So I think this is the happiest I have been in a while with a .500 team. 10-10 never felt so good and season starts again one point out of the playoffs. There has to be a lot of crow eaters out there when if comes to the firing of Bob Hartley and the addition of Todd White. So from last night’s game let’s do my GBU.
The Good
Never say die is back with the Thrash. Ten games ago a two goal lead would have nailed the coffin shut with this team. The Thrashers kept the explosive Lightning to only 20 shots, which was one of my sticking points this season. We did get power play production, even though execution of the 5 on 4 is less than ideal. When your line 1 can match the production of Tampa’s line 1, you are in good shape. We have to find a name for our line 1. If Kozlov was on it with Kovalchuk and White, it could be the White Russian line, but we don’t arrange lines for good nicknames. MIT line? Any ideas?
The opposing teams better finish up the Thrashers before OT. The Thrashers are undefeated when fighting for the extra point. The teams that have fallen to the Thrashers after regulation are Toronto, Montreal, Florida, Washington, and now Tampa Bay.
The Bad
Bobby Holik, what are you doing? I know it can be tough to find your skates once you fall, but Jan Hlavac was going to charge you rent if you laid on him any longer. Of course the about the time you get up is about the time when the play is coming back toward you and you have a front row seat to a goal. That play just was one of many examples of a horrible second period by the Thrash.
Ilya Kovalchuk led all players in votes back in 2004 for the All-Star game. He was at the top of the goal scoring list. So Ilya is back at the top of the goals list again. Any idea where he is in the All Star voting? He is 7th. Come on people get out there and vote Ilya on the starter list. The rankings are below.
Player NHL Club Votes
Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh 94,118
Daniel Alfredsson Ottawa 41,198
Daniel Briere Philadelphia 32,751
Alex Ovechkin Washington 30,686
Vincent Lecavalier Tampa Bay 28,615
Dany Heatley Ottawa 27,121
Ilya Kovalchuk Atlanta 26,628
The Ugly
I will admit the officiating was less than stellar for both teams last night. John Tortorella had this to say in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the St. Pete Times:
"The frustrating part for me is that these organizations pay players millions upon millions of dollars. They're the ones who need to decide the outcome of games," Tortorella said. "I'm trying to stay away from criticizing as far as some of the calls, but [expletive] that. I just don't get it. It makes the coaching job even that much harder. How do you coach your players when you get that [expletive] out there?"
I could be wrong, but I think Atlanta fans love it when he gets ticked off. It just makes it a sweeter win. Chalk it up to rivalry or what have you, but when Thrashers fans see [expletive] in Tortorella’s quotes after the Thrashers play the Lightning we know we have gotten to him. He can blame it on the refs, a lucky bounce, or whatever. Thrashers fans always get a good laugh out of it.
So on to Washington next. I will set up a preview tomorrow after the morning skate to see if we can answer who is in goal.
Go Thrashers!
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