Give her a hand!

One of my good buds who happens to run Getting Pucks Deep has entered a photo into the ESPN photo contest The Shot. She's entered it into the fans choice category for your consideration, which means you guys need to VOTE FOR HER. She's always getting great shots of the Thrashers in action as well as some killer shots of the other team too.

You can't stuff the ballot box (one vote per e-mail addy, please), but every little vote helps.

Domo Oregato, Captain Roboto!

Artist Interpretation of Eric Brewer's Career

Hey, lookit who has to have another spare part replaced! Why, it's the captain of the St. Louis Blues, Eric Brewer! The Post-Dispatch is reporting that he had to have knee surgery Thursday to repair something he tweaked while rehabbing his second back surgery. Yes, you read that right.

No clue when he's projected to return now, but seriously - we haven't had a captain on the ice or in the locker room since God finished kindergarten. Could we maybe take one of our assistant captains and promote him for the time being? How about Walt? Everyone looks up to him anyway, so why not? That, and he very rarely gets hurt... which is impressive, since he's older than Brewer.

Let the speculation as to who takes Brewer's spot for the first part of the season begin!

Thanks, Mr. Bradley

Not just for the linkage, but for sticking up for Thrashers fans. I completely agree with everything in Mark Bradley's latest editorial. We don't have a HUGE fan base, but the fans that we have are loyal, pretty knowledgeable (a lot of us come from other hockey towns, and apparently a lot of Southerners are quick studies - kudos to you!), and are a sucker for an underdog. Yes, we're disappointed by the record almost every year, but we always find something to enjoy about the team. Just because 99% of hockey writers failed to mention our 5 20+ goal scorers doesn't mean that we didn't notice. Some people think it's all underground to name Zach Bogosian as one of the top young defensemen in the league. We know it's a fact, and we toss in Toby Enstrom to boot. We get to see Kovalchuk every day on and off the ice, and continue to be impressed at how he refuses to throw us under the bus every single time someone asks him about contract disputes.

There're some issues, sure. But there's actually a lot to like if some would just give us a chance.

Thrashers' fans suck?

Derek Felska of The State of Hockey News (a Minny blog) has his annual fan rankings out. Puck Padre Greg Wyshynski finds a bit of fault to these rankings, and he manages to pepper his commentary with it.

Proof that the list is weird? Avs at #26. Sayth Wysh:

And No. 26, the Colorado Avalanche. Seeing as how this is patently absurd, we present the full justification:

Perhaps its fitting an Avalanche is a downward slide of snow and ice because it has been downward spiral for the team since 2007-08. Injuries submarined the team's dim playoff hopes early in the season as Colorado plummeted towards the bottom of the standings. Up until the 2005-06 season the team was riding a 10-year sellout streak, but since the team first missed the playoffs in 2006-07 (since it arrived in Colorado) the sellouts have ended and attendance has been dwindling. The retirement of the franchise's best skater of all time, Joe Sakic(notes), likely will not help get fans to show up either. A sagging economy has not helped either, but when the team stopped winning, Denver stopped caring as much. It will still be a while before Colorado can turn it around, but how much farther will this avalanche travel down the mountain before that begins, or could this team go the way of the Colorado Rockies (the hockey team not the MLB team)?

And the New York Islanders are No. 25. Yes, in this man's world, the New York Islanders have a more dedicated and rabid fan base than the Colorado Avalanche.

Yeah. Basically what this gentleman did was look at attendance from last season, standings, "web presence", and apparently retail stores - which is how the Thrashers fan base is dead last.

#30 - Atlanta Thrashers - 9.2

Pct. of Capacity in 2008-09: 78.8% (14,626, 29th in the NHL) Online Presence: 3.2

Last Year's Rank: 26th

Justification: I am going to share a little story with you which will might explain why the Atlanta Thrashers are deserving of being called the league's worst fans. Just this spring, I went down Georgia as part of an Educators Tour to Ft. Benning. On our way back, we were given the day to enjoy downtown Atlanta. While there I went into a sports apparrel shop, which was filled with all sorts of Atlanta sports team clothing; Braves jerseys, Falcons jerseys, and some college football jerseys yet nowhere to be found was anything pertaining to the Thrashers. I asked the attendant, "Do you have any Atlanta Thrashers stuff" and I was met with a confused look and then a quick question to her co-worker, "Do we have any Thrashers stuff?" A few seconds later they pointed me to the only two items they had pertaining to the the Thrashers along with an explaination of how extremely rare it is anyone is looking for their merchandise. Now does that mean that there are almost no Thrashers fans out there? No, but in the larger scheme of things there does not appear to be too many. In a Southern city where its almost a challenge to find someone with a southern drawl, it might surprise people just how many Atlanta residents are people who used to live in areas which are quite familiar with snow and ice. The Thrashers online presence is very small and that does little to help a team that many in Atlanta seem to struggle to remember they are even there. That sound you just heard was Ilya Kovalchuk screaming over the fact he has at least one more season with the team.

