Kovalchuk Out For the Weekend

From the AJC:

[The MRI] is more of a precautionary measure and that Kovalchuk likely won’t miss substantial time.

“He’s a lot better today,” said general manager and coach Don Waddell.

Waddell ruled Kovalchuk out for the weekend, so the forward will miss Friday’s game against Buffalo and Saturday’s game in Washington. Assuming the MRI comes back negative, Kovalchuk will be re-evaluated at the beginning of next week by team doctors. There’s no swelling in his knee and he was walking without a limp.

ASG Memories

What an unbelievable weekend. My favorite memories, in no particular order…

The Junior All-Star Tournament. Everything about it, from getting to know so many great coaches to hanging out with the kids at both the rinks and at the ASG events. One particularly great memory was after one game, there was some extra time, so both teams agreed to do a shootout. All of the players on both teams got the chance to do their best shootout move. Everyone had a blast.

Red carpet. How can this not be on the list? For a few hours, it felt like I was in Las Angeles on an award night. I could not believe how many people were there, and it felt for a short while like Atlanta was a great hockey town.

Interviews. Part of my duties this weekend was to talk to some NHL alumni (yes, I was forced to). I had the chance to talk to Brad McCrimmon, Darren Eliot, Peter Laviolette, and Rod Gilbert, among others. All but Eliot’s link to the interview, and his will be up later this week.

The Russian Superstar Showcase. How could you not love the show put on by Ovechkin and Kovalchuk? It started on Saturday night, with Ovechkin’s “batter’s up” move and Kovalchuk dropping to his knees to shoot and bribing the officials. It carried on into Sunday with Ovechkin’s two goals, and Kovalchuk’s flop and stick throw, playing to the crowd after being robbed by Nabokov. The best play I have seen Kovalchuk make in a long time though was setting up Staal on the game tying goal. You could see how badly he wanted a goal, and when he got the puck, every single person in the building thought he was going to shoot. Instead, he passed to Staal, and the game was tied.

The applause for Marc Savard. I loved having Savard in a Thrashers uniform. He is a great guy, and great player, and I always cringe when he gets booed in Blueland. On Sunday, the entire building was cheering for him after he scored the game winner.

Fans from out of town. It was very unique to be able to see all of the jerseys and car flags from other teams.

The crowd. The crowd on Sunday was great. Every single seat filled, it was loud, and the writers took notice of the Kovy chants and the goalie harassments. It came across well, and looked great to everyone watching.

The reactions to the weekend. After three days of reading reactions about the weekend, I still can not find one thing negative about Atlanta, it’s fans, or anything to do with the event. The only negative comments were about non-hitting hockey, or an overall lack of TV interest. Everything else was positive, from the crowd on Sunday to the hosting job done by Atlanta. Hell, the words “hockey” and “town” and “Atlanta” even appeared together in a few sentences.

Getting my picture taken with the Cup. I have seen it multiple times, but had the opportunity to have my picture taken with it on Sunday for the first time.

The Never Ending Question: Hossa

Its obvious that every Thrasher fan has an opinion on the future of Marian Hossa. After looking it over, the answer is clear. The Thrashers must find a way to keep Marian Hossa.

Say the Thrashers trade Marian Hossa. Best case senario: They get a decent roster player, a top prospect, and a first round pick. The Thrashers have way too much third line talent. They dont need anymore guys that will put up 30 points a year. If they get a top prospect that is good, but its not a sure shot that he will even turn into a NHL regular, and if he does, what are the chances that he reaches a talent level anywhere near Marian Hossa? Pretty low. That too applies to the pick. It is all a chance game. Marian Hossa is a sure thing for years to come.

Lets take a look at the pick, seeing as they are so valued in the salary cap era. Because the Thrashers will more than likely be trading with a team that is looking to win the Stanley Cup, the pick they recieve will be at the end of the first round. Lets also take a look at Don Waddell’s drafting history. Outside of the top five picks, Don Waddell has yet to find a gem besides the young Enstrom. Stefan was a joke. Valabik and Bourret are looking like they wont even crack an NHL lineup. Coburn looks good except for the fact that Don Waddell gave up on him, and now Zhitnik is making everyone think what if? Also take into account that Dion Phaneuf, another defenseman, was taken the pick after Coburn. So essentially, the Thrashers have Zhitnik, when they could have just as easily had Dion Phaneuf. Overall, Waddell is looked at as one of the most awful drafters in the NHL, so a pick outside of the top five, let alone the end of the first round, is essentially useless.

