In case you missed it...

The Thrashers FINALLY beat Philly. It was like we won the Cup, but in a smaller scale. And without Gary Bettman.

But still, it was a good accomplishment - congrats to Johan Hedberg - he of the 2nd best SV% in the league (!) earned himself his first shutout of the season. Rich Peverley - he of the league leading 5 GWGs - potted the only goal in the game.

Oh, and despite some stupid football game down the street, we had almost 16K people there.

Tonight, well... we're playing Florida, the weather blows - attendance probably won't be at that level. But I'm sure Moose and crew will be at that level of play again - there's a reason we're NUMBER FOUR on TSN's power rankings. Yes, you read that right - four. As Ben Wright put it, that's what 2 shutouts and going 6-1-2 in the span of 10 games'll getcha, especially if one of them is against Detroit.

I don't know, but all of this positive press is starting to give me the warm fuzzies. Oh, and those two goalies? They're a blessing, not a curse.

Fan ta Detroit, part Deux.

He's their newest call-up. Eight legs, and he can't even manage a decent SOG.

Yes, I know I just combined Swedish and French in that title. Sue me.

Anywho, the Blues are finally coming off of back-to- back wins with their 3-1 defeat of the Nashville Predators last night. Not only did we spoil their hopes for an 8 game win streak, we also pulled ourselves to within 2 points of the Detroit Red Wings.

That sounds a lot better than it is. Detroit's 4th in the Central, and we're fifth. But still. We can laugh at their fall from grace this year, the loss of their top goal scorers to injury, free agency, and the KHL... we can point to the fact that they're not even in the playoff picture. We can even bring up those back to back wins in Sweden.

The reality is, though, that the Blues aren't doing well on home ice, and theyr'e not doing well under pressure. The scorers that we need to wake up - Boyes, Backes, and Kariya - all got goals last night. They're streaky people. Is this a beginning of that? Will Backes have another outstanding performance against Detroit? What do we have to do to beat them?

Easy - shoot the puck on goal. Osgood or Howard, either or... they're not sharp this season. Their defense, almost always the best in the league, is suffering. The highest goal scorer on the team is Tomas Holmstrom's butt. They've been shut out for eight straight periods, so they're playing scared, desperate hockey.

Or, if worse comes to worse, wait for them to score. Chances are pretty good that their goal will be called off anyway.

Is tonight finally the night?

Don't let that look fool you - he'll take you out in a heartbeat.

The Thrashers haven't beaten the Flyers since November 18th. 2005. The only goalie we have under contract who has managed to beat the Flyers is Johan Hedberg, but it hasn't been since he signed a contract with us... though he was in goal the game last year where we almost didn't get slaughtered by them.

It doesn't matter if the Flyers are basement dwellers or playoff contenders, and likewise with us, they always seem to find a way to win. They're missing a key part of that, though. Antero Nittymaki has moved on to frustrate the heck out of us with Tampa Bay. In fifteen starts against the Thrashers, he has never lost.

Tonight, Brian Boucher starts in net. Late of the Sharks, he hasn't really gotten tested by the Thrashers in years past. Of course, ths season's Thrashers are a bit more testing than previous incarnations. Ask Carolina. Down 4-1 heading into the third period, the Thrashers kicked it into high gear, scoring 5 goals in one period (Max has something like 8 goals in his last 7 games, I believe), further continuing their trend of taking 2 periods off to horde up energy, and then playing out of their mind in the 3rd. Carolina was continuing their trend of playing ok for two periods and then being arrogant in the 3rd, leaving Legace out to dry.

This plan might not work tonight against the Flyers. We might want to look into playing for three periods straight. Oh, and we might just have to keep an eye on Mike Richards. Ask David Booth about his "leadership."

I think Carcillo got a game misconduct yesterday, but I'm unsure if any hearings are forthcoming for the face off fight. Boults is in for us tonight just in case.

On the subject of women in sportscasting...

I'm all far equity in sportscasting if it means I get to hang around Vinny. Oops - I just set the movement back, didn't I?

... we've been on the sidelines for years - you've seen those women: the obnoxious, spaced out sideline girl during football games, giving you inane commentary and asking the players (who don't take her seriously) "hard hitting" questions. Erin Andrews is currently the go-to gal for women in sportscasting, though she's a pleasant change considering the fact that she actually watches the sports she covers. Generally, though, there aren't a ton of women aside from talking heads on ESPN who actually really cover sports.

