After the disastrous 0-6 start to the season, the idea of the Atlanta Thrashers (23-23-3 through Jan. 19) repeating as Southeast Division champions seemed unlikely.
However, a strong November and a winning January coupled with a flat division allowed the Thrashers to slowly make up ground.
Ever so briefly, they reclaimed their Southeast Division lead for the first time since last season when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Jan. 15.
After soundly defeating the best team in the league, it would have surprised nobody if Atlanta used that momentum to string together a solid winning streak.
But a tough shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens and a franchise-worst loss to the Buffalo Sabres dropped the Thrashers back into second place. |
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An unidentified member of the TPH Thunder girls program is escorted and introduced alongside Sidney Crosby before the Penguins Jan. 12 conetst with the Thrashers. |
For a team struggling to be consistent, the Thrashers must learn to build on the hard work that led to wins over Detroit and Pittsburgh, and avoid the mistakes that lead to discouraging losses.
As the Thrashers look forward to a stretch of six of seven games at home, they’ll have to decide which team they want to be if they want to again make the playoffs.
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2006 U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team member Kristin King plays floor hockey at a food court adjacent to Philips Arena , before Atlanta’s contest with the Pittsburgh Penguins
on Jan. 12.
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Three All-Star Thrashers
The NHL announced that Thrashers forwards Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa were named to the All-Star Game as reserves, while rookie defenseman Tobias Enstrom was picked to play in the YoungStars Game. It will be Hossa’s fourth All-Star appearance and Kovalchuk’s second.
Kovalchuk’s selection was never in doubt. He was leading the league with 37 goals and 63 points in mid-January, and with recent injuries to Sidney Crosby and Daniel Alfredsson, he could wind up in the starting lineup.
Hossa’s selection raised a few eyebrows around the league, as his 43 points in 46 games is behind the pace he had last season, when he led the Thrashers in scoring. Still, Hossa definitely has All-Star talent, so his inclusion isn’t a complete surprise.
Only eight players from each conference are selected to play in the YoungStars Game. Enstrom’s steady defensive play, along with his 28 points in 49 games and league-leading 20 power play assists, made him a shoo-in.
Girls Showcase
For the second year, the Thrashers hosted a girls hockey showcase the day of a home game, with events at both Philips Arena and the IceForum in the suburb of Duluth designed to recognize and grow girls’ hockey in the Southeast. The events took place on Jan. 12, before Atlanta’s contest with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
2006 U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team member Kristin King and Thrashers analysts Darren Eliot and Jeff Odgers, along with the Thrashers’ Hockey Development Team, participated in drills at the IceForum that morning.
In the afternoon, King took part in drills and a scrimmage on an indoor area set up at a food court adjacent to Philips Arena. Before the game, 12 local girls took the ice for pre-game introductions and the national anthem. During the first intermission, the girls team from the Georgia Student Hockey League scrimmaged.
"I am extremely impressed," King said during the second intermission of the Thrashers’ 3-2 win over Sidney Crosby and company. "The numbers this year basically quadrupled, especially in the talk before the game, and even in the clinic, there are a lot of numbers that went up.
"[Thrashers hockey development manager] Reagan Carey and the hockey development crew of the Thrashers do an amazing job. You can tell that they’re very passionate about hockey and about growing women’s hockey specifically."
King spoke to the girls about her journey to the Olympic team as the first player from Ohio to make the squad. She also spoke of the impact that players such as Natalie Sanders, of Georgia Tech’s club hockey program, can have on young players.
"These girls here can see that, and know that when they’re on their boys’ teams at home at a younger level, they get their confidence, and eventually maybe move to the girls’ game, or stay in the guy’s game, whatever their choice may be."
From the really good . . .
It was unquestionably one of the most anticipated games of the year for the Thrashers.
It was a homecoming for head coach Don Waddell and injured forward Jim Slater, both Michiganders, and former Red Wing Slava Kozlov. It also was the first time goalie Kari Lehtonen would get a chance to test himself against far and away the best team in hockey. And it was the first time Atlanta would face Detroit since a wild 7-6 Thrashers win Dec. 13, 2005.
With all the extra pressure on them, the Thrashers did everything just about perfectly.
Hossa recorded his first hat trick in a year, Lehtonen turned in one of his best performances of the season with 46 saves and the Thrashers skated away with a 5-1 win Jan. 15.
The Thrashers got three power play goals and chased the NHL’s leader in goals-against average, Chris Osgood, from the contest.
It was the franchise’s first victory at Joe Louis Arena.
The win, coupled with a Carolina loss, vaulted Atlanta into first place for the first time this season.
. . . to the really bad
Fresh off their win over Detroit, the Thrashers were looking to extend their division lead on the road against the Sabres, who hadn’t won a game in regulation since before Christmas.
So much for that idea.
The Sabres jumped ahead 3-0 before Atlanta could even register a shot on goal, and it got worse from there, as Buffalo pummeled Atlanta 10-1 Jan. 18.
Two players compiled hat tricks for the Sabres, while forward Colin Stuart got the lone Atlanta goal.
The game set a franchise record for most goals given up, and tied the franchise mark of worst margin of defeat, going back to a March 11, 2000 9-0 loss to New Jersey.
Somehow, defensemen Tobias Enstrom and Niclas Havelid managed to escape with a plus rating, as both were +1.
THRASHERS STATS LEADERS
All stats are current through Jan. 19
POINTS
Kovalchuk 63
Hossa 43
GOALS
Kovalchuk 37
Hossa 25
ASSISTS
Kovalchuk 26
Enstrom 25
PENALTY MINUTES
Thorburn 74
Boulton, Holik 60
By The Numbers:
1: Ilya Kovalchuk’s ranking in the league
in goals and points.
4: The number of days Atlanta had a full
or partial lead in the Southeast
Division.
8: The number of points Kovalchuk
needs for 450 in his career.
9: The number of goals Atlanta lost by in
a 10-1 drubbing by Buffalo Jan. 18.
10: The number of goals Hossa needs for
300 in his career. |
