserable year. Who really thinks so highly of themselves, CHEIF? Who in reality is crowing?
I guess you didn’t see where I said something like, “I’m only playing don’t take this thew wrong way”. I effing loathe you.
Tom
February 24th, 2011
8:32 am
meh…
Joe Friday
February 24th, 2011
8:34 am
“Take away the 16 game anomaly from mid-Nov. to mid-Dec”
Red Light, it’s not reasonable to “take away the 16 game anomaly”. 16 games in not an anomaly, and if you care to objectively look at the facts, many of those games were against top team who were at the top of their games at the time. That was no anomaly, we have the talent to compete, and we did when Ramsay’s system was clicking.
“doesn’t know what he’s doing after 40 years in the league.”
He knows what he’s doing, just not as a head coach. If you’d look it at objectively, you’d see that after 40 years in the league, no one else had ever given him a head coaching gig (he only was head coach twice before as the interim as his head coach got fired). There’s a reason why he never was a head coach before, and we’re seeing it played out this year.
This lineup needs a top center, a scoring winger and a defensive dman to replace Sopel/Stuart next season to flesh out the competitive core. Shoot, I trust Dudley a heck of a lot more of his proven ability as a GM and his evaluation of the talent on this current club. Dudley’s proven he can do the job at GM as he’s been given the role before in his career (unlike Ramsay who has failed at his first chance as the head coach). Dudley just recently said we have 14 pieces in place for an elite club, and he’s right. I think he’ll realize that Ramsay is a weak link here and even if he gets him the top center and scoring winger, that we’re still lacking.
Red Light
February 24th, 2011
8:35 am
Only one goal on the first shot last night and that appeared to change direction off the shaft of Enstrom’s stick after his giveaway at center ice.
2nd goal, rebound, no help as shooter gets his own rebound
3rd goal, rebound, defense stands around and watches
4th goal, rebound, defense watches as Chinese fire drill occurs around Atlanta’s net
The forwards are nowhere in sight to help out and leave two defensemen and the goalie hanging out to dry, again on three of four goals.
Red Light
February 24th, 2011
8:37 am
You want to name those “elite” pieces for me Joe Friday? Ready go…
da' boomer
February 24th, 2011
8:49 am
puckhead – thanks for the info. i didnt start listening until the 2nd period. sounded good with someone else in the booth with dan. question – why do we have just one guy on the radio? is it cheapness?…that wouldnt surprise me in the least.
World Be Free
February 24th, 2011
8:55 am
Red Light-same poor zone coverage we saw under Anderson.
Joe McGrath
February 24th, 2011
9:03 am
When Ramsay was named HC, and then Torchetti came on board as AC, I knew then something was wrong, but I put my trust in Duds. Now I see that the coaching is backwards. Oh well. I guess it’s off to the trade day. I wonder what we can get for Sopel, Bergfors,Stewart? Poor Antropov…I think he was rushed back too soon…they should just IR him now. If he doesn’t get “it” back next year, he needs to retire.
Red Light
February 24th, 2011
9:10 am
So, two coaches with the same faults, or …?
Darkhorse
February 24th, 2011
9:15 am
Oh well, that was the last nail on the ‘ol playoff coffin for sure. Let’s just focus our attention on doing what we can as fans of the Thrashers to keep them here and hope someone with deep pockets wants to buy them and wants to own a hockey team.
Just give the town a legit shot at a proper run franchise that spends some money for a while. Hopefully they can still muster up a good showing at home this weekend.
World Be Free
February 24th, 2011
9:17 am
All starts with the head coach-he is responsbile for the style of play, motivation, accountability of the players. Rammer has failed on all 3 counts. In addition, most good/great head coaches are the “bad cops” in the coaching staff, they are the ones who get pissed and chide players, either in the media, in practice or in the locker room. I don’t see him doing any of these at any time.
Nice guy, great guy, teacher…..
Red Light
February 24th, 2011
9:20 am
I’m not saying Ramsay shouldn’t bear some of the blame here, but lets not forget the facts. Burmistrov, Cormier and Slater are out. Stapleton and Rissmiller are who they are. Several players haven’t played well for most of the season. Enstrom looks like he came back from injury a bit too early, and you have two new players who have played in just two games for the team. It’s not time to fire the coach, but it certainly is time to tweak your roster and look towards next year, for the 11th time in 12 years!
Joe McGrath
February 24th, 2011
9:21 am
Torch was coming off a Cup winning season with Chicago. Rammer wasn’t. I don’t know the situation, but didi Duds hired Rammer first because he was the first to accept the offer? Or was it Dud’s plan all along to hire Rammer as HC. Personally, I think Torch is more HC material–he has a gruff tempertment, like what you expect from a HC. Rammer seems like clergy. And I know both are pretty much on even ice, playing good cop, bad cop. But Rammer, as good of a teacher as he is, doesn’t seem to show much emotion. I don’t think he needs to rip his jacket off and throw sticks on the ice or bitch to the media, but over the last several games there have been bad calls which ultimately caused losses…IMO, Rammer should be doing a little more jawing with the officials. But he stands and smiles and nods while at the same time Torch looks like he’s about to have a stroke. I don’t know, six in one, half dozen in the other I suppose.
World Be Free
February 24th, 2011
9:30 am
Joe, Duds and Rammer have known each other for 40 years. I understand hiring Ramsay for the HC job, if you consider his experiences, his intelligence and the universal respect he has throughout the league. You will not find a person in the game that has anything bad to say about Craig Ramsay and when you meet him you see why. Now does that translate to being a premier NHL head coach? That’s the question and whether Torchetti has the experiences and demeanor to be a better NHL head coach.
Good discussions
Joe McGrath
February 24th, 2011
9:31 am
In retrospect. This team hit the skids when Slater hit the IR and Eager hit the road. Could the absence of those two pluggers be the reason for our the Thrashers sorry status? I’m thinking Slater is WAY more valuable than I thought he was and I wonder if Eager should have been kept. Was he traded because he lost his temper during a 9-3 ass whipping, or was it because of his attitude? Whatever, the boy’s got gritty game and he’s proving it right now in SJ. Grit is definatley something we’ve lacked (until Mr. Stuart arrived). Oh yeah, Jonny O, don’t let the door hit ya.
Joe McGrath
February 24th, 2011
9:33 am
One win in the month of Feruary. One.
Fan from Carolina
February 24th, 2011
9:33 am
I really don’t understand why the league doesn’t take a pro-active stance in finding the Thrashers a new competent owner. The new Buffalo owner and Tampa owner assure hockey’s future success in those two cities. Atlanta would support a solid club. I think Philips area is an excellent arena. Everything is in place but no one will help this city. I really feel that if Atlanta and Tampa switched entire rosters right now, Philips Arena would have sell-outs each night, and Tampa would be drawing 8,000 per game. The fan base is here, no doubt in my mind.
Iron League 13
February 24th, 2011
9:40 am
Joe McGRath – That seems to sync up on a timeline doesn’t it? I agree, Slater is underappreciated, however he’s probably not the problem and Eager’s absence to an even lesser degree. I personally think this team would fair FAR better with another couple Slates kinda players instead of a couple call-ups like Stapleton and Macho or not NHL ready rookies a la Cormier and Burmi. Only an organisational overhaul could fix this.
Alan R.
February 24th, 2011
9:44 am
Two hundred.