The sport that's breaking down those barriers faster than any other is hockey. Take a look at The Hockey Writers' list of correspondents. Other than myself, there are three women covering teams. There's a Hockey Girl feature over on Hendrick's Hockey. James of Cycle Like the Sedins fame is planning an awesome round-table of lady hockey bloggers.

Sarah Spain is the most recent lady blogger/hockey fan/object of men's non-platonic affection, though she does have the questionable taste to be a fan of Chicago sports. In solidarity and as a fellow female blogger, I might almost forgive her for that.

Anywho, it's becoming more and more "the norm" to see women attending bloggers' days hosted by NHL teams, and seeing ladies contribute on blogs across SB Nation. What is still a bit un-normal is the presence of women on broadcasts who are substantial. Christine Simpson, brother of Stanley Cup winner Craig Simpson, was the "between the boxes" girl (hee) on Versus up until this season. Her presence lent the broadcast a sense of validity seeing as how she actually has a hockey background (she worked for 10 years for Rogers' Sportsnet as a features reporter, as well as for the HHOF), though she is the queen of inappropriate age related questions - ask Dougie Weight. Since I had DirecTV up until today, I haven't gotten a chance to see the new lady on Versus, though I haven't heard scads of positive things.

Sherry Ross has been the color analyst for years on the New Jersey Devils radio broadcasts, and has long been considered the torchbearer as far as women being seriously considered as sports journalists/analysts. Wednesday, though, she became the first woman to call play by play on a television broadcast. What does that mean for the rest of us female hockey armchair analysts? Is this the end of us being mistaken for puck bunnies (just because we can recognize an attractive man does NOT mean that's the reason we like the sport)? Gentlemen who run major hockey blogs seem to almost be actively seeking out the "female point of view," which, surprisingly, turns into analysis. Not "women oriented." It's just an analysis of the sport. Why is it so difficult for people to understand that women are just as capable of rattling off stats as men?

I've had a few guys tell me that it's a turn on (not like that; get your mind out of the gutter) to be able to talk to a woman who can hold her own in a hockey conversation. That might be because of a shared enjoyment of the sport, or maybe that's because some guys like women who aren't twits. This is an all-call to the men who wander across this blog - share your opinions in the comments. What about women and hockey mix so well? Do you enjoy having a lady know as much about the sport as you? And, do you really think the gender thing is overblown? I'm just as comfortable around fellas as I am around women, so do you think that the concern about the lack of women sportscasters and the brou-ha-ha is misplaced?

I lied.

Ok, one post that I forgot to mention. Richard Durrett of ESPN.com Dallas' Stars blog asked me a few quick questions before the game last night. Hopefully my answers are intelligible, as I wrote them at 12:30 in the morning, half asleep.

Heck, it's a holiday.

Om nom nom nom.

I've said what I needed to say about last night's games... have a safe and happy Turkey Day, or whatever it is you eat, hockey fans and the 13 people and a cat who read my site. Catch you tomorrow, when we take on the Canes and the Preds, and Saturday when the Thrashers finally beat Philly and the Blues mess Detroit up. More.

Sorry, Z.

"I should be able to make that shot," he said. "And it should go in."

Well, Henrik, sometimes things don't go your way. Sometimes you have a goaltender who is on his game and who just flat out STONEWALLS you.

Needless to say, the Thrashers shut out the Red Wings 2-0. I'll type something up tomorrow, but allow me to say how thrilled I am... and how funny in retrospect the comments on A2Y are. Wallow in it, Detroit fans. Roll around in self pity really well. You've been practicing during years where you had an excellent team - crying wolf every 20 seconds. Well, now you need to cry wolf, because your team's got some serious issues, and guess what? No one's listening any more.

Blues won tonight 4-3 in a shootout. I would type snide things about that, but I couldn't watch it because I still have DirecTV. But Eric Brewer tried to kill Steve Ott. That's about all that you need to know right there.

Fan ta Detroit.

There. I said it, but in Swedish so they'll all understand. Thrashers take on the Red Wings tonight at 7:30, and the Wings are putting poor li'l Jimmy Howard in goal to face one of the highest scoring offenses in the league. Yeah, this should work out really well for them. Kronwall's out along with the rest of their IR, and we're fairly healthy.

Boulton's scratched tonight, and the lines are wonky:
Kovy-Peverley-Armstrong
Kozlov-Antropov-Afinagenov
Kane-White-Little
Slater-Reasoner-Thorburn

Love the way that the 2nd line has three playmakers on it. At least Koz and Antropov can feed pucks to Max, who will probably score a dramatic goal tonight in the last 30 seconds of the 3rd period or something.

