The Thrashers gave up the 24th and 54th picks in the draft, Marty Reasoner and prospect Jeremy Morin for Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager and prospect Akim Aliu.

That is a lot of information to take in right there!

Initial Thoughts:

I like it… the Thrashers add quite a bit of toughness without giving up a whole lot.  The two picks look bad at first glance, but really they are both late in the rounds and the chances of either of those becoming anything more than bottom 6 players isn’t that great.  Losing Reasoner hurts because he was so good on the PK but he is more than replaceable.  Morin is a boom or bust prospect that probably has a ceiling of a 2nd line player.  I dont know much about the prospect we received so I will reserve judgement on him until later.

With this deal we added around 5 million of salary but should still have 5 or so million to spend even after re-signing the key RFA players in Bergfors, Little and Pavelec.

More to come on this deal later.

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A couple of badly timed penalty calls against the good guys basically spelled doom for the Thrashers.  Schubert took a penalty with just over a minute remaining in regulation and Bogosian took a penalt y shortly after Schuberts ended in oT.  The second penalty  proved too much and Derek Roy scored the game winner.

All in all it was a very well played game by the Thrashers.  If my math serves me right that is two well played games in a row and maybe the start of a trend.  They will need to keep playing like that if they are to get back into a playoff spot after the losing streak.

The Good:

• Pavelec is BACK!-  It seems Ondrej Pavelec is finally back to the form that made him so good early on in the season.  This is his second start in a row that he has played very well.
• Penalty Kill-  the PK seems to be back to the form it was early in the year when it was tops in the league.  That needs to continue the rest of the year
• Playing in Traffic- The Thrashers are finally starting to regularly get pressure in front of the oppositions net.  Far too often earlier in the year there would be a rebound sitting there just looking for a home.

The Bad:

• Powerless Powerplay- The powerplay has not been clicking on all cylinders for a while now and it went one for seven last night.  That is simply not good enough for this team.  Someone besides the captain needs to start scoring powerplay goals.  Kovy one-timers will only take a team so far.

The Thrash head on the road to take on the Canes tomorrow night.  They have several very winnable games coming up and need to capitalize in a big way to make up for that long losing streak.

-Chris Telford

telfo1@gmail.com

twitter.com/telfo1

The Thrashers penalty killing unit has been fantastic all season long and is a big reason why the Thrashers are winning games.   The goalies are a big part of that and also the reason why the team has won so many games.

There is still a lot of room for improvement on offense and defense.   Yes, the offense is currently producing at the highest pace of any team in the NHL thus far, but there are several players not playing up to the level they are used to.  Slava Kozlov started extremely slow but has finally started scoring over the past couple of weeks.   Bryan Little still is having problems scoring goals.   Little potted 31 goals last season and has just 2 so far in the new season after 21 games played.   The whole Kozlov-White-Little line that was so great last season has been absent on the scoresheet far too many times so far.   If that line can start producing at even close to the level that they did a season ago, you could see the Thrashers start to approach the 4 goals per game mark quickly.

On the defensive side of things they are still giving up too many shots.   I guess this is something the fans will have to start accepting because it does not look to be changing anytime soon.  The highly aggressive system employed by John Anderson leaves opportunities for the opposition on occasion, but despite giving up very high shot numbers nearly every game, the Thrashers have done a pretty good job keeping those shots to the outside of the slot area.   Overall, the defense has played quite well so far but still has a lot of room to get better.  Pavel Kubina and Toby Enstrom have been very solid all year long.  Hainsey and Bogosian seem to be on and off as far as their defensive play is concerned.  Christoph Schubert has been great on the third pairing as well as the PK but sometimes his partners in Salmela and Popovic have left something to be desired.

I have been very happy with the play of the Thrashers so far this season, but I am ready for them to start playing a full 60 minutes every night and take the next step forward in their game.  Anyone who watches can tell that the potential is there, now is the time to realize it.

The Thrashers have been playing very good hockey as of late.  Starting with the comeback victory against the Blues, the teams has really come together over the past 2 weeks and is playing how I expected them to be at the start of the season.  The offense is flying around making plays and the defense is keeping most opponents shots to the outside.  This is a far cry from the constant odd-man rushes and breakaways of years past.  Most shots against now are of a much less dangerous variety.

Evander Kane and “Mad” Max Afinogenov have both been playing absolutely stellar in the past few games.  It looks like both guys are really starting to get comfortable with this team and its’ high octane style of play.  Max has great chemistry with Kovalchuk and Antropov on the ice.  I think those three will be together for quite a while.  Kane finally seems to be getting used to dealing with the bigger men in the NHL compared to in juniors.  He has to alter his power forward style just a little bit until he grows some more, but so far it is working well.

Pavel Kubina and Bryan Little will both be game time decisions tonight but are expected to be in the lineup tonight after skating this morning. Little has missed two games and Kubina missed the third period of one game and all of the next.  To think we are playing this well without those guys makes me even happier.

The game tonight looks like it is one that the boys in blue(wait……..maybe its red tonight?) should win.  The Bruins can’t find the back of the net very much lately and have to rely on Tim Thomas to try and steal games for them.  I expect Thomas to play very well, but if we can sneak 3 past him that should be enough for a victory on home ice.  Interesting note,  the Thrashers have only been held to 2 or less goals twice in the 17 games this season.  3 or 4 goals most games seems like it will be the norm.

This is another 3 games in 4 days weekend and I would love nothing more then to see the team continue its hot streak and take at least 2 of 3 this weekend.  There are some tough tests with the Pens on Saturday and a Lightning team on Sunday that has been playing much better.  The Lightning may have realized after the opening night loss that Nittymaki is the Thrashers kryptonite, so look for him in goal on Sunday.

I am going to write a few blogs over the next week focusing more on specific players or stats.  Leave any suggestions for topics in the comments or hit me up on twitter.

-Chris Telford

telfo1@gmail.com

twitter.com/telfo1

Last nights game was definitely one of the better efforts of the season for the Thrash.  Everyone played pretty well and having Kovalchuk in the lineup seems to make the whole team better because people can play the role they are accustomed to.

Here is the good, bad and ugly from last nights affair.

The Good:

• Kovalchuk and Peverley led the way last night towards a victory.  It is becoming increasingly clear that Peverley is no flash in the pan and he will be a serious part of this teams offense for the forseeable future.  Kovalchuk played very well in his return from his foot injury.
• The Powerplay was back on track going 2 for 5.  Having Kovalchuk on the point on the powerplay makes a large and noticeable difference in how everything operates on the man advantage.
• Kane played extremely well.  You can tell that he will be a serious force when he gets a little bigger.  He tries lots of power moves that he just doesnt quite have the strength to pull off quite yet, but in a year or two, LOOK OUT.
• MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE was solid as he can get.  For some reason there are certain teams that he is always aces against, namely the Sabres and Rangers.

The Bad:

• The third period looked much like our typical home game first period would.  Far too much time was spent in our zone.  Controlling the play in the offensive zone a little more when trying to hold a lead will make life easier for everyone, especially the goaltenders.

THATS IT!

There really were not many negatives to take out of that game.  I thought it was a more dominating performance through 2 periods then the scoreboard showed.

Tonight the team comes home for the second game of a back to back and take on the HOT LA Kings team.  This will be a tough test coming home and playing a young and fast team that has been in Atlanta longer then the home team.  It looks to be Pavelec in goal tonight.  Pavs is due for a great game and tonight would be the perfect time for that to happen.  Hopefully everyone can carry the momentum on from last night and leave Philips with a 3rd win in a row.

-Chris Telford

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All of the losses at home have been very similar in how they unfolded.  The team started off slow getting behind by a couple goals and then started to basically dominate play for the better part of 40 minutes.  During those 40 minutes the team will make a few stupid mistakes giving the opposition a couple more goals.  Usually in the third period the Thrashers will really turn up the heat, but in the end always fall one goal short.

This type of game is very frustrating to watch because these games easily could and should be wins of the fairly comfortable variety.  There are several home games coming up over the next few weeks and they need get out of this habit of starting so slow at home before it starts really hurting the playoff chances.  This team plays at the level of a 4 or 5 seed in the east 90% of the time, but that 10% collapse is costing them many important points.

Tonight is a road again against John Tavares and company.  On paper it looks like a game we should win.  I don’t think the Isles have the offensive firepower to match the Thrash, Kovy or not.  Since it is on the road I expect a win.  Tomorrow at home is where they will really need to start the turnaround.  It is an early start time and faceoff will be about 19 hours after the conclusion of tonights game.

I think this is a very crucial weekend for this team because they need to break this bad habit early in the season before it becomes a huge problem.

-Chris Telford

telfo1@gmail.com

twitter.com/telfo1

The Good

Special Teams are Special-  The powerplay being ranked 3^rd at 27.8% should surprise nobody, but the PK coming in at 82.2%, good for 9^th, is a VERY pleasant surprise.  The penalty kill has always been an Achilles heel of this team and it is good to see them playing very aggressively.  They were as high as first in the league a couple weeks ago but the percentage has dipped a few points in recent games.  I do believe that unit will keep it going and stay in the top 10.

Raptor Jesus Continues His Reign-  Rich Peverley has carried his stellar play from the 2^nd half last season into the first stages of this year.  He leads the team in points with 13(6G,7A) and has been our best player on the ice several times.  He will be a key in getting through this stretch of Kovy-less games with a winning record.

The New Guys-  Pavel Kubina, Nik Antropov and Maxim Afinogenov are all playing quite well.  Kubina leads the team with a +6 rating and has contributed 5 assists as well.  He has been as solid as you can get in the defensive zone.  Antropov hasn’t found the back of the net yet, but has 10 assists and is a +3, good for 2^nd on the team in points.  Afinogenov started slow but has picked up his game recently with 7 points currently.

MY GOD THIS PAVELEC-  Pavs has come in and taken the starting goaltender job by the throat and wrestled in right into his sole possession.  He is currently ranked 6^th in the NHL in save percentage at .924 and 15^th in GAA at 2.6.  Anyone who saw his performances in Ottawa and Montreal can see how he has grown into a fantastic, albeit unorthodox goaltender.  He had one dud in there against the Caps, but he bounced back the next game and has been great in 8 of 9 starts thus far.  Kari Lehtonen appears to be headed out of town if he ever gets healthy.

The Captain Starting Strong- Before his injury, Ilya Kovalchuk was enjoying his best start to a season since coming into the NHL at 18 years old.  He had 9 goals and 1 assist in 8 games.  Now, of course, he will be out for a couple more weeks, but he was playing great and not trying to force things like he did early on last season.  For comparison, he didn’t score his 9^th goal last year until late December.

The Bad

Where did Little Go?-  Bryan Little currently has ZERO goals.  NONE.  He is a guy that potted 31 a year ago.  He wasn’t shooting much at all early on but has turned it up a notch in the last few games and has been robbed a few times.  I wouldn’t call this something I am worried about quite yet, but if he gets to the 20 game mark and doesn’t have at least 3 or 4 by then I will start to get concerned.

Kozlov- Is age finally catching up with Slava Kozlov?  He is starting to look slower then usual and he is not playing very well at all.  He currently has 4 points and is a -1.  This is a far cry from the 70+ points from last season.  I hope he can turn it around because we can’t constantly rely on Peverley and Kovy for all the scoring.

Todd White-  Noticing a trend in the bad section?  It is all members of the “Little White Russian” line from last season.  They have all started slowly.  All seem to have gotten better recently, but Todd White has the worst +/- on the team right now at -5.  That has to get better, we can’t have players being such a liability in our own zone.

The Ugly

The Home Record-  our record at home currently sits at 1-3-0.  That will not be good enough to be a playoff team.  Granted, the losses were to the Caps twice and the Sharks who could very well be the two best teams in the NHL when all is said and done.  I am not ready to smash the panic button on this, but it is something to watch.

Playing 60 Minutes-  We have had real problems turning in full 60 minute efforts so far this season.  The 3 home losses were games in which we didn’t play well for the first 40, but turned it on for the last 20 and almost came back to tie, falling one short each time.  In Ottawa last weekend it was the opposite.  The first 20 went great and the final 40 were a disaster, luckily Pavelec stood tall and stole 2 points that day.  This can be a very good team if they consistently put in a 60 minute effort.

The slow schedule is now a thing of the past and things really kick into high gear in November.  The team will have to improve on several things to keep pace in the conference without Kovalchuk for probably half the month.

-Chris Telford

Telfo1@gmail.com

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Bryan Little and Nik Antropov have probably been affected the most.  Neither of them has scored a goal yet this season but have had no problems feeding Kovy the puck, whether it is a wise move or not.  Little scored 31 goals last year but the scoring dried up quickly after he moved to a line with Kovalchuk.  That trend has continued this season.  Maybe this will be just the thing to break him out of that bad habit.   Antropov has set up several great goals but has missed many opportunities for quality shots and caused turnovers trying to force the puck to Kovy.

Last year Kovy got hurt and missed three games. The Thrashers were 3-0 during that time with pretty evenly distributed scoring.  I think that is something that will happen again over the 10+ games he is out.  Kane, Bogosian and Little are the players that will have to step up the most.  Like it or not, they are the future of this team with or without Kovy and they need to continue to play like that.  I think those 3 along with Peverley will have a big impact and provide the goal scoring we need.

Lots of people seem to think the Thrashers are a one-man show and this will be a good time to prove them wrong.  Nobody seemed to notice we had 5 20 goal scorers last season which was more then most teams.

Here is what I would do as armchair coach with the lines during his absence:

Kane-Peverley-Little

All three players are very fast and all are well-rounded and can score.  I really think this is a line we should havTe gone to before the injury.  I think these guys can do some real damage together.

Kozlov-Antropov-Afinogenov

These three are all veterans that know how to score goals.  I think the speed of Afinogenov combined with Antropovs’ size and Kozzys’ solid two-way game could be a force to be reckoned with.

Slater-White-Armstrong

Slater has been a healthy scratch recently and he has to be chomping at the bit to get back in a game.  Slater and Armstrong are both good forecheckers and Slater adds a little speed in the mix as well.   Whites best trait is his playmaking ability and I think the other two can finish off some scoring chances and make some big hits to keep the energy up.  Another option for this line instead of Slater would be to call up Spencer Machacek from the Chicago Wolves.  He currently leads the Wolves in points and would fit very well in a third line role.

Boulton-Reasoner-Thorburn

This line should stay together.  They do what they do very well and there is no need to change that.

All in all, it is always bad when you lose a star player to injury, but I think in the long run this will be a very good thing for the team and they will be a much stronger unit when the captain returns(hopefully with a new contract signed).

Johan “Moose” Hedberg got the start tonight and didn’t seem to be in a groove much like Pavelec was the other night.   The score was 2-0 after the first period.

The Sharks made it 3-0 in the 2nd before the Thrashers finally got on the board with a goal from Todd White.  Next the fluke goal would strike again and Hainsey scored on his own net, deflecting a clear into the corner off Reasoners skate and into the net.  Peverley would score a power play goal later in the period to make it 4-2 going into the third.

In the Third things looked promising as Evander Kane got his third of the year early on to make it 4-3.  The Thrashers controlled play almost all of the third period and Nabokov came up big several times to steal the win for the Sharks.

Kovalchuk took a shot off his skate early on in the first period and he did not return.  Hopefully it is just a minor injury that will not keep him out.  Luckily the Thrash does not have another game until Thursday where they get a do-over against the Caps at home.

Thoughts:

• Peverley, Kane and Bogosian were the best Thrashers on the ice by far.  Maxim Afinogenov also played fairly well.  It is frustrating to see the team play well and lose because of suspect goaltending
• The PK was not as good as in the past as they gave up 2 PP goals in 4 tries.  One of those was the fluke shot by Hainsey though.
• The PP was decent scoring once officially but Kane scored seconds after a penalty ended as well.
• I think it would have been a better idea to go back with Pavelec to start tonight so he could redeem himself from the game Thursday.
• The Hainsey and Kubina tandem has been very strong so far.

This is officially the first losing streak of the season and lets hope it ends at two with a strong effort next Thursday night in the do-over matchup with the Caps.

