My Newspaper
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Thrashers Go Their Seperate Ways
Posted by:
Ben Wright on
April 6, 2008 at
3:26PM EST
I was up in Duluth this morning as players packed up, met with management and
got checked out by the team doctors. There was no shortage of interesting
comments from players and Don Waddell addressed the media for over 20 minutes.
After a ling, tiring season I'm taking this afternoon to relax and then I'll get
to work on the season recap stuff out over the course of the week. Keep checking
back starting on Monday. You'll probably want to know what Moose had to say
about his future with the team.
With the season over with attention is quickly shifting to tomorrow night's
Draft Lottery which will be aired live on TSN, Versus and the NHL Network. If
you can't be in front of the TV for what could be the biggest moment in
franchise history you can watch the video live on atlantathrashers.com. The
video will stream in the first top story panel. The Thrashers finished 28th in
the league standings, so depending on the results of the lottery they could
draft 1st (if they win), 3rd (if Tampa, LA or anyone that finished higher than
22nd in the league wins or drop to fourth (if a team between 23rd and 27th
wins). Everyone slated to go in the Top 5 is going to be a solid pick, but Steve
Stamkos has the potential to change a team's fortunes instantly. If the
Thrashers can't nab him here's hoping someone other than Tampa Bay does.
(11) Comments
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Posted by: Josh on April 7, 2008 1:39AM EST
Ben, did Kari say anything today? Any word if the thrashers are gonna resign him?
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I did not speak t Kari but Don spoke extensively about Kari and he has every intention of re-signing him. He's a restricted free agent, so he can't play anywhere else unless the Thrashers let him. Re-signing him has never been in doubt.
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Posted by: JW on April 7, 2008 8:29AM EST
Here's hoping ownership grows some hockey @@ and takes a serious look at the team and it's direction. Are you in it only for a profit or to win a cup?
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Posted by: Liz on April 7, 2008 9:05AM EST
the end of the season always makes me sad. but even more excited to see what we bring to the table next season.
are there going to be any photos put up of the Jersey ceremony?
oh and just a side note: Hats off to you Ben for being awesome and keeping us up to date with the blogs all season. its highly appreciated :)
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Posted by: Steve on April 7, 2008 9:52AM EST
What did Moose say? Are they going to resign him? An interesting thing was noted about Lehtonen and the Thrashers have Talons blog about his rebound control. Kari did play well, but he needs to work on that too. But getting the defense to support him, to me, is really the bigger concern.
Ditto what Liz said; you did a great job keeping up with the blog.
Any word on who Waddell wants to go after for defense? Who do they like in the upcoming draft? What about developing Valabik or another defenseman in our system?
Is there any talk about converting Chicago to a system in which Chicago will parallel the Capitals' AHL affiliate? I like what they did, and it shows in their rise to win the Southeast.
What do you think?
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Posted by: Michael on April 7, 2008 10:15AM EST
I am not familiar with Steve Stamkos. Is he the next Crosby or not at that level?
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Posted by: Sam on April 7, 2008 11:06AM EST
Chicago isn't our property, they just raise our property for us. I believe they're independent from the Thrashers' organization (unlike Gwinnett). So we'd have little say in their system.
FYI...google Stamkos. There are some good articles from The Hockey News and TSN online.
For myself, I hate being out of the playoffs. I hate losing. After the rush that was the little honeymoon after we won the division and before NYR slaughtered us, I'll never feel like a season without playoffs is a real season. Before, the bar was set so low, the objective was to get close to the playoffs. Having been there, albeit embarassing, I'll never be able to settle for "getting close" again. So we've got a long way to go, considering we're what?...2nd from the bottom in the East?
A bittersweet end....we've got to let go of this season to began again for next year. Appreciate the guys winning some stellar games like Calgary and Minnesota in these last 20. Those were great. Will miss the guys who don't come back. But I'm hoping we'll get a steady stream of good free agent and coaching news throughout the summer. I'll be ready for training camp, say the end of May, LOL!
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Posted by: Paul on April 7, 2008 12:24PM EST
Does anyone one know if Bryan and Boris going to Chicago to finish out the season and to the win the Calder Cup.
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Posted by: Big Bill on April 7, 2008 12:35PM EST
What time is Waddell getting fired at?
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Posted by: JW on April 7, 2008 2:26PM EST
To add to Big Bill's comment, when are we going to get an ownership group that actually acts like an ownership group of an NHL hockey team. Atlanta Spirit is a JOKE of the league, so prove me wrong guys!
by the way, who didn't see this coming!!
ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: Craig Custance reports Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuk is unhappy over the lack of progress the club has made in recent years, and is calling for management to make changes to improve the team. Custance suggests the Thrashers risk losing Kovalchuk when his contract expires in two years time if management fails to improve the team.
SPECTOR'S NOTE: I wrote on my blog nearly two weeks ago that the Thrashers ran the risk of losing Kovalchuk in 2010 if the club fails to improve, suggesting that he was growing unhappy with the state of the team.
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Posted by: Steve on April 7, 2008 5:26PM EST
Sam,
I know that Chicago is independent of us, but if you look at what the Capitals have done, maybe Atlanta Spirit should think about buying out the Chicago Wolves, and making it a part of the organization, maybe bring up Anderson as the new coach, and adapt the styles of play so that the rookies coming up from Chicago have an easier time transitioning. Either the Chicago team has the same set up as the Thrashers or the Thrashers should adapt a similar system to the the Wolves. I don't know. At this point, some kind of change might be welcome.
Paul,
Yes, Bryan and Boris are going back to Chicago to enter the playoffs for the AHL.
Big Bill,
If you heard the interviews with Buck and Kincaid, Levinson and the other owners have no intention of firing Waddell.
JW,
Should you be surprised that Kovalchuk wants to be traded if the team does not make any progress? Some players cannot stomach so many years of losing. I wonder why the players in Toronto can, but our players cannot. What are they doing in Toronto that we are not doing? Just curious. This is why Hossa and Dupuis left. Both wanted a good contract, AND to play for an NHL contender. They both got their wish. Why shouldn't Kovy or Lehtonen feel the same way? I could tell that Kari felt that way based upon the comments I heard from him after one game I saw. I think that Kari will probably ask to be traded soon too if there is no improvement.
Kovy said he wanted a center. Technically, we have one in Christensen. Supposedly, if you read some of the blogs around the trade deadline, you would see that someone made the comment that Christensen is really more of a center, but was not playing that position in Pittsburgh. Maybe if they make him a 2nd line center, and bring him along, he could really develop well. But Kovy really needs a good center. I say Peca from Columbus, Langkow from Calgary, Conroy from Calgary, Aucoin from Carolina, or some draft pick that could have an instant impact. On defense, Foote would be nice, or Hainsey from Columbus, Streit from Montreal, Orpik from Pittsburgh. Other Centers: Robitaille or Kelly from Ottawa? We have the money. Let's use it!!!!
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