Speaking of third periods - it's not the only one. You're allowed to play in the other two. Spacing out and poor play in the 1st and 2nd has cost us 2 points these last three games at least, and maybe one point against the Penguins. We can't play the Wings scared because of who they are - they're also 4th in the Central and outside of a playoff spot. They are no better than we are, and in terms of scoring and goaltending, we're significantly better than they are. Respect them, fine, but don't play carefully. Just take it to them and score. Please, embarrass them at home again like we did in 2008.

That, and I'd really like to see StL get a couple of points on them. The Blues are playing tonight in Dallas, so since we're not playing at home that means that we could very well, um... win. Maybe.

Hey hey, they're a believer!

NHL Fanhouse takes a look at the Pretenders and the Contenders for the playoffs this year, and shockingly enough, the Thrash are a contender. I say shockingly enough, because usually when a team becomes stuck in a teeny slump, the sky starts to fall, they drop 10 slots in the power rankings, and then the four horsemen show up.

Wait... too soon yet? Shouldn't you guys be in Carolina?

Anyways, they mention Max scoring, getting Little going again, JA's system being fun to watch when it's clicking... the whole "even if they don't keep Kovy past this year" statement aside, it's pretty positive. I always enjoy it when you can look at an article involving the Thrashers, and it doesn't include massive amounts of painful sarcasm/mockery.


If I'm gonna read something sarcastically mocking about either the Thrashers or the Blues, it's going to come from our own people, thank you very much. People who are familiar with the team have the right to make fun. I'm glad that people are getting familiar with the team, and not feeling like they have to mock. It's taking some getting used to, but I think I'll cope.

Somethin' I've noticed...

The past few games I have gotten a chance to catch this from a few vantage points: the Thrashers turn the puck over. A lot. Passing to the other team, not paying attention, too many moves and not enough shooting.

Tonight marked the third game in a row where the Thrashers fell behind by two or more goals, didn't play for 2 periods, and then game out holy guns blazing in the 3rd. Two of those games we managed to get a point out of it, even though we didn't deserve it. The game against the Pens, well, we didn't deserve to win it, and we didn't. They were sloppy, flat, and played scared - yes, they're the Cup champions, but you can respect a team without being paranoid about offending them with a goal. That's the point.

John Anderson mentioned in today's presser that they deserved to be embarrassed after the first two periods.



They should be. Line changes, new partners... nothing seemed to work. I'm sure that two games in less than 24 hours hurt, but Tampa had the same situation, and played rings around us. There's no excuse for some of the lack of playmaking and hustle out there - shots that should have been taken weren't, for whatever reason, leading to missed chances and turnovers. The top line, especially Kovalchuk, didn't seem to have any push at all. I'm not sure if this is left over from last night, because they were were the push came from, but today they were about as atrocious as that line could be.

The game winning goal came from a poor turn-over, miscommunication, sloppy play, and a bad bounce. Oh, and it also came from Steven Stamkos.

Our next game is against Detroit on Wednesday. If we keep this up, they will eat us for breakfast, poor goaltending notwithstanding.

Who ya gonna call? Slumpbusters!

Blues have officially maybe kind of sort of busted their slumpage. Perron scores two, Berglund finally scores, and... put down any drinks, please... Eric Brewer scored. I'm guessing that he executed C://scoregoal.exe or such. I'm not going to complain much, although I'm still not the Brew-bot's number one fan.

Perron, well... here. Goal of the year - it's his 9th so far, but by far the prettiest:




Amazing.

Monday the Bruins are in town, hoping to get us back for last year's MLK Miracle. Let's not let Savvy's return muck up what's becoming a better homestand than a few expected.

BTW, Petro's staying. But maybe not. It makes more sense once you read it.

Live Bloggin'. I hope.

Live Blog-ish fun here from Philips for the 2 people who realize that I have this thing (BTW, I will add an "after the jump" link when the damned button to do so appears).



Here we go... warm-ups. Moose out first, so I'll assume that Hedberg is going to start; Fleury out first too, so there we go. Good lord, though, the roar when the Pens came out was unreal. Hi, I guess this is the Igloo South.

Anywho, goalie matchup stats: Moose is 4-1-0 with a 2.63 GAA and a .923 SV percentage; Flower is 11-7-0 with a 2.67 GAA and a .899 SV%. This is what is known as a "not good start" for Fleury. I'm sure he'll right himself, but he can wait until the next game.

