Thrashing the Blues

Thrashers Eliminated By Bruins. Again.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:22:00 +0000

Time to break this out again. See? Break? Ha!

EDIT: I goofed - I could have sworn that we were taken out by Boston last season too, but it was the Devils, two games later in the season. That 4-0 curbstomping by the Bruins just *felt* like the end.

Hey, let's admit something to ourselves as Thrashers fans. Boston didn't eliminate us last year. Boston didn't eliminate us this year. The Thrashers eliminated themselves in January of both seasons single handedly - slipshod goaltending, bad defense (Zach Bogosian is a -26 on the season. A MINUS TWENTY SIX), too many shots allowed from high percentage areas, too many shots taken from low percentage areas, bad puck tracking, questionable snap judgement - that's not just a summary of today's game, that's a summary of this franchise.

This year it's more frustrating than before. The team started the season off so very well, even leading the division at one point. And then Jim Slater got hurt, the team's face-off percentage dropped, and puck posession dropped. Compounding that (though I like the return) was the trade of Rich Peverley without getting anyone to make up for that face-off ability. When you add the fact that the coach puts people inappropriate to the situation out on the ice (Thorburn, Stapleton, and Schremp out during the dying minutes of today's game, and Stewart, Thorburn, Stapleton, Dvorak, et al are all often put out on the powerplay) and can't seem to figure out how to best manage his goaltending effectively, you have a serious problem.

You can point to the bad schedule in December. You can point at the defense. Or the coaching. Or the "give a crap factor" again. Whatever - it's a compound fracture and, like the eggs in the picture above, no one's going to put it together again. At least not until next season.

Luckily for them, the Bruins live to fight another day. Their chances of going to the Cup Finals are very high - so high I would recommend taking a trip to NHL Odds.

Movin' on Up

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:41:00 +0000

To celebrate the Thrashers' AWESOME game last night - I've moved.

Ok, not really with the celebration part, but for sure with the moving part. Check me out over on the Bloguin network at Thrashing the Blues.

Update bookmarks (all 4 of you) and links accordingly, por favor!

Back up within 1.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:43:00 +0000

Pavs had 44 saves tonight as the Thrashers swept the season series against the Flyers with a 3-1 lead. In the previous 9 years, the Thrashers had beaten the Flyers four times. If you want proof positive that this year we might just be able to make a run, sweeping a team that has been a thorn in our side for every season we've been around might be a great place to start.

Goals from Hainsey, White (!), and Peverley (20th on the season, giving the Thrashers four 20 goal scorers) sealed the deal against the Flyers, who started Boucher for the second night in a row. I know that they didn't have much of a choice as to what to do in goal, but good lord. If they expect to win a playoff series, um... well, if they expected to win one they should have picked up a goalie at the trade deadline. Oh well.

The Thrashers are riding a four game win streak and in the past five games have gotten 9 out of 10 possible points. Instead of wondering if we can squeak into 8th (which a win Tuesday will get us, at least for that night), let's look at all of the teams around us in general. How high can we go?

The 10th place Rangers are 3-5-2 over their past 10 and are on a 3 game losing streak. The Bruins, who sit in 8th by a point, won today at home for the first time since the Winter Classic. In the last 10 games they are 5-4-1, but most of those losses have happened really recently - and if you watched today's game, you could see how flat and listless both teams are. No energy and no intensity. It's like Matt Cooke took out the whole team, not just Savard.

In 7th we have the Habs, who are 7-2-1, are probably the only other team in the bottom 4 of the playoff teams who actually playing serviceable hockey, and have a very strong chance of overtaking the next two teams for 5th.

The 6th place Flyers, well, they've just lost two in a row to us, so there's that. They have no starting goaltending at all, and the team takes stupid penalties and manages to play both cheap and listless all at once when behind the 8 Ball. They're 4-4-2 in their last 10.

The Sens? How in God's name are they still in 5th place? They're 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and are on a 5 game losing streak. If any team is poised for a free fall, well - poised can be halfway in one, right?

Look, I'm not delusional. It's going to be hard work for the Thrashers to maintain a playoff spot. We can, though, take advantage of the slipping of the teams ahead of us. We can ride this momentum from the season sweep of the Flyers. There will be a few games that we won't win in the next 10, and that's fine. But as long as we don't go on any kind of extended losing streak, those next games should be enough to push us over the hump.

Looks like the playoff deposit that I put down might actually go to good use.

TUMS sponsors free food night/blown Blues lead.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:20:00 +0000

Another 3rd period lead blown, although this one might have hurt more than the others - the Blues allowed 2 Nashville goals in a matter of minutes at the end of the 3rd period to let a 2-1 lead slip away, and to fall further out of the playoff race. It's disappointing, but expected.

