Well, the season is quickly approaching. I was asked about my thoughts on some of the off season activities. I believe very strongly that this is a make or break year for the Thrashers. They must MUST have a playoff season.
The team played their first game in 1999 making this the 9th season. (Just a reminder, there was no 2004-2005 season due to the lock out.)
And they've only been to the playoffs once. And they haven't won a playoff game yet after being swept by the damn Rangers. (I hate them.)
Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com agrees. Right now, the NHL is doing a 30 day round up of the 30 teams. Here's their very detailed article about the Thrashers and all of their off season activities.
Read the article here.
Here's some wrap up information about the Thrashers this off-season:
Arrivals:
Nik Antropov, F, New York Rangers;
Pavel Kubina, D, Toronto;
Tim Stapleton, F, Toronto;
Jason Krog, F, Vancouver;
Drew MacIntyre, G, Vancouver;
Peter Mannino, G, New York Islanders;
Noah Welch, D, Tampa Bay;
Anthony Stewart, F, Florida
Departures:
Garnet Exelby, D, Toronto;
Colin Stuart, F, Toronto;
Clay Wilson, D, Florida;
Brett Skinner, D, Colorado
Remaining Free Agents:
Mike Hoffman,
Joe Motzko,
Eric Perrin,
Grant Stevenson,
Jordan LaVallee
Obviously, the 6'6" Antropov is the highlight thus far. His numbers are decent, but don't tell the whole story. One of the Thrashers biggest problems isn't necessarily scoring but playing defense. Though he's a foward position skater, his presence on the ice will add a needed defensive yin to Kovalchuk's scoring yang. Antropov played most of his games for the Maple Leafs, though played for the (hurl) Rangers last season. As you can see by the photo below, the man is huge.
I expect to see a few 80 Thrashers jerseys at Philips this season.
The Exelby / Stuart for Kubina / Stapleton is another huge one, adding some new defensive.
Perrin is the biggest name still on the free agent list. I think he'll stick around, but I'm not positive.
Another point that NHL.com made was about the draft pick Kane. Here it is in their words:
Evander Kane -- There's no question Kane, signed to a multi-year contract July 20, is out to prove he belongs in the NHL. The Vancouver native has an incredible work ethic and certainly made an impression on the coaches during prospect developmental camp in July. In addition to joining the Thrashers, Kane is also excited about the possibility of playing with former Vancouver Giants teammate and fellow prospect Spencer Machacek.
NHL.com also looked at what they feel will be the five "must-see" games of the season based on everything so far.
Their list (and their reasons) are as follows:
Oct. 3, 2009 vs. Tampa Bay -- The season opener could very well feature Atlanta captain Ilya Kovalchuk bearing down on Tampa's second-overall draft choice last June -- 6-foot-6 Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman.
Oct. 22, 2009 vs. Washington -- If the Thrashers want to be considered contenders in the Southeast Division, they'll need to prove it against the two-time defending divisional champion Capitals.
Dec. 7, 2009 at Toronto -- Atlanta forwards Tim Stapleton and Nik Antropov and defenseman Pavel Kubina return to the city where they played in 2008-09.
Feb. 13, 2009 at Chicago -- Thrashers associate general manager Rick Dudley, who served the last five seasons with the Blackhawks, faces his former team as a member of the Atlanta front office.
April 10, 2009 vs. Pittsburgh -- The regular-season schedule closes with the second of two meetings against the defending Stanley Cup champion in the month of April.
I agree with their reasonings for the most part. I'm not so sure how important that Feb 13th game will be with the front office connection.
I would add the following things to keep in mind for the season:
...
Sept. 25 and 27 at Carolina and vs. Tampa Bay (Pre-Season):
I know, I know. These are only preseason games, but hockey is such a sport of complements. The make up of lines is just as important and the players on the team.
The final score isn't necessarily the thing I'll be looking for in these games, but rather if the lines seem to be working well together. I hope that the practices and four previous game will take care of the jitters and cobwebs, and the right line combo's will rise to the surface. I don't want to see missed opportunities because of bad communication or misunderstandings. I want passes stick to stick.
