Saturday, October 31, 2009

Thrashers Decapitate Sens in Halloween Horror/Miracle


It's hard to know what to say about that game in any general sense, so I suppose I'll stick to the tried-and-true Random Impressions method.

- First and foremost, Pavelec was stunning and this kind of performance should restore any lost confidence. He made about a dozen highlight-reel saves, maybe more. The sequence during that late Ottawa power play where he stopped something like 3 shots, from 3 very different angles, in just a few seconds while the entirety of both teams stumbled and fell all around him was completely insane. For another great save, check out this incident of Czech-on-Czech crime:



- That said, we can't rely on our goaltender to bail us out every game. Especially if we go through entire periods where we can't break out of our zone. The fourth line icing the puck TWICE in the same shift was something I would do in a two-player video game; that is, it was goofy as hell. The team as a whole needs to work on that whole "giving up 51 shots/ never getting out of our zone" thing.

- Can Maxim Afinogenov only score those lovely goals of his when he's in totally alone?

- Bogo and the Pevs Dispenser continue to be solid. Bogo's goal was magical, and we're going to need a lot more goals like Peverley's if we're going to get through this Czarless period intact.

- Nik Antropov will finish the season with 82 assists and 0 goals.

Happy trick-or-treating and/or fire-lit barn dancing, bobbing for apples, and mirror magic. Or maybe even watching the Val Lewton marathon on TCM, if that's your thing. Which it might well be.

Halloween Game Day: That C'Be A Spooky Time


Who doesn't love a good scary pumpkin? Ah, Halloween and a Thrashers game day, all in one. One is a scary, horrifying time that after it's over leaves many small children and grown adults all curled up in a ball in the corner crying... and the other is Halloween. RIMSHOT!!!!!

Thank you, thank you. I know we all saw that one coming, but it was worth it anyway. Now, on to the game. Who is it we are playing anyway? Why, it's the Senators you say:



How about that Zach Bogosian and Evander Kane, heeennnggghh? How 'bout 'em? Heeeeennnnnggghhhh!!!! If we lose today that makes 5 in a row. I thought this was the team that was different. This was the team that was too deep to go on extended losing streaks. Come in Byron Young. Calling Byron Young. Mr. Young? How about that Slava Kozlov? He is a spooky guy that became undead last year... what better time to raise from the dead than Halloween? And how about Nik Holik.... uh, I mean Antropov. Let's use that 4 mil and get at least ONE goal in the first ten games.

Not trying to sound hard on the boys, but things can get away from you VERY quickly. I feel we are on that verge, and if certain guys don't start contributing the way they can, and SHOULD, then we are in for a long season. And if we are in for a long season, well you know what that means regarding a certain someones future. Don't make me say it. You know, if someone wasn't here.

That c'be a spooky time.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Everything is Terrible



What's the point of your goalie turning in a stellar performance when the rest of the team--with a few exceptions (Zach Bogosian, Evander Kane)--turns in an arena-silencing performance?

What's the point of playing well in the 3rd period when you play terribly in the first two?

What's the point of having a good supporting cast when your leading man, for all practical purposes, doesn't exist? Awesome as Peter Lorre, Claude Rains, and Sydney Greenstreet are, you can't do Casablanca without Bogart.

What's the point of being confident that we would've won had _____________ not happened if WE NEVER ACTUALLY WIN?

None of this can be a good thing. There's still a good amount of time to turn this around, but Jeebus H., we really need to get serious.

Another thing. You know what the problem is with pre-Halloween Thrashers games? No Furries.

Burn the Witch! GAME DAY- Washington Capitals, again

By "burn," I mean "defeat." And by "the witch," I mean "those wicked Washington Capitals." Though if we're going by the QOTSA video below I hope the Thrashers are the army of cool dancing skeletons and the Capitals are the pious townsfolk.

As you all know, tonight we get to see the boldly experimental No Kovalchuk Thrashers. Should be...oh, who am I kidding? I'll be hiding my eyes.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Estate Agents, Take Note

Item! Evander Kane is staying in Atlanta. This should surprise naked mole rats everywhere.

This is terrible news, because your editor is looking for new digs himself right now, and if recent experience is any indication, Evander Kane will put down a deposit on the last remaining decent apartment in Atlanta before I can get to it. Curses!

Open Thread

This swine flu thing is really catching on.

Anyone here know anything about the Hockey?

UPDATE: Okay, fine, DON'T write witty and penetrating comments about the Hockey. As with the Kovalchuk injury, the Chronicle will find some hardy and stoic way to survive.

Say, do you think going to an arena full of tons and tons of people several times a week increases your chances of getting the Pig Cholera?

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Keep the Swine Far Thence, That's Foe to Men

Ahahahahahaha, yes, YES. The first (right?) case of Hockey Swine Flu.

Denver Post, via P. Diddy:

After the Avalanche morning skate today at Rexall Place, Colorado coach Joe Sacco confirmed that backup goalie Peter Budaj, who missed his scheduled first start of the season last Friday because of illness, has been diagnosed with swine flu, or the H1N1 virus.

The entire NHL will now turn into pigs. Clever man that he is, Ilya will miss Peak Pig Metamorphoses.

Yeah, it's a slow day here at TBC LLC HQ. But this offers yet another excuse to play this thing.

Jason Krog Will Be Trick-or-Treating as Ilya Kovalchuk This Year

You've all heard about the return of Jason Krog. Let's forget about our exiled Czar for a moment with some Halloween cheer:

Monday, October 26, 2009

Bob McKenzie is Such a Reassuring Presence



Just for the hell of it:

Kane-Antropov-Afinogenov
Kozlov-Peverley-Armstrong
Joey Crabb-White-Little
Boulton-Reasoner-Thorburn

Consider trading Jimmy Slater for Alexander Frolov.

I need cheap red wine to calm me down.

[McKenzie Twitter]

Kovy Out One Month With Broken Foot




Per Thrash's facebook status. Yes, this is how I get my news.

Edit:

And now this from the AJC. I has a sad.

So, what, fellow Thrashers fans, does this actually do to our team? What does this do to Kovy signing a new deal? What, exactly, does this do to Big Shooter's sanity, which was teetering to begin with?

I'll go ahead and state the obvious: Kovy can't be replaced. We will call someone up, hope Kane can step it up, although that is asking quite a lot from an 18 year old. All of a sudden, our goaltending isn't quite the biggest issue we have, is it?

Let's look on the bright side shall we? Let's say the boys pull together, and WIN some games while our Czar is gone. What better way to show Kovy we really ARE a good team than to win without him?!?!? The team goes on a tear, remains in the playoff picture, and our Czar comes back fully rested and with a new 10 year deal.