This season isn't last year. Sorry. You can't just "turn it on" and get into the playoffs whenever you feel like it, guys - with this loss your playoff hopes fall to under 3%, which isn't as bad as it could be, because the Flames lost. The Blues still sit in 10th place with their 77 points, four behind Calgary. A win could have put us two behind the Flames and four behind 8th place Detroit. There aren't enough games left in this season to expect the Blues to win enough and the Flames and Red Wings both to lose enough for us to squeak in. Those two teams are older, bigger, and stronger than the Blues are. The Wings have more playoff experience in 3 players than the Blues do in their whole team.

There's drive with the Blues - there are moments of solid hockey, and there have been all season. But, as has been mentioned before, they think that they can coast. You can't. Coasting is what cost them last season in the first round. Coasting's costing them the playoffs in general this season. You have to have a constant pressure if you want to make the playoffs, regardless of the age of your group. Inconsistency is what has kept the Flames out on the doorstep of the top 8 - the reason that they're still in it is because of that experience and pressure to rebound from sloppy play.

If you can't rebound, if you can't press, you can't make the playoffs, plain and simple. As the end of this writing, the Thrashers defeated the Flyers 3-1 to climb back within 1 of the 8th spot in the East. They've rebounded from a 6 game losing streak (and a 9 game from earlier in the season) to remain in the mix. Granted the teams in front of the Thrashers are in a state of implosion (and behind, too - the Rangers aren't doing too well) and this benefits the Thrashers, as does the fact that the East in general is a weaker conference than the West.

That doesn't take the determination out of the play of the Thrashers, and the lackadaisical play of the Blues probably would make them fall out of play on the doorstep of the playoffs in the East, too. I hope this has been a learning experience for the Blues, more so than last season's playoff loss was. It's harder to make the playoffs, and takes more pressure, than it is to move forward. 4 games versus 82. If you don't show up for the first 82, you're not going to see the next one, let alone four.

Heckuva night for the Blues and Thrashers again.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 03:09:00 +0000

St. Louis swept their metro New York tour this season, beating the Rangers, Isles, and Devils each time they met this season, for the first time in team history. On the back of Ty Conklin, who had shut out number four of the season and Alexander Steen, who netted goal number 21 in his career year.

The highlight of the evening, though, was this three minute or so tilt between Cam Janssen and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond.

I absolutely am thrilled senseless that Janssen's back. I know he's just an enforcer, or a spark plug, or whatever you want to call him, but he really gives the team that energy and push to get up whatever mountain's stuck in front of them. You can tell a difference (and no, it's not scientifically provable, but take my word for it, dammit) when he is out there on the ice.

Also outstanding was Brad Boyes' quick thinking in denying Kovalchuk a goal when Conklin was scrambling back to position. Kovalchuk was limited to 5 SOG, and was a -1 for the evening, as Lou's big draft deadline deal is looking more and more like his mortgaging the future of the Devils. Niclas Bergfors had a goal and an assist tonight and was a +1 with 4 SOG. Kovy has 1 goal since March 13th. Bergfors has 1 goal as well, but also has 4 assists. I don't keep comparing the two of them to rub stuff in Devils' fans faces. The reason that I keep comparing them is because I am still shocked and confused that Waddell traded our "franchise player" for someone just as, if not more so, productive.

I'm also still shocked that the Thrashers are putting up this much fight going into the playoffs. That six game losing streak cost us big time, and I (along with many others) assumed that it was our death knell. Apparently not. With a 5-2 win over the Flyers tonight, we're one point out of 8th place. This isn't too shabby, especially since we're getting production out of players who have been mediocre all season long (Armstrong had another 2 goal night), and a solid stretch from Hedberg. A caller into the post-game show asked if we should ride the Moose into the playoffs. Hm. Let's ask around.

Yeah, nope. This season from Moose is just a total shock. /sarc

One other thing that keeps impressing me - and saving my fantasy team - is the season that Nik Antropov is having. Everyone is focusing on the youth of Little, Kane, Bogosian, and Bergfors, but Antropov's just absurd. Twenty two goals (five in his last five games, 2 of which were GWGs) and 41 assists this year averages out to just a little under a point a game, and the best season Antro's had in his career. I'm glad that we have him for the next three seasons. His not so hot face off percentage's an afterthought.

These past 2 weeks have been an absurd roller coaster for the Thrashers and their fans. At least we're going up right now... maybe all the big deep drops are in the past.