I'm not expecting perfection in these games, or even set lines but a foundation being built. We don't really have time to figure it out when the season starts because after Opening Night at home, the next two and a half weeks have all games on the road. It will be a little bit tougher to find those lines while traveling and doing battle in enemy territory.
...
Oct. 24 vs. San Jose
This is a team the Thrashers aren't used to seeing. First of all, they are a Western Conference team (the first Atlanta will face this season) and they play in the hard hitting Pacific Division. Plus, the Sharks one hell of a good hockey team. The best of the regular season last year with a 53-18-11 record (Wins-losses-ties) for a total of 117 points.
The Thrashers finished 27th out of 30. 35-41-6 record for 76 points. Ouch. But that was last year.
Considering the every-team schedule the NHL pushed out, this will be a somewhat important game for the team as they get a look at the "other side".
...
Oct. 29 and 31 vs. Washington and at Ottawa
These two games come within three days and will help show how the season might go. Why? It will be the second time the Thrashers play the Capitals and the Senators and the second meeting can show if the Thrashers can adjust mistakes and repeat good tactics against opponents.
In years past, this would have been a much more important factor. But, given the fact that the schedule includes every team as compared to last year, it won't be as big of a deal.
...
November / December
The Thrashers have a night and day schedule for the months of November and December in terms of home and away games.
November: In 14 games, 9 at home and 5 on the road.
December: In 15 games, 5 at home and 10 on the road (plus the first 3 in January are also on the road).
The Thrashers MUST have a great November. Period. December is going to be a little bit of a rough month (hoping for .500), but November is the essential.
The real season will have being going on for about a month through October, so the team should have all the bugs worked out by then and be playing like the team they are, be it good or bad. A bad showing in November will not only be hard to make up, but also sets the mood for the team throughout the entire season.
Again, winning 7 or 8 games in December will be a big, important accomplishment as well.
...
March 2 vs. Florida
It's not Florida that's important (at least at this point). It's the recently completed Olympics in Vancouver.
This is a fairly important game simply because the team will need to rebuild their connections that were broken during the break. Because of the nature of the Olympics, there's the possibility that some players may even be more hostile, even against NHL teammates.
...
Obviously, some games will become a lot more important as the season develops, but that's my take on things at this moment.
In general, I want to see these three things happen this season:
1. No dump and run. Stop shooting the puck down the other end of the ice and racing the opponents to it. Figure out how to get through the neutral zone with puck in hand like all of the great teams do.
2. Leash Lethonen in the crease. For whatever reason, he thinks he can still play the puck behind the net, even with the other team's fowards back there. He can't do it with enough consistancy to make me comfortable. Every time he scoots around, I get nervous and half the time I'm right as the other team gets a great scoring opportunity and the occassional goal.
3. Defense. Stop the puck. Control the neutral zone. Don't allow as many golden scoring opportunities.
Finally, let's take a look at how last year's Thrashers match up in some key catagories.
The Thrashers can score. They were 9th overall with 250 goals. Detroit led with 289 and only Washington had more in the Southeast with 268 (3rd).
The Thrashers suck at not allowing goals. In the entire NHL, only Toronto was worse allowing 286 compared to Atlanta's 279.
As far as their powerplay, Thrashers are pretty much middle of the road. They had 69 (13th ranking) which is a 19.33% success rate (11th best). In the devisionWashington was consistantly better scoring once every four powerplays (25.
22%). Carolina was almost identical to Atlanta with 70 goals and 18.72% success rate.
The penalty kill unit was horrible. Tampa Bay allowed one more goal (89 compared to Atlanta's 88) with a man disadvantage. Anaheim comes in a distant third allowing 78. Percentage-wise, Toronto was worse only killing off 74.68% of their penalties while Atlanta killed just 75.96%.
By the way, the 2010 NHL Winter Classic will be played at Boston's Fenway Park.
I love the Winter Classic. I've watched the first two (both with Stephanie). It's a great game. I'll do a blog on the Classic later. I'm going to bed right now.
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