-Chris Telford

telfo1@gmail.com

twitter.com/telfo1

Thoughts on the game:

• Pavelec was excellent the whole game.  He seems to have gotten much better at controlling rebounds compared to last season, he could very well be here to stay this time.
• The power play was TERRIBLE.  the 0 for 5 was bad enough, but we rarely even sustained control of the puck in the offensive zone.  Constant bad passes and mishandling of the puck made it pretty easy on the PK.
• Our defense need to get better at dealing with an aggressive forecheck behind our own net.  too many times we turned the puck over in our own zone trying to set up the home run passes that we love so much.  sometimes a short, safe pass is better for all.
• There was some line juggling in the third period.  Afinogenov was swapped with Little.  It will be interesting to see if this will carry over into the next game.  I think it was just to try and jump start something due to the lack of scoring in this particular game.
• The hit Kozlov put on Gomez seemed to be blown way out of proportion by the folks at TSN.  Sure it deserved a penalty, but it really just a little push in the back,  not the dirtiest hit ever like they made it out to be.  Losing him for the skills competition hurt,  he is MONEY in the shootout.
• I was happy to get a point and it was nice to see our goalie get us a point.  Most nights that we don’t play well we rarely get that point that could be crucial come April.

The next game is finally a home game.  Thursday night the Thrashers take on the Caps for EARLY first place bragging rights in the division.  I will most likely attend the game and will do some Tweeting from Philips.

-Chris Telford

telfo1@gmail.com

twitter.com/telfo1

In the second things turned out quite nicely.  The Thrashers controlled the pace and flow of the game basically the entire period.  There was one bad turnover by Bogosian that created a Travis Zajac goal putting the Devils up 1-0.  The lead was fairly short lived because Rich “Raptor Jesus” Peverley tied it up on the powerplay on a rebound of a shot from Maxim Afinogenov.

The third played out much like the second only this time the Thrashers struck first.  Evander Kane(ROOKIE!!!!!!) made a BEAUTIFUL individual play beating a defending one on one and putting a shot perfectly over Brodeurs’ glove side.  The lead was stretched to 3-1 on another goal by Peverley on the powerplay on a feed from Antropov in front of the net.  After that Parise struck back for the devils making it 3-2.  This is when I started to get worried.  We had just killed 2 penalties off in succession and all the momentum was starting to swing the wrong way.  Bogosian got called for a holding penalty, setting up a 6th Devils powerplay.  Shortly into said powerplay “old faithful” Marty Reasoner created a turnover and a 2 on 1 for the Thrash.  He made a great pass across the ice that was stopped by Brodeur.  This led to a sequence of about 4 shots in rapid succession and ended with Thorburn scoring one while laying on his back in the crease.  That made the score 4-2 and that is where it would end.

Thoughts on the game:

• The penalty kill was 6 for 6.  How many times in the past have I been able to say that?!?!?!  AND THEY SCORED SHORT HANDED!! *brain explodes*
• The power play was very good as always, going 2 for 3.  Both of the 2 were scored by Peverley
• Pavelec kept the team in the game the whole first period.   He still makes me nervous in the way that he seems to get caught out of position A LOT.  I guess I will just have to get used to it or have a heart attack trying.
• Evander Kane is great on the PK and creates a ton of scoring chances.  Waddell and Anderson both said this week that he is basically a lock to stay with the team all year and it looks like that will be the right call.
• The shot differential was still not very good.  Half of the Devils 30 shots came in the first period though.   The big difference compared to last season is that we are not giving up near as many quality scoring chances as in years past.

Overall it was a good final 40 minutes and Pavs kept us in it early until the boys got there legs under them after having 6 days off between games.

The Thrashers tour moves down the road to Buffalo tomorrow night to take on the suddenly hot Sabres.  Hedberg will be in goal for that one.

-Chris Telford

telfo1@gmail.com

twitter.com/telfo1

The matchup tonight is against the Devils and it will definitely be interesting.  The Devils are back under coach Jacques Lemaire.  Lemaire is known for having his teams employ a neutral-zone trap style of play.  The Thrashers have historically struggled with this type of team due to our tendency to attempt long passes out of the defensive zone.  I am sure coach Anderson has adjusted the game plan for tonight.

The lines will remain basically the same as the last game except for Mark Popovic will replace Christoph Schubert on the third defensive pairing with Anssi Salmela.  Schubert missed most of the week of practice because he was back in Ottawa gathering his belongings and moving them to the much warmer Atlanta climate.

Starting goalies tonight will be Ondrej Pavelec for the Thrash and, of course, Martin Brodeur for the Devils.  Remember it was around this time last year that Brodeur was put out of commission for several months in a game against these Thrashers.

