Posted by: Greg on July 25, 2008 6:47PM EST Ben, I can't wait for the season to start, and your blog just gets me more and more excited! I too agree. I think all the haters should have to have there pictures posted here when we do good this season, so we can all mock them at the games they end up attending because the team is so good!

Posted by: Anonymous 'Cos on July 25, 2008 7:43PM EST Right on, Ben! Your words got me even more pumped up than before. I agree with everything you said about the team this year, especially the issue of pride. I am proud, and i am convinced the Thrashers will play like it this year as well. I will even go out there and say we will finish ABOVE Tampa Bay, Carolina, & Florida this year. I still expect us to make more beneficial roster moves before the start of the regular season. These moves might just propel us to the top...but i will not get ahead of myself at this time. Great emotional post, Ben. Fire us up...

Posted by: Thrashman on July 25, 2008 8:57PM EST Hey Ben, this will be the 9th season of " hey, we'll be more competitive next season." When will the fans finally say that's not good enough. How bout a consistent winner?....Playoffs?...Isnt that the goal ?

Posted by: Thrashman on July 25, 2008 10:01PM EST Anonymous cos, Is that DW kool-aid your drinking?? Must be laced with mushrooms.

Posted by: JB on July 25, 2008 10:28PM EST Thrashman loves Men I too believe we will be fighting for a playoff spot and/or southeast division title with tampa and washington/carolina maybe i'll be wrong, but im sure of this LOL thrashman LOVES men big whoop wanna fight about it???

Posted by: Downtown ATL on July 25, 2008 10:38PM EST On Wed February 13th, 2008 the Thrashers came from behind to defeat the Caps 3-2, and were in first place. You can't judge this team based on last year's a 6 week collapse.

Posted by: Thrashman on July 25, 2008 10:48PM EST JB,you left out Florida. We'll be fighting with them also ???

Posted by: PW on July 25, 2008 10:51PM EST Please enlighten me. I do not see what you are so excited aobut. The best team we had was the year of the goalie problems. We do not have a top notch center that can keep up with Kovy. We have gone down as far as shooters are concerned. We don't have one solid scoring line. Other teams can play the keep away game with Kovy and win. I like the idea of a young team, I like that we have a winning coach (even though not in the NHL), but I can't see they play offs this season. Please show me. I want to be excited too.

Posted by: Mike on July 25, 2008 11:37PM EST Keep drinking the DW kool-aid Ben....

Posted by: jwolf on July 26, 2008 1:14AM EST I doubt it but any word on our russian defensemen who wants to remain in russia but says he also wants to play in the NHL before hes 40?

Posted by: jwolf on July 26, 2008 1:24AM EST also, i agree with PW. What makes us think that we will be good enough to make the playoffs? Is it our defense that people think is outstanding? At best, it has the potential to be a good, no great defense. And we cant score goals with our defense on a consistent basis... We also cant expect lehtonen to have a shutout everynight.. he would allow two goals last year per game and we still ended up losing cuz of our #1 problem now, our offense... truthfully we might only need a marginal offense to get by this year and yet we do not have that...our second line guys would be thrid lines guys on many other teams and our #1 center, whoever that might be, would be on the second line of any other team, possibly the third...i just dont c us being a playoff team right now...

Posted by: h on July 26, 2008 9:02AM EST great post Ben. I agree with you. On paper a better defensive team than last year. We will have to wait and see about our ability to score. I really hope DW makes that one big trade for another top 6 forward. I really think that our line-up looks best with Reasoner centering the 4th line and spending minutes on the PK. We need one good move to get it set that way. Burnside is a real idiot......look at the ESPN "predictions" from last year......Go Thrashers!

Posted by: Claire on July 26, 2008 10:49AM EST Thrashman, PW and Jwolf, First off, isnt it true that teams usually play better when they have fans out there that support them and believe that they can do it. Why dont you stop posting on the Blueland blog if you dont even believe in its motto: Believe in Blueland. Second off, this season has some amazing potential. I'm not saying that we are going to start off the season going 6-0 but we could start it off going 4-2 or 3-3. We have an outstanding group of forwards and a sturdy group of defensemen. We have so many forwards that we can experiment with and see who works best on what line. If you have 4 "strong forwards" light the Lightening have, which lines are they gonna be on? Put 3 on the first and 1 on the second? What happens when they all are good scorers and none are good playmakers. You need at least one good scorer on your 1,2,3 line and maybe on on your 4. You have to have playmakers. Like Crosby. Crosby is an assister. You cant score goals without someone setting it up. Assisters dont get enough credit. Gretzky, amazing goal scorer, even better assister. We need that. That is where people like Perrin, Williams, Christensen, Armstrong come in. They can get thep puck where is needs to be so someone like Kovy can take a shot. And all those guys can also take shots, which is what makes them strong as forwards: they can shoot and score and set the puck for others to shoot and score. A team doesnt have to have a #1 forward like Ovechkin, for them to work well together. Notice how people like Malkin and Ovechkin are the only ones that take shots 70% of the time. If you balance out the shots each player takes on each line, the other defense has no idea where the next puck is coming from. That is what we have. We have a lot of fowards who can shoot and assist, which is so much better than one goal scorer. We have such a strong line up of forwards to work with. We take our time, see who works well together and then we start getting more goals. Take last year. Who thought that Kovalchuk, Holik, and Thorburn would work so well together. They did. That was an awesome line. You have to take your time and see what works. We have no way of knowing what is going to happen next season. Be paitient, Anderson knows what he is doing. He has worked with a lot of these players before and he cant wait to work with the others. As for our goalie problems, I dont see any. Kari had some off games last year. As did, Osgood, Hasek, Brodeur, Nabokov, and ever other goalie out there. He realizes it and he wants to be able to do better. He is trying. Plus, last year he didnt have as many capable players on the blueline to support him. We have some solid defensemen out there. Hainsey, Bogosian, Exelby, Havelid, Enstrom, and maybe Valabik (who I love to watch play!!!). Again, see which pairings work well together and keep it that way. If your defense intimidates the other team and can keep them at bay, they wont be taking as many shots on our net and Kari wont have to make 42 saves while letting 4 goals through. Very few goalies can say that they can block all of 35+ shots. We are not expecting that from Kari. We are expecting to have a stronger defense so he only has to save 25 shots. We have some great netminders and I love watching them play. It is so obvious how much they love this game and I love to see how passionate they are. And Thrashman, about your comment about "when will the fans finally say that's not good enough", I will never say it. I am a hockey fan. I would love to win the Stanley Cup, I would love to make it to the playoffs, I would love to have a 45-25-12 season. However, I and a season ticket holder and a fan because I love to watch the game. The hits, the fights, the fist-pumping goals, the amazing saves, the excitement in the players and fans alike. I go to watch the game. I am not a fan becuase we win. I am a fan because I love the Thrashers. If you are only interested in winning, move to Detroit, althougth I seem to remember us destroying them last season 5-1... Dont stay here and whine about how we dont win. Do something to make the fans more excited, do something to show your support if you want a winning season. If you really love hockey and your team, you would support them no matter how bad or good they are. I would love the make it to the playoffs! That would be AWESOME!!!! But only so I can see the Thrashers happy, pumped and so I can watch another month of hockey. And that DW kool-aid we've been drinking, it's also known as hope, belief, support, and love of the game.

