Thrashers.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — Throughout this miserable 2008-09 season, the Atlanta Thrashers have frustrated their disjointed fan base with uneven play, unrealized potential, unfulfilled expectations.

But now that the Thrashers certainly will be spending most of late spring watching the playoffs, a funny thing has happened:

The Thrashers actually are resembling the type of team so many of us thought they could be way back when this season started.

Atlanta won a franchise-record sixth consecutive game Monday night, totally dominating Southeast Division-leading Washington on national TV, cruising to a 5-1 victory.

Yes, Ilya Kovalchuk didn’t play, watching the proceedings while healing from an upper body injury. Yes, the Thrashers’ D remains giving as ever, the Caps pounding Kari Lehtonen for 50 shots.

But Lehtonen continues his evolution — finally, perhaps?! — to elite netminder status, stopping 49 shots and carrying the shutout into the final two minutes of the game. Just ask Alexander Ovechkin how good Lehtonen is … the Russian Master had 10 shots on goal, yet came away with nothing to show for it other than frustration.

The younger Thrashers, remade thanks to several recent trades and transactions, looked faster, hungrier, and dare we say better than a Washington team that figures to play on into May. Atlanta used their speed and hustle to take control of this one, and while Lehtonen had to work far harder than he should have, the Fin was equal to the task.

Six in a row … won’t mean much as this season winds down, but the promise of next year is there for all to see.

Maybe one of these years, that promise will be fulfilled early enough to make next year this year.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — The kid is back.

Zach Bogosian, out for the past two months with a broken leg, was activated by the Atlanta Thrashers for tonight’s game against Carolina. Bogosian, the team’s top pick in June’s NHL entry draft, suffered a broken leg Oct. 28 against Philadelphia, his eighth game of the season with the big club.

Bogosian is viewed as the blueline star of the future for this team. Even though he’s only 18, Bogosian did enough during his eight games with the Thrashers to merit his remaining with the major-league club for the remainder of the season. He’ll likely serve as an upgrade to an Atlanta defense that came into tonight’s game with the worst goals against average in all the NHL.

To make room on the roster, the Thrashers placed defenseman Garnet Exelby on injured reserve. Exelby was injured earlier this month and probably will be out for at least a month.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — Another week dawns, another week following a forgettable stretch of hockey by the Atlanta Thrashers.

If you’ve quit following the dose of bad news that’s been surrounding this team’s putrid play of late, nobody can blame you. Indeed, when you know this team is going to lose the moment skates hit the ice, it’s hard to be motivated enough to watch and cheer.

The Thrashers were able to grind out a point in Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Rangers at Philips Arena, a game in which Atlanta rallied twice from one-goal deficits with scores from Joey Crabb (his first career goal) and Ilya Kovalchuk (finally breaking into double figures with his 10th of the season).

But Johan Hedberg allowed Scott Gomez’s backhander to slide through for the game winner just 18 ticks into extra time.

Then came Friday and Saturday’s home-and-home with the high-flying Bruins, who blew the Thrashers out of the rink. Friday’s game at Philips was the worst effort of the year, as Boston built a 4-0 lead just 11:56 into the contest, and the Thrashers actually changed goalies twice.

Saturday wasn’t much better. The final score was a little more respectable – the Thrashers lost 4-2 – but the effort was pretty poor, as well. The B’s led 2-1 after a period, added a score late in the second and pushed it to 4-1 before Marty Reasoner’s fifth goal of the season made the final outcome a two-goal loss.

The Thrashers sit in a three-way tie for last in the NHL standings with the Islanders and Lightning at 22 points. Atlanta has coughed up 110 goals, highest total in the league. Since winning five games in a row last month, the Thrashers have just six points (two wins, two OT losses) in their past 13 games (2-9-2).

The Thrashers already are 11 points out of the final playoff spot, and unless this team can put together a quick winning streak in the next two or three weeks, we’re going to spend the second half of this season talking about who is and who isn’t going to be here after the trading deadline.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — Two games in Canada this week, two ugly losses for the Atlanta Thrashers.

No need to even go through the gory details of a wasted two days north of the border for a team that occupies the very bottom of the NHL with 19 points.

(Want some perspective? The San Jose Sharks have two more WINS than the Thrashers have points. Yikes!)

Down 3-0 at Montreal on Tuesday, the Thrashers scored three goals in 59 seconds, two by Ron Hainsey and one by Chris Thorburn. They still lost.

Wednesday, the Thrashers were outhustled, outmuscled and outclassed by an Ottawa team that’s 12th in the Eastern Conference, losing 4-1.

So now what? What does this team do?