One can dream.

While We're Waiting

...for the gory details, we might as well prepare ourselves for Hallowe'en.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Notes from Pregame Skate Saturday

This past Saturday morning the Atlanta Thrashers were kind enough to invite a handful of bloggers out to the morning skate for media access. Ben Wright from the Blueland Blog hosted representatives from the Blueland Roar, Fanthrashtic, Thrashers411, Birdwatchers Annonymous, and myself, Razor Catch Prey of the Blueland Chronicle.

We were welcomed into the lower bowl of Philips to observe as Moose took to the ice well before the rest of the team, as we are told he does for every pregame skate. Anssi Salmela eventually joined him and the two engaged in a game that consited of alternately firing pucks from center ice into the net. The goal is to hit the net without first hitting ice or iron. Despite playing with a goalie stick and in full goalie pads, Moose performed admirably. Matt McConnel joined us as we watched the rest of the team come on ice and begin roughly structured exercises intended to get loose and stretched out.

As always, McConnel is a lot of fun to talk to. He's glad to be back in Atlanta and back doing play by play after being in the studio last year. We discussed what he and Darren Elliot try to accomplish on the air, what he and the rest of us have gathered from the team's performance thus far, and our philosophies on blogging. We didn't gather anything shocking to reveal to you in this discussion, just an appreciation for a good guy in the organization. There were some very interesting things said off the record, but obviously those have to go unrepeated.

After the pre-game skate, we meandered through the bowels of the arena to set up shop outside the locker room. Ben Wright had informed us that we would have an opportunity to interview Chris Thorburn. On the way to the locker room, we passed Eric Boulton who recognized us and called out "you're not going to have to talk to Thorburn are you?"

The bloggers were present for Coach Anderson's post-skate press conference, which consisted of Ben Wright, Dan Kamal, and Chris Vivlamore asking a couple of questions each and JA giving the same answers he had given after the game Thursday night, almost verbatim. He went back into the locker room and we were left to our own devices for several minutes, politely nodding at players as they passed by, waiting for Chris Thorburn to come out for his interview.

When he emerged from the locker room, Thorbs discussed what it's like as a professional hockey player being traded. He said that it would have been much more difficult had he been married, but for a young single guy getting traded isn't all that big of a deal. He saw his trade to Atlanta as an opportunity and set a personal goal of sticking with the NHL club which he hadn't done previously.

Next, I asked Thorburn about the feel of the locker room from the time he joined the team through today. He immediately said that the level of excitement this season was previously unmatched. He went on to answer questions about killing penalties and how it's different skating with Marty the Party rather than Slater. In his words, when you get the puck to Marty Reasoner you'd better get open because he's going to be looking to make a play.

Before he bid adieu, I asked Thorbs for a favor. We didn't know who we might be interviewing, and I had speculated that it might well be Rich Peverly since he just signed his contract extension this week. My fiance had run out and bought a Pez Dispenser that I could present to the Pevs Dispenser. I explained the nickname to Thorburn and, laughing merrily, he agreed to present it to Peverly on behalf of the Chronicle.

We went back out to the seats to watch the Sharks pregame skate and talk blogging with the very knowlegeable and pleasant Julie from HockeyBuzz. I have to admit that I am not familiar with her work since HockeyBuzz is blocked at my office, but she certainly seems to know her stuff. She is working on what I gather to be a personality profile story on Evander Kane for Versus. Hopefully DirecTV will start carrying the network again in time for me to catch some of it.

Thanks to the Thrashers and their staff for inviting us to the event.

For the Chronicle, I'm Razor Catch Prey.

Bad Bounce, Happens All the Time. Bad Bounce, Happens All the Time. Bad Bounce, Happens All...

Two things.

1) I have serious questions about our goaltending.

2) For those that were there tonight: the ice girl that scored that super-finessed awesome goal during the 2nd intermission, and proceeded to do the Teemu Selanne "throw your glove in the air and shoot at it with your stick" thing is the single most erotic thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

Make that three things.

3) Kovy...um, what?

Actually, make it five.

4) Congrats on the shutout, Pavs.

5) Evander Kane and Rich Peverley are glorious.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

GAME DAY: San Jose Sharks



The San Jose Sharks were, until very recently, your editor's 2nd favorite team. The reasons for this are many. Just to name some: ties to the Bay Area, Jeremy Roenick in his baroque period, Joe Thornton's passing, Patrick Marleau's speed and skating, Evgeni Nabokov's heroics in goal, the stellar two-way play of Milan Michalek and Joe Pavelski, the fact that Jonathan Cheechoo always seemed like a such a nice guy, Ron Wilson's suits, and then Todd McLellan's hobo-stumbled-on-some-fine-clothes look, and many more.

As you may have heard, despite their overwhelming talent, they've had a hard time getting it done in the post-season. GM Doug Wilson seems to think the remedy for this is Dany Heatley. I'm not so sure.

I won't deny that I'll be interested to see how things turn out with one of the best snipers in the league playing alongside one of the best playmakers, but...I just don't like Dany Heatley. In fact, I really dislike him. Not directly because of the Snyder tragedy, but because of just about everything he's done post-Thrashers. Requesting trades, throwing tantrums when he's offered a spot on a team he doesn't want to go to, his general petulance, forcing Cheechoo and Michalek to leave the Sharks, etc.

So, for me, the San Jose Sharks no longer exist. I think of them as having passed into history already, while the team we're playing tonight is an entirely different team called "the San Jose Sharks + Dany Heatley." During the Communist period, Milan Kundera and Czeslaw Milosz wrote about their respective countries as if they no longer existed; during Pinochet's rule in Chile, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez said he wouldn't write a single book until the dictator fell. That's sort of how I feel about the Sharks: they're occupied by an oppressive foreign power, and I won't return to them until he's gone. In other words, I'm boycotting the Heatley-era Sharks.

That comparison is in appallingly bad taste, but there it is.

I still read the finest Sharks blogs, though! If you're interested in some of the best writing in the hockey blogosphere I strongly urge you to check out the great Mike Chen, the Battle of California, Couch Tarts, and Fear the Fin.

Meanwhile, the Thrashers have GOT to win. It won't be easy, of course, as San Jose is stacked with dangerous forwards and offensive d-men AND mightily pissed off about losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning the other day. I reckon the only way for Pavelec get his confidence back is by throwing him in tonight. Haw haw, throwing him to the Sharks, as it were, HAW!