Posted by: Claire on July 26, 2008 10:53AM EST Oh and Ben, I fully agree with you. I cant wait to see how this season goes!!! I am so excited! And I think too many people are underestimating the Thrashers. We are a stronger team than people want to or are willing to believe. I cant wait! I love reading your posts, they get me so pumped!!!

Posted by: chris on July 26, 2008 11:28AM EST Ben, Do you have any idea when single game tickets will go on sale?

Posted by: riddim on July 26, 2008 12:53PM EST I am not overly optimistic about this season, but I do believe it’ll be much more fun to watch than last season. Now we have a coaching staff that’s eager to prove they can win at the NHL level. All-in-all it should be interesting and more entertaining than the slop we watched last year. I really hope there are some big name trades in the works, we’ll see. As for all the people who say “get off the blog” any time someone has an opinion that differs from theirs, get over it. Last time I checked the blog was open to everyone to post their OPINIONS whether they be popular or not. That’s what’s great about freedom of speech; any one can say whatever they want no matter how idiotic you may think it. Go Thrashers

Posted by: Robert on July 26, 2008 1:01PM EST Well if you consider fighting the Panthers for last place in our conference exciting, then yes this will be an exciting season. It's a coin toss as to who will finish last. What is there to look forward to? The front office did nothing to address any concerns in the off season, especially the league's worst defense. Imagine how bad the Thrashers will be if Kovy gets hurt. Now that's a scary thought. I might be underestimating the front office and maybe their goal is to finish bad enough for the TJohn Tavares lottery. That wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Posted by: Anonymous on July 26, 2008 1:59PM EST Ok, wow, everyone here that is bashing the thrashers is slightly off kilter. We needed to fix two basic things and then keep everything else the same. We went out and got a faceoff specialist for the PK (PROBLEM #2), and we revamped a bad NHL defense (PROBLEM #!). So we have an agressive coach who is going to get in the face of opponents and not back down, and create less shots at Kari. Basically we just fixed our defensive part of the game, which usually leads to better offense... note carolina the year they won the cup. they had Rod Brindamore and Eric Cole... that was their all-stars and no name players the rest of the roster. What did they do?... they meshed and won the cup. Half the time its about getting the right players playing for the right coach to bring out the best in them, any idiot that has played a sport knows that. This is really the first year that the thrashers actully have some options to play with. Dobt all you want, but we will do better than we did last year. Oh and if your whinning about how bad the staff is, why don't you apply for a job and see what you can do. Maybe then you can really have the franchise you want... and then we can laugh at you when you fail.

Posted by: Bruce on July 26, 2008 3:32PM EST Anonymous, I couldn't have said it better myself. I cant stand how people just focus on how poor the team is. They dont even give the Thrashers a chance. The season hasn't even started and people are already complaining about how bad our team is and how we will not do well next season. I think that we have a great chance of moving to the playoffs. I cant wait to see Reasoner and Perrin on the pk together! That'll be tough to get through. And I agree, our coaching staff is doing what they deem best and non of us on the blogs stand a chance of doing better. Two more months till preseason. Go Thrashers.

Posted by: lordstan57 on July 26, 2008 4:04PM EST I agree with this writing 100%! (and I can count on one finger the number of times I've done that). This team will be better, more entertaining, WILL COMPETE!! and because of that will inspire the brand of PRIDE hockey fans are known for. Can we get better still? sure, we can be MUCH better!! ,but for the first time in a long time I'm starting to feel invigorated by my team again! I'm not giving DW a pass just yet, but he has begun to make amends. Keep'er going Boss'man. GO THRASHERS!!!

Posted by: lordstan57 on July 26, 2008 4:10PM EST PS. Absolutely horrendous display of prose by Ol' Burnsie. Like he cranked it out whilst waiting for a pizza. Lazy man, L-A-Z-Y! Poorly written, no real thought, lousy conclusions, blah, blah, blah. If I was your editor, that'd be STRRIIKE OOOOONNNNEEEE!! GO THRASHERS!!!!