Moose's record against the Pens isn't mind blowing, with a 1-1-0 record, a 3.58 GAA, and an .833 SV%. Hedberg is still pretty well liked in Pittsburgh, but the last time he visited it was not a good homecoming for the last goalie before Fleury to lead the Penguins deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

MAF has a 7-3-0 record with a 2.32 GAA and a .916 SV% against Atlanta.

6:36 - Jimmy Slater appears to be our token healthy scratch for the night. This news is accompanied by "In Da Club." Very hockey appropriate.

6:45 - Warm-ups are over. Huge roar for the Pens again. My section looks pretty clear of opposition fans. I'm behind the Thrashers attack-once goal, so I'm trying to see for future reference the number of fans of the other guys over there - I'm bracing myself for Buffalo. Wooo.

6:56: Just realized that tonight's 50/50 raffle is for Happy Tails. I always give money to the puppies - darnit. And look - I can make my chair raise up! I can SEE.

I've been up since eight. Cut me some slack.


Starting Line-Up for the Pens:
Cooke-Staal-Rupp
Engeland-Eaton
MAF

Sorry about your blueline, Pittsburgh. Fragile Jay McKee strikes again!

Starting Line-Up for the Thrashers:
Kozlov-White-Little
Popovic-Schubert
Hedberg


GDT for those who want to read it is here.

A few Pens related goodies.

Seeing as how Pittsburgh is my second favorite team in the East behind the Thrashers, I managed to snag some film and footage of 'em. Sadly, most of them weren't the hottest. Actually, the best was this photograph of the back of Brooks Orpik's noggin:

I guess this saves us from that creepy Free Candy stare. It's ok, Brooks. When you're not playing the Thrashers or Blues, you're cool by me.

The worthwhile thing I did catch was this video of the skate. Fleury needs to be tethered to the goal. I know his puckhandling skills are a little suspect, but he flubs a simple pass with some atrocious God-knows-what. Basically, if we stand there and wait in front of the net, he'll eventually just give the puck over to us. Hm.

Thrashers/Pens Morning Skate

Today was the 2nd bloggers' day that the Thrashers held for us. We got some good interviews and such, which I shall write up when I get down to Philips and set up - I'll be doing some blogging from the game as well. The mood for the Thrashers this morning was pretty playful - it's nice to see a good positive environment around this team. Absolutely enjoyed watching Enstrom hitch a ride on Max's coattails. Literally.

Most of it was warm up drills, and shooting drills to keep the goalies sharp. About halfway through they broke for some face-off practice, which consisted mostly of Reasoner and White. Antropov, despite winning about one faceoff on Thursday night, did not participate. I'm sure it's a matter of him being the set up guy and the defensive guy on the line, but he's also the center. The top line has been responsible for a good bit of our points recently (all three goals Thursday, and five points total), so they're doing something correct (obviously), but it does concern me that Antro is still this shaky at center.

Audio of the interviews with Anderson, Cunnyworth, and Peverley will be forthcoming once I figure out where the heck to host them.

But, anywho, here are about the 4 good photos I got out of 50 taken. I am not the best at photography, and I admit that it helps that when you buy a new camera, you need to familiarize yourself with settings. Seriously. Settings.

The guys taking a knee or so.

Pavs getting ready for some drillin'.

Listening to el coach.

I snagged some excellent photos of the Pens, though - those shall be going up on Pensburgh shortly.

And, of course, the videos I managed to snag. They're oddly better than the photos.

More to come later...

ZBo going for gold?

According to a couple of sources, NHL Fanhouse is reporting that Zach Bogosian is getting a hefty look-see by Brian Burke, Don Waddell (duh), and the rest of the coaching and scouting staff of Team USA. Bogosian's 10 points in 18 games is outstanding, and his 8 goals leads the league's defensemen (and is higher than last year's three Norris candidates totals to date combined). Not only is he a sharp defenseman, he's also developing into an outstanding 2 way player.

One thing I noticed again during the game last night, is that when Bogosian winds up for a shot, the waters part. He might have missed the net on a slapper, but he damned well almost broke the glass with it. Gosh, where have I seen that before...


Oh yeah.

Three points doled out tonight...