It clearly is a team that’s listing at the moment, threatening to turn completely on its side and slip beneath the water’s surface. And to think, it’s not even Christmas yet. Could this season be over before we even flip the odometer over to 2009?

Yes. It could very well happen. The Thrashers, for whatever reason, have gotten away from the good hockey they played during their five-game winning streak in November. Atlanta is 1-6-1 since running off those five in a row, and the way they’ve played during that stretch is — to be frank — inexcusable from any so-called professional sports team.

There has been very little spark, very little jump, very little hustle. The Thrashers are getting outworked on every spot of the ice. They aren’t converting on the power play. They are committing dumb penalties. They are getting nothing offensively from Ilya Kovalchuk, one of the game’s most dynamic scorers who is mired so deeply in a scoring slump, he skated with Atlanta’s checking line Tuesday night in Montreal.

That’s how bad it’s gotten for a team that many of us thought wouldn’t be great, but would be a hell of a lot better than this.

I don’t know what the answers are, but the Thrashers better uncover them soon. Granted, they are only seven points from the final playoff spot, and they are 12 points behind Southeast Division leader Washington. But with 13 games left in December, this team’s season has boiled down to this sobering thought:

Unless the Thrashers start winning, and soon, this season is over.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — The reduction in the number of games NHL teams play against their division rivals this season – from eight to six – opens up more opportunities to face teams from the opposite conference.

For the Atlanta Thrashers and the Nashville Predators, that’s a great thing. For hockey in the South, that’s a great thing.

Sporadic scheduling between teams in the Eastern Conference and those in the Western Conference has meant rivalries like Atlanta/Nashville have suffered in previous seasons. But not in 2008-09, as Atlanta and Nashville will play twice, once on each team’s home ice.

Two teams, separated by just four hours of interstate highway, hooking up twice a season. Yep, good move NHL.

The first meeting is tonight at Philips Arena, and you can bet with the Thrashers not exactly spinning the turnstiles at a fever pitch, there will be quite a few folks who make the trek down Interstate 24 and I-75 from Nashville to check out the game in Georgia’s capital city. Conversely, I’d imagine quite a few Thrashers’ fans will make the journey north to Nashville for the Jan. 17 matchup (I’m actually considering making that trip myself).

Nashville lost a tough 1-0 decision Tuesday to St. Louis, a game in which the Preds launched 47 shots on goal. That’s gotta make for a restless night for either Johan Hedberg or Ondrej Pavelec, one of whom will be between the pipes for the Thrashers.

Atlanta’s lost three of its past four after reeling off five consecutive victories. Atlanta needs a win for confidence, and a victory over Nashville not only would move it to 20 points on the season, it would be a nice first shot for the season in a rivalry that’s only going to get better with time.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — Lifeless. Listless. Embarrassing. Horrid. Wretched. Putrid.

You get the idea.

I attended my first Thrashers game of the season tonight, and let’s just say I was disappointed in what I saw. Or actually, in what I didn’t see.

I didn’t see anything that resembled an NHL team. I didn’t see hustle. I didn’t see jump. I didn’t see promise. I didn’t see hope.

It’s just one game, but my goodness, it was horrible.

Tonight’s 2-0 loss to Columbus featured perhaps the worst game I’ve ever seen Ilya Kovalchuk play. Turnovers. A fanned swing on a one-timer. A frustrated star who slammed the door to the bench so hard after one rotten shift, you could hear it echo through half-empty Philips Arena.

Ondrej Pavelec kept this from being a 4-0 game in the first period. Columbus hit the post early on. It could have been a lot worse than it was.

The second line of Slava Kozlov, Todd White and Bryan Little generated scoring chances. Jason Williams played OK. Garnet Exelby got into a fight and hit everybody in sight. He played well. So, too, did Toby Enstrom and Ron Hainsey.

But after that … nope. The rest of the Thrashers need to donate their paychecks from tonight’s game to charity.

Or pay back the folks – including myself – who watched this disastrous excuse for hockey we were subjected to tonight.

Full gamer tomorrow. I’m out.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — The NHL’s leading scorer comes to Philips Arena Thursday, and it puts a delightful smile on my face to say it’s not Sidney Crosby.

Evgeni Malkin entered play tonight with seven goals and 23 assists. Crosby, the anointed “Golden Child” by the NHL and by all those who sponsor the league (which isn’t many, but that’s another axe to grind for another day), isn’t exactly my favorite player. Yes, he’s good. Very, very good. Damn good, to be blunt.

But I don’t like him.

OK, call me a hater. I’m sure Wayne Gretzky had ’em back in the day. As did Michael Jordan. As did Ted Williams. You acknowledge their greatness, but at the same time, you delight when your team sticks it to the chosen one.