The Thrashers are coming off a loss to Ottawa in which they gave up two very early goals and overall did not play very well.  New Jersey is currently boasting a record of 3-2-0 and oddly they have lost both home games and won all three away games.

Tonight should be a good test for the boys in blue.  I will be back with thoughts tonight after the game and a preview for Tomorrows game at Buffalo as well.

Chris Telford

telfo1@gmail.com

twitter.com/telfo1r

Kovalchuk scored a BEAUTIFUL goal on the power play  to put the Thrash up 2-1 and later added the empty netter for his 4th goal in 2 games in the young season.  He also hit the career mark of 300 goals.  Kovalchuk has scored more goals then any NHL player since the 01-02 season.

Evander Kane also put a wrister past Chris Mason for his first NHL goal that would turn out to be the game winner.  The line of Kane- Peverley- Armstrong looked very good for their first game together.

Overall, it was a pretty solid game for the Thrashers.  The penalty kill looked fantastic with young Evander out there for a large portion of the PK time.  If he plays like that on the PK consistently he is almost assured of staying in the NHL this year.

The size and presence of Christoph Schubert was noticeable right away and he looks to be a great addition to the defensive corps.

The 2nd line of Kozlov-White-Afinogenov looks completely out of sync right now, hopefully that is just them getting used to each other, but it is by far our worst line at the moment.  If they get it together we will be even more of a force to be reckoned with in the offensive zone.

This is only the second 2-0-0 start for the Thrashers in franchise history and they will look to extend it to 3-0-0 in Ottawa on Saturday night.  The Sens currently sit at 2-1.

Lines should be unchanged for tomorrow night.  Pavelec has played well in both games so far and I think the coaches will put him in once again tomorrow.

a 3-0 start would be huge for team confidence and wouldn’t hurt in Kovy negotiations either.    The game won’t be televised for either team(killin me Ottawa!) so I will be plastered to my nearest radio listening to what I hope is another great win!

Chris Telford

telfo1@gmail.com

twitter.com/telfo1

This should be a very good, fast-paced game featuring two very young and fast teams.  Faceoff is at 8 PM EST in St. Louis.

Ondrej Pavelec will get another start in net after a fairly solid effort in game 1.  In the opposite cage will be Chris Mason for the Blues.

Colby Armstrong has been activated off of IR and will play tonight.  Also, Christoph Schubert got his immigration issues take care of and will also play tonight.

The Lines:

FORWARDS

Kovalchuk- Antropov- Little

Kozlov- White- Afinogenov

Kane- Peverley- Armstrong

Boulton- Reasoner- Thorburn

DEFENSE

Enstrom- Bogosian

Hainsey- Kubina

Salmella- Schubert

Scrathes:  Popovic, Slater,  Lehtonen(IR), Valabik(IR)

Boris Valabik has been diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain and should be out 4 or 5 weeks.  I believe he had a successful surgery today to correct the problem.

KEYS TO THE GAME :

• Stay out of the box and play well on the PK when we are shorthanded.  Our PK plays its’ best when playing aggresive.  They have a tendency to sit too far back and let the play come to them a little too often.
• Pavelec will need to play well  as he continues to make an attempt to become the teams full-time starting goaltender.
• The second line needs to get going.  Granted it was only one game, but the second line seemed invisible at even strength in the season opener.
• The defense must continue to play aggressive without giving up too much to the young, fast forwards of the Blues
• Scoring first will be key.  This is the Blues home opener and they are 2-0-0, both games beating a tough Red Wings team.  Getting the momentum early will be key.

Chris Telford

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• Ilya Kovalchuk looked like he had that same fire in his game that he had the second half of last season.  I am expecting a career year from him

• Evander Kane looked a little nervous and tentative in the beginning but loosened up and ended up having a very good game overall.  He led the team in shots with 4 in only 11:09 of ice time.

• Rich Peverley looked to be doing all of the same things he did so well after being picked up off of waiver last season.  This guy seems to always be in the right place to put away a rebound.

• Pavs looked pretty solid in net.  He stopped the first 19 lightning shots and 36 of 39 overall.  He did this a few times last year but always had a terrible game shortly after a good game.  Hopefully he can eliminate the really bad ones.

• The defense looked pretty good for about 45 minutes out of 60.  The stretch at the end of the second through the first 5 or so minutes of the third they were terrible.  The rest of the game saw them give up a lot of shots, but most were from the outside and they did well clearing out any rebounds.

