Thrashers.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — If you’re a fan of the Atlanta Thrashers, I want you to think back to last season and, without opening another tab on your browser and doing a search, tell me on what date last season’s team earned its third point in the standings.

Give up? Oct. 23, a 5-4 shootout victory at Toronto, giving Atlanta four points on the season after nine games.

Back to this season, where the Thrashers have opened the 2008-09 campaign with a win and an overtime loss in their first two games. Saturday’s 3-2 OT defeat at Florida still netted Atlanta one point, a full 12 days and seven games quicker than last season the Thrashers reached the three-point plateau in the standings.

So, impressions from the opening weekend? It’s hard to complain when you look at the first three paragraphs of today’s blog. I mean, there still are 80 games to go, a long, long way between now and seeing if this team will be playing meaningful hockey come spring.

But still, it’s a very good start. I thought Atlanta hit a wall midway through Saturday night’s game, and the effort in the third period and in overtime was – to be blunt – not very good. Neither was the second period of Friday’s season-opening victory over Washington.

The other periods? Awesome, for the most part.

And so it goes with a young team that we all knew would be a work in progress. Some good periods. Some bumps in the road. We’ll see games where this team puts it all together and resembles a division champion. Other nights, the Thrashers will struggle and look like they’re destined for the bottom of the East.

The truth, of course, lies somewhere in the middle. The first two sets of returns are in on this bunch, and it’s hard to really argue when you look up and see Atlanta with three points, just one point behind Carolina in the Southeast Division.

And for perspective, just look back 12 months.

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