St. Louis Blues Oust Thrashers after Near Misses at End

Mister Levenson! TEAR DOWN THIS CURTAIN!!!

On the morning after the Atlanta Thrashers dismissed the New Jersey Devils with a resounding statement of renouncement, and as the beleaguered Blueland Nation savors the spoils of this brief, but glorious triumph over some rather beguiling franchise demons, we must now pause to reflect on what this victorious battle means for the future of hockey in Atlanta. Just how could it alter the fate of a struggling franchise that is trying to climb its way from the depths of darkness, despair and ridicule?

For the first time since March 20, 2010*, more than 17,000 fans desperate to believe in Blueland filled the seats of Philips Arena to not only offer their sarcastic thanks and harsh invective to the once ballyhooed face of the franchise, Ilya Kovalchuk, but also witness what they hoped would be a turning point victory for a team that has historically come up short in big "statement" games. On a night when the team mascot would be released from lawful detention as a symbolic message to the hockey world that Thrasherville CAN and WILL rally to support the attendance cause, the Thrashers' players responded with a convincing and profound message of restored hope, renewed excitement and fulfilled expectations. *Note: I'm very much aware of the fact the last home game of 2009-10 was a sell-out, but at least 1/3 of the arena was filled with Pens' fans.

At least for one night were expectations fulfilled. Finally, after two consecutive failed attempts to win in regulation (the Thrashers suffered back to back overtime shoot-out losses against Tampa Bay and Carolina) and earn the coveted second point that would catapult them to the top rung of the Southeast Division standings, the Thrashers elevated their game to match the import level of the prize at stake to dismantle a reeling Devils team by the count of 7 to 1 in front of a boisterous and near-capacity crowd at Philips Arena. Led by the "best 4th line in hockey", the Thrashers blitzed legendary goalie Martin Brodeur with a 4-goal barrage on just 15 shots. The Thrashers were led by pugilist turned goal-scorer Eric Boulton, who netted his first ever hat-trick (and multi-goal game for that matter) in a 10-year career known solely, if at all, for dishing out punishment as part of a grinding, "energy" trio not expected to score goals.

But just like my good friend, and AJC Fan Blogger, Bill Tiller said after "Boultsy" put the finishing touches on an amazing feat of crazy, cosmic luck, the Thrashers had officially entered into the "bizarro world" of hockey phenomena, for on the same night, Rich Peverley, known purely for his gifted skating and slick passing, decided he would attempt to one-up Boulton by dropping the gloves and teaching Eric a lesson on how to execute some of the finer points of the "sweet science". Truly bizarre indeed. Pretty much the entire sequence of unfolding of events made for a surreal outcome as the Thrashers seemingly managed to cast off a galling shroud of bad luck and misfortune with this win over their devilish nemesis. Not only was Boulton's 3rd goal the result of a strange twist of fate that saw the puck take a random, hard kick off the boards from behind the goal and past a startled and panicked goalie -- former Thrasher Johan "Moose" Hedberg was victimized by an even stranger karmic carom in Game 2 of the 2007 playoffs' series against the New York Rangers -- but the final score seemed like a fitting ironic tribute to erstwhile Thrashers hero, Ilya Kovalchuk, who left the ice beneath a scoreboard emblazoned with a score matching the transposition of his number 17.

For the fans in attendance, it was surely a cathartic release of pent-up frustrations, anger and scorn. For years, the fans have been subjected to the fickle and petty whims of a misguided ownership group. And recently, the relentless rumors of relocation fueled by a frenzied Canadian press have been rampant. And with the Canadian, and even the national American, media agenda buoyed by recent comments in the press by NHL Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly, who continues to question publicly the viability of hockey in the metro Atlanta market, the 7 to 1 spanking of Ilya's Devils was even sweeter for the citizens of Blueland, who can now enjoy the chance to fire back with a thunderous message of partial vindication that screams out like a chorus of "Mooooooooose" chants at Philips Arena: UP YOURS CANADA!!!

Much work is surely left to be done as the underdog Thrashers attempt to lift up a fan base that has been beaten down repeatedly by a neglectful, often ungrateful and sometimes petulant ownership group. But in the wake of the Thrashers emphatic win over the Devils last night, and their ascendancy into the upper echelon of the NHL standings (did I just type that?), it now seems as though the time is ripe for all fans, both the embittered and unwavering citizens of Blueland, to renew, or solidify their belief in and support of this team. And in so doing, they can convey to the desperate "Octo-cluster" ownership group a powerful and adamant message similar to the one late President Ronald Reagan delivered to Soviet Russia in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin back in 1987:

Paraphrasing of course:

"There is one sign the (dis)Spirit Group can make that would be unmistakable; that would advance dramatically the cause of (passion) and (hope). (Mr. Levenson), if you seek (success); if you seek prosperity for the (town of Thrasherville).....come here to this gate. (Mr. Levenson), open this gate. (Mr. Levenson), TEAR DOWN THIS (CURTAIN)!"

Yes, for those who are unaware, the upper reaches of the stands at Philips Arena -- the 400-level section of seats --has been partitioned off by the Atlanta Spirit Group since the beginning of the season. In an attempt to apparently mask their own embarrassment over dwindling attendance and their methodical dismantling of hope during the past three seasons of failure, the ASG has erected a black curtain of shame to hide the once popular section of $10 seats. Well, I think it's just about time that our short-sighted owners take down this damn curtain and open up as many reasonably-priced seats as possible so that the thousands of fans, who are still on the fence about financing further ineptitude on the part of the ASG, can come to Philips Arena and pay a guilt-free pittance to watch some of the most exciting and inspiring hockey ever seen in these parts. In fact, the now first-place Thrashers, who overtook, even if only briefly, the free-falling Washington Capitals with their win last night, play some of the most exciting, fun-to-watch hockey in the entire National Hockey League.

So ASG, do what is right and indeed salutary for your benevolent Blueland backers. Come here to the front of this curtain. Come here, with hat in hand, before the masses of hockey fans who want to believe. Come before them and offer up a gesture of good faith to win back the hearts of those who wish to no longer be exploited for their generosity. Come before Blueland and TEAR DOWN THIS CURTAIN!!!

On the Road Again, Thrashers Winnin', but also Livin' on the Edge

Last time I posted a blog, I was exhorting my readers (and followers on twitter) to spread the word about the Thrashers' recent play as well as their bellwether prospects for a good season. Slowly but slowly (that's not a typo!), the bandwagon is starting to gain some momentum. However, the Thrash-wagon did get bogged down trying to traverse a muddy street in downtown Thrasherville as recent as last Friday nite when the boys lost their most recent home game to the Colorado Avalanche 4 to 2. Hopefully, that relatively poor effort will not dampen the collective belief and spirit of those potential fans who are still lukewarm to the idea of casting aside their pessimism and joining the T-bird battalion of faithful fandom.

As the boys make their pre-game preparations for tonite's huge divisional tilt with rival, and proverbial thorn in the side, Tampa Bay, I've been looking backwards to see if I can learn anything about the team that can explain why they don't seem to be as sharp despite winning two straight road games. The one thing that sticks in my craw is a quote I gleaned from Coach Craig Ramsay's presser after the loss to Colorado in which he concluded that they "didn't stick to a good plan to get it (the puck) past them and make their D work...we backed up, we played on our heels; we have to be more aggressive." Indeed he is right. The Thrashers allowed the Avalanche to dictate play and control the tempo on our ice despite an early 1 to 0 lead for the Thrashers. While the boys didn't play poorly, Ramsay could not have been happy with the effort and the paltry 26 SOG for the game.

Apparently, the residue of the lackluster 1st period against Colorado -- the Avs outshot the Thrashers 16 to 5 -- has not been easy to remove as Ramsay seems to be searching for a spark with some recent changes to the line-up. Perhaps looking for a way to motivate his troops with a fresh message of "tough love", he benched Niclas Bergfors, who scored the first goal against Colorado, and grinding winger Ben Eager, who hasn't really stood out to me as playing poorly of late. Back into the line-up are veteran winger Freddy Modin, now completely healthy after a rib injury, and recently signed Tim Stapleton, whose diminutive frame belies his scrappy and aggressive demeanor. But neither was much of a factor in either of the two road wins in which the Thrashers shook off in-game doldrums to find a way to win.

In Long Island against the Islanders, the alarm went off nearly too late after a miserable 1st period led to a 2-nothing deficit, and in Ottawa, a mid-game lull set the tone for a late Senators comeback, which was auspiciously thwarted by former Ontario junior hockey stand-out, Bryan Little, who's overtime heroics won the extra point in the standings. Either way, the Thrashers made things more difficult for themselves by failing to play hard for the full 60 minutes. For whatever reason, the Thrashers have not looked like the team that had been dominating games from start to finish during an impressive 6-game win streak. Other than the Boston game, in which the boys used a defensive shell to frustrate and befuddle the Bruins late onslaught of pressure, Atlanta seemed to be playing right in concert with every note on Coach Ramsay's game-sheet music. In other words, they were earnestly applying the coach's mantra of "safe is death", sometimes even in scary-good fashion.

In the first 4 games of the win streak, the Thrashers averaged an astounding 39.0 shots on goal while only giving up 29.0 SOG against their own goalie. In addition, they outscored opponents by a whopping 19 to 3 margin. While that sort of run cannot be sustained for more than a couple of weeks, it seems as though the Thrashers have started to rest on their laurels just a bit. In doing so, they have had to dip into every gallon of confidence stored in their reserve tank to pull out wins in "thoracic", heart-stopping fashion. With 3 overtime wins in their last 7 games, one must begin to wonder if he/she will need a bottle of rum or a dose of valium to watch games from this point forward. Surely this team doesn't want to be known as the "Thoracic Thrashers" going forward, even if it is fun to win games in overtime and mob the goal-scorer like you just won the Stanley Cup??

If they hope to continue their evolution towards becoming a dominant force to be reckoned with on a consistent basis, then it's time for them to figure out a way to put a halt to the prolonged lulls that have plagued them a lot of the season, and especially of late. That's not to say I'm ready to proclaim that the bottom is about to fall out on the Thrashers' season. In fact, I'm buoyed by some convincing statistical evidence that shows a methodical, as well as dramatic improvement in how this team plays hockey. Not only are they still scoring goals at a consistent clip, but they are really starting to clamp down defensively, limiting shots and neutralizing scoring chances. Obviously the play of goalie Ondrej Pavelec has been sensational since mid-November, but the numbers show the Thrashers are improved in all facets.

Over their first 10 games, the only reason they were a shade over .500 was because of timely goal scoring (32 goals in all) since they were yielding way too many shots against. Making matters worse, they were only getting 28.1 shots to the net while their opponents were lighting them up for 35.5 per game! In the second set of 10 games, the shots-against average was exactly the same (spooky statistical anomaly), but the shots-for improved greatly by 3.80 shots per game to an average of 31.90. Unfortunately, this did not translate to much success -- a losing record of 3 - 5 - 2 rather -- as erratic goaltending, okay, bad goaltending, cost them dearly. In games 21 through 30 though, the team turned the corner. Over that stretch, in which they racked up 8 wins versus 2 losses, they averaged 33.0 SOG while only giving up 31.9 per game. On top of that, they were plus-15 at even strength, scoring 3.20 goals a game while only allowing a paltry 1.80 (can you say Pavelectric!?). Indeed the trend of improved play at both ends of the ice has been readily apparent with or without stats to back it up.

But I do have some concerns as the boys seem to be falling prey more frequently of late to the kinds of mistakes that cost them wins earier in the year. Two weeks ago, I penned these words to paper after their overtime win in Colorado: "While the Thrashers didn’t play their best hockey last nite, they did something even more impressive: win on the road against a very good team when the mountain seemed way too steep to climb. Such a win is just the kind of validation a fan and blogger like me was hoping for as I try to convince myself, and the reader, that the Thrashers are for real....keep in mind that stats only illustrate the underlying paradigm shift that has occurred in Atlanta. Now that it has started to take hold, the stats seem even more impressive than the actual turn-around that has occurred on the ice and in the players’ collective confidence."

While I stand by my words that an overall paradigm shift in attitude and approach has occurred -- breeding both a renewed esprit de corps and aura of confidence -- in the locker-room and on the ice, I would hate to see all of the progress made squandered over the next 10 games. The condensed schedule in which Atlanta plays 13 times in 22 days presents the sternest, most grueling test yet for this young team. If they can get back to playing a game where they compete full bore for 60 minutes, while paying close attention to the finer points of the game to minimize mistakes, then this team should find itself firmly entrenched within a playoff spot in the standings by January 1st. From there, anything is possible. Then I will dare to dream, but for now, I will stick to my quiet, reserved sense of hope. Cold December was harshly unkind to this team last season. Until we survive this storm of games winning at least half of them, then I don't plan on making any more pleas to rustle up fans for the bandwagon. I'll let the team do it with their play on the ice.