• The Jury is still out on the penalty kill.  They didn’t have a lot to do, which is great, but did give up a goal on a 4 on 3.

Overall it was a pretty good night at Philips for the boys in blue.  Cutting down the number of shots on our net will be key to future success.  The offense is not going to put in 6 every night.

The next game is not until Thursday night when the Thrash travels to St. Louis to take on the Blues.

Telfo1@gmail.com

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Projected Lines from The Blueland Blog :

Forwards

Kovalchuk- Antropov- Little

Kozlov- White- Afinogenov

Kane- Reasoner- Peverley

Boulton- Slater- Thorburn

Defense

Enstrom- Bogosian

*Hainsey- Kubina

Salmela- Popovic

Goalies

Pavelec

Hedberg

Scratches/IR

Gratton(healthy), Valabik(healthy), Armstrong(IR), Lehtonen(IR)

*Hainsey did not participate in the morning skate and will be a gametime decision. If he can’t go, Valabik would take his place.

This is game extremely important for many reasons, perhaps most important being Pavelec establishing that he can truly play in the NHL at a high level.  This is by far the best chance he has had to become our #1 goalie since Lehtonen will be out for at least a few more weeks.

Tampa brings a much different roster then we saw at the end of last season.  They have added guys like Alex Tanguay and Matthias Ohlund.  Tampa should be much improved on defense this year.  Thrashers arch nemesis Antero Nittymaki  has also signed on with the Lightning, but all indications are that Mike Smith will get the start between the pipes for Tampa.

This game hopefully will start to answer some of the many questions about the Thrashers roster going on.  Mainly about the goaltending and penalty kill, two places we struggled mightily a year ago.

I will be attending the game and will do some twitter updates from the bulb and will write a post game wrap-up shortly after I brave the I-85 traffic coming home.

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The only reason I can think of for this move as of right now is that Schubert is 6’3 and around 235 lbs.  The Thrashers have been trying to make this a bigger, more physical team for a while and this move will certainly help in that regard.   I would be looking for Schubert to make a push at the bottom defensive pairing since we are incredibly deep up front.   We should know more about why the move was made after tomorrows morning skate.

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The Atlanta Thrashers have announced their captains for the 2009-10 season.  Ilya Kovalchuk, who was named Captain on Jan. 11, 2009, will begin his first full season in that role.  Forwards Colby Armstrong and Vyacheslav Kozlov return as Alternate Captains and are joined by defensemen Zach Bogosian and Ron Hainsey.

http://thrashers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=500658

So as expected, Ilya Kovalchuk remains the captain of the Thrashers. This should be no surprise to anyone as he has really been the leader of the team for several years.

Another one to file in the unsurprising category is the fact that Slava Kozlov and Colby Armstrong return as alternate captains for this season.  Kozlov is looked up to by most of the players as a very hard worker and a model player.  While Kozlov is more of the silent leader, Armstrong is about as vocal as you can get.  I am very happy to see that both of them get to retain the “A”.

New alternate captains for the team are Ron Hainsey and 19 year old Zach Bogosian.  Hainsey was not much of a surprise as he is suddenly one of the older players on the team at the ripe old age of 28.  I assumed Hainsey or Kubina would be made a captain so we could have a balance of captains in the forward and defense groups.

I was very surprised to see that young Zach Bogosian was named an alternate captain.   After thinking about it for a few minutes, I think I really like the move.  Bogo will be a fixture on the blueline for years to come and I think he will be seen as a leader of this team by years end due to his exceptional play.  I believe it is better to hand out the “A” a little early rather then too late(like in the situation with Kovy).

If anyone hasn’t noticed, I will be doing the Thrashers blog here at hockeyindependent.com.   As far as a little background on myself goes,  I was raised in the Atlanta area and grew up playing goalie in roller hockey.  I finally got on the ice at age 14 and loved it even more after that point.  I played AA hockey for a couple of years followed by a year playing for the club team at Kennesaw State University and one year of Junior hockey in Boston.  I have been a Thrashers fan since day one and like to think I might have some good insight to share with all of you.  Comments, emails and tweets are more than welcome.  I look forward to sharing the 09-10 season with all of you!

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