First off, allow me to congratulate Erik Johnson on his GWG against Phoenix tonight. My vocal cords don't thank you (I really need to turn down my radio in the car, I guess) but the Blues and every single Blues fan thanks you. We won a game at home. It's almost like VE-Day, but without the massive sacrifices for our country. Also, thank you to Walt and Oshie for breaking out of some slumpage. You're next, Boyes. You hear me? YOU ARE NEXT.

The Thrashers came away with just a point in a shoot out loss against Boston, but (despite the officiating - thank you, Chris Lee for every call in our favor, and screw you, Brian Pochmara, for every single freaking random call against us) this was one of the most fun games I have attended this season. Two wonky bounces/good reads by the Bruins put them up to an early lead, but goals from Antropov and Kovy in the second tied it. Boston sneaked ahead on a goal towards the end of the 2nd and maintained a 3-2 score until the last 45 seconds of the game, when Max blasted home the game tying goal. We are in 2nd place in the SE and back into the top eight thanks to that man.

All three goals came from the top line of Kovy-Antro-Max. I challenge you to find a top line faster or more adept at puck handling. I dare you. Now face off percentage, yeah... Antro needs to still work on that. But honest to God, Barry Melrose - I know you were trying to pay us a compliment by calling Kovy a "poor man's Ovy," and you had a lot of nice stuff to say about us while pumping us up for the game of the week, but Kovy's just as good as, if not better than, Ovy. Ovy gets the press because of the team he's on... look for that to change as this season progresses.

Saturday's against Sid and Geno and the Pens. I'll be up in the presser for this one... like I've mentioned before, if you have a question suggestion for JA, Peverley, or whatnot, please let me know.

Oh, and BTW, Kovalchuk has 11 points IN FOUR GAMES.

Four games. Marinade on that for a second. That's 2.75 a game. If he were to continue on this pace for the rest of the season, he'd have over one hundred and sixty points this season. That's Gretzky levels. I doubt that he can maintain this pace. but good lord anyway.

Q&A Time!

I'll be attending the Thrashers' blogger day this Saturday before and after the game against the Pens. We'll be getting morning skate access, an interview with Matt McConnell, Pens pre-skate access, an interview with Rich Peverley, and a chance to sit in on a few pressers. Does anyone out there have any questions that they would like for me to ask Peverley, Anderson, or anyone else? Please, do, leave them in the comments.

I'm looking forward to making it this time, and thank you again to the Thrashers for hosting a chance for bloggers to get some access to the team, and access to the $5 press meal. Always appreciated!

Food for thought.

I am NOT in the "Fire Andy Murray" corner. I wasn't even in the "Fire Bob Hartley" corner. I think that our issues are a combo of the coach and the young guns still thinking they're too cool for school, and a definite communication issue between the two.

But check out these comments from Kings fans when we hired AM, and compare them to what we're saying now. And then take into consideration what Two Line Pass posted in this week's "What We Learned:"

Murray also gave David Perron a talking-to after a game earlier this week because he took a high-sticking penalty. That game was also the one in which Perron had a hat trick. Murray told him he was being selfish. True story.

Wait... what? How does that encourage anyone, let alone the player who is probably the Blues' best forward right now? Will Perron EVER fully get out of the doghouse, and does that lend some credence to what Berglund has said in recent interviews - that he's scared to play because he's scared to mess up? If you get reamed for a hat trick, well then jeebus. What happens when you have a bad game?

Let me rephrase that: what happens when you have a bad game and you're a kid?

Yeah, never had to ask that question about one of my teams' coaches before. Uh huh.

Yeah, I think that his foot's ok.

Apparently wearing a little removable boot on his injured foot hasn’t held Kovalchuk back. Last night was his second multi-point game in as many days, as well as only his second game back up with the club. Two goals, two assists, and a +3 finish capped Kovy’s return to Philips Arena, with an announced crowd of north of 15,000. I guess word was out he might be thinking of showing up last night.

Of course, he's concerned that he's not playing at full blast, saying when asked if he needed to work a bit to get to 100%: "Oh yeah. Definitely. It's still going to take some time to heal all the way, then I'll be okay."

Holy crap. Players work their whole lives to be as good as Kovy is at 50%.

He’s not the only Thrasher who showed. Evander Kane had his first multi-goal game to go with his first multi-point game on Thursday, scoring twice (once shorthanded). Max Afinogenov had two goals as well, along with an assist, and Zach Bogosian (who is starting to look like my dad with that moustache - like I have said, we Armenians are Chia Pets) potted one. Ondrej Pavelec was good for his first career shutout, stopping 38 shots.