Posted by: Thrashman on July 26, 2008 4:36PM EST Claire, climb down off your soap box. You obviously live in a world where all is good and any dissenting opinion is bad. My frustration with this team stems from seven bad seasons. I love the game of hockey but if you have made a substanial $$$ investment (3rd row) over 8 years I believe this ownnership should feel pressure to win, consistently. Unfortunately, DW and company are not held accountable...I will always have the desire for this team to be a winner. You should try that angle. Makes the games better, Im told!!!

Posted by: Claire on July 26, 2008 5:14PM EST Okay, I get where you are coming from. However, you haven't even given this season a chance. You have no idea how we are going to do next season. We could easily make the playoffs and be a very strong team. Different opinions are not bad necessarily, if they have valid, current points. People are making statements about how past seasons have gone and using those facts to back up thier statements about how poorly this season will go. I understand that we have never had a phenomenal season, except for the 06-07 season. Trust me, I get it. But just becuase it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it cant happen this season. I think we are looking like a much stronger team this go around. No one knows how it will turn out. I just get very frusterated when all I ever hear is "this season is gonna be horrible, we are not good, we are not a winning team". And just because you invest big bucks in the 3rd row apparently doesn't mean you are any more of a fan than me. It just means you have more money.

Posted by: Chuck on July 26, 2008 6:19PM EST If past performance of players, team, and GM are not how you determine the quality of a team then please let me know how you have arrived at the conclusion that this team is going to break even much less make the play offs. It makes no since that every year we have to hear the same thing about give Don a chance and it is not his fault that the team is a mess. It is hard to believe that everywhere else in the hockey world people know what is going on in Atlanta but the owners, and people on this blog. How can you not see that I the only thing this team is built to do is keep Don it is not my fault Waddell employed. So now we are back to the idea of it is unfair to use the past level of performance of the team against Don and it is not his fault no one wants to play for the team he has ruined, or the fact that the after all these years on the bottom only a hand full of players he drafted make the NHL level with the thrashers and they are all trying to get out of here. And if the fact that the market has not been grown or the fact that thrashers are loosing money cannot be held against them then yes you may be able to close your eyes and convince your self that all is well. But the next excuse that Don will use to keep his job is that Atlanta is not a hockey market and he should be allowed to move the team. Keep letting him ruin hockey in Atlanta and let him take it with him and then you can complain about how no one understood the genius that is Don Waddell here in Atlanta and the fact that we would not over pay for one of the worst teams in the NHL shows it is all the fans fault and not his. You can make personal attacks all you want and try to make it look like most people believe in the thrashers and want Don here but the truth is this team is only getting worse and the only way to begin to repair all the damage Don has done is by finding a GM and a front office staff with some knowledge of NHL hockey and how to build a NHL level team. Not stay with the Don who only cares about his job and not the team.

Posted by: Anonymous on July 26, 2008 6:24PM EST At what point this year will you be willing to say Don should go after they go 6 and 20 or 7 and 24 what point is enough and are we willing to say lets keep Don and loose Kovy and Kari beacuse that is quickly becomeing the choice.

Posted by: Peirce on July 26, 2008 6:37PM EST If that is how you feel then why dont you find a GM who would do a better job. He has tried. People dont want to sign here. Because of the way our team has performed in the past. There is nothing more he can do. Do you remember that Don was the one that went out of his way to get Kovalchuk in the first place. He has done a lot for this team and he gets too much crap. Don cares a lot about this team. He has done everything in his power.

Posted by: Drew on July 26, 2008 6:40PM EST Aren't we optimistic... 6-20? Come on? We have improved our defense and pk, two of our main issues. not to mention we've picked up some strong forwards. i'm looking forward to this season. we are going to be a much stronger team. anderson has worked with a lot of these guys and he should be able to bring out what hartley and dw couldn't.

Posted by: Anonymous 'Cos on July 26, 2008 7:16PM EST To all the "nay-sayers" and haters who claim they have the right of free speech in America : You are absolutely right! You can say whatever the H*LL you want, on any blog site you want to leave it on. I am only wondering why you would leave your pessemistic thoughts here. I mean, if you think the Thrashers' suck so bad, and after you peer into your foretelling crystal ball to see the Thrashers' sucking this year as well...Why are you even on the website? With my free speech, i wish to tell those particular "hockey fans" to go somewhere else with their negativity. In essence, YOU are what is wrong with this sport. Blatantly,...you suck!! There, i have used MY free speech to call your free speech out. You want to see a true fan of the game and someone who cares, read (among others) Claire's bloggings. And on that note, spending money doesn't make you more of a fan of the game. I've said enough for now, but i'll be back to address all the "free speech" thrown back to me because of this entry. Enough said.

Posted by: thrashman on July 26, 2008 7:32PM EST hey cos, see you back on this blog next year...you can explain how all your positive energy still couldnt get the Thrashers out of the cellar.You and Claire be positive but it will take alittle more than that to become a successful hockey team. Ok, back to la-la land you two.