The Fickle Finger of Fate finally smiles on the Thrashers and (kind of) Blues.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:54:00 +0000

Ok, so the Blues' playoff hopes and dreams didn't exactly shoot up last night with Paul Kariya's game winning 400th goal, but every team we needed to lose lost. This leaves the Blues just five games back, which sounds easy peasy until you realize that the other teams in front of you aren't just going to part like the Red Sea and let you climb up the standings. The Blues seem a little overly positive about their chances at another run, and I'm going with Gallagher on this one - if they pull another miracle run out of their butts, then they'll think they can slack off the first part of every season. That bubble needs to be burst. Of course, at the same time, I want them in the playoffs. Ahh, contradictions.

The Blues' win helped the Thrashers jump the Rangers in the standings last night to 9th place, after the Thrash defeated the Sens 6-3. They're now only 3 back of the Bruins, who aren't exactly tearing it up, and tomorrow get to face a Philly team who apparently now is just setting up one of those goalie practice cut-outs in net. So, we face their backup on Saturday, and then their backup's backup on Sunday. Saturday I betcha Moose is going to be in, so we're solid. If Pavs manages to not allow his usual 4 goals Sunday, we could have lept over Boston in time for our game against them Tuesday. Oooh.

Speaking of last night, I will cease whining about Armstrong (for now). His 2 goals and an assist kind of shut me up. What I will continue to raise hell about (Ben does so much more calmly than I over on the Blueland Blog) is Ruutu's punch to the mask of Hedberg that was blatant goaltender interference, and that pissed Moose off so badly that he misplayed the following goal. During the Nashville game, Thorburn's goal got called off for interference that no one could even tell happened, but when you have a known dirty player with a history of transgressions against the Thrashers actually hit a goalie in the face, and nothing gets called, that's absurd. Hedberg had to be restrained after the play, and honestly the fans in Philips were so upset that it would have been helpful to restrain us, too. Moose apologized after the game for his behavior, but I really don't think that he had any reason to do so. Just because you're under 40 lbs of protective gear doesn't give someone the right to try to run you.

The officials in the league have been a total joke this season when it comes to goal/no goal calls. Actually, they're a joke anyway, so why not really ratchet it up a notch or two when a game is on the line?

Really quickly before I hit the sack.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:24:00 +0000

I'll blog about the two games from tonight tomorrow (congrats to Paul Kariya on goal 400, though - imagine how that would have felt if you would have scored it at home), but NHL.com has a great interview with Keith Tkachuk up, in which they try to pry out of him his decision for playing next season. He, as well as management, give the usual nebulous answer, but this quote at the end says a lot:

"I have learned a lot from a great organization. I have been through some ups and downs here. When I first got here it was automatic, it was win now, win now, and then we went through some tough years and some changes. The bottom line is I didn't want to play anywhere else."

Walt agreed to be traded to the Thrashers for the good of the Blues' franchise and to aid the rebuild, and then he promptly returned. His family has made it his home, and he has always made it perfectly clear that not only does he want to stay in St. Louis, he'd like to retire a Blue. He's earned that right. He's been a great leader for the team on and off the ice, and while this season hasn't exactly been a career year for him, he's been a constant on this team for 9 years and is a solid part of the St. Louis community. His contributions and dedication to the team are very, very much appreciated by Blues fans.

Even if we are calling him Puddin'.

Finally, a Thrashers Win.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:37:00 +0000

Missed the Blues game (thankfully - Avs swept the season series, and we're now in 11th), but I am very glad that I braved the Buffalo Sabres fans in Philips for tonight's game. Ryan Miller was given a couple of really nice ovations for his work in the Olympics, and one really big one for when we chased him from the net. Yes, 3 goals on 5 shots is not exactly a good night for Miller. I'm ok with it.

The Thrashers played an offensively solid game tonight, complete with some good hitting by Bogosian and Slater, but their power play more often than not looked like they were on the penalty kill. A 33% FO win percentage is not how you get shots, and they really really didn't get many shots. They did allow a power play goal for the 10th game in a row to Buffalo, so yes, both of the special teams are still less than special.

Antropov, Little, Afinogenov, and Slater were your goal scorers for the evening, and the current #1 line du jour of Bergfors-Antropov-Afinogenov needs to stay put. Splitting Antro and Max was not something that I would consider a good decision seeing the chemistry they had the beginning of the season, so I'm glad to see them back together. Bergfors steps into the Kovalchuk "role" on that line, and outperforms Kovy (as I judge it - Bergie's a rookie and Kovy's a vet, same output). Bergfors had three assists tonight and 2 SOG, and was named the first star of the game.

Since the trade, Bergie's been good for six goals, five assists, and fifty SOG. The Tampa loss from the other week? He had 6 SOG in that game. He's absolutely replaced Kovy by himself. To compare, Kovalchuk has 57 SOG, 5 goals, and 7 assists.