If he does leave town, the Thrashers will have a ton of money on the table for new guys. So its obvious that don Waddell would go out and sign a superstar right? What superstars has Don Waddell ever signed? He considered Holik supertar talent. What has Don Waddell done in the past that would make any Thrashers fan think that he will get a guy to replace Marian Hossa’s role? He will replace Hossa with three or four third line guys like he did when Savard and Tkachuk left town.

What if the Thrashers decide that they will do anything to keep this guy? Rumor has it that he rejected a deal that would pay him 7 million a year. Good for him. He deserves more than that as one of the elite players in the NHL. He should be offered around 7.5 a year for 4 years. He is getting into the prime of his career and he shuold be payed like it. Its not like the Thrashers dont have the money to spend on the guy. They are way below the salary cap and they are dumping tons of salary next year when Holik, Rucchin, and Hedberg dont come back.

If he doesnt resign by the trade deadline, the Thrashers should still not plan on trading him. They have a good shot at winning the division, and what would message would it send to the fans if they decide to throw that shot away. They should play hockey and deal with his contract issues when the season is over.

It is pivotal for the future of the Thrashers to resign Marian Hossa.

Junior All-Star Tournament

In case you haven’t heard about it, the NHL and the Thrashers have put together a pretty cool event for the first time: a Junior All-Star Tournament. The pee-wee and squirt level teams of the Junior Thrashers, Lightning, Hurricanes, Predators, and Capitals are facing off in a tournament taking place at the Marietta Ice Center, Kennesaw Ice Forum, and The Cooler.

The weekend isn’t all about the tournament for the kids though. They received brand new Reebok Edge jerseys courtesy of the NHL. They also get to go to the Rockin’ Skate tomorrow morning, are lining the red carpet event tomorrow afternoon, and then get to go to the skills competition after that.

In case they are bored after all of those events, they will be at the All-Star game Sunday evening.

I was asked to cover the event for the Thrashers, and the coverage can be read here.

I am going to be following the players around for all the events, and will be talking about their experiences at the above site. I am bringing my camera with me, and will try and put some pictures up here as the weekend goes along. And early next week, I will try and share some of the cool stories from the weekend.

Everyone else excited for the weekend? Oh, and in case you haven’t heard, Ilya Kovalchuk is starting in the game, and Don Waddell will be an assistant coach behind the bench.

Best News of the Day

There hasn’t been much good to talk about recently, other than the upcoming All-Star Game.

I like the sound of this quote though:

Brad McCrimmon lit into the team at the practice this morning, and then skated the heck out of them. The players knew they deserved it and one of the players called it a wake up call. Bobby Holik said the punishment was probably long overdue.

Will they respond? How will they come out and play tomorrow night?

Who Improves the Defense?

Yesterday I put up numbers showing who helped out the offense the most. Today, let’s take a look at who improves the team’s defense (GAOFF/60 = goals allowed while on the bench per 60 seconds, GAON/60 = goals allowed while on the ice per 60 minutes).

Forwards first:

NAME	POS	GP	GAOFF/60	GAON/60	Difference
C. Stuart	LW	12	3.71	0.87	2.84
D. Haydar	RW	16	3.89	1.60	2.29
B. Little	C	29	3.39	1.26	2.13
V. Kozlov	LW	50	3.27	2.27	1
K. Doell	C	8	3.46	2.57	0.89
C. Thorburn	C	41	3.03	2.22	0.81
B. Sterling	LW	10	3.54	2.89	0.65
E. Perrin	C	49	3.18	2.56	0.62
P. Dupuis	LW	49	3.18	2.65	0.53
E. Boulton	LW	43	3.01	2.87	0.14
B. Larsen	LW	37	2.74	2.68	0.06
J. Slater	C	38	2.98	3.06	-0.08
R. Holik	C	50	2.95	3.11	-0.16
M. Hossa	RW	47	2.80	3.37	-0.57
M. Recchi	RW	40	2.80	3.69	-0.89
T. White	C	50	2.47	4.28	-1.81
I. Kovalchuk	RW	50	2.31	4.41	-2.1

To no one’s surprise at all, Kovalchuk is at the bottom of this list, joined by his linemates right above him.

