Coach Anderson is certainly getting more out of this lineup that any other coach in Thrasher history. His players pressure the puck and are allowed to be creative. Their style is evolving into an exciting brand of hockey. Sure, they still make mistakes and they've had a couple of rough periods here and there, but they play much more like a team than past Thrashers clubs. They play with much more energy and fluidity than past Thrashers teams. The old Thrashers seemed to labor just to get the puck up the ice and and the offensive zone, while the current club keeps getting better at making quick outlet passes and explosive breakouts that put pressure on the opposition defense.
Amen.
Meanwhile, Rawhide answers some important questions which tortured us all in the off-season:
Bryan Little: “Is he finally ready for the NHL on a full-time basis”?
Well, seeing that he has 9 goals and a team-leading 17 points, I’m gonna go way out on a limb here and say the answer is… “YES”!
Oh, and did I mention he leads the team with a +8?
Slava Kozlov: ”Was last season just an aberration”?…”Were his injuries the major contributions to his off year”…”Could he play this year more like the Slava of old”?
Well, I would venture to guess that the answers seem to be…”YES”, “YES” and, “YES”! His 10 goals tops the list for this team and he has 16 points overall. That puts him on a pace to almost double last year’s 41-point production.
Yes…the Slavinator is baaack!
Ron Hainsey: “Was this UFA signing worth what the Thrashers paid for him”?
Ummmm…I’ll take “Not Only YES, But…Oh HAY-yell YES” for a thousand, Alex!
What more could one ask of from this guy? He has been one of the most stabilizing forces to grace this blueline in many moons. He has contributed offensively with 3 goals and 6 assists, is a +1 with only 2 PIM. Not only is he NOT looking like one of the top five worst signings of 2008… there are even some out there who would consider Hainsey captain material.
Good stuff.
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