Me? I’d take Alexander Ovechkin in a heartbeat. For that matter, Malkin. And of course, the guy who will be leading the opposition against Sid the Kid – Ilya Kovalchuk and the Atlanta Thrashers.

Usually, Crosby and Kovy are leading their teams in scoring. Not the case so far. Malkin leads the Pens, and Bryan Little (nine goals, eight assists) leads the way for the Thrashers.

Beyond the sheer aggravation I get from Crosby, the Thrashers need a good showing Wednesday after seeing their five-game winning streak end Sunday in Philadelphia. No better way to start a new streak than by putting it to the chosen one.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — The Christmas lights are up at Centennial Olympic Park. The coldest winds of winter blew through downtown Atlanta last night.

And walking into Philips Arena to get my first peak this season at the Atlanta Hawks, the ticket taker at the gate noticed my 5-year-old’s Thrashers’ jersey.

(Now for clarity, my son does not have a Hawks jersey. I had a Hawks shirt I bought the day before last spring’s Game 6 playoff victory over the Celtics, a game I attended. I did have a Thrashers’ sweater on under my T-shirt … hey, I told you it was cold).

Anyway, back to the gate, where the ticket taker pointed to my kid’s jersey and said, “Were you here last night?”

We weren’t – I’m going to my first Thrashers game of the year next weekend – but in talking to folks at the Hawks game last night, in the store where you can buy Thrashers’ and Hawks’ swag, there is no denying the buzz that is starting to gradually build around this team.

Five consecutive victories will get people’s attention, especially when you start the season with just six points in the first 11 games. The Thrashers have been lights-out ever since, and they roll into Philly for tonight’s game with the Flyers looking like a team that can really make a push toward the top of the Southeast Division.

The Flyers played last night, posting a 2-1 victory at Montreal. We all remember the vicious 7-0 beatdown Philly put on the Thrashers on Oct. 28 at Philips. That seems like a long time ago, because the Thrashers are playing so much better hockey now.

Hopefully, that trend will continue tonight. As I wrote a few days ago, this stretch of November is critical for Atlanta, and so far, the Thrashers have done exactly as they’ve needed to and turned the ship around.

Now at .500 on the season, it’s time to push above break-even, and continue this surge toward first place. Keep this up, and the conversation around this team will only grow louder.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — The good news is the Atlanta Thrashers enter tonight’s home contest with Carolina riding a four-game winning streak.

The bad news is the Thrashers haven’t played since Sunday. So the question persists: how will this team look when they hit the ice tonight?

Will it be sharp and focused, the type of play we’ve seen from the Thrashers during this streak? Or, will it be the type of play that we typically see after a long idle stretch, the type of play that is rusty and a stride slow?

We shall see.

Sometimes, the worst thing that can happen is taking a few days off when you’re playing well. And with this being the longest break the Thrashers will have all season (besides the All-Star break), it will be a challenge reaching five in a row, which would tie a franchise record for longest winning streak.

Hopefully, Atlanta can come out with plenty of jump tonight and take control. Any division game is big, especially since you only play your division mates six times this season, as opposed to eight times in the past. Washington leads the Southeast with 20 points, moving past Carolina after beating the Hurricanes Wednesday.

Carolina sits in second with 18, and then there are the Thrashers, after that horrid start, tied with Tampa Bay for third with 14 points.

We’ll also see how the team looks in those red third jerseys tonight. The new unis will be debuted. If the Thrashers lose, I say burn ’em.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — Pardon Ondrej Pavelec if he doesn’t know if he’s coming or going.

Pardon the rest of us if we’re a little frustrated with Kari Lehtonen.

And so it goes with the Atlanta Thrashers’ goaltending situation. Lehtonen, who has missed the past five games with the flu and back problems, reportedly reinjured his back in practice on Tuesday. Now, he will miss the Thrashers’ games Friday at home against Carolina and Sunday at Philly.

Pavelec, who won the first two games of Atlanta’s current four-game winning streak, was shipped to Chicago of the American Hockey League Monday. Now, he’s back, and don’t be surprised to see the youngster between the pipes at least once this weekend. Pavelec has done nothing but impress during his stint in Atlanta.

As for Lehtonen? Well, he played very well during the early days of the season, when the Thrashers weren’t winning. Certainly, he’s the best goaltender on the roster. But at some point in time, you’ve got to wonder if the Thrashers are going to get more than irked at what seems to be Kari’s inability to bounce back from injuries in a timely manner.

We shall see if Lehtonen can grace the Thrashers with his presence next week. For now, it’s Johan Hedberg and Pavelec charged with keeping the streak alive.

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