Yesterday I pointed out that Kozlov hurt the offense more than helped it. Today, I am quite surprised to see how much he is helping out the defense this year.

Look who leads the team in this category: rookie Colin Stuart. He was high on the list for offense, and continues to impress in the defensive category, too.

Holik is supposed to be the defensive force that goes out against the other team’s top lines to shut them down. He shows up on the negative side, not where he needs to be.

Now for the defense:

NAME	POS	GP	GAOFF/60	GAON/60	Difference
K. Klee	D	49	3.23	2.56	0.67
M. Popovic	D	25	2.81	2.29	0.52
S. McCarthy	D	28	3.41	3.17	0.24
G. Exelby	D	48	3.06	2.84	0.22
T. Enstrom	D	50	2.99	3.01	-0.02
J. Kwiatkowski	D	1	4.18	4.33	-0.15
A. Zhitnik	D	49	2.90	3.11	-0.21
N. Havelid	D	50	2.74	3.51	-0.77

Finally! I have done it! I have found numerical proof that Ken Klee is not playing as badly as people think!

I am shocked, flabbergasted, bewildered, dumbfounded, stunned, and stupefied that Ken Klee and Steve McCarthy have better numbers than Enstrom and Havelid. Remember, this is per 60 minutes, so there is no distortion because of time on ice. The only explanation I can come up for this is that the top defensive pairing plays so much more than the others that they are fatigued, and bound to give up goals since they play almost half the time.

I don’t think that Zhitnik’s placement on this list will surprise anyone.

The Bottom Line
What forwards are on the positive side for both offense and defense? Sterling, Stuart and Haydar. How about the negative side for both categories? Slater and Holik.

No one on the blueline is positive for both categories, and only one player has negative ratings for both: Alexei Zhitnik, our highly paid, supposed #1 defensemen.

CEO Bernie Mullin Resigns

From the AJC:

Atlanta Spirit President and Chief Executive Officer Bernie Mullin resigned Tuesday, according to Mullin and part owner Michael Gearon, Jr.

Basically … I believe the owners want to get more intimately involved in the running of the business on an everyday basis,” Mullin said. “And obviously that impacts the role I performed, and therefore it makes more sense for me to move on.”

Gearon told the AJC this morning that the owners “have no current plans” to replace Mullin as president and CEO and that the executives who previously reported to Mullin will report to the ownership group.

Gearon said Hawks general manager Billy Knight, Thrashers general manager Don Waddell, executive VP/sales and marketing Lou DePaoli, chief legal officer Scott Wilkinson and Philips Arena president Bob Williams will report to the owners rather than to a team president.

Who Improves the Offense?

Stupid question right? The obvious answer is Ilya Kovalchuk.

But what about everyone else? Let’s take a look at the forwards and how the offense does with them on the ice, and with them on the bench while on even strength (GFON/60 = goals for while on ice per 60 minutes, GFOFF/60 = goals for while off ice per 60 minutes).

NAME	POS	GP	GFON/60	GFOFF/60	Difference
I. Kovalchuk	RW	50	3.29	1.72	1.57
B. Sterling	LW	10	2.89	1.59	1.3
T. White	C	50	3.09	1.88	1.21
C. Stuart	LW	12	3.04	2.37	0.67
D. Haydar	RW	16	2.80	2.38	0.42
M. Recchi	RW	40	2.42	2.06	0.36
M. Hossa	RW	47	2.37	2.16	0.21
E. Perrin	C	49	2.07	2.36	-0.29
P. Dupuis	LW	49	2.01	2.32	-0.31
V. Kozlov	LW	50	1.99	2.33	-0.34
R. Holik	C	50	1.95	2.34	-0.39
B. Little	C	29	1.80	2.47	-0.67
J. Slater	C	38	1.34	2.31	-0.97
E. Boulton	LW	43	1.34	2.32	-0.98
B. Larsen	LW	37	1.25	2.43	-1.18
C. Thorburn	C	41	1.29	2.49	-1.2
K. Doell	C	8	0.86	2.44	-1.58

Most of the bottom of the list is populated by players who play on checking lines, so they can be ignored.

