Thrashers.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — Three victories. Seven losses. Two defeats in overtime.

Not exactly what the Atlanta Thrashers hoped for through the first dozen games of the season. Is it to be expected? Yeah, I don’t think anybody can look at the second-to-worst team in the Eastern Conference from a year ago and be shocked the team finds itself, well, second from the bottom in the East after 12 games.

But certainly there is some disappointment in the Thrashers’ slow start, some gnawing feeling that these Thrashers have left some points on the ice that they should have put into their pocket.

Alas, what’s done is done. If you’re Le Thrash, you’re looking to fare better during the next dozen games, a stretch that takes Atlanta through Dec. 2. By that time, Atlanta will be 24 games into the 82-game campaign and, if it really wants to be in a position to make a mid-season push, the Thrashers best get it together during the next four weeks.

It starts Thursday with the Islanders in Uniondale, Atlanta facing the only team in the East with a worst record. Then the Thrashers face a really tough three-game stretch where they play at Buffalo (second-best mark in the East), and a home-and-home set with Carolina (third in the conference).

After that? Well, depends on your perspective. It’s true Pittsburgh is seventh in the conference, but is there any doubt whether the Penguins are better than the Thrashers? Yeah, didn’t think so. Philadelphia is 11th in the East, yet this is the team that hung seven goals on Atlanta last week at Philips Arena.

So you see my point: While the schedule says Atlanta can make a move, the Thrashers are going to have to play much better hockey in November than we saw in October. Otherwise, by the time we get to December, we may be looking ahead to October … 2009.

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