Atlanta Thrashers

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) If the Thrashers had selected a more defensive coach we'd all be complaining about the lack of offense. Without Anderson's style this team would struggle to score more than 2 goals most nights. The reality is that the Atlanta Thrashers don't have a bunch of All Star candidates on their roste...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Last night at Philips Arena a young hockey team with a new head coach came and played with great determination. With young guys playing key positions and getting ice time in crucial situations, the young team played excellent defensive hockey and ran away with the game that should have bee...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) David Shoalts has been writing a series of articles about the effect of the fiscal crisis on the NHL. The Thrashers are one of the teams featured in his most recent article about discounting tickets. It is fairly informative and reasonable and I encourage you to read it (click here).

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Would that make the 2010 Thrashers a cup contender? The future is hard to tell but moving Kovalchuk and Lehtonen for more young talent would broaden the base of inexpensive young talent (see Chicago Blackhawks) to which you could add a couple of pricey free agents and suddenly you could ha...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) The Blues game was generally fun to watch. Kovalchuk has been playing with more intensity since the Columbus match. Exelby has played better the last two games. Pavelec made some fine saves. On the Power Play I was excited to see the Thrashers try putting the Kozlov line out there with Kovalchu...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) What I've done is calculate the Expected Team PP Goals For for each player and then compared it to their actual number. A plus number means that the Thrashers PP has been more effective when that player is out on the ice in that situation. 1.36 Todd White 0.18 Ilya Kovalchuk 0.33 Tobias Enstrom

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) What does this mean? On the one hand the Thrashers have righted the ship after two ugly losses in three games. The effort and intensity returned and they again looked like a competitive and entertaining team. On the other hand the Thrashers have only done what they must do. They beat two of the w...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) The 1st line played mostly against Detroit's Datsyuk line. The Datsyuk line out chanced the Kovalchuk line by a rather wide margin. Kovalchuk has great speed and a great shot but so far he has not been very impressive at even strength season--last year he was very impressive in terms of creat...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) The other thought is that John Anderson has watched Nathan Oystrick play 162 AHL games and 39 AHL playoff contests. One would think after that many games Anderson has a pretty good idea of the positives and negative of Oystrick as a player. Perhaps this a guy Anderson really believes in?

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) The defense look MUCH more mobile than last season. The Wings are a good team and they got their shots but the Thrashers defense did a fairly decent job of protecting the slot area and many of Detroit's goals where from the outside. Kari Lehtonen will see another jump in his save percentage if t...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) If claimed from waivers the Thrashers are not permitted to trade him at the deadline. The upside: The Thrashers must add salary because Bogosian will not hit all his bonus clauses and therefore the Thrashers will finish below the salary floor by the end of the season.

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) The table shows that the Atlanta Thrashers were the 4th oldest team in the NHL in 07-08. An amazing 45% of all Thrashers games played were filled by a player on the wrong side of 30--only the Detroit Red Wings had more more games played by 30+ players. The difference between Atlanta and Detroit...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Both Anderson and Cunneyworth have had experience (and success) working with younger players. The Thrashers have a much younger roster and both their short term and long term success will turn on the speed and the extent to which their young players mature. Randy Cunneyworth and John Ande...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Thrashers Opposition Average 2008-09 Points by Month 93.8 OCT 89.3 NOV 90.1 DEC 90.7 JAN 91.3 FEB 94.8 MAR 86.5 APR 91.2 Season Thrashers Expected Win % in Regulation by Month OCT .480 NOV .509 DEC .516 JAN .497 FEB .496 MAR .471 APR .508 Season .497 (81.5 points in regulation)

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Just eyeballing those numbers I still think the Thrashers will need to add another salary before the season is complete. Why? Because Bogosian is unlikley to his all of his bonus clauses. Right now they all count against the cap for accounting reasons, but when/if he fails to achieve them th...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Last season Toronto finished with 83 points which ranked them 12th in the Eastern Conference or 11 points out of the playoffs. With respect to the entire NHL two clubs finished with 83 points (Phoenix and Toronto) which tied them for 23rd/24th place overall.

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) When there was talk about whether Kovalchuk would stay in Atlanta, Anderson volunteered that it was his objective to change the culture in the locker room. "we have to make this a place that he wants to be. In the future, if a player does leave Atlanta we want that to be a hard choice [because he l...

By The Falconer(noreply@blogger.com) Postma: He looked pretty solid in the scrimmage. He picked the puck off of Esposito once. I need to watch him more next time. Matt Siddall: Much like Kaip, if he has a NHL future it will be as a defensive specialist. He made some nice subtle plays, but he's nearly 24 and almost all NHL players make it...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Right now I have a 22 man Thrashers roster at $36-37 million with Lehtonen probably due a $1-2 more than his qualifying offer. (Before I was doing projections on a 20 man roster, but with injuries most teams need to carry 22 men.) As of this moment the Thrashers are basically tied with the LA Kin...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Yesterday free agent defensemen Brian Campbell turned down million dollar fortune offered by the Atlanta Thrashers and instead choose to sign with a team, the Chicago Blackhawks, which has made the playoffs once in the last ten seasons which plays to a half empty building most nights. It...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) But here are the facts. In the first season that Atlanta Spirit controlled the Thrashers franchise Atlanta spend OVER the salary cap. The cap was set at $39 million and Peter Bonrdra's performance bonuses pushed the Thrashers to $40.2 million. Your Atlanta Thrashers were #1 in the NHL in cap s...

