Thrashers Game Report - 01/14/09

Ottawa 3 - Atlanta 2

I don't get out of the house near enough. That's half the reason I force myself downtown to these contests. I enjoy watching hockey on any level, professional or amateur. But after nearly 10 years of this nonsense, I'm beginning to wonder if my time wouldn't be better spent at home with the lights off, shades drawn, huddled in the fetal position in a corner of my basement.

Another lackluster effort by a team that has more going wrong than right. For every positive in a game, I can almost always count 2 or more negatives. For every great save, there are easy goals. For every crisp pass, there are half a dozen that miss the mark by 5 feet. For every nice shot on net there's the next one sailing off into the corner or over the glass. Each season begins with the hope that it is the one the team will turn a corner. By mid-January, they are almost always where they sit now, near or at the bottom of the NHL.

I'm obviously not alone in my disgust. While official stats might say 14,000 tickets are sold, the actual attendance at Philips is horrible. Last night was probably the worse I've seen in recent memory. Those that do come want to cheer but instead come as some sort of group therapy to help them deal with the misery. The regulars in the 400s have resorted to making jokes about the expected shortcomings. It isn't a shock to see a pathetic giveaway. It isn't abnormal to witness a soft goal. A missed open net doesn't result in emphatic groans. Instead it has become a running joke. Laughter fills the rafters.

Thank goodness for the laughter as there wasn't much joy on the ice. While it was nice to see Little and Bogosian return to action, the end result was the same. The team simply didn't have much energy or synchronicity.

The checking game was almost non-existent until late in the 3rd and Ottawa players had an easy time gaining access to the Thrashers zone. Too many times I saw Thrashers defensemen back away from the puck carrier when they easily could have stood them up at the blue line. Someone needs to let these players know it is OK to make contact with the player who has the puck.

Passes were too often off target and great shot opportunities were squandered with shots that went way wide. Players are either out of position or don't know where to expect their teammates to be.

The Thrashers failed to take advantage of a weak Ottawa team. Their goalie looked very beatable on this night. Many soft rebounds but no Thrasher to grab the puck with the exception Thorburn on the second goal.

The Thrashers got themselves into trouble by taking a bunch of penalties in the first period. On two of those, Ottawa capitalized within seconds with quick cycles ending with a one-timer in the back of the net. Kari was not strong in goal and frankly I'm get tired of him so rarely raising the level of his play. His youth cannot be used as an excuse any longer. There are now many younger goaltenders better than him.

Todd White continued his revival netting a powerplay goal of his own and was one of the few bright spots along with Havelid and Christensen. Peverly's first game, playing on the first line with Kovy was nothing special but no worse than the dozen or so other players they have tried in that role.

Schneider had another horrible game and is almost certain to be headed elsewhere before the trade deadline. Who'll be the next aging defenseman to come in and disappoint?

Bogosian is a rookie and I'll cut him some slack. I'd just want to see him working on get his point shots on net and passing the puck a bit more instead of trying to skate all the way in on each opportunity.

My patience is running very thin with Anderson. It is hard to see a single facet of their game that has improved under his guidance. I wouldn't fire the guy yet but I'm not so sure he should be here beyond this season.

I hate to be so negative but this team doesn't do much to push me in the other direction. When they start turning it around get someone to shine a lit into my dark corner.

Barbados Vacation Pictures

Some more pictures from our Barbados trip. The first is from Barbado's North Point where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic. On this particular day the waves were very small so the impact was less than spectacular.





Next up is a view from the Flower Cave under North Point.

Farley Hill is the highest point on the island and offers a great view of the Atlantic coast.

Bathsheba Beach on the East coast has nifty coral formations. The waves are world class and many surfers can be spotted most days.

A nice shot of Crimson in downtown Barbados as we await boarding on the catamaran for day of sailing and swimming with the Hawksbill sea turtles.

Thrashers Game Report - 01/02/09

Atlanta 4 - Vancouver 3 SO

The last two Thrashers games I attended, I simply didn't have the heart to post my reports. I've become pretty disgusted with the results. It seems that the team has been spinning its wheels lately, making little to no progress and ending up with nothing but losses, some quite embarrassing.

With a new year comes new hope. While it is painfully obvious the Thrashers will be outside the playoffs and closer to the #1 overall pick, it doesn't mean I don't want to see more signs of improvement.

At times it feels like this team is snake bit. From selecting the dud Patrik Stefan as its first overall pick, to the tragedy involving Heatley and Snyder, to an unfortunate bounce that crippled them in their first playoff appearance. Many player acquisitions look decent on paper but fall way short of expectations. This season it has become almost laughable. I can't count the number of games I've seen where they played decent to great hockey only to come away with a loss. Rarely do the bounces go their way.

With that in mind, I pretty much expected the worst on Friday. Atlanta took a penalty mid-way through the first and were having difficultly clearing the puck as usual. Then, they caught a break. An outlet pass to Crabb found him in good position to get the puck and have a step on the lone Vancouver defender. With the defender catching up to him quick, Crabb took his best option and let rip a shot, beating LaBabbera for an early 1-0 lead.

The lead was not to last long as the Thrashers took an additional penalty making it 5 on 3. Moments later, a Thrasher broke his stick making it basically a 5 on 2.5. It took only moments for the Canucks to net an easy game tying goal.

The second period saw more solid play from the Thrashers but too many failed clearing attempts. The Sedin brothers cashed in again taking a 2-1 lead. Minutes later, Kovy netted his second goal in 2 games (waking up perhaps?) on a nice snap shot down close.

Atlanta found itself on the powerplay once again early in the 3rd. The powerplay. along with the LittleWhiteRussian line has been one of the more consistent performers this season. Nice passes by Kovy & White setup Kozlov for the pretty goal and a 3-2 lead.

No lead is ever safe in the Thrashers hands, especially not a one goal lead late in a game. Sure enough the Sedin brothers did it again with a tip-in goal shot from the point. With almost 10 minutes left I thought for certain the Thrashers would blow it again.

However, from this point on the Thrashers took control. They had the best opportunities in the rest of regulation and through the 5 minutes of overtime. The crowd was into it but the team simply couldn't finish it. They were headed to the shootout.

Little missed on the first opportunity and the Canucks capitalized. Shootout master Kozlov got the Thrashers their first and Kari came up big stopping Wellwood. Kovy took his shot but didn't really challenge the goalie. Fortunately, Burrows missed for the Canucks. Christensen took the ice. He's been a real disappointment for the Thrashers. However, he is know for being one of the best shootout players in the game and left Barbbera looking like a fool for an easy goal. Daniel Sedin took to the ice but this time Kari had an answer stopping him cold. A WIN!

It wasn't easy but it was very effective. Good energy and play from both sides. The fight 4 seconds in was a little silly and the crowd was slow to come around but it was a good hockey game. The best of the year ;-) Here's hoping they can put some more of these together in the upcoming weeks.

Barbados Surfing

Not all surfing is done on the internet!

Visting Barbados has become a little old hat for me. I've been there 6 or 7 times now. However, this was the first time Crimson joined me.

I made arrangements to have her take some surfing lessons with Surf Barbados. Instead of joining her in the water, I decided to take pictures from the shore. I'm thrilled I did because I got some really good shots.

Crimson did great. She got up on her first wave and had a great deal of fun and success. Now she wants her own board.

The following is a sequence of shots joined together to create a "video" of one of her rides.

Hee's a couple of the better pictures: