Thrashers Game Report - 02/28/08

Islanders 5 - Thrashers 4 OT

There are so many ways to look at this game. It was a critical game for both teams fighting for their playoff lives. It was the first home game for the Thrashers since the trade deadline and the blockbuster deal that sent Hossa and Dupois to Pittsburgh in exchange for Armstrong, Christensen, Esposito and a first round draft pick. Armstrong and Christensen were making their Thrasher's debut. But in this contest, at least, little else has changed.

Before I move on to the game, some observations about the new players I noticed during warm ups:

Armstrong - I don't think there is whiter guy in the NHL. In a league full of pasty white Canadians and Scandinavians, this guy stands out. Maybe when the rest of the team hits the golf links in a few weeks, Colby can get a bit of sun so the arena lights don't reflect off of him and burn my eyes. He's also incredibly thin. Officially listed at 188lbs, I've got to wonder if he really weighs more than 170 soaking wet. I've seen WWII POWs who looked healthier. It's hard to believe this guy is the same one who delivered all those big hits I've seen on YouTube. Armstrong also looks incredibly young making this observer feel that much older.

Christensen - He's a big body with great hands. He's got a wrist shot that is among the quickest in game and some decent foot work to go along with it. His shoot accuracy needs a bit of work. Like Armstrong, he looks very young.

I did my best to watch this game a little differently. With all the problems the Thrashers have had on defense, I wanted to focus on this area. Instead of watching the puck, I watched defensive positioning, communication and breakout actions. What I saw wasn't pretty.

On a positive note, the Thrashers do have a lot of defensively sound forwards. Rarely were the breakdowns caused by a forward overplaying the puck or making an ill-advised pass. Only Kovalchuk really stood out as a forward with a weak defensive game. That shouldn't come as a huge surprise and it is one I'm more than willing to tolerate as he's far and away the Thrashers best offensive threat. Holik also had a weak defensive game getting himself out of position on more than one occasion. Perrin and Armstrong look especially sound defensively.

The other side of the equation was really ugly and the scoreboard showed it as the Isles jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Each of the Thrashers defensemen deserves a separate comment, some deserve a caning and one deserves his walking papers.

Exelby - 4 WHIPS - He had a horrendous game and continues his backward trend. After showing some promise last year, X hasn't grown at all this season. While he continues to deliver the occasional hard hit, he finds himself out of position way too often. His play last night led directly to two easy Islander goals. He's stuck somewhere between a defensive and offensive defenseman and it shows in his game. His decisions with the puck are just as bad as with his feet.

Klee - 2 WHIPS - Another inconsistent game from a player that was supposed to bring some consistent play to the blueline. For most of the game Klee was one of the better defenders on the ice but his poor pass that resulted in the OT winner for Islanders was one of a couple of miscues that cost the Thrashers dearly. His slow foot speed is his biggest culprit. Klee's lone saving grace was that he netted his first goal of the season.

Kwiatowski - 2 WHIPS - Making a rare start for the Thrashers, this 30 year old defenseman didn't do much to keep himself in the lineup. He looked lost on more than one occasion and couldn't find an outlet pass to save his life.

Havelid - Best defenseman on the night. I didn't see any major miscues by him although it looked like he could have help out Enstrom a bit more. His stats were the worst (-3) but the breakdowns were more his partner on this night.

Enstrom - 4 WHIPS - One of Enstrom's worst nights. The rook has played extremely well for the Thrashers but this just wasn't his night. Two of his breakdowns directly resulted in pucks in the Thrashers net. He also had more trouble than usual carrying the puck out of the Thrashers zone.