No, that sound that you just heard was the fanbase of the Thrashers crying foul. Last I checked, if you look over to the links section on the right here, I have listed FIFTEEN Thrashers blogs, all of which are extremely high quality. Falconer at BWA writes everyone in the free world under the table all the way to China. Ben, the Thrashers' web guy, has a bigger Twitter presence than really most TEAMS do.

Felska brings up a valid point of yes, Thrash merch is hard to find and yes, a lot of the people down here cling to their old team loyalties (*looking innocent*). It's hard for the Thrashers to compete with college football here until they win more, but this is still a pretty harsh evaluation.

His evaluation of the Blues is not much better:

#20 - St. Louis Blues - 12.7

Pct. of Capacity in 2008-09: 96.8% (17,488, 15th in the NHL) Online Presence: 3.7

Last Year's rank: 18th

Justification: This might seem strange but the Blues are on a resurgence. Last year, the team a mix of veterans and a number of youngsters had an outstanding 2nd half to make the playoffs only to be swept by the Vancouver Canucks in four very hard-fought games. The fans have started to fill Scottrade Center most nights and as always are a loud and boisterous group. Despite the resurgence of the team on the ice, the team creates very limited buzz in the town that features MLB superstar Albert Pujols; even the dismal St. Louis Rams garner considerably more discussion then the rising Blues. Sure, the NFL owns the United States but the Rams have been spinning their wheels for years now. The Blues online presence is amongst the league's worst, which is disappointing considering the fans seem to enjoy their hockey. General Manager Larry Pleau and Team President John Davidson have done a tremendous job of building from within while adding just a handful of key vets and Head Coach Andy Murray has the team playing a gritty game their opponents hate and perhaps over time that will inspire more of its fans to blog and discuss the team on the interweb. I would not be surprised at all if they garnered a higher ranking next season if the team continues to improve in what is becoming one of the toughest divisions in the NHL.

So, a winning season, an amazing playoff push, and fun new talent - and we DROP two slots? How many sellouts did we have last season - 20 or so? Last I checked, there is a good deal of buzz about the Blues in St. Louis - unless you consider the standing room only crowd that wedged into the rink at St. Louis Mills to watch a bunch of 18 year old prospects do drills. The Post-Dispatch covers them very well. Yes, the Cards overshadow them, but I'm sorry - Albert does not impact Blues attendance. Heck, anyone see the dude in the Blues practice jersey next to the guy that caught one of Albert's HR Derby balls?

The only thing I can see that's pulling down the ranking is the web presence, but that's getting better. And you can find Blues swag all over the place in STL, so I don't wanna hear it. Any pro hockey team that has its own license plate is obviously pretty popular.

Of course, any team that lists the bandwagon hopping Chicago Blackhawks' fanbase as number TWO and Detroit's notorious "hey, we're freaking EVERYWHERE" fanbase at twelve is obviously, um... well, he obviously has no clue what he's talking about. Sorry.

Some Blues Tidbits.

Backes is apparently centering the first line of the US Olympic hockey team, it hopes that he'll be able to knock Nash around a bit. We might not be the most skilled out of the Olympic teams, but I bet you a dime to a dollar that we're the toughest.

Also, Petro is skipping the Ice Dogs camp in favor of the Blues' training camp in September. He's hopeful that he'll make the team, and honestly, so is everyone else in creation. What - is Brewer coming back? Exactly - there's space.

Because I'm fairly sure that the NHL Network has a BUNCH of other stuff to show.

The NHL Net's not showing the Traverse City tournament this year, so all of you looking for an early hockey fix before training camp and preseason starts are out of luck. No chance to see how the Thrashers and Blues kids do except, I guess, to catch the scores on-line later or check up on the teams' websites for updates.

WoahwoahWOAH.

Awwww, yeah.

You mean to tell me that Zach Bagosian is a rookie phenom who "flew under the radar" last year? Never knew. Well, at least the folks over at The Hockey News noticed. Pretty praiseworthy of our gritty (dare I say it, "bad ass") young number 1 d-man, even though the end has to work in a comment about how no one expects the Thrashers to do anything. Because, yeah, the previous year's performance ALWAYS predicts the next *coughBLUEScough*

Speaking of Thrashers, Puck Daddy has an interesting interview up with Nikita Filatov, who apparently is trying to look more like a guy by adding 17lbs worth of weight (or else maybe he just had a lot of chocolate cake - heeey oh!). Filatov has been skating with Kovy this summer, and had this to say:

That means you had never skated with Kovalchuk before?

