Nov 11 2008
No room for Pavelec: Thrashers ship goalie to Chicago
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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