Yes, the Kings still managed to net 38 SOG to our 21. I realize that the team that scores the most wins, but we absolutely have got to do something about the SOG total every single game. I know I’ve never complained about this before (and neither have any other Thrashers bloggers, I’m sure), but we won’t get that lucky every night - Pavs and Moose have both been outstanding this year, but sometimes bad games happen. The more shots on goal allowed, the more likely the opposing team is to capitalize on that off game, and boom. There’s a loss. Yes, I realize that I just found something to whine about in a 7-0 curbstomping of a pretty good Kings team, but that needs to be worked on regardless.

BTW, I do believe that tonight’s result proves my theory of the fact that the guys PLAY BETTER WHEN PEOPLE SHOW UP. Hi, Atlanta. You have the best athlete in your city playing to about 18 people and the beer vendors (I’m unsure if my section actually has an usher, or else I’d throw them in there too) during the week. Come out and watch him. He’s a hell of a lot more fun than anyone who plays on the Falcons, Hawks, Jackets… hell, hockey’s a better sport than football and basketball anyway. Come on, guys. Join the cult.

One other thing - last night was the second town hall of the season, and by far the most positive town hall I’ve been to. You can tell people don’t have a lot to complain about when they start asking stupid questions about getting people to not scream “knight!” during the anthem. There were two bits of interesting news that Waddell said but didn’t really say. He’s happy that he didn’t trade one of the goalies at the trade deadline/draft, or else we’d be in a really bad situation - which means that Pavs was on the block, but Waddell’s glad he stayed put. He basically said, though, that when Kari feels up to playing he’s going to have to, because you can’t get anything for a hurt goalie. Every town hall he insinuates that Kari’s getting closer and closer to being an ex-Thrasher, which I find very unfortunate for someone who had so much promise. Of course, if said person would have had back surgery when he needed it…

Anywho, one more item of interest from the mouth of D-Wad: they’ve moved past the “does Kovy want to play here or not” stage in contract negotiations with his agent, and they’re now in the “how much money and how long” stage in negotiations. As Waddell put it (to paraphrase), “That’s a lot farther than we got a few years ago with some other guy.”

Basically, last night should have solidified two things for people: 1) the Thrashers do NOT suck this year, have a lot of great talent, and can save people from the hell that is Buffalo and 2) Kovalchuk WANTS to stay here, wants this team to do well, and will probably be here for many, many more years at potentially Ovie-levels of money. The guys on On the Fly last night kept going on and on about how they like what they’re seeing from the Thrashers. A few weeks ago on HNIC, the panel was praising Pavs. The world is topsy-turvy right now. I think I’m pretty ok with that, considering that Thrashers games were always the last shown and the least talked about (unless it was negative) on On the Fly last season.

I’m pretty damn thrilled that I have five more Thrashers home games to go to this month. I absolutely can’t wait for tomorrow’s game against the Oilers. I wanted the mercy rule to go in effect for the OTHER team last night. Yeah. Bizarro Land, next exit.

What's up with the Note?

I take a crack at it over on The Hockey Writers.

Whatever's wrong with us, there's a test tonight - the Sharks are coming to town, and now we have to deal with Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley. Those two have more offensive output than the whole Preds team.

Holy hell.

Kovy's Back; Tell a Friend!

Kovy's apparently ok. A goal and two assists marked his first game back since October 24th, where he took a puck off of the foot. He's got a little ways to go to catch up with the Thrashers' leading scorer with 20 points, Rich Peverley. Pevs also potted a goal and a couple assists as accessories. A convincing 5-3 win by the Thrashers helped Hedberg's GAA go down to 2.77, and his SV% go up to .917. Remember what I've always crowed about - how Hedberg's stats would be better if he had a better team in front of him (and how they dropped off when he came to ATL)? Gosh, apparently that was true.

Pavelec should start tonight at home when we play the Kings, who apparently come to Atlanta once every 7 years or something. I'm looking forward to seeing Kovy play again - the games have slipped into snooze-mode at home without him.

Here's also hoping that we get a good crowd tonight to balance out the 17 people who were there for the BJs (that read worse than I meant it) and the small-ish crowd we had for the Blues game on Sunday. The Thrashers are 8-6-1. There's not a single reason for this game to not have people in attendance. We're GOOD THIS YEAR. We're currently 2 points out of a playoff spot, and we've still played the fewest games in the league, along with the Flyers and Sabres, who only have 4 points on us. We're contenders, and we're getting magnetic schedules tonight. Come on, people. Show up.