One more thing. The Chronicle's own Razor Catch Prey went to a bloggers' rendezvous at today's morning skate and interviewed an actual Thrashers player! His report should be mighty juicy.

The game-day song is one that, we've all just learned, Sean Avery really, really likes. Whatever else you may about the guy, he has good taste in music, clothes, and women. Surely that counts for something?

Anyway, don't take your eye off the puck again, boys. We know you can win it.

Radiohead - 15 Step (Grammys 2009)


When the hell did this happen? I should consider watching the Grammy's.

Go Thrashers.

Friday, October 23, 2009

I Jes Luv That Moon

I don't know about you, readers, but your Chronicle editor is still feeling out of sorts about that game last night. Not upset, and not even pissed off (like I said I was last night, which wasn't quite true even then). Instead I'm in some strange new mood vis-a-vis the Thrashers: more or less confident about the team, irritated by a few easily avoidable mistakes that led to a narrow loss, and bewildered by the sheer weirdness of the game.

It's Friday, and I think we all need to unwind with a little brandy and piano. At the moment, your editor is trying to culture himself, so it's gotta be Debussy.

Ovechkin/Peverley Hit

The folks on Hockey This Morning have been spending a lot of air time discussing the "slew foot" Alex Ovechkin put on Rich Peverley in the final minute of last night's game. Watching in person, there was too much going on around the play for me to see the actual infraction. Ron Hainsey said that he didn't see anything dirty when he watched it happen, but could clearly see the slew foot on replay.

Evgini Artyukhin was suspended by the league this week for exactly that kind of play. Luckily, Peverley wasn't hurt. What are your opinions?

Here's the link to Hainsey's comments from HTM.

Sacre Bleu!

The night's not over, my friends.

RDS Hockey, the French-Canadian source for all things NHL, says (in your editor's admittedly rough and stumbling translation):

Ilya Kovalchuk and the Atlanta Thrashers are reportedly [editor's note: heeengh?] very near an agreement of nine years that would pay him [editor's note: "him" being Kovalchuk] more than 100 million dollars.

His average salary would be 11.3 million dollars per season.

The Thrashers' first choice in the 2001 draft, Kovalchuk has scored 304 goals in 551 career games.
[editor's note: silly pseudo-Frog press! Already outdated!]

This season, the player of Russian origin has scored 7 goals in 6 bouts. [Ed. note: Have to love that Gallic flash: "recontre." Amazing!]

Kovalchuk won the Maurine Richard Trophy in for most goals in the NHL when he scored YOU GET THE POINT.


Interesting report, this. The key word here is "seraient," which can mean all kinds of things. Here it seems to mean "Kovalchuk and the Thrashers are thought to be/speculated to be very near..."

Basically they're saying that some folks, somewhere on the Planet Earth, are speculating that this might be so. It might be. It might not be. All I know is I've expected Kovalchuk to get a contract like this ever since Ovechkin signed his. So, um, yeah. If you want to see a puking ape keep scrolling down.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Mysteries of Life



Questions:

1) How can two evenly-matched teams play against one another reasonably well, with exactly equivalent shots on goal, and one of them lose in an especially humiliating fashion because of their goalie?

2) How can the aforementioned team's goalie put on such an astonishing performance in one game and be soul-incineratingly bad in the next game?

Conclusions:

1) A year ago, this game would have sent me spiraling into the deepest despair. Tonight, I'm not depressed. I'm only pissed off. Because we could have won that game, easily. Most people on the Atlanta Thrashers professional hockey team played well tonight. Our goaltender didn't. It doesn't matter how good you are if your goaltender turns in a sucky performance.

2) I'm not saying Pavelec is a bad goaltender. He's obviously not. All I'm saying is that it would be prudent, at the moment, to consider making a certain Swedish quadruped our #1 goaltender. But then again, what do I know?

3) Sanctimony along the lines of either "ZOMG everyone sucks" or "NEVER CRITICIZE OUR TEAM OR ANY INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS EVER EVER EVER" is mindless as hell. In both cases.

4) Congratulations on the shutout, Moose.

Postscript:

There are plenty of reasons for hope here. Plenty.

Post-Postcript:

Did you ever, EVER, expect to see the likes of this?


^---click the damn thing.

The Call Goes Out

Rawhide:

 If you’ve been waiting for the organ-I-zation to ice a quality product before you return, they have. If you have held back to cheer on players that perform at a level worthy of your support, these are. If haven’t already procured your tickets, do so.

Get on board and don’t let this train pass you by, Thrasherville!


Seriously, if you don't come to the game tonight the Chronicle will publish rumors about you. Even if you're a reader who lives in another state or province, another country even, perhaps one who isn't even a Thrashers fan: I implore you, hop in your car/boat/hovercraft and speed all the way to Marietta Street. If you leave now you'll probably make it by the second period.

Meanwhile, others are requesting your presence:

The Dawn of the Fabergé Line

I hate to bump down Razor's game day post, but I figured this was worth sharing.



The line combinations thing, not the Anderson-Boudreau thing (apparently Kovy and Ovie are having a grand time together at the morning skate as well). The Kahlua Line has been reunited, and the first line is now...what, exactly? The Fabergé Line? The Bear Line? The Bronze Horsemen? The Commissars? The Duma? The Cossacks?

What shall we call the long-awaited and probably inevitable Kovalchuk-Antropov-Afinogenov line?

Game Day: Capitals



Does anyone remember what the inside of Philips Arena looks like? It's been so very, very long since opening night.

The team had a short 30 minutes on the ice on Wednesday, so hopefully they are fresh and ready for Washington tonight. They certainly looked fatigued in La Belle Province on Tuesday night.

Word is the Caps have some decent young players. Peter Bondra, Dale Hunter, Mikel Pivonka, Keith Jones, Jim Carrey, Jaromir Jagr...

Has anyone else noticed this?--

Alex Ovechkin. Ove- from the latin for "egg"
Alex Semin-- self explanatory.

Coincidence?

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Perspective, Please

Most people have reacted rationally to last night's nabbing of 1 point in an overtime loss. I'm proud to say our esteemed and award-winning commenters are among this fine, perceptive group (see here).

A small but vocal faction, however, won't shut the fuck up. Their ungrammatical whinging can be precisely summarized as, "Why didn't Kovy score, why didn't we win, our power play sucks forever, Kovy won't re-sign because we only got 1 point last night, the Andromeda Galaxy is hurtling towards us, etc."

Dudes. Calm down. 4-1-1 is a very good start. The Thrashers were sloppy and awkward as all hell last night, but our goalie nearly stole the whole game. Every now and then good teams don't show up to play but their goalie carries them to at least one point. The Thrashers will get their game--including their power play--back on track for the home-stand. For now let's be thankful that we have a goaltender who's capable of that kind of collective-ass-saving performance.

