Thrashers.Today.Com

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 — Ondrej Pavelic belongs in the NHL, but there simply is no room for him on the Atlanta Thrashers when both Kari Lehtonen and Johan Hedberg are healthy.

So, with four days off until their next game Friday, the streaking Atlanta Thrashers assigned the talented 21-year-old Pavelec to Chicago of the American Hockey League on Monday.

Pavelec went 2-0-0 for Atlanta with a 2.57 goals against average and a .889 save percentage. He started the Thrashers’ current four-game winning streak by making 18 saves in a victory over Florida on Nov. 2. Four days later, Pavelec stopped 24 of 27 shots at the Thrashers topped the Islanders.

But with Hedberg playing well in his past two starts, and with the belief Lehtonen will be over his back injuries and flu virus when Atlanta returns to the ice Friday night against Carolina, the Thrashers sent Pavelec down so he could play on a regular basis.

At Chicago, Pavelic posted a 5-3-1 record with a 1.54 goals against average. He earned AHL goaltender of the month for October.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — Two Thrashers have landed on the Eastern Conference All-Star ballot, one who is familiar with being in the spotlight on All-Star weekend, and one who has played very well for most of the early season.

Winger Ilya Kovalchuk and goaltender Kari Lehtonen are on the ballot. Fans can begin voting one week from today for the 57th All-Star game, slated for the Bell Centre in Montreal on Jan. 25.

Lehtonen has been solid for the Thrashers through the early going, until a stomach virus dropped him from the lineup last weekend. Lehtonen’s record might not be stellar – he’s 2-5-2 – but he’s kept the Thrashers in several games when the defense in front of him has been less that great.

Kovalchuk broke out of a scoring funk with a two-goal performance in Sunday’s victory over Florida at home. Kovy has five goals and four assists on the season. The leading vote-getter for the 2004 All-Star game, Kovalchuk also made the team last season, when the game was held at Philips Arena.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA — A familiar face leads an unfamiliar team into Philips Arena tonight.

The Minnesota Wild make a rare trip to Atlanta tonight to play the Atlanta Thrashers. With the new NHL schedule alignment allowing teams to play more games against teams from the other conference, the Wild come into Atlanta.

And a face Thrashers fans know well leads the way. Eric Belanger scored two goals in Minnesota’s season-opening 4-3 victory over Boston on Saturday. Belanger scored nine goals in 24 games during the 2006-07 division-championship season.

As for the Thrashers, with three points already through the first two games, Atlanta is far ahead of the disastrous pace it set last season by losing its first six games. The schedule this week looks pretty tough: Minnesota, the defending Northeast Division champion, is here tonight, followed by New Jersey on Thursday and Buffalo on Saturday.

At least they’re all at home. No TV tonight or Saturday.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA – Addressing the blueline was priority No. 1 for the Atlanta Thrashers in the offseason, and the upgrades continue now that the preseason has started.

The Thrashers sent three players to Anaheim Friday for veteran defenseman Mathieu Schneider, a two-time All-Star with 19 years of NHL experience. Heading to Anaheim: veteran defender Ken Klee, winger Brad Larsen and minor-leaguer Chad Painchaud.

And even though the 39-year-old Schneider is on the downside of his career, he’s still a big-time improvement for a defense that allowed the most shots and the most goals in the NHL last season. In 2007-08, Schneider tallied 39 points – 12 goals and 27 assists. Put those numbers with who manned the Atlanta blueline last season, and Schneider would have finished first in points, first in goals and second to Tobias Enstrom in assists.

Adding Schneider, who helped Montreal win the Stanley Cup in 1993 and earned All-Star nods in 1996 and 2003, to a defensive corps now featuring free-agent signee Ron Hainsey and first-round draft pick Zach Bogosian, and the Thrashers’ defense figures to be markedly improved this season.

What’s appealing to me about this trade is how little Atlanta actually gave up in acquiring a guy who last season finished at plus-22 and averaged more than 22 minutes of ice time. Klee, 37, was a disappointment and maybe the slowest player on the team. Larsen showed promise – I always liked his hustle – but the Thrashers have wingers running out of their ears (both here and in the high minors). Painchaud is a fourth-round prospect who scored nine goals last season while splitting time between Chicago and Gwinnett.

Gotta give Don Waddell credit – and believe me, that’s hard to do at times – for pulling this off. A good trade. You look at the Thrashers’ D now, and you see Schneider, Hainsey, Enstrom, Nic Havelid, Garnet Exelby and Bogosian. That’s a pretty good top six, if you ask me, and I’m really intrigued about a seventh D-man, the 6-foot-7, 240-pound Boris Valabik.

An improved defense really looks good now.

Blues 9, Thrashers 4 (exhibition)

Playing for the second time on back-to-back nights, the Thrashers were blown out at St. Louis, evening their preseason record at 1-1.

Brett Sterling scored twice for Atlanta. Eric Boulton and Todd White each added a goal. Encouraging for White, who was the first line center in a disappointing campaign last season, to light the lamp.

Atlanta trailed 3-2 after one period and 5-3 after the second, before the Blues blew it open in the final 20 minutes. The Thrashers play at 5 p.m. Sunday at Detroit.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA – Training camp is in full swing, and so too is the anxiety surrounding who is going to man the pivot on the Atlanta Thrashers’ top line this season.

Erik Christensen, acquired from Pittsburgh in the Marian Hossa deadline deal, emerged as a not-so-clear-cut favorite to center the first line after the first two workouts. That was before Christensen went into the boards during Tuesday’s intrasquad game and left the ice with a shoulder injury.

Published reports Wednesday give fans a reason to breathe easy, though, as results of an MRI were negative. Still, I wouldn’t expect Christensen to travel with the team to this week’s exhibition games tonight in Nashville or Friday in St. Louis.

