It was exit day up in Duluth- the day that players meet with their coaches, get checked out by the team doctors, sign some autographs for charity auctions, prizes and various other causes, and then talk to the media one last time before being released from any team obligations for the summer.

Everyone puts on a brave face and tries to relax, but the only team that ever really enjoys media day is the one that holds theirs in mid-June 48 hours or so after they hold their Stanley Cup parade. That being said, there was much less tension in the air today than there was last season when the goaltending debacle cast a shadow over the team's failure to make the playoffs. You remember- Lehtonen getting hurt for the second time. Dunham playing in the second-last game and getting pulled after an injury and replaced by Michael Garnett, who also got hurt, forcing the last minute recall of Adam Berkhoel for the final game. Five goalies in the first five games. Four goalies in the last seven games and lingering questions about the long-term health and durability of Kari Lehtonen.

I'll take a division title and today's circumstances over the finish to last season any day.

Speaking of Lehtonen, you have to give the young goalie credit for bouncing back this season. One year ago he choked back tears as he talked to the media and said that he felt responsible for the team's failure to reach the playoffs. He knew he didn't show up to training camp in proper shape, and he knew the team's chances of making the playoffs would have been much better with him between the pipes. On that day he committed himself to staying in Atlanta for the bulk of the summer and doing whatever was necessary to come back strong and healthy.

Mission accomplished. For the first time in franchise history the Thrashers completed a full season using the services of just two goaltenders, neither of whom suffered from a single injury. In his parting comments head coach Bob Hartley gave Lehtonen full credit for stepping up and proving himself during the season. While Lehtonen may not have been at his best in his two post-season starts Hartley pointed out that the young Finn got little help from his teammates in Tuesday's 7-0 drubbing. So what did Lehtonen accomplish during the regular season? How about new single-season franchise goaltender records for games played, games started, wins, shutouts, minutes played, goals-against average, shots faced, saves and save percentage?

Tomorrow I'll get into what GM Don Waddell and Coach Bob Hartley had to say about the season, as well as what they envision for next year and I'll go over what some other Thrashers had to say before saying their good-byes.

When the Thrashers make the playoffs you're going to hear and read a lot about how goaltending is the key to a solid playoff run. Then you'll have all the experts pointing out that Kari Lehtonen is a 23 year-old playoff rookie. A few of them might point out that Cam ward had zero NHL playoff experience prior to winning the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Award last year, but most of them will write off the Thrashers due to Lehtonen's inexperience, and the lack of playoff experience for the team in general. The second point is a complete myth, given how many players the Thrashers have that have won the Cup or gone deep in the post-season, but that's for another day.

The critique of Lehtonen, while accurate, is misleading.

It's true that Lehtonen has never stepped onto the ice in an NHL playoff game, but it's not as if Lehtonen hasn't been put in pressure situations. Before he ever even came across the pond to North America he had a Finnish Elite League Championship to his name, and he won that a an 18 year-old. Ever humble Lehtonen tried to downplay his role in Jokerit's championship run in 2001-02 when I asked him about it yesterday.

"It was a nice experience. The first year I played with [Jokerit] I was able to help the team win the cup. That was a great experience for an 18-year old, to be able to play in a league like that and to play well under big pressure."

To say he was playing under pressure is putting it mildly. The Finnish Elite League is one of the most respected leagues in Europe and Lehtonen was competing as a rookie. Not only that, but he stole the starting role and won eight of 11 games, posting a .940 save percentage and picking up three shutouts along the way. Not bad for the youngest goalie in the league. It was good enough to earn Lehtonen his first of back-to-back Urpo-Ylonen Trophies as the leagues top netminder. And that was all before he was drafted the following June.

The next season Kari went 23-14-6 with Jokerit and had a 1.98 GAA and .928 save percentage to go along with five shutouts in the regular season. The team fell in the semi-finals of the playoffs but it was no fault of Lehtonen's as he went 6-4 with a 1.63 GAA and .941 save percentage. Thus the second goaltender of the year award.

Lehtonen points to those years as being formative in his young career.

"I think that made me a lot better goalie. That made it easier for me to come over here and go to Chicago and play in a couple of playoffs there."

In Lehtonen's second season with the Chicago Wolves he was up against plenty of top-level talent as young NHL players flooded the AHL during the 2004-05 lockout season. Kari posted a 38-17-2 record to go with a 2.27 GAA and .929 save percentage and five shutouts with a team that included current Thrashers JP Vigier, Brad Larsen and Derek MacKenzie. Lehtonen's solid play in the post-season carried the Wolves to the Calder Cup Finals where they ran into fellow Finn Antero Nittymaki and current Thrasher Jon Sim who helped the Philadelphia Phantoms down Lehtonen and the Wolves. Although the Wolves were swept in four straight games the consensus when you ask the people involved in the series is that almost every game could have gone either way thanks to the goaltending displays of the young Finnish netminders.

Asked how the pressure to make the playoffs with the Thrashers compares to his playoff runs with Jokerit and Chicago Lehtonen was thoughtful.

"I think there is always a certain amount of pressure. This is just a different kind. This situation for us now is as much life and death as the playoffs. We need to win games now to get there, and that's all I'm thinking about right now," said the young goalie. "I really enjoy playing under the big pressure though. That's when I do the best job I think."

Time will tell if the Thrashers career leader in wins and shutouts can rise to the occasion again, but tonight should be a pretty good indication as Lehtonen suits up against the Panthers in what could be the biggest game of the season to date for the Thrashers.

And if all goes according to plan don't let anyone tell you that Lehtonen doesn't have the pedigree to make it in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, because we know better.