It wasn't just Pavelec, though. Our penalty kill continues to be phenomenal, and how many times in Thrashers history have you been able to say "Our goalie and our penalty kill saved the game" ? Hmm?

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Who Would Have Thought Slava Kozlov Was Such a Psychopathic Hell-Monster?

- Pavelec is a thief.

- Colby Armstrong's hit on Marc-Andre Bergeron was brutal but legal. I would advise Montreal fans to do what I did when Kris Letang nearly murdered Todd White last year: grumble about how Armstrong is literally the equivalent of Augusto Pinochet and Saddam Hussein combined, and accept that hockey is an awfully violent sport.

- Speaking of Colby Armstrong, how 'bout 'im?

- Pavelec was honest-to-goodness incredible.

- Slava Kozlov is the last person I would've expected to administer a head-into-the-boards murder of Scott Gomez. Oh well.

- Speaking of Slava Kozlov, he DOES turn the puck over a lot, doesn't he? I mean, don't get me wrong: I love the guy. But he does lose the puck in the most inopportune of circumstances, like during power plays.

- Our penalty kill rules.

- I've realized something about Maxim Afinogenov. Many people say things like, "Oh, he's entrancing enough when he has the puck, but despite the occasional eye-popping goal, most of the time he can't finish." That's often true, but during tonight's game it dawned on me that he's useful for JUST THAT REASON. He collects the puck and dances around like a prancing stallion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, around and around the net, and no one on the opposing team can capture him. He kills time. And occasionally scores an amazing goal.

- Our power play was no good tonight, which is Terrible. But I suspect it'll get back on track soon enough.

- The third period and overtime were pretty intense. I had to rely on a bottle of red wine to see me through.

- Obviously, I would have preferred an outright victory, but I'm happy for the Thrashers to collect a point out of this game. Good work boys.

Hunnnee Now De Pevs!!!!

According to TSN, Pevs signs two year deal! Bravo, Waddell. Now, if we can just get that other guy to sign...

Game Day: Habs


Let's keep it going, shall we boys...

Monday, October 19, 2009

He'll Be Dispensing for Many Years to Come

Most of you, I'm sure, already know about this (such is the Internet Age) but hey let's post it, because why not, etc.

Kevin Allen at USA Today:

Although Ilya Kovalchuk's contract rightfully receives most of the media attention, the Atlanta Thrashers are close to completing negotiations to extend the contract of another essential forward.

The Pevs Dispenser, that is. HOORAY! Seriously, this is great news. As you all know.

Snyder Arena



Great coverage of the Thrashers visit to Elmira. I'm sure you have all seen this already, but wanted to post it just in case. Also, here is a nice little piece from Viv's Blog over at the AJC:

I waited to talk to LuAnn until the day was almost over. I wanted to stay out of her way, but also give her a chance to take everything in before speaking about it. She was again gracious. When I brought up the subject of Dan’s watch, broken in three pieces in the accident, she related the story of how she kept a piece, gave one to Bob Hartley and another to Kovalchuk. She started to cry, but made it through. To tell you the truth, I had tears in my eyes as well by the time she was done.

Why Kovalchuk, I asked?

Here is what she said. “I told Kovy that he was the future of the franchise. He was going to be the glue that holds the franchise together.”

And then she said this about the Thrashers captain: “He’s my boy. He’s a sweetheart. He’s an absolutely wonderful person. People that don’t get to know him on a personal level like we have, don’t realize what a wonderful, wonderful, genuine person he is. He’s a superstar hockey player, but he’s a father, a friend and he’s always, always been so good to us. He’s a wonderful kid, but he’s first and foremost a wonderful person and the fans have reason to love him.”


Good stuff.

Edit:

On a personal note, just wanted to point out how cool it is to follow an organization that has First Class people from the top down. That isn't always the case. Lots of folks have been on Waddell over the years (even myself, from time to time, though not nearly as much as others) for the lack of success on the ice. One thing he has ALWAYS done is conduct himself and run the Thrashers organization with tremendous grace and class. The team's visit to Elmira is just another example of that. And if this year keeps going the way it has started, I will be happiest for Waddell.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Yet Again


Well, he did it again. God bless Hedberg. He played pretty amazing this game. The PK was pretty damn good as well again. The last one did not work out in our favor, but what can you do. Kovy was relentless once again. But hey, did you see that Afinogenov? Yeh, I saw it. It was pretty cool, like Sammy Davis Jr cool.

Game Day: Buffalo Sabers


Let's hope those Thrashers keep up their winning ways tonight as they make their way into Buffalo. Anderson had said Moose would get the call, but no news that I am aware of this morning... leaving the door open for a possible start from Pavs after his strong play last night.

Some of you readers out there may remember that Chris Thorburn has not exactly been my favorite player. Well, I'm a big man and can admit when I am wrong. After seeing last nights game it is clear that Thor is the single greatest hockey player ever to live (this includes air hockey, bubble boys hockey, roller hockey, but strangely enough... not video game hockey). Also, I am in love with Evander Kane and I don't care what you think about that. It comes down to this... who would you rather have: Kane or Slater? I rest my case.

Back to tonight's game.... there seems to be a viewing party tonight at TJ's. Sadly, Big Shooter is unable to make it tonight. But it looks as though the Fan Club and Rawhide's Rowdies will both be there. Promises to be a noisy place, for sure.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Here We Go


Wooooooooo. Choppy game, sleek win.

Stumbled around a bit in the 1st, but Pavelec was great then and for the rest of the game.

Rich Peverley is some sort of island god.

Evander Kane's goal, like his first one, was superstar-level awesome. I wonder what if feels like to beat Martin Brodeur with that kind of finesse at age 18.

Nik Antropov made the smartest play I've ever seen tonight. Standing in front of the net and screening Brodeur, he received a pass from Peverley and passed it right back for the Pevs Dispenser's second goal. He could have hacked away at it, which most players would have done if they were standing directly in front of the net. But Antro was using the noggin. Very smart, very pretty play.

Short-handed goals are always glorious, but the Thorburn-Enstrom-Reasoner effort tonight was excessively glorious.

Eric Boulton got EVERYTHING going with his hellacious fight against that one guy after the first Devils goal. He's the best tough guy in the league.

Our special teams rule. Even our penalty kill.

Game Day, Thank God: NEW JERSEY DEVILS



My memories of the Thrashers are very cloudy. I do not care for this fewest-games-played thing. It'd be good to jump back into the Top 8, which we'll do easily if we win tonight.