We skated together with CSKA's junior team at the end of last summer. Someone actually accidentally knocked out Ilya's two teeth with a stick... It is fantastic to work with Kovalchuk. You try to gain experience from a legend.

That means you look at Kovalchuk as if he is a legend?

It is so easy and pleasant to talk to him. But the age gap between us is seven years. Kovalchuk is a phenomenal player, one of the best in the world. I respect him a great deal.

Smart kid.

Why isn't it even TRAINING CAMP YET?

God, I hate August in the hockey world.

Anyway, the AJC had yet another article on the Kovy contract kerfluffle, and it basically says what the other ones have said: offers have been tossed back and forth, things are going well, and Don Waddell is optimistic that a deal will get done before the season begins.

About the only thing I can take away from this is that Kovalchuk wants to negotiate with us, which leads me to believe that he would really prefer to stay here and help the team contend, not bolt for a ready made team like Hossa did.

“I was with Kovy at a [Hawks] game,” co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. said. “I was asking him, ‘What to you think about our team and what do you think we need?’ I’ve never seen him be so optimistic. I think he felt like we made some moves around the trade deadline and the players just clicked."

Yay, optimism! Careful, Kovy - we all had that at the beginning of last season, too. Of course, this year there are lots more things to be positive about, and hopefully a new contract is one of them. I'm mildly optimistic.

Blues and Thrashers Blurbs

It's getting tough to find stuff around since it's August, but these two little bits popped up in my inbox this morning, so I thought I would be all nice and stuff and share.

The first is from The Hockey News, and is a Top 10 List of players that they would like to see in the league one day. Numero Uno is 2009 second round draft pick Jeremy Morin. He's also the only drafted player on the list.

The other is a write up from ESPN.com (!) on Erik Johnson and his Olympic hopes, dreams, and how much huger he is now than he was before.

The Thrashers' TV schedule is set to be released at 2pm Eastern today, so keep your eyes peeled. Also, Ben over at the Blueland Blog will have video of Thor and Boults training with a boxing instructor. Boulton seems good to go in that department... hopefully Thorburn will pay some attention.

Atlanta Spirit Trial Over

FINALLY. Actually, the court pretty much threw Belkin's claim out while stating that the other owners can't buy him out, meaning that he is still minority owner unless he sells his shares. The value of his stake in the Atlanta Spirit Group, LLC, has dwindled significantly over the years, so this is a major money loser for him. The whole, horrible situation is over, despite the fact that the outcome isn't really to the advantage of anyone - which is kind of like our season last year.

The only upshot that I can see here is that this leaves them free to sell the team to another local owner who actually cares about hockey and could care less about basketball. They have to sell to a local person because the naming rights to Philips are based upon the NBA and NHL teams BOTH playing there (something that no one remembers when they’re trying to move them to the Yukon or where ever), and if they move, well, good luck finding another company with the spare change to name an arena.

Also, apparently they signed a deal with the NHL promising to not re-locate for a set amount of time after the establishment of the franchise, and the metro area has about 5 million people. If they won’t let Phoenix go anywhere, they’re sure as hell not moving the Thrashers.

So, well, stop panicking. We're fine... for now. Winning'd help out our situation, but like Waddell mentioned at a Town Hall last season, we pay our bills in full and on time. believe it or not, we're an asset to the league.

Hey, look! Blues News!

No, no... Blues News.

Well lookit here. Something happened in the hockey doldrums that is August - Olympic Training Camps. The USA camp began today (much to Patrick Kane's dismay), and TJ Oshie, Erik Johnson, and David Backes are on the invite roster. Thrasher Ron Hainsey is also invited.

We have to play against WHO? Aw, holy hell...

If the three of them make the team, well, we might stand a fighting chance against Russia. For a period. Has anyone seen their invitational roster? Good lord. Just call the competition, give Russia the gold, and find someplace to hold the ASG, or fix the schedule so there aren't 200 games in March.

We'll take what we can get.

Yes, camp doesn't start for like another month, but hey - the Traverse City prospects tourney is right around the corner! Here's the Thrashers' roster. The Blues' roster hasn't been posted yet, but will be the second I hear about it. The tourney starts on September 6th, and the schedule can be found over at Redwings Central (yes, I know, I linked to a Wings site. But they've got the info). I am assuming that the NHL Network will be airing the games, but not live. So, yeah, get ready for them to tick the scores across the bottom, spoiling your viewing pleasure.

