Todd White has flown under the radar so far this season but his strong play between Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa is finally starting to turn heads. Ilya himself referred to him as an "awesome player" after Atlanta's 3-2 overtime win over the Panthers Nov. 12 and suggested that he looks like a 60 goal-scorer after he scored another OT winner last night against Tampa. In his first 13 games White was limited to just six points. Then Don Waddell decided to put Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa on the same line with White between them, and since then the center has eight points (three goals and five assists) in seven games.

I sat down with Todd White a little while ago to find out more about the underappreciated player from Kanata, Ontario that joined the Thrashers on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent.

Looking back at last summer, what were the factors that came into consideration when you were deciding where you wanted to go as an unrestricted free agent?

"Well, I wanted to come to a place where there was a great opportunity to win. They made the playoffs last year and I was following what was happening out east pretty closely. The opportunity to come into an organization that's still growing. I wanted to come back east and I wanted to sign a longer term contract so my family could get settled in one place and kind of integrate into the community. Atlanta provided all of those options for us and it's been great so far"

Did you talk to any other players about the city before you made your decision?

"It happened so quick I didn't really have time to talk to anyone. Going into free agency I had a list of ten places that I'd kind of looked at. You look at the depth charts at your position and evaluate what teams might have a need for someone like you and Atlanta was on that list for me. You talk to different people ahead of time about what it's like to live in a certain city and I'd heard nothing but good things about Atlanta. Everyone told me it's a great city for families."

Who were the people you talked to? Were any of them former or current Thrashers?

"Randy Robitaille was one. Kurtis Foster was another one since I played with both of them in Minnesota. It's not like you really quiz them about the city, but you talk to guys you play with about where you've played and what you've liked and nobody had anything bad to say about Atlanta. Me and my family like it so far."

Heading into the season you were seen as a pretty well-rounded center that plays smart hockey at both ends of the ice. Is that a pretty fair assessment?

"For sure. I try to be a team guy. I want to do whatever it takes to help the team win, whether it's score a goal, prevent a goal or kill a penalty. Whatever the team needs me to do to win. I don't really come into a season with personal goals for myself points-wise. That doesn't matter. I just want to help the team build on what they were able to accomplish last year and hopefully go a little deeper in the playoffs this year."

Is there anyone you modeled your game after when you were younger? Guys that helped shape your game?

"I don't know if I'd call them role models, but two guys who I've always admired the way they are Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic. I can't compare myself to them of course, but I try to model my game after them and the way they've played."

Versatile two-way centers?

Exactly. I try to be a guy that, you know... In the past I've played with offensive wingers and my job was to take care of the defensive responsibilities for the guy I'm playing with and at the same time help them offensively.

And now you're playing with two of the best offensive wingers in the game. Did you play much with Hossa in Ottawa when you guys were teammates?

A little bit on the penalty kill and once in a while on the power play, but most of the time he played with Radek Bonk when I was there. I played with Alfredsson most of the time, and I had my best years with him. I scored 50 points my first season and 60 my second, and both years I was playing with Alfie.

Who was your other winger those years?

Shawn McEachern was there one year with us and Magnus Arvedsson the other. He had a lot of injury problems that caught up to him after he went out to Vancouver.

Has there been a big adjustment going from playing in defensive system like Minnesota's to being depended on to play on a high-flying offensive line?

I think I'm still trying to play a little bit like in Minnesota now that I'm here, especially playing with Kovy and Hoss. I'm trying to be responsible defensively and be the third guy in a lot of times because they're so good offensively. I just try to do my thing and stay back and help them out when they need it. They're obviously great linemates. They get off a lot of shots so there are lots of chances for me to drive to the net and go for those rebounds, so it's all about reading the situation. When to jump in and when to stay back.

With Kovy signed through a few more years, as well as Slava and the young guys like Bryan Little it looks like there's a decent core in place. Was that appealing to you when you signed this summer?

"For sure. When I talked to my agent before free agency I told him if the choice was between making more money per year or having a longer term contract I'd rather have the longer term contract. I was really happy that Atlanta was willing to give me four years and this is team that's definitely moving in the right direction. Family is a big part of my life and it's important to me to not have to move them around every year. My daughter started kindergarten this year so it was a perfect year for me to settle down and get a long-term deal with an up and coming team."

How many kids do you have?

We have three now. We have a daughter that's five, a daughter that's three and a baby boy that was born just before I signed. My wife is from my home town- we grew up going to high school in Kanata (the suburb of Ottawa where the Senators play).

Growing up in Ontario who was your favorite team? The Senators weren't around back then so it couldn't have been them.

Growing up it was Detroit and Pittsburgh. Detroit had Yzerman and he played some tier two and minor hockey in Ottawa so I liked him a lot. Then Pittsburgh had a lot of offensive fun players to watch and I really liked watching them. They were a lot of fun to watch. I wasn't a Toronto or Montreal fan- believe me.

There aren't many guys on the team you've played with before aside from Marian Hossa, but you did play one game in Sweden with Nic Havelid during the lockout. Do you remember meeting him?

I do actually. When I went over there it was a weird situation. I signed with them the first week of December and they go on a long break over there so I was going to start on the 26th of December. Then right before Christmas my oldest daughter got sick and we took her to the hospital a couple of times and we didn't really know what was going on. But I'd made the commitment to go and I got there and I was just like "What am I dong?" I couldn't be aware from her so I went and practiced with them and I realized I couldn't stay. I told the coach and he asked me to play the one game so I played a game before I went home. But when you go over there you gravitate to the guys the speak English and it's mostly the NHL guys. Havelid was there and Olli Jokinen. Mikael Samuelsson. So there were a few guys. But when I signed here back in July I knew I'd played one game with Nic. It was just him and Hoss.

And there were some NHL guys you played with in college at Clarkson University, right?

Yeah, there were a few of us from those teams. I played a year with Craig Conroy and three years with Chris Clark (now the captain of the Capitals). He was my right winger for my last year. He's doing really well these days. It's fun to see. I'll get to see him on a regular basis now. Then there's Eric Cole. He wasn't there with me but I helped recruit him.

What was the farthest you guys made it when you were at Clarkson?

We were one game away from the final four. One game. We lost out to Colorado College. That was tough because they weren't very good. They were third place on their side and we'd won 19 in a row. Michigan had Morrison and all of those big guys and they were number one in the West and we were number one in the East. We had a bye in the first round and ended up losing bad to Colorado College. They were the fifth ranked team. It was tough.

And then after that you broke into the league as an undrafted player, right. What was that experience like?

There was some interest when I as coming out but Chicago was always the team that showed the most interest, so I signed with them. The first year (1997-98) I had a great year then my second year I went in and whether it was me not having confidence in my ability or me not being ready, I'd have stretches of good game and then stretches where I was up and down and didn't play very much. It took me a lot of time in the minors to learn what it would take to play up here in the NHL on a consistent basis. I don't regret any time I spent in the minors because it made me a better player.

Well things certainly seem to be going well for you now. Good luck with the rest of the season.

Thanks.