Petro's Up to Stay

Well, he won't be wearing this uniform again.

Alex Pietrangelo's up to stay with the big boys, per Andy Strickland and the blog Future Considerations. The Blues do have eight healthy defensemen, so there's not a sure thing that he's going to play every game. However, he is certainly not part of the on-ice issues, and the young defenseman is playing at a higher level than he was last season.

Because of age, the AHL isn't an option. Petro's far outplayed his level of competition at the juniors level. Him staying put with the Blues is the best thing for him, and probably the best thing for the club.

Quick kudos to Poutine.

Om nom nom nom.

No, not the wonderful food, but David Perron. Frenchie scored his first career hat trick last night in the 6-1 route of the Canucks that happened at Scottrade, and that just about all of StL couldn't see thanks to a Versus blackout.

Figures.

At least I'm out of the metro area, so I could watch the game... looks like our drought is over for now. I mean, Boyes scored. Bradley Boyes found the net. That should summarize it for you right there. That, and there were four fights, two of which involved Cam Smash. All in all, this was the most fun I've had watching a game so far this season. Thursday night is a bout against the Preds. This is doable, though I'm not expecting a high scoring bout.

Our top line of Perron-McDonald-Boyes were responsible for five goals and 10 points. I think this works. Murray's been consistent in who he is pairing with who on that line, and the new kid line of Eller-Berglund-Oshie, who also looked good for the night. Kariya, though... wow. Get on the ball, buddy, seriously. He had a few good shots, but when will he get onto the scoresheet again?

Classy as he wants to be.

Brett Hull's speech was nothing but pure class last night. The Post-Dispatch and the Belleville News-Democrat both have outstanding write ups on it, but neither of them caught what I thought was the best, most truly humble and thankful part - him remembering Peter Zezel and being the only one to do so the entire broadcast - and that includes TSN who put the broadcast together.

Thank you, Brett, for your kind words about the Blues organization and for remembering a teammate with the utmost graciousness and class.

Congrats to Chris Thorburn

I like how the AJC kinda slips in the fact that he and his wife are expecting their first child in May, between questions about the Braves and Atlanta Traffic.

BTW, fun interview with Thor... thanks for publishing a few more of these player interest stories.

Oh, and just to work this in somewhere, head over to Getting Pucks Deep for some outstanding photos of the Thrashers and Blues warm-ups on Sunday. Some priceless ones are in there.

Congrats to the Golden Brett.

I'd write my own summary of what's going on tonight, when Brett Hull gets inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but the Post-Dispatch has a wonderful summary of Hull's career that really captures what he means to St. Louis and to the Blues.

Even better than the P-D's article is the tribute written up on St. Louis Game Time by Brad. Hull was outspoken. He was brash. He might not have always been the best teammate, but no one matched him in intensity. Had Adam Oates not been traded, Hull very well could have reached Gretzky levels in scoring. Yes, he won the cup with Dallas and that other team that I choose to not remember, but his golden years were spent here, in St. Louis. Scottrade is the House that Hull built - he rejuvenated a franchise and helped the Blues compete with the Cardinals as the hot ticket in town. He made a whole generation of kids, myself included, fall in love with the sport and with the best franchise in the game. I'll always remember him as a Blue, and I am thrilled that he's being inducted in to the HHOF (along with John Davidson as a broadcaster - congrats, JD!).

Wow, the HHOF. Hull's in there. CuJo probably will be too. Shanny as well. Gretzky already is. Oates is going to be. The hall of fame's looking like a who's who of people Keenan drove away from StL. Yeah, I'm still bitter. What?

Three outta four ain't bad.

Apologies to Meat Loaf on the title there.

Anyway, the Blues and Thrashers combined for three points yesterday - not in the order that I'd prefer, but I'll cope. The Blues lost in a shootout for their 5th straight loss, and both Ty Conklin and Johan Hedberg turned in fantastic performances in the Battle of the Backups. They both deserved the win, though Conklin really should have had it... save for a Ron Hainsey shot that bounced up over his glove - which I think are the hockey gods evening stuff out with the whole "goal from 1000 feet out" thing that happened to Pavs a few games ago.