Who stands out the most of this list? Colin Stuart, Slava Kozlov, Brett Sterling, and Darren Haydar.

Sterling and Haydar are in the same boat: small sample sizes. But they are two players that definitely improved the offense when the played.

Stuart has been a surprise since he stepped into Blueland. In only 12 games with the Thrashers, he already leads the team in plus/minus rating with a +6.

Last is Kozlov. The guy has had an incredible career, and has been a prolific scorer in the past, but he has not done his job this year. The bottom line is that the Thrashers offense is better with him on the bench.

Now let’s take a look at the defensemen.

NAME	POS	GP	GFON/60	GFOFF/60	Difference
J. Kwiatkowski	D	1	4.33	2.09	2.24
N. Havelid	D	50	3.35	1.67	1.68
T. Enstrom	D	50	2.84	1.95	0.89
K. Klee	D	49	2.12	2.35	-0.23
G. Exelby	D	48	1.97	2.39	-0.42
A. Zhitnik	D	49	1.94	2.37	-0.43
M. Popovic	D	25	1.58	2.50	-0.92
S. McCarthy	D	28	0.63	2.81	-2.18

Obviously Kwiatkowski’s numbers can be thrown out since he has only played one game. I was very impressed with his play, so it will be interesting to see what this is like in a few weeks.

There is not much to take away from this. Havelid and Enstrom are by far the best defensemen, and Steve McCarthy is just plain bad.

Tomorrow I’ll take a look at the defensive side, and who most improves the Thrashers defense.

Kwiatkowski Recalled / Thorburn’s Fight

The Thrashers have recalled defensive veteran Joel Kwiatkowski from Chicago:

Kwiatkowski, 30, has recorded 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 40 games with the Wolves and was recently selected to the play in the 2008 AHL All-Star Game. He leads AHL defensemen in goals and ranks third in points while leading the Wolves in power play goals (9) and plus-minus rating (+19).

The native of Kindersley, Saskatchewan has appeared in 264 career NHL games with Ottawa, Washington, Florida and Pittsburgh, and has recorded 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) along with 225 penalty minutes. He also saw action in six Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Capitals in 2002-03.

No one that played last night is injured, but Waddell could pull names out of a hat and correctly pick someone that deserves bench time.

Here is Chris Thorburn’s fight from last nights game against Nolan Pratt. He didn’t win the fight, but showed remarkable endurance:

Worst Loss in Franchise History

Last night’s game in Buffalo was set up to a rough one. Buffalo had lost ten straight, but played most of those close and competitively. They were ready to break out. The Thrashers had played the night before in a loss to Montreal, and came into Buffalo with a record of 1-7-1 in the second games of back-to-backs this season.

The Thrashers started the game slow, and the Sabres didn’t. 6 minutes in, and the home team had a 3-0 lead while the visiting squad had yet to register a shot. Game over.

The Bright Spots

Any time a team gives up 10 goals, you can expect to see some pitiful plus/minus ratings, and we did: Klee, Zhitnik, and Kovalchuk all registered -4. But a few Thrashers put up surprising numbers. Rookie Tobias Enstrom and Niclas Havelid both registered PLUS ratings of +1. Enstrom played over 20 minutes, and Havelid played 13 minutes. And they had plus ratings? Incredible.

The other bright spot of the game was rookie Colin Stuart, who scored a shorthanded goal and had an even rating.

The Negatives

Everything else was bad. Every aspect of the game was pathetic and embarrassing, so I won’t even begin to discuss it.

Notables

• Kovalchuk is on a three game goalless streak, his longest of the year.
• The 10 goals were the most goals ever allowed in franchise history.
• The Thrashers are 0-2 at HSBC Arena this year, being outshot 77-44 and outscored 16-1.

Inconsistency

How can a team beat the best team in the league in the Red Wings on the road by a score of 5-1, and then lose to a team on a ten game losing streak by a score of 10-1? Your guess is as good as mine. The Thrashers have played inconsistently all season long, and it is a problem that needs to be fixed, and quickly, for any hope of making the playoffs.

The Bottom Line

Carolina beat Edmonton 7-2 last night to retake the division lead. The same Oilers team comes into Blueland tomorrow for a battle of the recently-demolished. Should be interesting. Can the Thrashers come out fired up and ready to play?