Fire Wagon Hockey

Craig writes;

Sounds like Kari Lehtonen will get the start again against Florida, although Don said they hadn’t finalized anything. But based on a quick conversation, I sensed he was leaning that way.

Y'all know I love Kari like a fat kid love cake, but honestly I am torn between benching him in favour of Heddy, and letting him play. When a goalie is hot, you've got to let him play. And one crappy game doesn't ruin an entire hot streak. Additionally, you've quite a fragile ego in the net. Do you run the risk of sitting him to teach him a lesson, or do you let him play, knowing that what's going through his own mind is probably worse than any other punishment you can lay on him?

Personally, I say let him play. Of COURSE I say it, this is Kari central. But on top of that, it's the fucking Kittens. The joke of not only the Southeast Division, but really, the entire league. Oh fuck this, I'm just going to dig up an old pregamer, change the stats to reflect appropriately and we'll call it a day.

The Panthers suck. Sorry if you like them, but they're a joke of a team. The only things they've got going for them are Jay Bouwmeester on D, Vokoun in net, and Jokinen up front. (coincidentally, we just went to check something on their site and see that those three are also nominated for the All-Star balloting... coincidence?) Not even the great Roberto Luongo could make this team look good, and Todd Bertuzzi opted to spend most of his season there injured/healing rather than put on that sweater. Vokoun is the only reason they've won any games at all.

From the AP: After coming out flat their last time out, a home matchup against the Kittens might be what the Thrash need to get back on track.

The Thrashers look to win their 12th straight home game over the Panthers on Thursday night at Philips Arena.

Atlanta (18-18-1) lost to Columbus 2-0 on Wednesday, snapping a four-game winning streak. The Thrashers had scored 15 goals during their run, but managed just 21 shots in the loss.

The Thrashers try to bounce back against the Panthers at home, where they haven't lost to them since Oct. 25, 2003. Atlanta has outscored Florida 45-22 over that span. The Thrashers also have won eight of 10 games over the Panthers since the start of last season, including both meetings this season.We're sure some uppity Panthers fan (do the Panthers HAVE fans?) will find this and post some snotty comment, so go ahead. We throw down the gauntlet and welcome it. Prove to us how the Panthers are anything resembling competent without those three guys, and we'll show you a pee-wee team that'll hand them their asses after putting on a clinic.

If the boys bring their A-game, and play like they can, then we'll pick the Thrash by 2.