By The Falconer(noreply@blogger.com) Home run. I expect him in the opening night lineup as he is already in NHL condition and we need defensemen badly. Very skilled but also mean--potentially a smaller version of Chris Pronger. The Thrashers strongest decision the entire draft was simply hanging on to this pick and not trading d...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) SNL Lost Finals CoHL Champions IHL Champions IHL Lost 3rd round IHL Champions IHL Lost Finals AHL Champions AHL Lost 2nd round AHL Lost 2nd round AHL Lost Finals AHL Missed Playoffs AHL Lost 3rd round AHL Champions

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) On the other hand I can see a major deal involving the #29 overall pick and one of the Thrashers top goalies on draft day. Why? One reason is the fact that Hedberg was given a two year extension. I could understand keeping Pavelec in the AHL for one more season for development purposes but I have a...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) I suspect that the Thrashers will trade this pick on Draft Day given the team's history of making deals and all the needs on their roster. However, if they do retain the pick they will likely get a player that they have rated as a mid-first rounder but was passed over by other clubs. The Hockey Ne...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Last fall the Thrashers were coming off their first ever post-season appearance and ticket sales were up. Of course the regular season didn't turn out so well as the club missed the playoffs and ended up trading one of their two marquee players for a collection of role players, prospects an...

By noreply@blogger.com (The Falconer) Are the Thrashers reaching their own internal goals with respect to drafting and development? In the early years Don Waddell repeatedly said that this franchise would be built through the draft and by growing their own players. Right now the Thrashers are on track to build a mediocre team...

By The Falconer Comments: Joe DiPenta made his Chicago debut and would go on to get a Stanley Cup ring as a 3rd pairing defenseman with the Anaheim Ducks. Lessard joined the Wolves as an aspiring figher and would play a full season with the Thrashers eventually. Karlsson has played two full seasons with Tamp...

By The Falconer The truth of the matter is that the Atlanta Thrashers were unusually healthy. You will not hear GM/Coach Don Waddell tout this fact but go compare the number of games played by the Thrashers stars to some other teams around the NHL. Notice that other teams lost key heart and soul superstars li...

By The Falconer I have a lot of mixed feeling about the Townhall Meeting that took place Friday prior to the Thrashers/Wild game. If you want a rather detailed account of the questions and the answers Holland has blow by blow account over at the the Chicken I simply can't write that fast. I want to say that I tot...

By The Falconer UFA signings prior to 2006-07 season (with ages) 40 Scott Mellanby 35 Steve Rucchin 33 Johan Hedberg 33 Niclas Havelid 32 Glen Metropolit 28 Jon Sim 27 Darren Haydar Players acquired through trades 34 Keith Tkachuk 33 Alexei Zhitnik 28 Niko Kapanen 28 Eric Belanger 27 Pascal Dupuis

By The Falconer What I'm upset about is that the business side of the Atlanta Thrashers have discounted single game tickets so heavily it makes no sense financially to buy a full season up front and eat unused (or unsaleable tickets) or pay full price for the pre-season games.

By The Falconer The Thrashers defense is a mess and pretty much always has been. The goaltender is young and shows promise, but he is inconsistent and can't be counted on to play great in net for four playoff rounds. The forwards are a mish-mash of expensive wingers, overpaid checkers, older players headin...

By The Falconer An open letter to Atlanta Thrashers. But right now, as it stands the season ticket package is not as attractive as the non-season ticket package--and that's a bad thing for hockey fans and a bad thing for the Atlanta Thrashers in my opinion.

By The Falconer There is some talk up about a potential Montreal and Thrashers trade involving Hossa. I can't say if there is any truth to these rumors and I'm reluctant to give credit to something said on the radio and reported on a message board, but sounds like DW was in Montreal last night which adds a bit m...

By The Falconer I've criticized the Thrashers for both inconsistency and poor efforts this season and so I was pleased but cautious after a solid efforts in the Ranger game before the break and the Pittsburgh game after the break. In the past, the Thrashers have followed up a couple of strong games by relax...

By The Falconer Welcome to Atlanta All-Star Attendees! Favorite Thai Located just a short drive from Philips Arena is a high quality Thai place called Spoon (768 Marietta Street). Slightly more expensive than most of the places on this list, the food is top notch.

By The Falconer The recent surge by the Capitals has made the division title and place off race more complicated for the Thrashers. They have slipped down to a tie with Buffalo for 11th in the real standings. WAS and CAR are tied at +1 for the SE title and last playoff berth. The Thrashers need to get two points ou...