Posted by: Steve on July 26, 2008 7:35PM EST I agree with Claire and Ben, and am also excited to see how the Thrashers do. I don't want to be totally negative either, but it was hard to see us barely make the playoffs three seasons ago, then make the playoffs to get shutout by the Rangers, and then for us to sink to new lows this past season. I still don't think that Hartley was the problem either, but nothing can be done about the past now. I am encouraged by the hiring of Anderson and Cunneyworth. I am not so sure about Nelson. I am glad that Steve Weeks is staying as goalie coach. Sad to see McCrimmon go, but I can't blame him either. I think he wanted the head coaching job, and couldn't stay if he was not head coach. I like the signings of Bogosian, Hainsey, Williams, and Reasoner. They will all bring some strengths that we need. It is hard to overcome the now present disdain toward the Thrashers by the hockey press and by many hockey players who feel that this is not a real hockey town as shown by Campbell's desire to go elsewhere, and the quote by Dan Boyle in some of the hockey postings. But, with all of that said, I want to believe that the TThrashers will be a better team this year too. Hockey is the only sport I really care to follow right now. I want hockey to stay here too. There is that possibility that the team could be moved, but we all know that they will remain here for this season. I also want to say, despite all of my postings and emails to Atlanta Spirit, that I believe that Don Waddell and ASG has really tried hard to bring some good players and some better coaches here this season. I know that they have tried because I see, from reading article from other newspapers, other postings on the Internet that they have tried. I am still skeptical about it, and I have a wait and see attitude, but I want to believe too, like Claire, Ben and others. I will go to as many games as I can. I don't have season tickets as I buy what I can on my salary, but I will be either at the games watching games on TV or checking the Internet for scores like last year. But, if we have a better season, we as Atlantans, and the Thrashers can prove everyone wrong. I hope we do too. I would love to see Burnside and the other commentators on NHL Network eat their words too. They do have some good insight, but none of them picked Detroit to win the Stanley Cup; so none of them were right. I think we could use one more strong forward via a trade. There are some teams that may not make the salary cap, and have to let some players go. I am hoping that we can get one of those players. One player I am watching for is Mike Knuble; I know he is 36, but he can still play well as evidenced by his 29 G, 26A during last season, and his 3 G, 4 A in the playoffs. Philly signed Lupul, but not Knuble yet. They don't have the cap space; I don't know how he feels about coming here as he is from Toronto, and would probably love to go to a real hockey team, but you never know. I know we have the funds to pay someone like him. I hope DW and ASG is considering it. I really want to go to the Oct. 1 Detroit game badly. Not sure if I will get to, but really want to. Whoever said that we beat Detroit 5-1, I saw that game on TV. It was awesome that we beat them in Detroit, but it was meaningless in the sense that we ended up with the 3rd worst record in the NHL, and they were the Stanley Cup champs. But this is a new season, and right now, anything can happen! Here's to hoping that the Thrashers are more united on the ice as a team, and that the players play with pride and determination this season.

Posted by: Anonymous on July 26, 2008 9:04PM EST hartley was obviously the problem, what other team loses 10 in a row, that would get any coach fired. I said it was awesome we beat detroit, but i dont think detroit was playing at their best, even tho they got off 54 shots on kari

Posted by: Chuck on July 26, 2008 9:08PM EST The fact that no one will sign with the thrashers is directly Don Waddell's fault he has failed to do anything with this team and the fact that he looked at a copy of hockey news one time before he drafted the number one over all is not that impressive to bad he did not bother to read it when he drafted the worst number one over all pick in NHL history according to hockey news in patrick stefan. Or when he made the worst signing of the year this year in Hainsey. But I guess all of you know more than hockey news too. The press is not picking on poor old Donny they are only telling the truth. Ben you are a good guy but the thrashers are going down hill quick and all the real fans from the beginning that have so much invested with them should be able to expect more than just the same old no one can prove we suck before the season crap we here every year.

Posted by: Claire on July 26, 2008 9:45PM EST Anonymous 'cos, I love the way you phrased that! I think that was perfect and needed to be said. It made me smile. I am wondering how Hainsey is the worst signing of the year? We needed more defensemen. I think that his stats show that he is a great defensemen. 8 goals and the 24 assists is PHENOMENAL for a defensemen. Unless you are lidstrom, it doesnt get much better than that. Not to mention he only got 25 penalty minutes. He is awesome on the powerplay. He reminds me of Enstrom and his play style. If they could work well in the same pairing, that would be tough to tackle. I've been a fan from the beginning. From good 'ol 99. And you dont see me complaining about "how much we suck". Again, I enjoy the game whether we lose or win. And I have never said that just being positive will make us a better hockey team. I have said in the past, and I believe it holds true, that players will want to stay here more if the fans show support for them. When we get pumped, they get pumped, and vice versa. And about Patrick Stefan, players are not necessarily as good in the NHL as they are in a minor league. Then again, some are phenomenal after a while. Take Enstrom, 8th round. Took a few years, but he is amazing now. You cant always tell. Again, we may not have had what some people call "good seasons" but that doesnt mean that cant change. We are entering our 9th season. We are not even a decade old. I think we will have a great season next year. I'm just curious, if we do well, will all you nay-sayers, as anonymous cos put it, will take what you said back or will you continue to try to find and focus on any problems the Thrashers have.

Posted by: myvoiceisstupid on July 26, 2008 11:36PM EST the fact that many fans do not complain and sit there acting like everything is okay is a big reason why dw is still here. He makes mistakes it seems every year and yet many say its ok, hang in there don, ull get em next year...its true, fans that support this team no matter what are great for this franchise. I watch the games either on tv or in person, and stay or watch till the very end. I trully love this team, not the people who run it... dont know where im going with this nec. but the people who complain, such as what i am doing now, isnt always bad. our problems r heard by eachother and it makes us aware of whats going on with this team. Unfort. i dont think our management listens...

Posted by: aroha on July 27, 2008 6:16AM EST this blog post just made me even more homesick for Atlanta and hockeysick for the Thrashers. I wish we were still in town to see this team come together. It has the potential to be a very exciting season!

Posted by: clairewannabe on July 27, 2008 3:53PM EST This is going to be wonderful...I'll throw alot of meaningless stats and opinions at ya'll but I am pressed for time. Just know that I love hockey and am upbeat about our team so we should win the division. All you icky people who disagree can stay off this blog.

Posted by: Chuck on July 27, 2008 5:36PM EST Hockey News said Hainsey was over paid by 150% of his worth the market should have supported 1.8 million for him. No other team so grossly over paid for a player at his level. By the way he was 34th last year in points among defensemen in the NHL and 234th in plus minus so PHENOMINAL might be an over statement. No one is suggesting that Patrik Steffan was not a good junior player but IT IS THE GM’S JOB AND NO ONE ELSES TO AQUIRE TALENT AND DON WADDELL HAS FAILED TO DO THAT WITH NUMORUS CHANCES. This team will never be better than piss poor until some one other than Don Waddell can run it. Don has failed the players the fans and the city why you would still make empty excuses for him is your own business but I for one have had enough of the same old crap every season. I will be glad to admit in the middle of November if the thrashers are number one in the southeast that I was an alarmist and I over reacted to all the stupid moves Don made this summer, if in November when the thrashers are still on the bottom of the east you will admit you are a fool that drinks to much Kool-aid.

Posted by: Anonymous on July 27, 2008 6:13PM EST i love the thrashers and i try to be positive about the season, i hope they do good, but how do you suppose we get rid of don waddell??? since all of you are F***ing honor students and mathmaticians, what do you propose? boycott, that would probly make them move the team before they got rid of don, why dont you take off your dunce cap and put on a thinking one. over half of you prolly werent hockey fans until we got the trashers. so keep pissing in the wind folks, you think it wont blow back??? oh and whats with all the kool aid talk?? i happen to think kool aid is delicious great variety of flavors very tastey if the kool aid man heard you dissin it he would whoop yo ass

Posted by: Claire on July 27, 2008 6:17PM EST If you are so fed up with the team and with the coaching staff and Don, then why are you still a ticket holder? If you have nothing good to say about the Thrashers, then I dont even understand why you would want to go to the games. There are either two things going on here: either you still have some hope for the Thrashers or you love hockey so much that no matter how horrible the team is you will go to watch games. However, I dont get how you can love hockey that much and still find nothing good to say about our franchise. DW has not failed me or many other fans. I will continue to go to games no matter how good or bad we play. It is worth it to me just to be able to watch 60 minutes of hockey, whether we win 6-1 or lose 6-1. You also seem to have casually overlooked all the amazing things that DW has done for us. Kovalchuk, Kari, Enstrom, Bogosian, and countless others. Is the bad just so much that it outways the good? We got 4 great players out of the trade for Hossa and Dupe. The Penguins got one. One player and one rental. We got 4. Was that so bad of a move? Or would you have rather we kept Hossa and just let him walk out on us at the end of the season? Yeah, DW has made some poor moves in many fans' opinions, however every GM has done that. What would you be doing differently than DW is doing now?

Posted by: al on July 27, 2008 7:14PM EST claire you are unbelievable. obviously you dont run your own business bc you would be bankrupt. unlike other sports, we the fans pay for this organization. there is no tv revenue. i believe we do have the right to voice our opinion either positive or negative. you mention 8th round pick of enstrom how many other draft picks for the thrashers have panned out? please dont mention exelby or slater you would only be making yourself look even more dumb. i am season ticket holder. i am upset with this organization and im not going to sit back and hold your hand and sing coomby ya like everything is ok. do you remember the names brunette modry coburn savard even hordichuk. dont settle for being mediocre. i dont have to believe in blueland. they had better perform for me and produce or the boos will reign down. by the way after nine seasons, i may very well let my tickets go. and unlike you the dollar amount that i contribute would probably sting a little. its ok to be a fan but enough is enough. the best ownership in this city is arthur blank . you watch over the next few yrs and see who is doing better falcons or thrashers. having said all of this bottom line i want playoff hockey and nothing else. its time

Posted by: al on July 27, 2008 7:17PM EST claire you are unbelievable. obviously you dont run your own business bc you would be bankrupt. unlike other sports, we the fans pay for this organization. there is no tv revenue. i believe we do have the right to voice our opinion either positive or negative. you mention 8th round pick of enstrom how many other draft picks for the thrashers have panned out? please dont mention exelby or slater you would only be making yourself look even more dumb. i am season ticket holder. i am upset with this organization and im not going to sit back and hold your hand and sing coomby ya like everything is ok. do you remember the names brunette modry coburn savard even hordichuk. dont settle for being mediocre. i dont have to believe in blueland. they had better perform for me and produce or the boos will reign down. by the way after nine seasons, i may very well let my tickets go. and unlike you the dollar amount that i contribute would probably sting a little. its ok to be a fan but enough is enough. the best ownership in this city is arthur blank . you watch over the next few yrs and see who is doing better falcons or thrashers. having said all of this bottom line i want playoff hockey and nothing else. its time

Posted by: Thrashman on July 27, 2008 7:37PM EST God bless you Claire...You may be the only one on the planet who would enjoy a 6-1 loss. Maybe your doctor needs to check your meds.

Posted by: clairesalterego on July 27, 2008 7:51PM EST Bogosian just turned 18 and has never stepped on NHL ice. Explain how Claire has him as one of DW's "amazing things". Please stop drinking the kool-aid, your really scaring me.

Posted by: Thrashman on July 27, 2008 7:54PM EST good 4 u Al...Get mad as hell and dont take it anymore.

Posted by: Anonymous 'Cos on July 27, 2008 8:04PM EST Well, i'm back. It's good to see 24 hours hasn't changed a thing. I will be short and...well, just short then. Al...Welcome back...moron. Thrashman...Perfect name for your attitude, big man!? Chuck...Well, your name just says it all. Once again, i don't understand why you feel it necessary to kill everyone else's buzz. Take your bullshi! somewhere else, please. Stop being so selfish. The place for your comments is on the Spirit Groups' site, or sending your hate mail to the men of the ASG directly. The Thrashers have absolutely no call when all is said and done with regards to Don Waddell. I too am not a Waddell fan, at all! If you recall my other bloggings from months passed, you would know this. My support still goes out to the Thrashers, though. This is a simple fact you should already know. Once again, PLEASE take your dead-end complaints somewhere else, so as to stop killing everyone else's sense of hope. Thanks, I'm off to drink some Kool-aid...

Posted by: Bruce on July 27, 2008 9:02PM EST hmmm... anonymous has some valid points. why are you complaining to a blog which is aimed at being pro-Thrashers. Take it to Spirit. Maybe they will listen. I think it interesting how Claire hasn't beaten up on any of you personally, while you are. She's just made some valid points. And bogosian. He worked harder than a lot of nhl players do at practice at the prospect camp. he looks very good. y'all obviously have too much spare time... since you are on the Thrashers website and have nothing decent to say.

Posted by: al on July 27, 2008 9:26PM EST whoa wait a minute. you guys were going against what burnside said about the thrashers. i believe the nay sayers are trying to get you to realize that we as a city continue to settle for being just ok. i have never been on these sites before. i do have inside information and i thinks its time that you the real fans as well as myself stop accepting what this organization puts in front of us. Other season ticket holders that i have talked to have given up. my friend went to the select a seat and no one was there. will it be fun to go to a building with 5000 fans or perhaps only rangers redwings penquins fans. it gets old. you guys need to reevaluate your position. i never said not to cheer or go crazy for the thrashers. on opening night i will be there ready to go. can you imagine how many season ticket holders they have lost. i dont know the number but i guarantee you its a lot. when you continue to lose your base dwindles and the next thing you know were the Quebec thrashers.

Posted by: Claire on July 27, 2008 9:52PM EST I agree with you. I thought that this was a very valid post, very respectable. We have lost a good amount of fans. And I think that a change would be good for the Thrashers. But how is letting go of your tickets going to help the Thrashers. In my opinion, its the ownership problem, they are too stingy in a lot of areas. Letting go of your tickets will make our pockets tighter, and harder to get the Thrashers to where they need to be. The issue I have is how no one is willing to give the season a chance. A lot of the people on this blog are just complaining about everything. They have nothing good to say. I'm not saying we are perfect. We have a lot of work to do. But I dont think that DW is the problem. I think he is doing everything he can in his position. We as a team are in a tight spot. I think we have some major issues. Like last season, it seemed like our players have some problems working together and being in the right place at the right time. That is why I'm so pumped about this season, becuase we have so many more players to work with and more of a chance that we will form some powerful lines and some great defensive pairs. I know most people dont like it, but I love the addition of Williams and Reasoner. If you remember last year, Kovalchuk, Holik, and Thorburn (an unorthodox line) were amazing together. They worked very well together. I am hopeful that we will be able to find another one of those lines incorporating Williams or Reasoner. I'm not disagreeing with you about the ticket holders dwindling, however it upsets and frusterates me to hear how many fans seem to have completely given up on the Thrashers. The season hasn't started, give it a chance. Like Chuck, if I am wrong in November about where the Thrashers are, then I will have no issue saying so. But its July. We have no idea how Anderson will work with our players. I am just hopeful for a better season, and I want others to be as well. I'm not trying to prove everyone wrong that has a different thought than me, I'm sorry if I come across strong. Its just the Thrashers mean a lot to me and it upsets me to see how unsupported they are.

Posted by: lennykravitz on July 27, 2008 10:27PM EST our defense is slightly improved...hainsey isnt anything special, bogo has yet to step onto NHL ice so lets stop thinking he is an allstar already, enstrom is good, Havelid is average, nikulin if we get him, also hasnt step foot on NHL ice before...defense will be better but still prolly not that good...our offense hasnt been improved, jason williams is a second line winger (which we did need), reasoner is 4th line center....thats our offseason....sorry if people disagree but we have not imprved our problem of offense... Defense improved, PK improved, goaly 1 more year of maturing, improved....offense, nada...however this seems to me the first offseason where DW has actually tried hard to make things better, unfort. all the years prior when he didnt has now come back to hurt us... hope they prove me wrong, and i hope people will jump on me for saying this...seacreast out

Posted by: JW on July 28, 2008 9:14AM EST Chuck, while I can't disagree with the concept of your posts, I can't agree either. While the GM is the face of the organization that makes the move, the GM has to rely on his scouts for details, if they can't evaluate talent properly you won't draft well. Did Don mess up with the Z# trade. Yes, oh Yes, but the problems with this club goes all the way to the top. If the owners can't provide a clear goal, support that goal, and not fill it with BS your not going find any players that want to come here to win a cup. Start with the ownership, review the scouts and how the GM uses the information. All we have heard form this ownership group lately is who they are forcing out next. It's a circus! Would you want to work for a group like that? I wouldn't. But, that's not the point of Ben's post. I agree, this team will fight in and out each night and I do believe they will be more exciting then frustrating to watch. Will they make the playoff's? Who knows! The East will be just as crazy as last year. A lot of people last year said scrap the team and pull a Philly or Chicago and start over. Sure looks like that's what the team is doing, despite the lack of public support from the ownership.

Posted by: Anonymous on July 28, 2008 11:45AM EST "I think all the haters should have to have there pictures posted here when we do good this season, so we can all mock them at the games they end up attending because the team is so good!" You do know that attitudes like that keep people from coming. The goal is to sell tickets and fill the building not alienate skeptics... We're in Atlanta pal, this is home of Sports skeptics. we can't fill the building for NFL if the product isn't good. Think about what hockey wuould be like? Obnoxious folks like you make me not want to bother going. I'm sure you'll have no problem with that, but the folks who's livelihoods depend on the Thrash might take exception. Obnoxious fans and a poor product on the ice are the reason I didn't renew my season tickets. If the product on the ice is good, I'll go to the games and tolerate the obnoxious, drunk, swearing fans to see good hockey. However, when things aren't going very well, I'm not going to tolerate the way some people behave to see a crappy team on the ice.

Posted by: itsme on July 29, 2008 10:03AM EST The thrashers? ha what about the Trashers. Yeh just because you love a team and sport doesnt mean you cant be real to yourself and say what they really are. i would love to see them win and make the playoffs and be a contendor team. but fact is they are not or ever have been ( with exception of 06 07 season). as far as this season only time will telll. its opk to get frustrated

Posted by: itsmeagain on July 29, 2008 12:15PM EST i welcome any and all remarks pertaining my entry. i know i will probably get blasted for stating the reality of it. i wish all the thrasher fans and the thrashers a well season and hopefully a turning point in the franchise this year. but be respectable and honor ones opinion no matter what there mindset on the situation. thats what blogs are for... discussion.

Posted by: JB on July 29, 2008 2:42PM EST i agree with what a lot of people say on here, good and bad. but no one needs to be reminded of the lack of success we have had here in ATL. claire has got to be one of the best bloggers on this site, and i enjoy reading her blogs because she is optimistic and never has any insulting or cruel words to say. maybe the rest of you should stop looking at the glass as half empty, and think that the team is 1 step closer to being a contender, Bogosian could have a perfect year, play all 82 games, come up with 50 to 70 points, and then what would you all say? if we come in last this year it would be great, we would get tavares, maybe we could convince Kovy to stay for 1 more year or so. the rebuilding began with Bogosian. please hate all you want, but maybe we've learned from the past and are trying to correct it.

Posted by: itsmeonemoretime on July 29, 2008 4:50PM EST jb it should be brought up about past success or lack thereof. the reason for that is to point out the dw needs to do better handling with money and transactions. he has not made smart choices in the past. however i know his passion and dedication to the team is real. that is a wonderful trait but we need smarter decision making. however, i am very happy about the new coaching staff. like i said i hope and i beleive this is a huge turning point for the franchise but as far as the roster goes.... needs great improvement and better judgement on contracts. i mean come one 4.2 million a year for hainsey. he was getting 900,000 last year from columbus and in the market was worth about 1.5 mill tops. we could have sigend him for 5 years 7.5 mill and used that other 12.5 mill for another top notch forward preferrably a center. our past relects the future. he needs to take better smarter action in the front office. as far as his love for the team rock on dw

Posted by: jwolf on July 29, 2008 9:14PM EST i sort of agree with the "we could have sigend him for 5 years 7.5 mill and used that other 12.5 mill for another top notch forward preferrably a center. our past relects the future." however. hainsey prolly wouldnt of signed here for that, i mean he wouldnt havnt signed for fair market value here so we had to inflate the price to get him...i do think h/e we could have gotten him for less than we did but we saw the opportunity to get him and we jumped on it.

Posted by: itsme on July 30, 2008 8:39AM EST j wolf you are probably right but anyother team probably wouldnt pay over two million for hainsey. so unless he wants to play european hockey then im sured it would have worked out some sort of way. hainsey didnt ask for 4mill a year that was dws first offer because he wanted to snatch him of the market. and yes because im sure he had some doubts about playing here. but the point is there where a good bit of better defense guys in the free agency we could have signed for that or just signed hainsey for a lil more than what hes worth say like 1.8 1.9 mill and used the rest on good center. well just have to see how he performs. and the thing about it is his contract is so much more than what he is worth that if he doesnt work out in atl then we cant trade him because no one will want to pick up that big $$$ contract. where stuck with him. i mean come on lidstrom is gettin 6.8 mill a year and look how much better he is yet little diff in pay. think about it like that

Posted by: h on July 30, 2008 10:11AM EST you guys are on crack....Did we pay a little extra for Hainsey? probably.....but not nearly what you are talking about.....he was rated as one of the top 6 defensemen out there in FA.....he is a legit top 4 defensemen.......that is a minimum of $3.5M a year......so we paid $4.5M.....big deal.....there was (and is) plenty of cap room available for a center......although via trade is only option left.....

Posted by: Anonymous on July 30, 2008 10:28AM EST well you hit it dead on. We did overpay a bit, but if he has one good season here in ATL then we made a good buy. If Im not mistaken, the thrashers have almost $18 million in cap space avaliable, which means, we can trade to get anyone we want. The cap isn't the issue here, we need one more scoring winger since Williams is a natural center that converted to a wing. If we get one more winger then you can slide Little out to a wing on the first or second line to produce more scoring if no other centers are traded right now. That fixes the problem and gives us even more balanced scoring.