The Devils, I believe, haven't won at home yet, so they'll be hungry.

A few brain-dead rumors about Kovy flying around. They will only get worse. Unless, of course, he re-signs reasonably soon. Which will happen, of course, if we win tonight and tomorrow night, and then again, several more times.

As for the game day tune, well...here's the best song ever written by anybody, ever. One that also happens to be highly appropriate for our situation:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Your Ron Hainsey Fix for the Day

Via the WrightTwitter.

Hanging with Hainsey, again.

Also, this thing in the Sporting News magazine.

You can never have enough Ron OMFGIRFH Hainsey.

Lest We Get Sued...

The previously posted blog about Tim Horton's was meant entirely in jest. We here at the Chronicle have no knowledge of the business plans of Tim Horton's and intended only to annoy Canadian hockey fans who delight in starting rumors that our Southern hockey teams will be moved to small Canadian markets.

However, should Tim Horton's wish to implement Razor Catch Prey's brilliant plan to relocate and retool marketing around the wonderful personality of Jeremy Roenick, we will be expecting royalties.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Blueland Chronicle Comment of the Day


This epistle from "Go Puck Yourself" is just full of win: 

Dear Canada,

We see some of your favorite hockey clubs are struggling/suck horrendously.

Well....that's what you get for giving us Nickelback.

Damn you. We deserve more vengeance.

This Just In

(updated quite a bit below)

Roenick Donuts

Toronto area residents already steeped in a malaise inspired by the Maple Leafs' 0-5-1 start, were further saddened today to learn that a beloved local restaurant chain would be fleeing the Great White North for greener pastures in the American sun-belt.

Tim Horton's will be expanding throughout the Southeastern United States. The franchise will open fifty stores throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner items and is well known for "Timbits" doughnut holes and high quality blueberry muffins.

The move will coincide with the closing of all Tim Horton's locations within the province of Ontario.

To appeal to the new market, the franchise is renaming it's restaurants after an American born hockey player. Jeremy Roenick has been chosen for the honor. "I can't wait to offer my input on what to rename the Timbits" an enthusiastic Roenick was heard to say.


copyright Aaron


Editor's note: Photoshop contest now. Send in your finest Jeremy Roenick + Tim Horton's photoshops and we'll post the most rib-tickling among them. bluelandchronicle@gmail.com -MP

Why So Surprised?

Did people actually expect the Maple Leafs to be GOOD this year?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Moonbat Canadian Fan Support Group

If you didn’t know (and I certainly didn’t) there is a group out there calling itself the NHL Fans Association which apparently purports to represent the will of hockey fans in the same way the NHL Players Association does its union members.

Their website claims 30,355 “members” and 251 “MVPs” who I assume are probably members who paid extra money. Jim Boone is the founder of this organization and through that claim to fame has himself a blog on our favorite Sunbelt-Hockey-Bashing publication, The Hockey News.

Boone’s newest update communicates the results of a poll of the NHLFA’s members. Apparently the main concerns of their members depend on whether they are answering from north or south of the U.S./Canadian border. American fans, according to Boone’s data, want to see higher quality and more widely available television coverage for the NHL in the United States. Fair enough, and a sentiment I think all of us here at the Chronicle share.

Where this whole exercise turns nutty however, is when Boone reveals the main concern of Canadian members of his organization, which is the ouster of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Apparently Canadian NHLFA membership is comprised mainly of the canuckle-draggers who believe that Commissioner Bettman is an evil robot from the future sent back in time to prevent NHL franchises from being moved to Canada. Bettman has become a lightning rod for irrational Canadians who don’t understand why an NHL team in a major American media market shouldn’t immediately be uprooted and moved to any available site north of the Canadian border.

According to Boone, “Canadian fans feel this man has done more harm than good to the game. They feel Bettman is not in touch with the sport’s grassroots – in Canada – and the time has come to find a new and more informed leader.” That “- in Canada –“ emphasis was Boone’s, not mine. Our gracious neighbors to the north don’t want someone who has worked tirelessly to grow our game, expand the fan base, and drag the sport out of the low scoring doldrums of the late 90’s. They want somebody who will pluck teams out of the southern US and put them in Winnipeg, Quebec City, Hamilton, and Moose Jaw.

An earlier poll about members’ views on the Coyotes situation reveals surprisingly little. The questions asked for predictions, not personal feelings. The only question that gets at all to the desires of participants is “Do you think it is in the best interest of the NHL and its fans to have the Phoenix franchise relocate to Southern Ontario?” To which the vast majority of Canadian members and a narrow margin of American members said yes. One can easily think it’s in the league’s best interest to move them there, but they may not personally want to see it happen. It may also be in your best interest to order a Michelob Ultra at the game but full calorie Labatt Blue tastes a whole lot better. If there were other questions asked, they and the results aren’t included in the report published on the NHLFA’s website.

Looking to Invest?

Via Bird Watchers Anonymous and the AJC, I hear the Atlanta Thrashers might be a welcome place for your dollars.

I think the Chronicle's record is pretty clear when it comes to what we think of the Atlanta Spirit ownership group. As much as we've criticized them in the past, fairness obliges me to credit them with at least two things, and this seems as good an opportunity as any to credit them:

1) They went on a spending spree this summer to hire Rick Dudley, acquire Nik Antropov, and take on Pavel Kubina's not-small contract, all in the hopes of generously shelling out even more money to pay Ilya Kovalchuk for many, many years.

2) For Jeebus's sake, and this goes for Canuckle-dragging yellow journalists and Thrashtards alike, STOP all this dumb hyperventilating about the ATL Spirit being a "money-losing" organization. Yes, they've lost a fair amount of money over the years, but (seriously, are you ready? because this is an actual dimension-opening mindfuck) even a paid commie like myself knows that a business can lose money for a fairly long time and still be a viable business. It's called "running a business at a loss." Of course, there are certain conditions for this kind of thing, like having a big and deep pool of capital to dip into. The ATL Spirit guys, whatever else you may say about them, aren't going to run out of capital anytime soon. The countless concerts and special events at Philips, plus the sales of Wetzel pretzels and gallons of beer, not to mention their personal fortunes, will make sure of that. The fact that they're willing to invest in this team--and yes, lose money on it--ennobles them at least a little bit, don't you think?

But still, they might be looking for new investors. I know I could contribute maybe $20 if they'd be willing to give me a .000000002% share in ownership.