By The Falconer Projected 2008-09 Atlanta Thrashers lineup and salaries F Kovalchuk ($6.4) White ($2.4) XXX ($ 0.) Kozlov ($ 3.7) Little ($ 0.9) Sterling ($ 0.9) XXX ($ 0.) Perrin ($ 0.8) Larsen ($0.5) D Enstrom ($0.9) Havelid ($ 2.7) Klee ($) 1.25 Zhitnik ($ 3.5) Exelby ($ 1.4) XXX ($0.) G Lehtonen ($ 2.7) Pavelec ($1.4)

By The Falconer As Kevin Allen noted in his column today DW is in a real bind now because the franchise needs more excitement and the playoffs are reachable, but from the outside it certainly look like their star player is going to walk. If they don't trade Hossa the Thrashers may (or may not) enter the playof...

By The Falconer Why? For one thing Allen is a top hockey journalist and current head of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. But perhaps more importantly he appears to have Don Waddell on his speed dial. My guess is that Don Waddell has been quoted more frequently in Kevin Allen's columns than all t...

By The Falconer If the Thrashers only win the games they are favored to win this week they will go 1-3 and fall another -2 points down the "Real Standings" into a tie with Washington for 13th/14th in the East. The playoffs are on the line this week in my opinion. A seven point deficit is enormous in the modern NHL...

By The Falconer Atlanta Thrashers PK Rate 71% October 76% November 86% December Thrashers PK Forwards 91% Hossa 84% White 83% Kovalchuk 83% Holik 76% Perrin 72% Dupuis 68% Kozlov 58% Slater 53% Larsen Thrashers PK Defensemen 85% Enstrom 80% McCarthy 79% Klee 79% Havelid 78% Exelby 62% Zhitnik

By The Falconer I am not worried about this team moving. But I am worried that this team will lose so much money that ownership will spend closer to the bottom than the top of the salary cap. As a fan I'd rather see my GM go into each season able to spend as much money as the Rangers, Red Wings, Flyers and Maple Leafs...

By The Falconer Think about that last statement for a second. There was a guy on the Thrashers who played 255 minutes of ES and SH ice time and was not on the ice one time when the Thrashers scored. 255 Minutes!--that is the equivalent of a team being shut out for 4.25 GAMES! So McCarthy broke his season long ES+SH...

By The Falconer 1.50 Cold Hartley (Games 1-6)--worst in NHL 3.47 Hot Waddell (Games 7-21)--best in NHL 2.27 Cold Waddell (Games 22-34)--worst in NHL 869 Cold Hartley (Games 1-6)--Worst in NHL 909 Hot Waddell (Games 7-21)--Above NHL Average 883 Cold Waddell (Games 22-34)--Worst in NHL

By The Falconer Atlanta Thrashers History 2001-2001: 289 Goals Allowed (29th out of 30 teams) 2002-2002: 288 Goals Allowed (30th out of 30 teams) 2003-2004: 284 Goals Allowed (30th out of 30 teams) 2004-2005: 243 Goals Allowed (25th out of 30 teams) 2005-2006: NHL Lockout

By The Falconer Thanks to everyone who stuck around and watched the amateurs take their turn on the NHL ice. I'll have put a game recap with pictures on the blog soon. Our game certainly had more drama than the Thrasher as it went into sudden death overtime. Thanks to the Thrashers for making this possible and a...

By The Falconer The Thrashers didn't skate. The Thrashers didn't hit. The Thrashers didn't play with any sort of intensity (with a few exceptions).The Thrashers scored some power play goals to make the score look close.The checking lines which had turned in some great performance in recent weeks barely br...

By The Falconer You may have heard that the Atlanta Thrashers added a player in his mid-30s with declining skills to their roster this weekend. Unfortunately that's not me, that's Mark Recchi. But the good news is that I will make my first ever appearance on the ice at Philips Arena.

By The Falconer The Pittsburgh Penguins sent Mark Recchi down to the minors and no team (including Atlanta) put in a claim for him. They Penguins then recalled him and the Thrashers did claim him. What is going on here? Because he was on recall waivers the Thrashers are only responsible for half of his 1.75 mil...

By The Falconer Kovalchuk has played like a force of nature at times. Many players can score when the other team's defensemen make a mistake, but Kovalchuk is scoring in despite of the best efforts of the opposition. That is the mark of a very special player or a very special season. I'll be honest and say that p...

By The Falconer The Washington Capitals and the Nashville Predators have the same problems that Atlanta faces in their marketplace and they have opened the door to bloggers. I was recently granted press access to the October game in Nashville. I sat in the press box. I wore a suit. I stayed out of the way of the b...

By The Falconer I've seen some people comment on the boards about how great the Rangers played. I strongly disagree. I've watched a lot of playoff hockey over the last 17 years and this Rangers squad did not dominate the Thrashers. The series was there for the taking. The Rangers played well, but not great. That...

By The Falconer Some people on the boards claimed that the NBC broadcast was pro-NY and I have to disagree. They said many glowing things about the Thrasher players and their fans. The negative things they said where just good analysis in my view. "There is confusion on the Atlanta powerplay--they need to ge...