Todd White, who unperformed as the front-line center last season – the first of a four-year deal he signed in the summer of 2007 – will be on the trip. There are some who would like to see youngster Bryan Little get a crack at the No. 2 pivot, but the simple fact is the Thrashers aren’t paying White a ton of jack to play on the third line.

I don’t see Little as being ready to man the front line just yet. Jason Williams, penciled in for now at right wing on the top line, could move to center if Christensen doesn’t work out. Stay tuned.

First-round draft pick Zach Bogosian appears to have recovered from a hip flexor injury suffered in last week’s Traverse City Prospect Evaluation Tournament title game. Bogosian probably won’t be on this week’s trip, either, but I fully expect him to win a roster spot. One interesting thing is Bogosian can actually be with the Thrashers for the first nine games this season without it counting toward his contract. After nine games, Bogosian either can be returned to juniors and it not count as a year on his contract.

Dude is too gifted, and too rugged – even at age 18 – and the Thrashers’ defense needs upgrading. Unless he’s just overwhelmed, I think Bogo is here to stay.

We know Tobias Enstrom is here to stay. The second-year D-man, who was a rookie All-Star pick last season, has been signed to a four-year extension. Good move.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA – Impressive as they were in the round-robin portion of the Traverse City Prospect Evaluation Tournament, the Atlanta Thrashers could not slow down the Dallas Stars in the second half of Wednesday night’s championship game.

After battling back from a 3-1 first-period deficit to tie the game with two goals in the first 6:19 of the second, the Thrashers were steamrolled, allowing five unanswered goals in losing 8-3 in the tournament final.

The highlight for the Thrashers was a two-point performance from first-round draft pick Zach Bogosian. The 18-year-old defenseman, who impressed during his play in the tournament, tied the game at 1-1 on a power play goal at 13:54 of the first. After Angelo Esposito – acquired in the Marian Hossa deal at last season’s trade deadline – scored at the 2:09 mark of the second, Bogosian and Grant Lewis assisted on Danick Paquette’s game-tying goal, the power-play tally coming at 6:19 of the second.

But the Stars grabbed control from there, taking the lead just 1:53 after Paquette’s goal. Dallas scored seven minutes after that to carry a 5-3 lead into the second intermission, and broke it wide open with three goals in the third.

Spencer Machacek, who also played well in the tournament, assisted on Esposito’s goal. Bogosian, Paquette and Carter Bancks each led Atlanta with four shots on goal.

Chris Carrozzi took the loss in goal, stopping just 20 of 28 shots.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA – Certainly nobody expects the Atlanta Thrashers and Detroit Red Wings to be playing for a berth in any type of final this season.

But it happened Tuesday night, and the Thrashers prevailed, moving into the championship game of the Traverse City Prospect Evaluation Tournament.

Spencer Machacek scored a power play goal in regulation, then added a score in the shootout as the Thrashers downed the Red Wings 3-2 on Tuesday night, moving Atlanta into the tournament final tonight against Dallas.

Machacek and Matt Lyall scored in the shootout, and Chris Carrozzi stopped Francis Pare in the final round of the shootout for the Thrashers, who won their first two games in the tournament with back-to-back shutouts.

Detroit scored first in this one, taking a 1-0 lead on a power play goal in the second. The Thrashers rallied with a shorthanded goal from Riley Holzapfel at 8:07 in the third. Machacek gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead two minutes later, scoring on the power play off an Arturs Kulda assist.

The Red Wings tied the game at 2-2 with 2:24 to go in regulation, and neither team scored in the two overtime periods, setting up the shootout.

The Thrashers spent most of the night in the penalty box, finishing with 26 minutes of penalties. Holzapfel and Machacek each led the Thrashers with four shots on goal. First-round draft pick Zach Bogosian finished with two shots on goal and two penalty minutes. Carrozzi stopped 29 of 31 shots.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA – Nobody’s going to go running to the box office demanding playoff tickets based on the showing of the Atlanta Thrashers’ team of prospects so far at the Traverse City Prospect Evaluation Tournament.

With that said, it’s good to see any team wearing the Thrashers’ jersey win … since we didn’t see it too many times last season.

Following Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay, the Thrashers improved to 2-0 in the tournament with a 3-0 shutout of the New York Rangers on Sunday. Atlanta scored twice in the first period and added the third goal midway through the third.

The Thrashers started fast, Tomas Pospisil scored just 29 seconds into the game on an unassisted goal. Atlanta made it 2-0 at the 15:16 mark of the first, Angelo Esposito – who came to the Thrashers in the Marian Hossa deal – lighting the lamp on the power play with assists from Matt Siddall and Paul Postma.

Spencer Machacek added the final game at the 9:13 mark of the third. It was more than enough for Ryan Daniels, who turned away 23 shots in goal in posting the shutout.

Through two games, Atlanta has not allowed a goal on 49 shots. First-round draft pick Zach Bogosian did not have a shot. Machacek finished plus-2, as did Pospisil and Rylan Kaip.

Atlanta finishes up play with a Tuesday meeting with Detroit. The tournament concludes Wednesday with games to determine first place, third place, fifth place and seventh place.

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By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA – Quick blog this morning, but wanted to let you know the Thrashers opened the Traverse City Prospect Evaluation Tournament with a 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay on Saturday.

Paul Postma scored the game’s only goal in the first period, on assists from Matt Lyall and Spencer Machacek at 14:56. From there, Chris Carrozzi made it hold up, making 26 saves between the pipes to preserve the shutout.

Atlanta went 0-for-8 on the power play in a chippy contest that saw each team penalized eight times. First-round draft pick Zach Bogosian recorded one shot on goal for Atlanta.

The Thrashers continue play in the tournament today against the Rangers, and face the Red Wings on Tuesday.

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