The Thrashers played well, though both goals came from the defense again. I'm not going to whine about offensive defensemen at all, because at least someone is providing goal-scoring. I can't say the same for the Blues, aside from David Perron, who is leaps and bounds better than he was last season, and improving. The new Kid Line of Eller, Berglund, and Oshie worked, but didn't wind up on the scoresheet... and managed to be sat by Murray the last period of the game for the most part. Brilliant again - skate with 9 forwards. Who cares if they get worn down and make stupid mistakes? We have Boyes and Kariya out there missing the wide open net and managing to make people regret how much we pay them.

Something needs to light a fire under this team's collective ass, and if the stellar play of their two goalies isn't it, then AM needs to find it, stat.

That being said, Peverly's shootout goal was pretty, and Kozlov is just incredible, though not as much so as Moose, of course - whose mask got bunged up on a poke check gone wrong. Are the refs trying to get all of our guys killed or something? IF THEY DON'T HAVE A MASK ON, BLOW THE WHISTLE. Glad the Blues scored, but I don't want Moose hurt in the process, ok?

Well, one of my teams has to win tomorrow.

Thrashers decided to completely lay an egg on Long Island tonight, losing 6-3 to the Isles, and the Blues dropped a well-played game to the Flyers 2-1 in a shootout. Masonry's skills are being wasted by the fact that the forwards cannot seem to break out of this slump, TJ Oshie notwithstanding - apparently it really was his appendix causing him some issues, because Furnace Face was on fire tonight. Actually, the new Kid Line of Eller, Berglund, and Oshie was probably the best line on the ice tonight - definitely had the most energy.

Tomorrow I get to meet up with some of the guys from St. Louis Game Time to support the Blues when they come back to Atlanta. Of course, I'm probably going to hear it from my friends who are Thrashers fans, but I gotta cheer on the team I've been cheering for my whole life. It's an easy choice. And, if all else fails, we'll be entertaining. I'm sure the guys on the ice will be *thrilled* that the Game Time posse's in town. If we can stalk them to Sweden, we can follow them anywhere.

How many periods are there in a game?

Three, right? Sixty minutes of action. Could someone sit the Thrashers down and explain this to them? The BJs at Thrashers game last night was the second one in a row that I have been to where I had to fight dozing off, or throwing something, or both. Yes, Pavelec did not have a good night. But the rest of the team attempting to play would have been very, very helpful. No one scored until about five minutes into the 2nd period, and that wasn't because Garon was on fire in the first. We barely took 8 shots. As the time went on, the shot total went up (we outshot them and wound up with around 31 SOG or so), and the number of goals scored went up (congrats to Toby Enstrom on his first of the year). But effort shouldn't get stronger as the game goes on - the effort needs to be there and the team needs to maintain.

The Thrashers have an outstanding road record of 5-1-1. Their home record is 1-4-0. There's something telling about that. The die-hard Thrashers fans are there, and we are loud. But when you're a player and look up, and you see about 6K in the seats (the attendance figure of around 10K was padded), it's hard to get a spark going. Everyone knows that's a problem. Phoenix has overcome it so far this season, by playing for themselves. You play for your team, and if you're in a foul mood because of whatever, or don't feel motivated - get over it.

You get motivated, you win. You win, people show up. It's not that we don't have hockey fans in Atlanta, because we do. But no one wants to pay $70 for a full game and only be treated to half of one.

Thank God we have a competent #1 goalie...

Because the Goalie of Tomorrow is fast becoming the Goalie of Yesterday.

Per the Blueland Blog:

Kari Lehtonen underwent successful back surgery on Friday, Oct. 30 at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY. The procedure, which was performed by neurosurgeon, Dr. Paul Maurer, was to remove edges of bone that were applying pressure to nerve roots in his back at two locations that were different than that of his original disc surgery on July 20. He will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks.

That puts him coming back probably the beginning of January, not counting conditioning and workout time (he's not in shape, trust me), plus a rehab stint in Chicago. By the time all that is taken into consideration, we're looking at post-Olympic break.

Pavs has been our #1 so far, and he *will be* our #1 by February - he's not going anywhere at all. What do we do with Kari? It seems he'll be healthy in time for the trade deadline, but would anyone want him?

Heck, with his injuries, will he ever play in the league again? So much talent, but so much wasted opportunity.

Scary stuff on Halloween

And no, I'm not talking about the fact that the Blues got blanked by the Panthers (WTF was Murray doing pulling Mason with THREE MINUTES LEFT IN THE GAME?), but about what happened to Andy McDonald (AKA: Half of Our Offense). No word on condition other than he seems to be ok, but this was absolutely terrifying: