(updated below)
The Thrashers are known for spending too much time in their own zone (I think everyone from John Anderson to the Dalai Lama has spoken about this) and playing a generally comical game.
Tonight the Thrashers spent far too much time in their own zone and played a somewhat comical game.
Obviously, this is just a pre-season game with an ad hoc training camp/audition roster, so we shouldn't jump to conclusions.
What Your Chronicle Correspondents (Razor, the late Monsieur Catalogues, and your editor) Liked:
Evander Kane- He played with an intensity that makes you go, "Whoa hey it's only a pre-season game. CALM DOWN, etc."
Bryan Little- Goal! The reason he scored said goal is because he was making smart plays and shooting the puck at the right moments all night. At some point it paid off.
Fredrik Pettersson- Everyone---including your Chronicle's Razor Catch Prey---has been raving about this actual Swedish person ever since the opening of camp. Your TBC editor hadn't seen Fred until tonight, and I was impressed. He was GOOD (the goal was the least of it, sort of; he just played a solid game), but not great. Tonight, at least...I might be missing something.
What Your Chronicle Correspondents Didn't Like:
Everything Else (though various players---Pavelec, Nigel Dawes---showed vague promise here and there)
BUT PARTICULARLY
Boris Valabik- Let's see, what did I say about Boris after watching him play pre-season hockey last year? Let's just say that tonight's game only further convinced me that he just can't play the modern Hockey thing very well. I'm sorry. He just can't. He even got knocked off the puck and checked into the boards tonight. By a much smaller man.
Far more entertaining than tonight's hockey game was an epic fight in our section (thanks for the seats, Mr. Rawhide!) between a teenage lass and her angry mother. All in front of about 12 of her friends. It was priceless.
UPDATE: Wait, wait, wait! I forgot Ben Eager. Liked that Ben Eager. Kept the puck down low in the offensive zone, solid Stanley Cup-winning fourth liner, etc. During the intermission interview with the new Natalie Taylor (her name is Rebecca, I think) he looked like he was about to cry "why did I get sent here?" tears.
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8 comments:
Morty-
You are SPOT ON. I was there last night and the things I noticed were (1) Boris played himself into a one way ticket to Chicago, (2) Pavalec didn't get much help, but he was certainly unimpressive, (3) Kane, Little and Petterson were very good, (4) Kulda was invisible, (5) Machacek had some hard hits, (6) every other name not mentioned, sans Hainsey, should be cut today and (7) J-Bird is still a Douche. One other query...so Philips owns rights to the arena but we have the crapiest TVs ever made before 2000 in the arena; HOWEVER, they put money into flatscreens for the menu items at concessions. Who makes these decisions???
H and Morty- I concur on all counts. Although, I think the news may not be so bad for Boris. The way he played last night, he won't have to move all the way to Chicago; he can find an apartment in Gwinnett.
Petterson was good, not great. He will probably be the Wolves' best player this season and may crack the lineup in Atlanta late in the year or at the beginning of next season. Or he could have a very steep learning curve and improve drastically over the next two weeks.
Paquette didn't overly impress me last night, though he wasn't bad. He needs more time but has potential.
Zubarev looked bad, but not as bad as Boris. Hell, I'm 50 pounds overweight and I could have played better than Boris.
Oh, and as Morty said, thanks Rawhide for the seat upgrades! And for the link the other day.
I think RAmmer should save some time and send down Sifers, Stewart, Rissmiller, Pacquette, and Holzapfel immediately. The next group to go if they don't have a great game in the next game should be Dawes, Valabik and Zubarev. Someone I forgot to mention from last night was Aliu. I thought he looked decent and probably deserves a longer look. He's pretty mean out there. I really think they should make more cuts sooner rather than later, so the guys who really have a chance can play together a few games to see what works. I hate to work out the kinks through October and satrt the season behind the 8 Ball. I mean we all pretty much know who the top 30 are, so dump the rest and let's get going!
I was specifically watching Ailu and he didn't do much to impress me, but I would like to see him stick around a little longer and get a better look.
After reading Kevin Allen's article from yesterday, I'm actually pretty excited about a potential opening night roster of:
Kane-Antro-Bergfors
Ladd-Litts-Pevs
Modin-Slater-Petterson
Boults-Eager-Thorbs
Buff-Toby
Bogo-Hainsey
Oduya-Sopel
Mason
Pavs
I don't mind that line-up at all although I think Boults sits in press box and I'd like to see Machacek get a chance on that fourth line. I'd also like to see Kulda get the 7 spot. That leaves one extra forward spot and frankly, that should just go to the next forward who will work the hardest to push the others. It woul dbe great if we could make a move that would "force" us to move Slater to 4th line. A 4th line of Slater Eager and Thorbs is a line that could actually score some goals.....maybe not 40+ goals as Duds has crazily suggested, but I could see 30 goals from that group.
also, per Viv.....Thrashers release six more players: Esposito, Forney, Paquette, Ross, Postma and Siklenka. Also Deveaux and McLaren released from pro tryout
I'm surprised Espo is done so quickly....
I don't see Machacek and Kulda up here to sit in the press box/play 5 minutes per game. They are both better suited getting lots of ice time with the Wolves than sitting on their hands in Atlanta.
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