Hey, Devils fans - anyone know Lou's preference on fruit? Cheese? Wine? I need to make him a gift basket and get him a swell "thank you" card for the game on the 6th. I'm starting to think that Waddell kind of fleeced him. Think about it - they got a rental who has basically the same output as a rookie that they traded away, plus they lost a good 2nd pairing defenseman and a top prospect (and a 1st rounder). They traded like for like, but they traded away a lot of excess with their like for our like.

Worst sentence I've ever written, but you catch my drift. Bergie's #2 in rookie scoring with 38 points, and 2nd in rookie goals scored with 19. Kid's a keeper. He's a great addition to the club.

Ahh, jersey fouls.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:46:00 +0000

I don't see a ton of these aside from people having their own last name on their jerseys, the people with random puns, and that one guy with the 69 jersey. This one, though, was my favorite, and it made the Jersey Fouls for today. Go to Puck Daddy to behold UnkaBubba, the proud wearer of number 13.

Also, can someone explain to me the phenomena of people putting a RBK logo on a CCM or KOHO jersey? You own a far superior piece of hockey equipment/attire. Advertise it. That, and it just looks stupid, because I know that original road jersey for the Thrashers is so not a RBK Edge one.

Interesting stuff from Don Waddell.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:45:00 +0000

I'm not on the Fire Waddell bandwagon this season. There have been times in the past that I have flirted with it, not because of his inability to re-sign players like Savard or Hossa, and not really because of his drafting, but because of his signings and free agent acquisitions (and the inclusion of Dupuis on the Hossa deal instead of Perrin - ugh). There have been seasons where he has just iced an awful team, and there are seasons like last year where he iced what looked like a good team on paper, but for various reasons his best efforts fell flat (cranky elderly, people who couldn't play in Anderson's system, Jason Williams).

This season is frustrating because Waddell has put together a really, really strong team that should have maintained a playoff position. The defense is the best as it's been in the franchise history, the signing of Afinogenov was just damn smart, Antropov is solid, Kubina for XLB was swell... I can't think of anything he's done that has frustrated me. I'm still thrilled with the Bergfors and Oduya acquisitions, and glad that he didn't cave to Kovalchuk. I like our squad this year for the most part. The disappointments of White and Kozlov were unforeseeable given how they played last season.

Waddell chats with Chris Vivlamore of the AJC today regarding personnel, his outlook on playoffs, and his job evaluation. If he could keep his job through some of his past teams, Wadddell's safe. Vivlamore does ask about a coaching change, but it's too late for it to be effective this season. Honestly, it would do absolutely no good and serve no purpose this late in the year. Offseason wise, though, Anderson will be looked at just like everyone else on the team.

Vivlamore makes a good point about how we can only put together losing streaks of epic proportions, and not winning streaks. Consistency has been a major problem for this season. As a fan, I appreciate Waddell's forwardness in answering the questions (no "John Anderson is an important part of this organization moving forward" kind of answers). The season's not over yet, but apparently a lot remains to be seen.

Questionable decisions cost both the Blues and the Thrashers

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:34:00 +0000

Remember how I mentioned before that the Blues could make up ground on Calgary and Detroit? Scratch that - there game tonight did not go as planned. A 4-2 loss in Minnesota threw a wrench into their plans for now. After a five day break, the Blues' schedule picks up from here on out, and back to back days with back to back starts or Chris Mason probably didn't do them any favors. Mason let in 3 first period goals, which opened the way for Ty Conklin to come in for relief. I know that the Blues aren't used to having a serviceable backup, but Conklin is that - he's probably of the same caliber of goaltender as Mason, except Mason gets more starts. Today would have been fine to start Conks. Bad call.

Atlanta, God, where to begin. Completely outshot Phoenix and managed to nail five posts and crossbars. Really good effort by the team, who looked like they were on a mission. Pavelec had a solid outing as well, turning aside 32 of 34 shots during regulation. Unfortunately, the shootout is not where Pavs succeeds, and that is where we lost a point. The issue here comes at the shootout takers: Antropov, Peverley, and MacArthur. The first two, totally understandable. MacArthur? He's not a proven quantity in shootouts and isn't really an offensive powerhouse to begin with. Little, Bergfors, Afinogenov... much better choices. I'm not saying that they were 100% bankable, because no one ever is in a shootout, but when you're looking at the 3rd shooter and you absolutely have to score to win, you might want to put someone who is a little stronger at scoring in the shootout.

No one, of course, asked Anderson about this at the press conference (we weren't there to ask questions, unfortunately, because God knows we all had them). Anderson stressed how much he liked the effort of the team, and frankly, the effort's been there recently. It's been the little things that've been throwing the Thrashers off, and a lot of these decisions go back to people who are higher up.

I think Timmy of Birdwatchers Anonymous said it best - he felt like he had to go kill a puppy to make up for how depressing Anderson is in the press conferences. I really wonder if he carries that over to the team. To borrow a phrase from Chasing Amy, he is one morose mother you know whater.

Over at the Thrashers game...

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:43:00 +0000

Fraser's in, so there's strike one against us. Schneider's playing for PHX, so there's strike two thanks to karma, and LaBarbera's in goal for the 'Yotes, so there's strike three - we make backups look like Patrick Roy.

Scratches are Bogosian (hand), Arty, and Slava - still thinking that White has blackmail material on John Anderson. And I am not sure who Boulton's going to throw down with. So, yes, let's scratch someone with good mobility and some sort of size. Please.

On the Blues side of thing, it's an early start (6 Eastern), but Janssen's off suspension, and Big Wallet is back. Absolutely have to take advantage of the idle Calgary and Detroit today. Big question is, can we do it? The stars are aligned (and, as of this typing, losing to Colorado) for a push. Hopefully St. Louis can manage it again.

Another Thrashers Bloggers' Day

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:41:00 +0000

Anyone have any questions for Niclas Bergfors or (maybe) John Anderson? Shoot me a line and I'll see what I can do for you. Always appreciated that the organization does it for us, even if we've only actually won one game on these days. Shocked that they want to continue the jinx during a 5 game slide that doesn't look to be getting any better - Bogosian took a puck off of his hand and will probably be out today, which'll lead to the exciting combo probably of Popovic/Chelios. Let's see how many goals are allowed when that pairing's on the ice! Let's make this fun. The person to correctly guess how many gets, um...

Probably gets to cry in their beer. I'll have updates later on from the game.

Blues can win when it counts.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:38:00 +0000

Who's the team not on a five game losing streak at the worst time of the year? Aww, yeah. The Blues. There are days that I'm glad that my loyalties are split (unevenly, of course) between two teams. Today is one of those. The Blues completely manhandled the Columbus Blue Jackets for two points where it really counted, winning in Columbus tonight 5-1.

Be aggressive? B-e aggressive? Yes, yes we can be. Davis Payne told us to go out there after a first period where no one scored, and play rougher around the edges. Pick it up. I am fairly sure that three second period goals is not what he expected. And exactly what he wanted. McDonald, Backes, Perron, Steen (goal number NINETEEN), and Crombeen lit the lamp, and McDonald added a couple assists to make sure things were working out our way. Honestly, yes, Detroit won tonight to stick in our craw and maintain 8th place.

But we're winning when we need to, and we don't have be constantly reminded our playoff spot isn't a gimmie. The Blues realize this. We're not stupid. Which puts StL at an advantage. There's not this absurd pressure. Yes, we were expected to make the post-season. Everyone predicted it, myself included - on venues with more visibility than my invisible website. We stumbled out of the gate and maintained that stumbling until Murray was relieved of his duties and Davis Payne, a friend of Dan Bylsma and a dead ringer for him, was plunked down in place. Now, since the expectation of playoffs has been lifted, we seem more determined than ever to make that cut, and we stand a very good chance of doing so. Calgary and Detroit won't be easy to leapfrog, but they have to play up to their expectations. They have that pressure hanging over them. St. Louis? Not at all. We can continue to quietly go about our business, winning games, and not have a soul notice. At least until it's too late.

This blog is not intended to be coach bashing central.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:02:00 +0000

Stop trying to turn us into the Leafs circa, well, now.

I know that in the months leading up to Andy Murray's eventual dismissal from the coaching position in St. Louis that I was critical of him - critical of the random line changes before, during, and after the games, and critical of the doghouse technique. I felt that he was over-intimidating the team into wins, which is why it wasn't getting any. It's very hard to win a hockey game when you're paranoid. It's even harder to win when your paranoia's founded - tell that to Patrik Berglund, formerly of Andy Murray's doghouse and currently of the six game point streak.

Murray was relieved of his coaching duties, and the Blues have picked up play under consistent lines, and not having to worry about who the consistent scapegoat du jour is.

The Thrashers could probably benefit from the same technique, but for a different reason. Where Murray was OCD, intimidating, and mildly scary as hell, Anderson's quiet, cuddly, and has an amazing ability to not call any player out. No, I don't like calling them out in the press constantly and obviously. Anderson, however, cannot just say "so and so had a bad game." Look at the excuses he was making for Pops after the Nashville game. Pops screwed up, and it was a "bad bounce." Needless to say, tonight's game was full of bad bounces by the fragile Thrashers, to use a few of Anderson's buzzwords.

Stop it. Just stop. The more you talk like that, the more they believe you. This team isn't fragile. You are. We actually have a very solid, playoff capable team on paper for the most part. We're not going to win the Cup, but the Thrashers could make the cut if the team stopped getting fed the emo whatever it is that they hear in the locker room, and that the press gets during the postgame press conferences.

You hear something enough, you buy into it. Perron and Berglund heard how horrible they were enough from Murray, and they started to play like it. The Blues got their butts busted every practice, and they played like they were skating on eggshells until it was safe to come out to play. The flip side is true in Atlanta. The Thrashers keep hearing over and over and over that they're fragile and victims. How are they not supposed to get that mentality?

This is frustrating for the fans, and it's easy to point to the screw ups on the ice as the reason - but tonight wasn't a night of screw ups entirely. There's an attitude that's leading to these problems, and if that isn't fixed in, oh, 10 minutes, we're even more done than we were before.

Just leave that marshmallow in the fire, Coach. It's not crispy enough.

Blues pull out a win in the shootout.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:45:00 +0000

Taking a 2-1 decision from the Isles with goals by Oshie and Boyes in the shootout, and a regulation goal by Patrik Berglund, the Blues are now five games over .500 and 7-3-0 in their last 10. This leapfrogs them over Dallas and puts them into the 10th spot, but they're still 4 behind 8th place Detroit (as of this typing).

The Blues are getting what they were missing at the beginning of the year - increased production from those players that everyone expected strong things from. Oshie, Backes, Berglund (on a 6 game point streak), and Johnson are ratcheting up their quality of play, and as the season is getting closer to the wire, Chris Mason's save percentage keeps going up, and his GAA keeps inching down. He seems to thrive in the high pressure hotseat. As the beard gets longer toward the end of the season, the Blues apparently pile up the wins.

There is the question of where the Blues would be if either a coaching change had been made about a month and a half earlier, or if they hadn't tuned out Andy Murray to begin with. It's frustrating to look at the first half of the season and see such mediocre play from people who were wedged into a doghouse. Berglund is having a mini-renaissance and is stepping up to the point production level that he maintained all of last season, presumably because he is not playing scared.

Frankly, the best surprise for me is Brad Boyes' +/-. He's a +3 so far this season, which is amazing since he was a -20 last year. That's the biggest turn-around for a player with a simultaneous goal output slide I've ever seen. People harp on him for not being able to find the net, myself included. But if him becoming more responsible prevents more goals than he would have scored, then doesn't it even out?

It's going to be rough - the Blues have to go 12-5-0 to have higher than a 50% chance to make the playoffs. If they were in the Eastern Conference, they'd be golden. How frustrating, and even more so knowing this ability was present all season long, but just not utilized.

I'm not being negative here, but...

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:36:00 +0000

28-28-10, 6 points back with 16 games left. Yeah, that March to the Playoffs? The one with the super favorable schedule?

This needs to be stuck in it.

More in-depth coverage after the Blues game/I'm not dead tired. Or, heck, maybe I'll focus all of my energy writing a positive post - I hope - about StL. Hold please.

Thrashers line-up for tonight's out.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:42:00 +0000

Interesting stuff. Kozlov and Boulton are in at the expense of Reasoner and Art. If Boll plays tonight, having Boults in the line-up is a solid call. Koz, well, I'm thrilled he's back. I would like explanation on the two players Anderson's chosen to sit. If it's due to being banged up, I understand. Sitting Reasoner over White though is just absurd. Reasoner you notice. He is out there absolutely killing himself on the ice night in and out. White, not so much - you only notice his missed opportunities.

Arty being sat is also interesting. "Hey, kid. Welcome to Atlanta! You've played reasonably well for four games, so why don't you enjoy the buffet. I hear they have a nice pressbox spread in Columbus."

On the flip side, I adore the defensive pairings. Oduya/Cheli; Kubina/Hainsey; Enstrom/Bogosian. The two pairings who played the best together at the start of the season are back together, and frankly I don't see any I consider more "top line" than "bottom line." How we can't win with a line up like that is beyond me.

Oh, wait. You score goals. Hm. Hopefully we can pot a few to support Moose tonight. He was excellent against Nashville and really deserved a W.

Thrashers Call Up Chris Chelios

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:17:00 +0000

In a move that might be more "aw, give the old guy a shot!" than "hey, we need to win a game here," the Atlanta Thrashers have called up Chris Chelios from the Chicago Wolves (link to come). I was more in favor of Kulda than Cheli, frankly, seeing as how well Kulda and Bogosian play together, but I do take this as an upgrade over Pops, who is now in my doghouse temporarily (soon to be re-replaced by Todd White, I'm sure).

EDIT: Aaaand here's the written proof. They had to write it in Aramaic so Cheli could understand. Hey-OH!

Oh, and check out the end of that article - Koz's playing against the Blue Jackets. Looks like someone read my blog post. I'm sure.

Coach Anderson, one other thing...

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:01:00 +0000

The Thrashers need some accountabillibuddies. Start with the coach.

I'm pretty sure that you're a good coach. But just STOP with the excuses and the whining. I'm starting to think that you're the reason this team's so "fragile." They're picking that vibe up from you.

Quite frankly, I don't know the rule anymore," Anderson said. "How many goals like that have we seen go against us? I don't understand what the ruling was. Was it goaltender interference? Why don't we have a penalty call?
"It was a game-changing call. I didn't like it."

What?? You don't know the RULE? If a player impedes the goaltender's ability to play the puck, and the puck goes in the net, it's goaltender interference. That's why there wasn't any call to Toronto. It's like the intent to blow rule. Same basic thing. The ref felt that Thorburn interfered. Did he? I didn't see it, but I was in my seat a few rows back behind the net, and the ref was right behind the goal with a clear line of sight.

Oh, and Pops' turn over? What of that?

"It was just a bad bounce," the coach said. "A little bump in the ice and he missed the puck and it ends up in the net."

No, it was a turnover that led to the GAME WINNING GOAL. I don't like calling players out by name to the press, but don't make excuses for them either. He screwed up, and he better be held accountable for that. But chances are pretty good that he won't be... because accountability makes the team more fragile.

The only player getting called out on a nightly basis is Slava Kozlov, and that's because of a personal dispute with Anderson that has absolutely nothing to do with what's going on on the ice anymore. It has everything to do with a news article quoting Kozlov as speaking out critically at Anderson and the Kovalchuk situation.

White has no speed. He can't replace Evander Kane for the next three to five weeks. At least Kozlov can pick it up and move faster than a mobster in cement shoes once in a while. Put the petty BS aside and do something that might benefit the team. And next time we lose? No excuses - for any on that team or yourself. There are quite a few fans who are getting tired of it.

Well, that was exciting.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:44:00 +0000

I consider it an upgrade over Sunday. After allowing 8 unanswered goals, the Thrashers finally scored, coming from Antropov with assists by Oduya and Bergfors, who continues to out produce Kovalchuk.

And that was all we got. Two first period goals by the Predators were all that it took. One by Suter, one by Wilson - but despite the fact that the Wilson goal was listed as unassisted, Mark Popovic probably needs to get one on it. Come to think of it, he had a generally atrocious game tonight. I really do sense a Kulda call-up here before Friday, which is nice, because I'm looking forward to finally getting to see the kid play a regular season game in person this year. Bogosian plays so much better with him, honestly.

The power play has gone from a predictable passing pattern with maybe one or two shots attempted to some weird spastic display of overmovement and overthought. No one wants to just take a chance and shoot, or when they do pass, they manage to pass it to someone who isn't in a shooting lane at all. There were several times tonight on the power play where Enstrom had a wide open net for a point shot and no one got him the puck.

I really think that the most frustrating thing about tonight was Thorburn's goal that got called back for goaltender interference. To see us tie the game, and then to have the ref signal no goal, well, that was deflating for the fans and to the team. We picked it up in the 3rd, but Dan Ellis was on his game tonight, and nothing was going to squeak past him again.

If we don't pick it up, we're out. Gone. So much for the hope of playoffs that we flirted with for most of the season. That 10 game losing streak in December is what basically sucked any wiggle room out of the season. Whatever the reason for it - and I still feel it was team uncertainty over the Kovalchuk situation - we can't lose many more games. Our schedule isn't that hard, and we just lost two of three games to teams that we should have, and could have beaten easily.

I've been a hockey fan for long enough to know that you don't base team loyalty on if your guys make the playoffs or not. That being said, with a team as good as we have here this season, and as close as we were, this is more frustrating than usual. It'll go down with 2005-2006 as one of those coulda... shoulda... but not quite seasons.

At least Columbus is still right there with us.

Can't catch a break.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:38:00 +0000

Well, ok, we don't *want* to catch a break, because that'd probably mean that Kane's foot's broken, and then we're toast. That being said, the results of the CT scan aren't in yet on his foot... but Schubert is out thanks to a pulled hip muscle. He'll be out for the rest of the season.

Kulda and Chelios are presumably next in line to be called up, and I'm not going to lie, I liked what I saw in Kulda and would prefer to see him skating around over the 48 year old wunderkind.

In other news, please to check out my long diatribe (but oddly not in-depth, since I wrote it in a rush) over at St. Louis Game Time on female hockey fans and a commonly ignored reason that we exist - evolution.

Instant Karma's Gonna Getcha.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:20:00 +0000

I'm not going to hide it, and I've never hidden it - I was a huge supporter of Manny Legace making the Thrashers this season. Partially because I really like the guy, and partially because I believed that Pavelec wasn't ready quite yet and Kari was basically toast. I felt badly for him regarding the way that it ended for him in St. Louis (despite the emo factor) and I wanted him to succeed.

Vindication was mine and Manny's tonight. A 4-0 shutout of the Thrashers was the result of his return to Blueland. One of my fantasy teams thanks you, and one of my real life teams kind of would have preferred that you would have sat in favor for Justin Peters. Of course, *I* could have held off the four goal onslaught that the Thrashers unleashed in the first period, and I haven't been in a goal since I was 7, when, oddly enough, I was Legace's height. The Thrashers pulled the SOG total a little closer, ending up at a 33-27 deficit.

The highlight of this thrilling game for the 15,306 in attendance (probably not that much, but the crowd looked pretty good) had to be the 8 penalties taken at various and sundry inappropriate times, leading to two powerplay goals. If last night was an example of the refs calling penalties that were questionable, tonight was a fantastic example of the Thrashers bringing it upon themselves. If they feel the need to make the playoffs, it would be helpful if they would win instead of depending on the teams ahead of them to lose. To win, you have to play a disciplined hockey game, and that was not what I saw tonight.

Ondrej Pavelec hasn't given up less than four goals since February 2nd against Tampa Bay, which was a break in the chain. He's given up 4 goals in four of the five previous starts. He hasn't won since January 19th. He is playing himself into the backup role to a backup this year. I like the kid, and I think he has great potential. I still maintain that he needs another year of experience in the minors, but his space has been taken in Chicago by Peter Mannino, who has a 20-3-0 record. He's stuck in the position that he and his agent wanted for him, filling a void left by Lehtonen and his wonky back/groin.

Hedberg had a bad game last night, but there were quite a few factors at play that didn't help. Pavelec didn't look sharp tonight, and the team didn't do him any favors either. Honestly, though, looking at his record along with his GAA (12-16-5, 3.47 GAA, .902 SV%), he's not passing muster yet this year. Legace, on an inferior team, hasn't had the chance to put up an actual full season of stats to be statistically compared to Pavelec's, but they're on par with Hedberg's, though Moose's SV% is higher (last night's game really didn't do Moose's stats any favors).

This team has the ability, when disciplined, to score in high amounts and to have some solid goaltending, mostly coming from Hedberg with the occasional brilliant game from Pavelec. We can make the playoffs - staying in the playoffs is the problem. When demoralized, as we were last night in Tampa, it takes us too long to climb back on the horse, and tonight's game was a horse we should have been all over like white on rice. Instead, the li'l guy that we passed up on got his just desserts and was named number one star of the game.

Karma isn't a bitch. Karma is a 5'10" ginger.

Here at Philips

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:18:00 +0000

Just testing out a Blogger posting software on my phone before warmups. Schu's out, Pops is in, and I have no clue who is in since Kane's out. My guess is Boulton, with Art moved up a line, though I'd always be game to see Koz allowed to play in one more game before the end of the season. Hit up BWA for some good analysis of Berg's season projections (hint: it's double what Kovy's is this season). I'd link to it, but I have no clue how to yet on this thing. Hold please.

Couple of things I forgot from last night's Thrashers game...

noreply@blogger.com (Laura (aka Hildymac)) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:45:00 +0000

... you know, the one I prefer not to think about (the other game last night's been blocked from my memory already). Evander Kane blocked a shot off of his right foot and didn't return, won't play today, and will be evaluated by training staff and doctors. No clue if he'll play Friday.

Niclas Bergfors (happy birthday, Bergie, BTW) has scored 6 goals since the trade. That other guy has scored three. I think we should all chip in and send Lou a thank you fruit basket, don't you?

Finally, Steve Downie wound up with a 10 minute game misconduct along with 4 minutes of penalties for this absurdly horrible hit on Marty Reasoner. Left his feet before impact, led with the elbow, went for the head... this isn't Downie's first foray into being an asshat - Blackhawks fans know that. If the league doesn't look at this, I'll be very displeased.

One other thing - Chris Thorburn fought Big Country and survived. He earns my respect.