Monday, October 12, 2009

John Anderson Simply Does Not Care for Slava Kozlov's Diet

The Thrashers don't play again for like 7 full years, so there's precious little to say. Here's some worthwhile stuff that the Internet has recently thrown up:

- Some dude who plays the Hockey in Zagreb committed an act of OMG Goal-Scoring Pwnage the other day. [Puck Daddy]

- Mr. Rawhide's peculiar and famous blog over at the AJC--in addition to being the newspaper's sole source of wealth--is now 3 years old. Head over and say "Cheers, Mr. Rawhide. Thank you, thank you brother, for being a beacon to Thrash-bloggers hither and yon. Ah, Trixie, I didn't see you come in. Looking lovely today, as always, truly a vision." [AJC Ice Man]

- Not hockey-related, but hahahahahahaha 20th Century Fox is making a Moses movie in graphic novel-300 style. The plagues are gonna kick ass. [The Awl]

- Ben Wright is demanding you Twitter him your requests for a new "Ask a Thrasher" feature. Speaking as me, I'd like to see a searching interview with Nik "Danger" Antropov. [Ben Wright on the Twitter]

- I thoroughly enjoyed this video of John Anderson all mic'd up at a Thrashers morning skate. Particularly his ribbing of Slava Kozlov for not eating more steak. [Thrashers TV]

Song of the day? Song of the day:

Jackie Collins Existential Question Time - Manic Street Preachers

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Ho Hum

Yes, we lost to the Sens. Sounded like the Thrashers were sloppy and could never settle into their preferred style; like Pavelec was, as usual, terribly shaky at the beginning (only this time, it led to 2 goals against us); like the officials hate us, etc.

No solemn requiems just yet. A 2-1 start is pretty good; the torment is waiting for the next game. In the mean time here's Felix the Cat to cheer us all up:

Saturday, October 10, 2009

GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators



The Sens, now Heatley-less, have been doing pretty well so far. So have we.

We must make a 3-0-0 start for ourselves. I say it all depends on whether Todd White and Christoph Schubert decide to wreak havoc on their former city or go easy on it.

I predict Nik Antropov (who's been good so far, by the way) gets on the scoresheet tonight. I also predict a lot of goals all around.

Make it three in a row, boys. We don't need to get caught in a web of our own weaving this early (no, I can't think of any songs to go with the Ottawa Senators).

Friday, October 9, 2009

Just How High Can He Go.... Heennngghhh?


Well, let me be the one billionth person to congratulate our Czar on reaching 300 goals. This did get me thinking, just how many CAN he actually score? Let's review, shall we? The man is 26 years old, and in 7 NHL seasons where he stayed mostly healthy, he has reached 301 goals. That is an average of 42 goals per season. Those are downright frightening numbers. Just what, exactly, have you done with YOUR life... hmmm?

Let's stay on the safe side as we try and project the rest of his career. You never know how long someone will play, or how much they will play due to injury. Kovy is entering the prime of his career, so lets say over the next five years he averages 40 goals per season. That puts him at 31 years old. Let's then drop him down to an average of 30 goals over the next five seasons, putting him at 36 years old. Somewhat doable, would you say?

And because my head starts to hurt when I do all teh numberz, we will stop there even though we know our Czar will play until he is 50. By stopping him at age 36, that allows perhaps for some missed time due to injury throughout the years, and helps keep our possible number reasonable. Everyone still with me?

This little experiment puts our Czar at 650 career goals (and if things go well, could easily score over 700)! Pretty incredible wouldn't you say? Just think, if we didn't have the lockout, you could probably add another 40 goals to the total he already has. But if we did that he would have scored 300 goals a while ago, thus I would have written this post a while ago. Hey, what a minute... am I stuck in some sort of Back to the Future monkey time machine?!?!? Great Scott... help me Doc Brown! 1.21 gigawatts, get me out of here!!

So now, what do you all think of my little deal here? Too many goals? Not enough? You don't give a sweet who-ha? Just how many can the man score?

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Keep Things Like This


The Czar did some Czar stuff tonight. First and foremost, #300 and #301. Also: good defensive plays, sensible hockey, etc.

Secondly, Evander Kane is the real deal. The passes from Peverley and Armstrong were perfect, and Kane's goal even more so. And oh yeah, he's a stellar penalty killer.

Toby and Bogo continue to rule.

Liking this.

GAME DAY: St. Louis Blues


The Thrashers are in the wild and woolly city of St. Louis tonight. Their purpose? To inflict a defeat on the St. Louis Blues and get themselves a winning streak.

The Blues are on an impressive winning streak of their own: surely you know all about how they beat the Red Wings, twice, in Sweden (land of the Lidstroms and most of Detroit's team). The Blues are a much better team than the Tampa Bay Lightning, so tonight's game might be a bit more difficult than the opener. They have a sterling defense that can certainly slow down the Thrashers forwards. And it's their home opener, so the team and their fans will be quite pumped up, etc. And, in the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I have both Brad Boyes and Keith Tkachuk on my fantasy team.

Can it be done?

We think so. Mainly because John Anderson has done what we've long wanted him to do, and made our forward line-up into this:

Kovalchuk-Antropov-Little
Kozlov-White-Afinogenov
Kane-Peverley-Armstrong
Boulton-Reasoner-Slater/Thorburn

One of the Greek Gods will sit, making our fourth line forever the Party Line. This holds promise.

And now for some St. Louis blues, the middle way between the Delta and Chicago:

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

News! Boris Out, Army Ready, Schubert in Gitmo

According to Vivlamore, at least 3 things are true:

1) Boris Valabik is out for 4 weeks, probably longer.

2) Colby Armstrong is ready to play tomorrow.

3) Christoph Schubert is locked in a grey room under a swinging lamp. "Who is HOCKEY?!" the immigration officer keeps asking him.

Early Season Melodrama

As I'm sure you've all noticed, there's very little to write about vis-a-vis the Thrashers right now.

No one can be perfectly sure if they're ever going to play again.

Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks can't get it together (a chemistry problem, perhaps on the top line?), Craig Anderson is the greatest goalie on the planet, the Canucks and their man suck, and the Flyers look pretty damn good (this won't change).

Can the Thrashers maintain their spot in the Top 8? Time will tell.

As you were, comrades, as you were.

Interesting Trivia

The Chicago Wolves new GM is former Atlanta Knights backup goalie Wendell Young. According to his Wikipedia page, Young is the only player to have won a Memorial Cup, Calder Cup, Turner Cup, and Stanley Cup. He did it in an odd order, winning the Memorial in juniors, the Calder with Hershey, then the Stanley Cup as a backup for the Pens in 91-92, then the Turner Cup with the Wolves in 2000. He played a couple of games with the Knights the season they won the Turner Cup in Atlanta, but apparently wasn't on the team during the playoffs when Mike Greenlay took over the starting job from J.C. Bergeron.

The Wolves have a video tribute to their new GM's playing career here.

How much does an AHL General Manager do, really? Obviously there's all of the non-hockey business responsibility, but when it comes to the roster, what does he do besides take what the NHL club hands down?

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Just Because You Say It's Obvious...

Doesn't make it true.

From The Fourth Period: "Atlanta's in trouble, everyone knows it. They're losing way too much money every year. That being said, it's going to take a few years (at most, five), to move them (be it to Winnipeg, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Hamilton, or anywhere)."

David Pagnotta, the TFP editor, was making the same false claims on a live chat with Puck Daddy last week. Here, he's taking a page out of President Obama's book and trying to give himself credibility by denying that anyone disagrees with him.

Ben Wright put it nicely on the Blueland Blog when he responded to the ludicrous Manitoba rumors thusly: "Think about it- if the NHL is hesitant to move out of Phoenix where the team is bankrupt, why would they want to move out of a city the size of Atlanta when the team has zero debt, pays its bills, has an arena lease, and packed the building on opening night."

Those of us who have been paying attention to folks who actually know what they are talking about will remember DW addressed this last year at a town hall meeting. At that time he said that he spoke with Gary Bettman who assured him that the league isn't worried about the Thrashers franchise at all. "We pay our bills," DW said. There are several franchises who don't.

Economics are the ONLY thing that drives whether or not a team will move. With that in mind, you have to look at Atlanta as a huge market that is still growing. The league would be insane to pull out. On the other hand, some more "traditional" hockey markets are in serious decline economically. How long is Detroit going to keep selling out The Joe if the team starts slipping in the standings and the local economy continues its nose dive? If the Bills start winning football games and the Sabres don't turn things around, where are those folks going to spend their sparse dollars? Will there be a hockey team on Long Island in two years? In the desert of Arizona? Can Cubans in Miami even pronounce the word hockey? Will Oren Koulis and Len Barrie try to trap each other in diabolically elaborate death traps before this season is over?

The Thrashers are way down on the list of teams that are in danger of being moved if you're building your list on facts and logic. On the other hand, if you're building your list based on Canadian jingoism and a Tim Hortons-induced sugar high, we're right up there with Phoenix.

News Item, Followed by Thought for the Day

Well, you've probably heard by now, via innumerable sources, that Manny Legace just got himself an AHL contract with our very own Chicago Wolves. Good to have Manny back in the stable. "Security," I think they call it.

Before this season is over, I want to see a fight between Chris Pronger and Alex Ovechkin. I think the big feller might be the one to convert Ovie's incessant hitting and weight-throwing into an actual confrontation. Finally.

The Caps-Flyers game tonight should be a rollicking good time, and I'd like to watch it, but the U2s of Dublin come 'round only once every 5 years or so.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Six Years Ago Today

We bid farewell to Dan Snyder and his dream of making an NHL roster that had just come true. This is what I wrote that night as I sorted through all that I was feeling at the time.
----------

Atlanta is not a hockey town. It’s not even a good sports town. Sure, the Braves are the best team in baseball, and the Falcons have the most exciting player in the NFL. As a city, Atlanta doesn’t support its teams well.

But each of our teams has its core base of fans. Those fans are rabid. Those fans are obsessed. Those fans are pure. To those fans, it isn’t a game that they’re watching, it’s a struggle on their behalf by men who spent their boyhoods dreaming of one day playing in front of such fans.

The Atlanta Thrashers set a record for attendance for an expansion team in 1999. That wasn’t because of an instant supply of fans; it was because the NHL was the new novelty ticket in town. Ticket sales have dwindled as the new car smell has been chased off by the pervasive odor that permeates the 10 feet surrounding a hockey equipment bag.

Attendance hasn’t lessened in the most important category, however. The people who are no longer to be found in Phillips Arena are the ones who thought that seeing a hockey game was just a different way to spend a Friday or Saturday night. They’re the ones who looked confused when the game ended after 3 periods instead of going on to a forth. They’re the ones who thought of the Thrashers as one homogenous entity.

The most important category, in which the Thrashers began with a small, but strong showing, has grown.
It’s grown slowly, but it’s grown steadily. That category is of pure fans. They are the fans who do
not see just a team, but a tightly bonded group of individual men who fought and struggled and sacrificed
to different degrees to be able to skate on that slab of artificially frozen ice in the middle of a man made
mountain filled with people who want nothing more than to watch for 60 minutes as these men battle for
victory on their behalf. These are the pure fans. The fans who can see past the colorful jerseys and the
inane “entertainment” spewed forth mindlessly from the jumbotron while waiting for a face off. These are the
fans who love the game, and love the players for the way that they play it.

I am one of those pure fans, and it is in that capacity that I intend to offer my memory, my eulogy
for Danny Snyder.

Being a pure fan of the Atlanta Thrashers wasn’t easy
for the first few years. Men with an abundance of
character such as Jeff Odgers, Dean Sylvester, and
Denny Lambert made it easier. They played with a
desire in their gut that was obvious to those of us
looking on from the stands. They cared about how they
played, not for the money and the incentives in their
contracts, but because there were people like us
watching who had traveled from our homes and paid to
be a part of their struggle for victory.

I can’t remember what night Dan Snyder made his debut
with the Atlanta Thrashers after being called up from
the Orlando Solar Bears of the IHL. What I do
remember is the feeling that I and all of the other
pure fans had when we saw Danny play.

Danny Snyder wasn’t supposed to be in the NHL. He
wasn’t even supposed to be in the IHL. He was too
small. He didn’t shoot the puck well enough. He
wasn’t cut out to be a pro hockey player.

Danny Snyder didn’t give half a**** about what he was
and wasn’t supposed to do or be. Like anyone who has
ever felt their cleats crunching the dirt of the
infield as they stepped on to a little league field,
or strained to lace up their skates or focused every
essence of themselves on making sure that the tape on
their Koho was just right, Danny Snyder grew up
playing the game he loved, and dreaming about becoming
a pro. Men like Dan Snyder dream such things all
their lives, and lesser men won’t have a clue as to
the real reasons why.

Men like Dan Snyder dream of being a professional
athlete in this society where such athletes are paid
more than they should to an exponential degree. But
they don’t dream of it for the money, like so many who
aspire to practice law or trade stocks.

Men like Dan Snyder dream of being a professional
athlete in this society where such athletes are
treated like royalty in the community, with attention
lavished upon them regardless of their social prowess
or ineptitude. But they don’t dream of it for the
free drinks and dates with any woman they want, like
so many who aspire to become stars in Hollywood or on
the stage.

No, Men like Dan Snyder dream of being a professional
athlete so that they can play for fans. Pure fans.
They dream of living for this sport that they love,
and excelling so that they can pay back their fans for
the support that they have been given. They want to
stride onto that ice and without speaking a word, tell
every true fan in the crowd that they care about their
passion, and will struggle and sacrifice to make it
count.

In a game that, like so many in the Thrashers short
history, was a losing battle on the scoreboard, we as
fans received a victory when Danny Snyder first took
to the ice as an Atlanta Thrasher. He wasn’t supposed
to be there, but he worked every second he could
throughout his life to overcome his small stature by
replacing the missing inches and pounds with passion
for the game and the way he played it.

There are players that you watch and can see their
love of the game and their joy at playing it. Wayne
Gretzky was such a player. There are players that you
watch and can see their determination to be the best.
Scott Stevens is such a player.

Then there are players like Danny Snyder. When fan
watched Danny Snyder play, they saw an undersized
underdog fighting his way upstream to establish
himself worthy of a place in the highest hockey league
on Earth. When a pure fan watched Danny Snyder play,
they saw his heart. Danny Snyder played because he
loved the game, loved his team, and he loved being
able to validate the love of the pure fans through his
blood, sweat, and tears.

Danny Snyder was a normal, nice guy off the ice. I
can’t say that I really knew him; just that I’ve
shaken his hand a few times around the practice rink
or season ticket holder events while speaking
encouraging words about his play and that of the team.
But from what I saw, it was obvious that Danny Snyder
was different than most. He had a sense of purpose.
Some professional athletes seem to believe that they
are owed the attention that they receive because of
their skills. Others are bewildered at that
attention. Danny Snyder always seemed to understand
it, and accept it, not as being owed to him, but as
being the result of what he had worked toward all
those exhausting hours on the ice and in the weight
room. He knew that the fans didn’t owe him anything
because he knew how hard he had to work to get it.
And he wasn’t bewildered by it, because that was what
he had worked toward all along. He played for the
fans, and he did it well.

All of us who have ever been athletes, whether they
had the skills of Wayne Gretzky or John Smoltz, or if
they could barely lift a bat or hit the water if they
fell out of a plane over the Pacific, have known at
least a little of what drove Dan Snyder. In some, it
becomes clouded and corrupted by tangential dreams of
fame or fortune. Danny Snyder didn’t let anything
like that distract him. Fame and fortune were never
his dream. Skating on that NHL ice and playing in a
manner which showed his heart was his dream.

And he achieved it.

Danny Snyder would have spent this season as a
permanent member of the Atlanta Thrashers, rather than
as a transient bouncing back and forth between Atlanta
and Chicago. His work had come to fruition, and he
was ready to spend the entire season playing for those
pure fans who he won over the first time he strode
onto the ice in Phillips Arena and steamed shoulder
first into a man with 5 inches and 30 pounds of
leverage on him, just so he could keep him from
knocking the puck out of the zone.

Danny Snyder never seemed to think any part of the
game was routine or mundane or unimportant. He chased
down a loose puck in the neutral zone with 20 seconds
left in a game his team was losing by 4 goals as if by
reaching that puck before anyone else, he would earn
the right to raise the Stanley Cup. Why did he do it
that way? Because he was a special kind of player.
Because he wouldn’t understand why anyone would even
think to ask why he did it that way.

When a pure fan watched Dan Snyder play hockey, they
saw his heart. And when you saw Danny Snyder’s heart,
he became a part of your own.

The hockey Hall of Fame didn’t lose a future
commemorative display tonight. When our grandchildren
look at the book of NHL records, they won’t be missing
Danny Snyder’s name, because it was never going to be
there. But for all of us for whom Danny Snyder had
become part of our hearts, we have lost something that
hurts deeply, and won’t be filled again.

Dan Snyder didn’t deserve to die from injuries he
received in a car crash last Monday night. He didn’t
deserve to spend the past week in a coma, or to have
some guy he would never have recognized sitting up at
1:30 in the morning rambling aimlessly about him onto
a computer screen. Dan Snyder deserved to live his
dream to the fullest extent. He deserved a spot on
the Atlanta Thrashers roster, and he deserved a spot
in the heart of the pure fans in the stands.

Danny Snyder earned that spot on the roster, and he
earned that spot in our hearts. He will be missed
such that I cannot convey it in words here. Danny’s
parents have lost their son. Danny’s teammates have
lost a brother. Danny’s fans have lost a hero.
Hockey has lost – not a potential record breaking,
revolutionary talent – but a quiet soldier of
dedication and love of the game and of the fans. None
of those losses can be filled.

When you grip a softball bat to play in your work or
church league; when you lace up your cleats to play a
high school football game; when you pull your jersey
on over your shoulder and elbow pads prior to a game
against the Carolina Hurricanes; when you take your
son out to the back yard for his first game of catch,
remember Danny Snyder, and the reason he lived his
life and played his sport the way that he did. There
are no small plays; there are no unimportant games.
Miss Dan Snyder, and keep his heart as part of your
own.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Actual Game Thoughts, Recollected in Sobriety

- Even though he didn't appear on the scoresheet last night, Nik Antropov had a good game. He screened the hell out of Mike Smith on at least one of those Kovalchuk goals.

- Rich Peverley: awesome.

- On top of all the goal-scoring, Kovalchuk had a great game defensively. Keeping the puck out of our zone, etc.

- Gotta get our shots-against to a more favorable ratio.

- There were times in the game when the Thrash looked defensively bewildered, pinned down in their own zone. There were other times, perhaps more frequent, where they were not only attacking the Lightning zone like a pack of angry razorbacks, but looked super-disciplined doing it. More disciplined-looking than I've ever seen. Making all the fancy moves and passes, keeping the puck well in the zone, making opposing d-men look silly, etc.

- WOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I would end this post with Erik B. and Rakim's "I Ain't No Joke," but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Like the Czar said, we won the opener last season too and can't rest on our laurels, etc. etc...

Nevertheless, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

Another Thought

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

John Anderson. Ilya Kovalchuk. Ah yeah.

I need some water.

Two Thoughts

1) We were at the game tonight. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

2) Al Strachan is an actual fat, dumb, bald fuck with a touch of dementia.



THE THRASHER IS A HOCKEY-PLAYIN' BIRD.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

GAAAAAAAAAAAAME...Day.

Vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning, and all that.

Today begins the most important season in Thrashers history. Be ready.