Blues' first game is against Dallas, and Atlanta's first is against Detroit's. Since the prospects for both the Blues and the Thrashers are some of the best in hockey, they should be able to handle them... remember, the Thrashers aren't playing the big boy Wings.

7 Rounds Down...

So far, so meh in the CLTS re-draft. I'm in a wonky position of being near the middle (11th) so I don't get the perk of being able to choose near the top in any round. This gives everyone in the draft the chance to draft everyone I was going to draft that round before I did (Oshie on the WINGS?).

So, I had to play extra sneaky. I noticed that people weren't picking a few of the leagues better scorers... because they're on the Thrashers. Slava was the 10th highest scoring left winger, and I took him in the 5th round. Bryan Little? He of the 30 goals? 4th round.

Here who I's gots so far:

Kozlov-Marleau-Little
Erik Johnson-Enstrom
Luongo

Well, my goaltending and D are solid. But damn it all to hell, my forwards only scored a combined 95 goals. *sigh*

Some Kovy News.

You really have to love Google Translate. It can be so useful, but it can give you some really weird stuff. Anywho, the first link is an article from KP.ru regarding the baptism of his son, Phillip (who is officially the happiest baby I have ever seen dunked into a pool of water). Nothing too much, other than Kovy's opening a cafe in Tver called "Bronze," which I find odd because he tends to win more gold.

The second article, translated by Sport Express already (though not in perfect English, it is still more understandable than some things I have read from my students), has some hockey stuff in it, and stuff that Atlanta fans seem to be taking as a not good sign. Draw your own conclusions from this:

"American mass media rumour that I have already started negotiations with Atlanta on my new contract but don’t believe these rumours. I got no serious offers yet and don’t forget that I have one year of contract with the Thrashers".

"I really want to stay in Atlanta so I need to see this team next year. Our management reinforced the roster this summer and signed Antropov, Kubina and several other players. I think our performance will be more interesting this season".

Either he is being pragmatic about his future and he realizes that this is a business and anything can happen, or nothing is actually going to happen and Waddell isn't going to deliver. Kovy wants to stay here, and Waddell has started to make the right moves for that. It just all depends on how we play this season, and no one wants to have to play the year with that cloud over the team. It was horrible enough with Hossa - I don't want it to happen with Kovy.

Well, fudge.

In my first spare second since pre-planning began (yaaaaay) I was going to write something about how Erik Johnson and Paul Kariya were ready to go for this season, and how wonderful this year is shaping up to be and blah blah blah.

Then I log on to St. Louis Game Time. And I saw a photo of this man:

That eagle's not being fierce, it's having a PMS attack.

In some weird bid to play Pokemon and collect every former Blackhawks goaltender EVER, John Davidson has hired Eddie Belfour to be the Rivermen's goaltending consultant.

I hate this man. HATE. I don't care what team he's on, I will boo him. And I don't boo players - I was raised to be a polite Cardinals fan and not boo the opposition, and I usually don't unless they do something shady to one of our guys. But whenever he skated out onto the ice at Philips as a goaltender for Florida and Toronto, I wanted to heave something - anything - at him. The sweep in 1993? Yep. I hate him because of this. Though, I admit, watching him nut up was funny as hell.

Beeeeeeeelfoouuur... Beeeeeeeelfoouuur... Beeeeeeeelfoouuur...

He can pitch a whining crying fit at the drop of a hat. There is also the fear that he'll take our young guys out on drinking binges, pick a fight with a cop, and attempt to bribe them with a billion dollars. Is that really the kind of mentor we want around?

30 Teams in 30 Days

"Ok, ok, I GIVE. Uncle! I'll re-sign if you will just shut these people up!"

NHL.com is apparently as bored with the offseason as we are. They're highlighting a different team each month on the site, and today's the Thrashers' turn. There's the usual "OMG we need to fix stuff or Kovy's gone!" article, and then there's a really interesting, kind of awesome feature on Slava. He has been playing better with us than he did with Detroit. There had been some discussion on the Thrashers boards about if, when Slava retires, we need to retire his number. This should put people in the "yes" camp big time.

There's also an article on Puck Daddy about the state of Kovy. Honest to God, before Nash's contract extension with Columbus, there wasn't nearly this amount of freaking out. No one mentions the sorry state (generally) of that franchise. They have a lifetime losing record too. They've never won a playoff game. But, aside from the attempts to get him to go to Toronto, there was no media freak out, and Nash re-signed. Yes, Columbus has done a better job of trying to get their team on a winning gameplan than we have, but considering the squad that they've had a few years, and their lack of ability to win, well, they have less of an excuse than we do.