Here's hoping the Stanley Cup Final gets more entertaining when the series moves to Pittsburgh tomorrow night. Chris Osgood has been so bored in his two shutout wins that I'm starting to winder if he has taken up acting just to keep himself entertained. And yes, I picked Pittsburgh to win the Cup. They tend to do the opposite of what I predict, so I intentionally picked them to win the Cup since I'm actually pulling for Detroit. Yes... that's it. I don't actually have a rooting interest in this series- I just want it to be entertaining to watch, and there's some work to be done on that front.

Elsewhere, the NHL is ramping up coverage of the top prospects. NHL.com has an article about the top six North American prospects taking in some Stanley Cup Final action as well as an article on this week's NHL combine. And if you want to do some advance research on who the Thrashers might take, there's always this site. Barring a shocking development Steve Stamkos is going to Tampa, and Drew Doughty wants to go to LA. If that's how the first two picks pan out who would you take with the third? I'm all for addressing the greatest area of weakness, and I don't think there's any question where that is.

I'll be relaxing at the lake and watching games one and two of the Cup Final on Versus (tonight and Monday night). Thrashers 411 has put a bunch of their playoff commercial together in one handy blog post for your viewing enjoyment. Check them out.

Versus has done a great job promoting the league all season and deserves a heap of credit. But as much as I love those ads, the NHL easily trumped every single one of them with this:

I watched the Preakness last weekend and when they presented the Woodlawn Vase they actually had the nerve to call it sport's most coveted and most valuable trophy. Umm... no. It might be appraised as being worth $1 million, but the Stanley Cup is priceless.

I said yesterday that there would likely be a domino effect once somebody made the first move and hired  ahead coach. Well, if I was right we'll know soon. Colorado has announced that Tony Granato will once again be their head coach after serving in that role prior to the lockout. He's been an assistant for the past three seasons. what effect that has on everyone else's searches remains to be seen. A high profile vacancy has been filled but it was filled by a candidate that probably wasn't high on anyone else's list. I was half expecting Ron Wilson to end up with the Avalanche so it's going to be interesting to see where he lands now.

In related news, the Vancouver Canucks have signed head coach and 2007 Jack Adams Award winner Alain Vigneault to a contract extension, ending speculation that there could be an opening there. In a bit of an odd move they dismissed assistant coaches Mike Kelly (who coached Chris Thorburn in North Bay) and Mike Barry Smith. I can't remember the last time a GM extended a head coach and fired the assistants at more or less the same time. Maybe it's not that unusual and I just have a bad memory.

A lot of fans are wondering when the Thrashers are going to hire a head coach and some are understandably worried about the lack of news on that front.

Don't be. Just because you aren't hearing anything doesn't mean there's nothing happening. Both the Thrashers and the Hawks have a history of keeping things quiet when it comes to trades and player signings so it should come as no surprise that the same is happening with the coaching search on the Thrashers side and GM search on the Hawks side.

As a fan I'd love to know what's going on behind closed doors but as an employee I can see way more reasons for keeping the search private versus public. So let's way the pros and cons of keeping the coaching search quiet.

Pros:

Cons:

That's honestly the only con I can think of. If you have others please post them below, but when it comes down to it I think it's much wiser for a team to keep their staffing searches out of the media spotlight. Making the search public might be more fun for fans when there's little else to talk about but it can be detrimental to the process, and getting the process right is more important in the long run. Don't get me wrong- fans are the lifeblood of any sports franchise, but in this case I'm not so sure there's enough benefit in letting them into the inner circle.

And if you're concerned about the pace of the coaching search keep this in mind- not a single NHL head coach has been hired since November. Every team that's looking is taking the time to make sure they make the right decision and the candidates are also (presumably) taking their time. With openings in Toronto, Ottawa, Colorado, San Jose, Florida and here in Atlanta there are bound to be candidates who are being courted by more than one team. Some of those candidates will likely be hesitant to accept a position without knowing if they are still up for one of the other jobs. with all due respect to the Panthers, if a coach has always wanted to work in Toronto they aren't likely to commit to the Panthers without finding out if they're in the running for that Leafs' gig. There are a lot of variables in a coaching search and none of the teams that are trying to fill a vacancy are working in a vacuum.

That being said, I think the dominoes will start falling soon. By the time Memorial Day rolls around the Memorial Cup will be over, freeing up the last of the CHL coaches to talk to teams. We'll also be down to two AHL teams and two NHL teams by then, so most AHL head coaches and NHL assistants will be free to discuss vacancies.

Don Waddell said at the end of the season that his plan is to have someone in place by the draft (June 20-21) and I don't think he'll have any problem meeting that deadline. I don't have any inside information on the search, but I'll be surprised if it even takes that long.

So here's the coolest story coming out of yesterday's gold medal game that I've come across so far.

As someone on our official Thrashers message boards posted, a Russian blogger who was live-blogging during the game posted a rather bold statement when Russia was down 4-3. He said he'd eat Ilya's skates if Kovy scored two goals. Well, Kovy scored twice, Russia won gold, and Ilya's mom heard about the blogger. Here's a Russian video of her (presumably) offering up a pair of Kovalchuk's skates for the blogger to chow down on. If someone can send me a link to the Russian blog so I can run it through Google Translate I'd appreciate it. Here is a rough translation of the text accompanying the video:

I've never had the pleasure of meeting Ilya's mother, but she's clearly an awesome woman.

By now you should have heard that Ilya Kovalchuk was instrumental in leading Russia to a gold-medal win over Canada, in Canada, yesterday at the IIHF World Championship. Kovy had been held to six assists during the tournament but stepped up big-time when it matter most. He scored the tying goal in the third period to send the game to OT and then scored the winner on the power play in extra time. The win gave Kovalchuk his first gold medal since the Under 18 World Championships way back in 2001. Ilya has always answered the call to play for Russia and has never minded stepping aside to play on the second or third line if that's what circumstances called for. Kovy loves to win and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he considers yesterday's OT goal to be the biggest of his career. He has said repeatedly that he loves playing in Canada and that would have made the victory all the sweeter.

NHL.com put together a Kovalchuk feature that you can find on the front page of our site or right here. The IIHF has a great collection of pictures up at their site. Last but not least, here is the YouTube video of the OT goal.

The much anticipated opening of the Philips Arena Taco Mac is upon us. The new location, which has entrances from the street (across from Georgia World Congress Center) and two from within Philips Arena (one across from the elevators to the 300 level and one from Philips Experience) opens to the public tonight at 6pm. The space has two floors, multiple bars, lots of tables, an abundance of TVs, and a huge beer selection. The Philips Arena experience has always been good, but now there's a top notch dining facility that you can access before and after games without having to rely on CNN Center and its jam-packed food court.

It's also a nice lunch option for us employees who are always looking for a change of pace.

In other news, Russia advanced to the World Championship semifinals with a 6-0 thumping of Switzerland last night. They'll play Finland tomorrow afternoon but they'll be without the services of Kovy who picked up a one-game suspension thanks to a charging misconduct. It sounds like he's hitting people with a bit too much enthusiasm.

Here's a World Championship update for you. Check out the IIHF site for more details.

Thrashers at the World Championships
Russia closed out the Qualification Round with an unbeaten 4-2-0-0 (W-OTW-L-OTL) record and atop Group E. Thrashers left wing Ilya Kovalchuk has tallied a team-high six assists and is tied for fourth on the team with six points. He leads the team with 29 penalty minutes and is tied for fourth with 17 shots on goal.

Thrashers prospect Ilya Nikulin has appeared in all six games for Russia and recorded 12 shots on goal in 16:51 of ice time per game.

Russia moves on to the Quaterfinals and will face Switzerland on Wednesday, May 14 at 7:15 p.m. in Quebec City. The winner will advance to the Semifinals against either the Czech Republic or Sweden.

Quarterfinals Schedule

May 14- 1 p.m. Czech Republic vs. Sweden
May 14-  4:30 p.m. Norway vs. Canada
May 14-  7:15 p.m. Russia vs. Switzerland
May 14-  8:15 p.m. United States vs. Finland
 

It's not easy getting traded, and it's not easy getting hurt. It's really not easy when you get hurt after you get traded, but that's exactly what happened to Erik Christensen who joined the team at the trade deadline at the end of February but then suffered what turned out to be a season-ending knee injury in Florida on March 16.

While there's no good time for an injury, the timing of Christensen's couldn't have been much worse for him. The Alberta-born center is a lot quieter and more solitary than his former Pittsburgh teammate Colby Armstrong who had no trouble fitting right in with his new teammates. Christensen, on the other hand, had to take some time away from the team just when he was getting to know the other players and starting to feel like part of the group.

"It was tough" he told me at the end of the season. "Real tough. I think me and Army both came over here and he didn't get hurt, so he got to know the guys better and be more a part of the team. It was tough watching the team go on, even though we weren't making the playoffs it's hard not being around the guys. You're trying to make friends and fit in, so it was tough. It was just sort of the way my year went."

Now that the off-season is well underway Christensen is back in the Edmonton area where he is buying a new off-season home while also trying to sell houses in Pittsburgh and Kamloops (where he played junior hockey). As his knee strengthens he'll shift gears from healing to getting ready for next year.

"It'll be six days a week, a couple hours a day training with my guy. That's my life. Being a hockey player is not an eight month job. You have to look at it as a year-round thing. Your body is your life so you try to take care of it as best as possible."

And while Christensen is looking forward to rejoining his teammates for training camp, don't expect him to be hanging out with other players while he prepares for next season. He loves the camaraderie of being a member of a team, but when it it comes to training he prefers to go solo, which is not surprising for someone who says his favorite hockey memory is skating alone as a child on his backyard rink for hours at a time.

"I really don't like training with other players. I feel like it gets kind of social rather than being work," he said to me, showing just how seriously he takes his career. "My dad has a real good hockey mind so he helps me with that stuff. Otherwise I train on my own."

When Christensen returns to Atlanta for training camp he'll be trying to showcase the offensive potential that made him so desirable to GM Don Waddell at the trade deadline. Christensen would have been playing on one of the top two lines on many NHL teams last season but he was buried on a center-rich Pittsburgh squad behind Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. Meanwhile the Thrashers have been looking for a scoring center and Christensen could be just the player to fill that role next season.

For his part Christensen is staying grounded heading into next season while remaining optimistic about the pieces the team has in place.

"I'm just looking forward to playing a longer season (without getting hurt) and becoming a part of this team.... I think we'll have the ability to make the playoffs. I think there's no question the talent is here."

If that's going to be happen you can be sure Christensen will play a significant role. At 6'1" and 210 lbs he's the combination of size, speed and skill that the Thrashers are looking for. With his work ethic and "nothing-comes-easy" attitude he's also sure to be a positive influence on the rest of the roster, even though his easy-going friend and teammate Colby Armstrong thinks he needs to relax a bit more once in a while.

Playoff hockey is back tonight and despite the break between the second and third rounds there's a buzz surrounding these playoffs that I haven't seen in years. TV ratings and scoring are up and people are talking about how entertaining the games have been. We've seen comebacks, upsets, and plenty of back and forth action. Now the league is getting some positive media buzz from less than traditional hockey outlets, like in this Wall Street Journal article.

Is this the best hockey we've seen since the lockout? I'd say it is- easily.

In other news, our playoff predictions for the third round are in. Dan Kamal, Jeff Odgers, and I all predict a different match up for the Stanley Cup, and none of us is predicting it to be Pittsburgh vs. Detroit. See who is predicting what right here.

The blog has been quiet lately, but here is what I've been thinking about:

• Without getting into the finer points of either piece, I thought The Falconer did an outstanding job responding to Craig Custance's AJC article on the Thrashers' affiliation with the Chicago Wolves.
• I'm extremely happy with my first and second-round playoff predictions. I went 6-2 in the first round and 4-0 in the second. I haven't firmly made up my mind on the third round yet, but I'm leaning towards taking Philly over Pittsburgh. Detroit will beat Dallas.
• I usually follow the World Championships pretty closely, but with just Ilya Kovalchuk and Ilja Nikulin representing the Thrashers (both playing for Russia) I'm finding it hard to get excited about the tournament. The IIHF would do itself a huge favor by having a more user friendly web site.
• I've heard plenty of debates over whether Ondrej Pavelec is ready for the NHL yet and people speculate about who has more long-term potential- Pavelec or Lehtonen. Both of them project to be solid NHL starters , but don't count out Alex Kangas who was named the University of Minnesota team MVP as a rookie this season. He's probably still several years away from going pro but he's turning heads early. He's just the third Gopher hockey player to win the MVP award as a freshman. Atlanta's future in goal is looking pretty good.
• I'm as curious as anyone to see who our next head coach is going to be, but I'm not buying into any of the rumors and speculation. I came across two different articles today that lobbied for their local guy to get the position and I'm sure there will be more. I'm not expecting an announcement any time real soon though.  There's no risk to waiting until June to make a decision but there's plenty of risk in acting before all of the available candidates have been evaluated and contacted.
• Holly Gunning posted her annual CHL prospect wrap-up. I've been thoroughly impressed with what Paul Postma has done this year and I'm looking forward to seeing what Machacek and Holzapfel can do in their first pro seasons and it should be fun to watch Esposito at prospect camp this July.
• This was a great idea by a local youth hockey team.