Aug 31 2008
Thrashers’ quiet time is nearly finished
By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com
ATLANTA — Only a few minutes remain in the quietest month of the hockey year.
Not much happens in August. The buzz of the draft and the major free-agent signings has faded. Prospects camp still is a few days away. Training camp will open in a couple of weeks. The puck drops on the new season 40 days from now.
For the Atlanta Thrashers and the rest of the National Hockey League, the quiet time that marks the dog days of late summer rapidly is approaching its conclusion. That’s good news for the Thrashers and their fans.
The memories of last season’s disaster, the 0-6 start, the injuries, the trades, the firing of Bob Hartley, the disappointment of plunging from Southeast Division champs to next-to-last in the Eastern Conference, remain. But as September arrives and the pace picks up in preparation for the new season, it’ll be easier to pack away everything that went wrong in 2007-08, and focus on doing things right in 2008-09.
It can’t get here soon enough. Hurricanes? Let’s talk Carolina, not Gustav. Roster speculation? Let’s see these guys on the ice, instead of talking about them over a glass of iced tea. Nights in Philips Arena? Time to push the WNBA out of here and get the Thrashers back in front of the fans.
September almost is here. Hockey is about to start.
Finally.
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