NHL Season Preview: Atlanta Thrashers

Working our way up last year's standings from horrible to crappy, we find ourselves today previewing the Atlanta Thrashers. Head over to FanHouse to see where I predict the Thrash to finish (hint: DFL), and here's a hit and a miss from my preview a year ago:

Hit:

[S]ince [Don Waddell] can fire head coach Bob Hartley and Hartley cannot fire Waddell, it's Hartley who will take the blame and be the first casualty should things start going awry in the ATL. Heartless, err, Hartley has seen his Thrashers improve in each of his first three full seasons with the club, but was outcoached in the playoffs and his handling of Lehtonen (playing him without rest for long stretches of the regular season and going back and forth between he and Johan Hedberg in the playoffs) could have a lasting impact on the youngster's psyche. Coaching is very much a "what have you done for me lately?" vocation, and should Atlanta get off to a slow start, don't be surprised if someone else is behind the bench come Christmas

Hartley was fired after six games (sidenote: enjoy Omsk, Bob, where Jaromir Jagr seems to have already donked off the head coach).

Miss:

Prediction: 2nd Southeast Division and into the playoffs by a feather.

Hey, you guys get what you pay for from me.

So what do you think - is there any chance Atlanta isn't lottery-bound? How many players on their entire roster would even make the current Caps' lineup?

Tuesday Roundup/Panthers 4, Caps 3

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Super Stats - WashingtonCaps.com Postgame]

When the Caps surrendered the dreaded last-minute goal with 51 seconds left in the first to break a 1-1 tie, you had a feeling that the team would need a shot in the arm to get back in the game - be it a pep talk, a shake-up in the lines, the right coaching adjustment, a lucky bounce - even though they were only down a single goal.

Well, they didn't get it.

In fact, it was the Cats who got the lucky bounce and that was that. Another game, another loss, but this one featured something new - the debut of the "Fire Hanlon" chant. Frankly, the team might owe it to Hanlon for all he's done for the organization to let him go while he still has his dignity - he doesn't deserve to be remembered as he will be if things keep going the way they're going and they keep him around for much longer. Something's gotta give, and sooner rather than later. Some other notes on the game:

• Sure, the Caps put some lipstick on the pig, but that wasn't a one-goal loss.
• Is Glen Hanlon desperate? Playing Alex Semin for 18-plus minutes in his first game back after saying the Russian would be eased back into the lineup might suggest so.
• As for Semin, he was manhandled at times, but also sure does like to embellish things, doesn't he? Still, his presence in the lineup unquestionably changes things a bit.
  
• Nicklas Backstrom has to do a better job of tying up his man in front on the first Panther goal.
• Brooks Laich's shorty was only the Caps' second of the year (Matt Bradley had the other), and it tied Laich with Tomas Fleischmann for third on the team in goals with four. Again, good on Brooks - bad on most of his teammates.
  
• Speaking of Flash, he registered his first block shot of the season in the first period, leaving Joe Motzko and Chris Bourque (who have each played just three games) as the only Caps without a blocked shot.
  
• The Caps still haven't scored a 5-on-3 goal yet this season - they're 0-for-6 in those situations.
• The power play is now 3-for-33 in the last nine games.
  
• Speaking of missed opportunities, I was in the press box but passed up the chance to exact some revenge on Panther color analyst Denis Potvin for the knee-on-knee hit that essentially ended Bengt Gustafsson's career. Sorry, Caps fans.
• John Erskine looked, uh, rusty on the Cats' second goal. I thought he was supposed to clear opposing players from in front of Olie Kolzig, rather than vice-versa.
• Remember when Matt Pettinger and Boyd Gordon got the occasional assist at least? Eight games and counting for each without a point.
  
• Chris Clark's hooking penalty midway through a second period power play was unforgivable and unnecessary.
• Mike Green had a pair of bad penalties, but drew one on a nice end-to-end rush. Typical Mike Green game.
• At one point in the third period, the Caps had a 3-on-2 break that they quickly turned into absolutely nothing, which allowed the Panthers a 3-on-2 break the other way that resulted in a quality scoring chance. That's coaching.
  

Anyway, after the game I headed down to the morgue, err, locker room. Olie Kolzig was sitting in his stall, pads still on, looking very much like Rodin's Thinker (and moving just as much). It was literally five to ten minutes before any of the assembled throng of media dared to approach him. Not good times.

Next up: Atlanta who, in case you haven't noticed, has clawed all the way back to .500 after their 0-6-0 start.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Word is that Bob Hartley has been offered a job coaching in Russia.... A small handful of Rangers games this season are being broadcast in Chinese. The wins will be just as satisfying, but after an hour, you'll be hungry again.... Just when you thought Todd Bertuzzi couldn't be a bigger scumbag, there's this.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Dany Heatley (Game-winning goal, 2A, +3)
  
• Ross: Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Michal Rozsival (G)
  
• Vezina: Mike Smith (22-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Olli Jokinen (2G)
  
• Calder: Mike Smith (22-save shutout win)
  
• Aiken: Johan Holmqvist (OTL, 4 goals allowed on 24 shots against, including two in the final six minutes of regulation)
  

Shall We Officially Start The Bob Hartley Watch?

When I previewed the Thrashers over at FanHouse back in late August, I thought that head coach Bob Hartley was the man "on the hook" in Blueland, noting that "should Atlanta get off to a slow start, don't be surprised if someone else is behind the bench come Christmas." And while it's still very early and the Thrash are struggling through perhaps the most difficult month on their schedule (and without their best player, to boot), I'm standing by the prediction of a last-place finish for the Thrash that I made over at SeSo just over a week ago.

Consider that the Thrashers are now 0-4-0 and have scored just four goals while surrendering 17. They're the only team without a point in the standings, have scored the fewest goals per game in the League (thanks to a 1-for-19 start on the power play) and have the second-worst team GAA.

And while those numbers are likely grisly enough for Thrash fans, throw in last year's playoff embarrassment and Atlanta has lost their last eight games by a total combined score of 34-10, a stretch over which franchise goaltender Kari Lehtonen is 0-5-0 with a 4.82 GAA and a save percentage of .870 and Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa and Slava Kozlov have combined for four goals and three assists.

So Maybe it's Lehtonen. Maybe it's a dormant offense. Maybe it's personnel. But when you can't pin-point the problem on the ice, the gaze usually shifts upwards towards the bench. And when a team needs its sniper mixing it up in order to try to rally the troops, it may be because they're not getting what they need from their bench boss.

A new coach by Christmas? I think I'll take the under.

On Notice

Yeah, it's old and has been beaten to death, but The Rink needed a shitlist and Stephen Colbert's "On Notice Board" is as good a way as any to do it. Here, then, is The Rink's Shitlist, in no particular order:

Am I leaving anybody out?

Fight Night, Redux

For far too long, Bob Hartley's Atlanta Thrashers have been tossing around questionably-legal elbows, knees and slashes like rice at a wedding. Wednesday night, Caps' coach Glen Hanlon and his Washington Capitals had had enough. But before we get into that, let's get a few facts out there for context:

1. Entering Wednesday night's game with Atlanta, the Caps were last in the NHL with only three fighting majors on the season.
2. In an eight-day span during which the Caps got beat by Division rival Carolina twice by a combined scored of 9-1, there wasn't a single fighting major in either game.
3. There was not a single fighting major in Wednesday night's game until after Andy Sutton - a player who has, in the past, been suspended for a cheap shot - went head-hunting on Mike Green.

With those out of the way, we can discuss the end to Wednesday night's game in context. Simply put, Hanlon was mad as hell and he wasn't going to take it any more:

"It was a 4-2 hockey game and someone, a 21-year-old kid with a cut mouth [Green], gets his head knocked off with a high hit and one of their players [Ilya Kovalchuk] is grabbing our captain [Chris Clark], grabbing his cage and shaking it," Hanlon said. "What the heck are they supposed to do?"

What they did was release the hounds. Donald Brashear paired off with Vitali Vishnevski, Matt Bradley and Greg de Vries danced and Marian Hossa wisely turtled (but still somehow got five for fighting and a ten minute misconduct) rather than face John Erskine's fists. Immediately after the next faceoff, Brian Sutherby went after a visibly disinterested Brad Larsen, and Thrasher captain Scott Mellanby did the same to Jamie Heward following the next puck drop. All told, there were 135 minutes in penalties (if my math is correct) in a four-second span of hockey time, but the fireworks didn't end there:

The animosity continued in the hallway between the teams' locker rooms afterward, with Hanlon reportedly screaming at Hartley. In the game's waning seconds, Hanlon, on the Capitals' bench, gestured toward Hartley, flapping his arms like a chicken. Hartley responded by mouthing the words, "Next time."

Next time is a story for, well, next time. But regarding what happened last night, respect in the NHL is a two-way street. When you respect your opponent and the way they play the game, that respect is reciprocated. When the other team doesn't respect your players, however - when they send a cheap-shot artist out there to run players in the dying minutes of a game that has been all but decided - sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands (or fists, as it were) before someone gets hurt. And that's exactly what happened Wednesday night.

Vishnevski's face will heal. But if Sutton cleanly landed his shot on Green, the kid could be out with a concussion for who knows how long. And if the Caps let Sutton get away with that garbage, who knows what liberties he or his teammates might take next. Now, at least, Atlanta knows that if they mess with the bull... well, you know.

And while Hartley may paint his team as a bunch of choir boys, Mellanby had the proper prospective on what happened:

"Obviously, they took exception to [Sutton's] hit -- they were defending themselves, I don't necessarily agree with the way they went about it [captainese for "we would have done the exact same thing"], but they've developed a lot of pride and identity with that team. That comes from Hanlon, and I mean that as a compliment. He's instilled a great work ethic in that team and great pride. That was just old-school hockey, and I don't have any problem with it. It's part of the game, it happens."

The bottom line is this: Sutton ran Green and Ben Clymer went after him for it, but nothing came of it. Feeling that the Thrashers hadn't answered sufficiently for that hit and others that happened throughout the night and the other three games in the season series thus far, Hanlon put out a few toughs to send a message, and they certainly did send that message. Sutherby's fight was overkill (and who knows if Hanlon sent him out there to fight - Suts may have just wanted to do his part as an alternate captain and decided to drop the gloves on his own), and Mellanby's was similarly unnecessary. But Clymer said it best: "We’re going to stick together and if things get ugly, teams know they’ll have to face all 20 [of us]."

Without question, fines and suspensions will - and should - follow. But they're all a small price to pay for respect and pride. And I can't imagine there's too much outrage throughout the rest of the League that the Thrashers got their lunch handed to them for once.

(Cross-posted at SeSo)

UPDATE: Here's the action from the final 1:30 or so (thanks to Eric at Off Wing for the pointer)

Wednesday Roundup/Caps 4, Lightning 1

[Boxscore - Recap]

Before I get into the recap of last night's game, you may recall that yesterday I mentioned the Asian guy who rocked the arena with his smooth dance moves during The Hockey Song. Well, through the magic of the internets I can now show you the video (though it doesn't do the performance justice, since it was the surprise of the whole thing that made it so great). Still, here it is. Enjoy.

Now on to last night's action on the ice and what a way to end the season for the Caps. The closest the Caps could come to playing spoiler on Tuesday night was to beat the Lightning in their own building and force them to play first place Ottawa (against whom the Lightning were 0-4-0 during the regular season and were outscored 16-6) in the first round of the playoffs rather than the Candycanes (against whom Tampa ran up a very impressive 5-2-1 record).

Mission accomplished.

The Caps got great goaltending from Brent Johnson and a couple of goals from captain Jeff Halpern en route to a 4-1 win in Sunrise. Interestingly, according to the WaPo it may very well have been the last game in a Caps uniform for both of the unrestricted free agents. The win gave the Caps an even 70 points on the season and ends the year with three straight division wins, victories in four of the team's last five games overall and a 7-3-3 record in the team's final 13 games. I'll have a more complete season review in the days ahead, but certainly the way this team ended its season is encouraging. I, for one, can't wait for next year.

On a sad note, The Rink would like to pass along our condolences to Olie Kolzig and his family who lost Olie's father late Tuesday night. According to the WTimes,

Axel Kolzig, the 64-year-old father of Washington Capitals goaltender Olie Kolzig, died Monday night of an apparent massive heart attack in his Union Bay, British Columbia, home.

Axel Kolzig watched his son win his 20th game of the season earlier in the evening on television and turned on his computer to read about his son's victory on the Internet. His wife, Renata, discovered him shortly thereafter.

All of Caps Nation's thoughts and prayers are with you, 'Zilla, and I'm sure your father couldn't have been prouder of you as a hockey player or, more importantly, as a human being.

Thread of the Day: Official End Of The Season Thread

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

• WashingtonCaps.com has a nice thank you message for the team's fans on its front page.
  
• Do you get the sense that no one - especially within the Southeast Division - likes Bob Hartley and his team of hot dogs and thugs the Atlanta Thrashers? According to the WaPo,

  After beating Atlanta on Monday, both [Capitals Head Coach Glen] Hanlon and [General Manager George] McPhee received phone calls from their Tampa Bay counterparts, John Tortorella and Jay Feaster, respectively, thanking them for defeating the Thrashers. The Capitals' victory clinched a playoff berth for the Lightning.

  For some reason, I don't think that call would have been made had the Caps locked up a playoff spot for Tampa by defeating, say, the Leafs.
  
• In a successful attempt to draw attention to his column by writing something stupid, CBS Sportsline's Wes Goldstein thinks Dion Phaneuf should win the Calder Trophy, primarily because the two forwards most often mentioned for the award played for horrendous teams while Phaneuf's Flames are a contender built on defense and he's a defenseman. Huh? Don't get me wrong - Phaneuf is a great player who had a great year. But we're supposed to be more impressed by a blueliner that fit in on one of the best defensive teams in hockey (a Stanley Cup finalist, no less) than by the 3rd-best rookie point and goal totals ever or the youngest player to hit the century mark in points? I, for one, am not buying it.
• If you like numbers, the NHL has some it's crowing about, namely those related to attendance and scoring.
  
• Happy 19th Birthday Maria Sharapova. What, that's not hockey related?

Daily Awards

• Hart: Brian Gionta (2 goals and an assist in the most incredible game of the night and win streak of the year)
  
• Ross: Paul Kariya, Mats Sundin (4 points each)
  
• Norris: Mike Van Ryn (2 goals, including the game-winner, +1, in 2-1 win)
  
• Vezina: Martin "The Good" Biron (33-save shutout win in Carolina)
  
• Richard: Paul Kariya (3 goals)
  
• Calder: Sidney Crosby (Goal, assist)
  
• Aiken: Chris Osgood (Loss, 6 goals allowed on 30 shots against)
  

Tuesday Roundup/Caps 6, Thrashers 4Gamenight: Caps @ Lightning

[Boxscore - Recap - Postgame Coverage - AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview - Official Game Day Thread]

The above screen cap from NHL.com just about says it all... but that won't stop me from babbling on for a while. In an absolute must-win for the Thrashers - against a team they pounded by a combined score of 15-4 on back-to-back nights back in October who, on paper, had nothing to play for - Atlanta couldn't hold a third period lead and, as a result, will have to wait at least one more year to make the first playoff appearance in team history. The Thrashers got horrendous goaltending (and changed goalies not once but twice, hoping in vain that either Mike Dunham or Michael Garnett could make a big save), got no production whatsoever from its highly-ranked power-play (which was 0-for-8) or any of its trio of 90-point forwards and were doubled-up in hits (29-15). If that's how gutless Bob Hartley and his crew perform in a critical regular season game, the Thrashers should thank the Caps for saving them from the embarassment they would have surely suffered in the postseason.

The host Capitals, on the other hand, played like it was their collective life on the line (beginning at the twelve-second mark of the first period and ignoring the entire horrid second period). The Caps were everything the Thrashers were not last night, spurred on by an announced attendance of 16,891 that was reminiscent of some of the crowds of late-Aprils past. In their last home game of 2005-06, the Caps hit hard and played hard (again, ignoring the second period), got great penalty-killing, big saves from Olie Kolzig and clutch goals in the third period to rally from a 4-3 deficit to win 6-4. And, in perhaps the ultimate contrast to the way the Thrashers have played all season long, with a two-goal lead, Atlanta's goalie pulled and more than two minutes left in the game, Caps' coach Glen Hanlon kept his superstar on the bench, not needing to run up the score and embarass his opponent (though it is admittedly more likely that Hanlon was just protecting his most valuable asset, knowing how the Thrashers often don't deal with disappointment very well).

In all, it was a treat for the home crowd to witness a game that in many ways symbolic of the 2005-06 Caps' team: hard-working, exciting, well-coached and full of glimpses of a potentially spectacular future. Oh, and the Asian gentleman dancing during "The Hockey Song" absolutely ruled.

Now it's off to Tampa to put a wrap on the season. By knocking off Atlanta last night (thus clinching a playoff spot for the Lightning), the Caps have made tonight's game a little less meaningful for their hosts. In fact, the Lightning would likely be better off losing tonight and guaranteeing an eighth-place Conference finish and a date with Carolina (assuming a Carolina win at home tonight or an Ottawa loss on the road or an overtime loss for both teams) in the first round of the playoffs, a team they were 5-2-1 against in the regular season. So roll on over, Tampa. Rest your #1 goalie (nevermind - you let him go via free agency last summer). Let Alex Ovechkin pass Mike Bossy for second all-time on the rookie goal-scoring list and catch Peter Stastny for second all-time on the rookie point-scoring list. We scratched your back last night - scratch ours tonight.

Speaking of Ovechkin, in the interest of full ridicule, check out these pics, some of which appear to be from some AO modeling gigs. Yikes (and cap tip to CP for the link). In more hockey-related Ovechkin news, newsflash: he's really good.

Finally today, kudos to Mike Green for being named AHL Player of the Week. See you soon, Mikey.

Thread of the Day: The Beauty Of Crosby's Late Push...

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

• Shelly Anderson thinks Sidney Crosby is more deserving of the Calder Trophy than Alex Ovechkin. Eric McErlain thinks Shelly Anderson is more deserving of a padded room.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Alexander Ovechkin (Third-period goal and assist, 6 shots on goal, 7 hits, 2 takeaways, 0 giveaways in 6-4 win eliminating Atlanta from playoff contention)
  
• Ross: Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Mattias Norstrom (Goal, assist, +1, 3 hits)
  
• Vezina: Jason LaBarbera (31-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Matt Pettinger, Ryan Malone (2 goals each)
  
• Calder: Sidney Crosby (3 assists, +3)
  
• Aiken: Mike Dunham (Loss, 2 goals allowed on 5 shots against in 4:15 before being pulled, only to be forced back into action to surrender another 3 goals on 18 shots in 36:47)
  

Friday Roundup/Panthers 3, Capitals 2

[Boxscore - Recap]

Stop me if you've heard this one before - the Caps got badly outshot, but Olie Kolzig kept them in the game. Unfortunately they didn't get any offense from anyone other than Alex Ovechkin and, as a result, they lost. The Caps are making life too easy for recap writers. In Miami last night, Kolzig faced a season-high 49 shots against, including a whopping 28 in the second period (which is more shots than five different NHL goalies faced in 60 or more minutes Thursday night), and allowed only two power play goals and a shortie (on an absolutely miserable play by Jamie Heward). Olie even added a helper on Ovechkin's second goal, but yet again one bad period doomed the Caps (this time it was a second period that looked like one long Florida power play, despite the Panthers only being a man to the good for 25 seconds) and the team fell, 3-2.

In case you're keeping track, the Caps have yet to win a road game (0-3-0). Heward's play ("I just didn't make a good play." Understatement of the season so far.) and Nolan Yonkman's pathetic excuse for defense (hey, Tiny - hold on to your stick, not the opponent) were noticably awful, and I am of the mind that Kolzig should have stopped goal #3, but am willing to cut him a little slack since it came during the second period onslaught. As for positives, Ovechkin's two goals on 10 shots and plus-1 rating, Brian Willsie's plus-2, Steve Eminger's assist and plus-1 rating and Yonkman only skating four shifts (though he committed a penalty that led to a goal on half of those). Next up for the Caps, home to Carolina on Saturday night.

The WaPo recaps the game here, the WTimes here (memo to editors: it's "Olie," not "Ollie" - probably Rink pet peeve #1). On another media note, have you ever noticed how often Craig Laughlin calls Joe Beninati "Partner" during a broadcast? Pay attention to it next time. It's quite aggravating.

In other NHL news:

• The Thrashers got killed again, gooned it up again, and have now been outscored 24-2 in their five games against teams that don't make their home in our nation's capital. While it boggles the mind how this team can have so much trouble generating any offense, more troubling to the hockey world is Bob Hartley's stunning lack of sportsmanship, tonight manifesting itself in the form of an Eric Boulton cheap shot on Tampa blueliner Paul Ranger. NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell ought to sit Hartley down and put an end to it now before someone gets seriously hurt. By the way, Hartley is awfully tough for a guy who never played a minute in the NHL.
  
• Speaking of ugly, the Pens lost for a change, running their start-of-season winless streak to seven games. I'm beginning to fear that they're going to be bad enough to get in and rig another lottery. So at some point I'm going to have to start rooting for them to win games, but that is still a ways off. For now, let's savor each embarassing defeat, shall we?
• Brian Leetch has now been on the ice for the Bruins' last six goals against. He's still getting it done offensively (4 points in 8 games), but if this continues, the Bruins may have some tough decisions to make.
• The classic line of the night belongs to Jaromir Jagr: 3 goals, minus-1, team loss. At least he's not ashamed to admit that he's not a leader and cares only about individual statistics.
  
• Question: why is it that every NHL arena has "Thank You Fans" stenciled on the ice, but at the Air Canada Center they have "Thank You Leafs Fans"? Maybe they should have that at one end of the rink and "Screw The Rest Of You" at the other end.
  

Daily Awards

• Hart: Vincent Lecavalier (G, 3A, +4)
• Ross: Vincent Lecavalier (G, 3A)
• Norris: Lubomir Visnovsky (G, 2A, +4)
  
• Vezina: Miikka Kiprusoff (W, 28 saves on 29 shots against)
  
• Richard: Jaromir Jagr (3G)
• Calder: Alexander Ovechkin (2G)
  

Saturday Roundup: We've Seen Atlanta Dish It Out, But Can They Take It?

No local coverage of the Caps today. A week-and-a-half in and our locals scribes are already out of things to say about this team? Not good. I don't have much to offer either, but did dig out the following note:

Alexander Ovechkin may be on the verge of history. If he registers a point against Tampa Sunday night, he'll tie Alexandre Daigle at seven for the most consecutive games with a point by a No. 1 overall pick to start a career. Of course, there's one thing Daigle has done that El Ocho likely never will.

Can't get enough AO? Head over to this new site chock full o' great video clips of #8.

In other news around the League:

• Kudos to the Thrashers for scoring a goal against a team other than the Caps and for handling themselves with such class in their losing effort. Caps fans can take pride in the fact that even in a blowout loss, Glen Hanlon and his team are above the gutless garbage that Bob Hartley's squad displayed Friday night.
  
• With his goal against Atlanta, Eric Lindros moved into 100th place all-time in goals scored. Who did he bump from the top 100? None other than Bobby Clarke. Sweet, sweet irony.
• Richard Park skated on the Naslund-Morrison line in Vancouver's win over Minny and racked up three points. Quick! To your hockey pool's free agent list!
  

Daily Awards

• Hart:Peter Forsberg (4A, including one on the OT game winner, +3)
  
• Ross: Jeff O'Neill, Bryan McCabe, Peter Forsberg, Simon Gagne (4 points each)
  
• Norris: Bryan McCabe (4A, +2)
  
• Vezina: Ed Belfour (W, 19 saves on 20 shots against, though I'm tempted to give it to Sebastien Caron for his save on Brian Savage with a minute left in a 5-5 game)
  
• Richard: Jeff O'Neill (3G)
  
• Calder:Peter Budaj (38 saves on 40 shots against in a shootout loss)
  

Saturday's Roundup: Let The Games Begin!

Three games kicked off the NHL's preseason last night. The Caps-'Canes tilt was discussed as extensively as I could stomach below. The other two games were, um, closer, as the Flames and Oilers needed a shootout to settle things before a soldout crowd at Rexall Place and the Coyotes beat the Wild 3-2 at home, a win dampened by the loss of goalie Brian Boucher to a groin injury in the post-game shootout.

Other news and notes from around the League:

• A big one right off the bat as Blues winger Keith Tkachuk failed his physical and was suspended by the team. Apparently only upon shaming him into an eating disorder will the team be satisfied.
• KT isn't the only NHLer who played more Playstation2 than hockey during the lockout as Thrashers goalie phenom Kari Lehtonen injured his groin on Friday. Sayeth coach Bob Hartley, "[Groin injuries for a goalie] is a pretty straight relation to being out of shape. We will teach him tomorrow [in rehab]." Yikes.
• In a minor coup by Caps management, the team's last draft pick of the 2005 draft, Viktor Dovgan, has been declared eligible.
  

Team Preview: Atlanta Thrashers

Key additions: Marian Hossa RW (T - OTT); Bobby Holik, C (FA - NYR); Eric Boulton, LW (FA - BUF); Greg de Vries, D (T - OTT); Jaroslav Modry, D (FA - LA); Niclas Havelid, D (FA - ANA); Shane Hnidy, D (T - NSH); Scott Mellanby, RW (FA - STL); Mike Dunham, G (FA - NYR); Braydon Coburn, D (D - 2003, 1/8)

Key losses: Dany Heatley, RW (T - OTT); Shawn McEachern, LW/RW (FA - BOS); Frantisek Kaberle, D (FA - CAR); Ivan Majesky, D (FA - WSH); Yannick Tremblay, D (FA - Europe); Ben Simon, C (FA - CBJ); Daniel Tjarnqvist, D (FA- MIN); Pasi Nurminen, G (Retired)

Key player unsigned: Ilya Kovalchuk, LW

Forwards: Everyone knows the Thrashers have two of the great young forwards in hockey in Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley. Obviously, signing this terrific tandem is the top priority in Atlanta. Holik gives them a physical presence and a good defensive pivot. Center Marc Savard had a great year for the Thrash in '03-'04, frequently centering Kovalchuk, but health has always been an issue with him. Former #1 overall Patrik Stefan had his best season in the NHL in 2003-04 and built on that with a solid year in Finland (though when Steve Kariya leads your team in scoring, I guess numbers should be taken with a grain of salt). Veterans Slava Kozlov, Ronald Petrovicky, Serge Aubin and the way-over-the-hill Mellanby will likely fill out the rest of the top three lines. With Kovalchuk, Heatley and Stefan all two years older and Holik in the fold, an offense that was in the middle of the pack in '03-'04 should move up a notch or two.

Defensemen: There's no way to sugar-coat this: Atlanta's defense is pretty horrible. Havelid, Modry, Andy Sutton and Garnet Exelby will all get big minutes. Of that group, Sutton probably has the most upside, with a combination of size and power that can, at times, dominate. Modry will rack up powerplay points. Former first round pick Coburn may still be a year away, having played in juniors last year. The Thrashers should spend a significant portion of their remaining funds under the salary cap shoring up that blue line or they could be in for a lot of 5-4 games. On the plus side, Bob Hartley is a good coach who will not let it get to that... they hope.

Goaltenders: Franchise goaltender Kari Lehtonen, 22 in November, spent last year posting impressive numbers (2.27 GAA, .929 SV%) in the AHL. He appears ready to take a bulk of the minutes in goal, with fellow Fins Pasi Nurminen and Jani Hurme playing the rest of the time. Lehtonen was exceptional in his brief NHL stint in 2003-04.

Bottom line: For the first time since the 1979-80 season, there will be playoff hockey in Hotlanta and, if Tampa Bay stumbles significantly, Atlanta could even win a weak Southeast Division. More likely, the Thrashers will be jockeying for position towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff teams, with a bright future beyond 2005-06.

Update (8/23): The Thrashers have traded Heatley to Ottawa for Hossa and de Vries. The trade is touched upon here. In the short term, de Vries, though overpaid, helps Atlanta's defense and Hossa is actually an improvement over Heatley. In the short-term, this move likely solidifies the Thrashers as a playoff team in 2005-06. Long-term, however, Hossa's salary could hamper the team, and everyone in the hockey world is still waiting to see how Atlanta manages to re-sign Kovalchuk. Stay tuned.

Update (8/24): Nurminen suffered a potentially career-ending knee injury while preparing for the coming season. He had just signed a two-year, $2 million contract with the Thrashers two weeks ago.

Update (9/2): The Thrashers have signed Mike Dunham to serve as Lehtonen's primary backup.