Zhitnik - WALKING PAPERS - Oooh look at the score sheet. He scored a goal and registered a +2. Stats be damned. First, I'm taking credit for the Zhitnik goal. Earlier in the game, Zhitnik failed to pinch in the offensive zone on a great opportunity. Not letting this go unrecognized, I yelled "pinch damnit!". Zhitnik looked up, took a step forward and realized he missed the opportunity. So, later when presented with opportunity again, Zhitnik actually did step up and scored the goal. I'm still waiting to hear if I'm in consideration for the coaching position. Defensively, Zhitnik was his usual horrible self. Constantly out of position, his play led to multiple scoring opportunities. He's so slow to the puck that I swear he leaves a trail of slime on the ice. One terrible breakdown left him with no option but to commit a penalty. I could tolerate this if it was only occasionally, he was young or he wasn't being paid $4 million a year. Right now he's just taking up a spot that could be used to develop another player for the future. 3 goals on the season is not about to make me overlook his defensive deficiencies.

As you can probably tell, I'm genuinely disgusted with the Thrashers defense. While I applaud them for doing an overhaul prior to this season, I'm a bit depressed we've seen no overall improvement as a result. Looks like we are in for another overhaul as only Enstrom and Havelid are worth keeping around.

Back to the game.

After the Thrashers terrible defensive start that resulted in a far too easy 3-0 deficit, things got turned around in the second period. A great defensive play by Perrin, shorthanded, resulted in clear breakaway. The Islanders had no response but to haul him down, resulting in a penalty shot. Perrin made a nice stick move and out duel DiPietro to get the Thrashers on the board. I couldn't help but think that the gimmicky OT shootout took a little of the drama away from the penalty shot. This goal spark the Thrashers and within 12 minutes they had tied the game at 3. Considering the D had only scored 10 goals all season, it was a rarity to see to D goals. One, by Klee was a nice setup by Armstrong & Perrin. The other was the Zhitnik goal with my assist from section 106.

Just when everyone was feeling good, the Thrashers defense failed again and Comrie put the Islanders up 4-3 with another easy goal early in the 3rd. All seemed just about lost when Holik threw a light shot towards net with under 2 minutes to play. DiPietro somehow managed to miss it and the Thrashers found their way to OT with a 4-4 tie.

Things were not going to go the Thrashers way this night as yet another defensive breakdown off a faceoff gave the Islanders and excellent chance that they cashed in and sent the masses headed to the exit with a 5-4 loss.

Its easy to say the Thrashers didn't give up and fought their way back from 3-0 and 4-3 deficits to earn a point. But the reality is their defense let them down again and kept them from getting the valuable extra point.

A few other notes from the game:

- The arena was actually much fuller than expected for a middle of the week game against a relatively weak opponent. However, there was absolutely zero buzz in the building until the penalty shot. Of course, the Thrashers gave them little reason to cheer.

- Good reception for the new additions. Armstrong did get in one really good hit and played a sound game all-around logging time on the penalty kill as well. Christensen look pretty good too seeing time on the top power play unit. For now both these players are playing with Perrin and that was the most effective line of the night.

- Kovy was surrounded all night and had few opportunities. He did have two nice checks though and went to the net a little more. Both of these are things I like to see him do more of. He has these skills but doesn't use them much.

- I got more than my fair share of French yelled in my ear. At least it was passionate hockey fans instead of someone talking about their latest cell phone, their favorite American Idol contestant or their cute little dog. Apparently "SHOOT" is universal. I wonder how you say "Zhitnik you suck" in French or better yet Russian!

Thrashers Game Report - 02/13/08

Atlanta 3 - Washington 2 SO




My point of view for this particular contest was a little different than normal. I was seated in section 114, row D, seat 11 to be specific. This particular seat was just behind and to the right of the Thrashers bench, up against the railing overlooking the pathway towards the Thrashers' locker room. While I wouldn't want to have season tickets in this particular seat because some sight lines are blocked by multiple layers of glass, I did enjoy the different perspective on the game.



The best thing about this location was that part of my view was completely open. No glass and no barriers. I wear glasses so much I'm used to looking through a layer of glass. Taking away the additional layer at a game is like cleaning off my dirty glasses. Everything just looked sharper and more vibrant. Of course, I did have to keep my heads up for pucks and even an occassional stick as a player leaned back to avoid action near the bench.


Another great thing about this seat was getting to see the action on the bench. What was most fascinating was the line changes. Damn they happen fast and there is a lot of communication when they take place on the fly. Its understanding why they are such a critical component of the game. I'd never realized how shifty the teams get when icing the puck, trying to sneak a line change in just as the puck is tossed down the ice. Since NHL rules prohibit a line change by the team icing the puck, it was funny to see how many changes actually go unnoticed. I had many opportunies as the Thrashers iced the puck way too many times during the contest.


A couple last observations from the bench before moving on to the game. In this particular game there was little coaching or talking going on from the bench. The defenders or the Hossa-Perrin-Kozlov line would have brief discussions but not much else. One Thrasher in addition to the backup goalie is forced to sit on a wooden stool. Apparenly the bench isn't wide enough or wasn't this night. There are 3 different equipment guys who spend a majority of their time acting as towel boys and the area smelled the part. Players and coaches reacted differently to a few key plays than did the fans. On the disallowed goal there was hardly a peep from the bench. When Ovechkin scored a tying goal with about a minute left, the Capitals skated over and celebrated in front of the Thrashers bench. This pissed me off to no end. The Thrasher players barely reacted other than their disgust for allowing the goal. Now on to the game.

The Thrashers played poorly in the opening period. Washington controlled the tempo and the puck spending a majority of time in the Thrashers' zone. The Thrashers lacked the speed, positioning and checking necessary to get the puck away from the much more active Capitals. If it wasn't for the superb play of Lehtonen in net, this game would have been over early. Instead the Thrashers escape the first period with a scoreless tie.

The scoreless tie didn't last long as the Caps got on the board early in the 2nd. Once again the Thrashers allowed Ovechkin too much room to work and he found Victor Kozlov for a relatively easy goal.

Shortly after the Caps goal, it look like the Thrashers had tied it. Some nice down low work by the Kozlv-Perrin-Hossa line resulted in the puck in the net off Perrin's skate. Unfortunately, the group in Toronto said it as a kick-in and the goal was disallowed. However, this event seemed to serve as catalyst to get the team going. They were much more agressive and that same line came through once again as Hossa made a great pass to Perrin who netted his 10th of the season. A few short minutes later, Lehtonen made a beautiful pass to a wide open Hossa for a breakaway he whipped past Kolzig for the 2-1 lead. Hossa skated the length of the ice to congradulate Kari on the nice pass.

The third period was a much more defensive affair with limited chances by both sides. Apprently my shouts to "watch the chicken" weren't enough as Klee allowed Ovechkin too much space once again and he slapped it into the net, past Kari, with just over a minute remaining. UGH!!!!

OT was pretty exciting with both teams getting quality scoring chances. The goalies stood tall. Every time Ovechkin got near the puck I got nervous. When the clock hit zero my usual sense of disgust about the pending shootout took over. Perrin made a great move to score first, Semin missed the net, Kozlov burried his attempt and Kari shutdown Gordon. Much to my relief we didn't have to see Ovechkin in the shootout. IMHO, it was a major blunder by the Washington staff not to have him as one of the first two shooters. Thank you.

It was a much needed win for the Thrashers. It was very unfortune they allowed Washington to steal a point in the 90 seconds. Now we have three way tie for first in the Southeast division. I went to this game figuring it was probably my last chance to see Hossa and possibly Holik, Recchi and more. Hossa didn't disappoint having a great game overall. Perrin and Kari also had very good games. I don't think there is a player to single out for a bad game as most of them played pretty poor in the early going. However, my closer to the ice perspective certainly didn't improve my rating of Zhitnik. He looked terribly slow out there and continued to have difficulty staying in good position.

Next up the Thrashers head out on a difficult 5 game road trip. They won't return until after the trade deadline. Just how different will the team be the next time I see them?

New Kitchen Table, Chairs and Rug

Ooooh exciting. New furniture.

Actually, I am excited. Moreso to get rid of the old furniture. It served it purpose for many a meal but it was showing way to many signs of wear and tear to take up space any longer. Old with old in with the new.

Without further ado I present to you my new kitchen table and chairs from Room & Board and my new rug from Rugs USA.