Posted by: exSTH on July 30, 2008 11:03AM EST Anonymous...you say we can trade to get anyone we want. Who do we have to offer for a top line forward? Kovalchuk? I don't think we have any bargaining chips that anyone would want in a trade. The only things another team may want is our prospects. I'll bet a trade is not what DW is working on. After 9 years of poor scouting, bad decisions, and ludicris owners (unjustifed ticket price increases with poor product in return), we are going to have to accept the fact that the Thrashers are rebuilding and won't be a contender for a couple of years. Take notice of the signings this summer. Reasoner and Boults are the oldest at 31! If that isn't a sign of rebuilding what is! One question to anyone that will respond - Why hasn't NAGY been signed by anyone?!? He's only 27 AND a top 6 forward AND getting paid a very reasonable 3.4 mil contract. We definitly have the cap space to afford him (we are still 2.5 mil BELOW the floor). What are the negatives with Nagy? He would compliment Kovy unbelivably or would too many Russian roosters in the henhouse not be good? Anyone that makes logical sense please respond (not the Kool-Aid drinking overly optimistic babblers)

Posted by: Pete on July 30, 2008 1:22PM EST I think Don is done signing forwards Kovy will need to put up 160 goals this year for the thrashers to have a shot at breaking 500. But if Don cared about scoring he would have kept Haydar and not resigned Bolton. Haydar put up 8 points in 16 games while Bolton should be an AHL player at best. And with Hainsey and Thornburn Bolton is not needed as a tough guy. By the way your are only a tough guy if people around the league fear and respect you and that is not the case with Bolton. No one in the NHL is afraid of throwing gloves with not in the face not in the face spend more time cluching and dancing Bolton. So Don thinks he has every thing he needs to make 30th place at the end of the season. It is sad that the owners are paying Don to run this thing into the ground for another year.

Posted by: h on July 30, 2008 1:46PM EST I think it remains to be seen whether DW is done or not.....guess we will see......we have talent we can move, especially in light of some teams needing to shed some salary.......White, X, Sterling.......even Little......if your trade includes someone in mid-20s who is proven....it is worth giving up "some" young talent....X gives a team some toughness......White gives a team a genuine 3rd line center......anyways......there is talent to give up....and it makes sense to give up some young talent if you get young proven talent in return (and can lock up long term,.......someone like Vermette)....lot's of ifs I know.......wish I knew the answer on Nagy....my guess is his injury situation, but he seems like a very good fit talent-wise......IMHO this team could finish anywhere from 7th - 12th in conference right now......one more positive move changes that.......

Posted by: Diego from Lilburn on July 30, 2008 2:34PM EST For those of you who don't know what "drinking the Kool-aid" means go read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool-Aid#.22Drinking_the_Kool-Aid.22

Posted by: Diego from Lilburn on July 30, 2008 2:38PM EST When we say that some of you "must be drinking the DW Kool-aid" it means that you believe, with cult-like fanatacism, the words that are coming out to the mouth of a crazy person. It's fine to be a big fan, even hopeful and optimistic. But considering that DW hasn't really pulled in one big name for us this off-season, so far (See! I can be optimistic, too!), I wouldn't really advise buying into the "best season ever" mentality. Now go back to listening to your Hannah Montana CDs.

Posted by: Diego from Lilburn on July 30, 2008 2:45PM EST And, Anonymous, the Kool-Aid Man? Whip somebody's a$$? Seriously? The new Strawberry Nesquick bunny could take him out. That red lard-butt could barely break through a wall of styrofoam bricks! Pick a new superhero, whydontcha?

Posted by: Anonymous on July 30, 2008 2:57PM EST Rumor mills says we're at least talking to Nagy: http://hockeybums.blogspot.com/2008/07/thrashers-pitch-deal-to-nagy-and-mats.html ... but it's just a rumor, so take with a grain (or as many needed) of salt. I haven't paid too much attention to him lately... is he healthy enough to get close to a full season out of him?

Posted by: its me on July 30, 2008 3:00PM EST h i think you are the one on crack or either your just not reading much hockey news. the market prive for hainsey is 1.5 mill. not the 3.5 mill you said. are you serious 3.5 mill? haha he was gettin g paid 900,000 last year.. tsn put his market value at 1.5 tops. and he was not a top six in the defensemen in the free agency. they are as follows: Wade Redden 30 OTT $6,500,000 Signed with the Rangers, 6 years, $39 million Rob Blake 37 LAK $6,000,000 Signed with the Sharks, 1 year, $5 million Adam Foote 35 COL $4,600,000 Re-signed with Colorado for 2 years Mattias Norstrom 35 DAL $4,250,000 Retired Brad Stuart 27 DET $3,500,000 Re-signed with the Red Wings, 4 years, $14 million Darius Kasparaitis 34 NYR $3,116,000 Paul Mara 27 NYR $3,000,000 Re-signed with the Rangers, 1 year, $1.95 million Aaron Ward 35 Bos $2,275,000 Re-signed with the Bruins, 2 years, $5 million Teppo Numminen 38 BUF $2,600,000 Oleg Tverdovsky 31 LAK $2,500,000 Marek Malik 32 NYR $2,500,000 Bret Hedican 36 CAR $2,432,000 Michal Rozsival 28 NYR $2,300,000 Re-signed with the Rangers, 4 years, $20 million Dmitri Kalinin 26 BUF $2,250,000 Signed with the Rangers, 1 year Keith Carney 37 MIN $2,100,000 Dick Tarnstrom 32 CLB $2,000,000 Jason Smith 33 PHI $1,976,000 Signed with the Senators, 2 years, $5.2 million Brian