"It just wasn't meant to be" - Lucic | BOS v ATL

Post game interview from 12/30/09, courtesy NESN:



I'll be the first to admit, I love Lucic. And this saddens me. Especially since the usually grinny Milan is not looking very happy at all during this interview. Is there still a possibility he could play tomorrow? Maybe. A very slim chance, probably <1%. Fourth line, limited minutes, who's to say? What makes me more sad is all the interviews he gave saying how he's never played an outdoor game before because it never gets cold enough in Vancouver. Keeping the streak alive, I guess? Here's to hoping the ankle is good to go tomorrow. If the Nor'easter heading towards New England turns to rain though, all bets are off. What happens if there's rain anyway? Is there a rain delay? Is the game postponed? Moved to the Garden? Has that possibility been prepared for? I'm curious. Snow? Awesome, make the players shovel. Rain? You can't stop play every 3 minutes to squeegie the ice off, and playing on wet ice creates way too many injury possibilities. But here's to hoping Looch is able to get into the game, if for no other reason than to put that smile back on his face, and break the "never played outdoors" streak.

In other news, the Bruins once again thrashed the Thrashers. Here's the interesting stat of the night. In 27:42 that Ondrej Pavelec played against the B's in the past 2 games, he allowed 6 goals on 18 shots, which averages to a SV% of .667, and GAA of 13.00. I'm thinking the Thrashers have his number, and he's hoping he never has to play them again.As it were, the B's have beaten the Thrash in 9 straight games. Shame they only play each other 4x a year. And like Jack Edwards says, 2 U's, 2 K's, 2 points, and another shutout.

David Krejci, Vladimir Sobotka and Patrice Bergeron were my personal players of the game. Krejci didn't put up too much in terms of the score sheet, but he made a lot of things happen, and I'm guessing he and Bergeron both put the excitement and sheer ecstasy of being named to their Olympic teams to good use in the game, especially after being embarrassed by Tampa the other night. Congrats to all the Bruins who've thusfar been named to their respective countries' Olympic teams: Zdeno Chara (Slovakia), David Krejci (Czech Republic), Marco Sturm (Germany) and Patrice Bergeron (Canada). Here's hoping Tim Thomas is named to Team USA.

Here's some photos from last night, courtesy Reuters, Getty, AP, etc.

Greatest photo sequence ever. Shame they weren't all shot from the same angle or I could've animated this. Or I could rip it off the DVD but I'm lazy and you got the Milan interview so be happy.

Winter Classic practice coverage on NHL Network right now if you're interested.

Bruins and Leafs win, Lucic out with high ankle sprain

I'll be honest. Wednesday night I was exhausted and didn't stay awake past Milan Lucic twisting his knee awkwardly after getting his skate stuck in a rut. I'd been watching the Leafs half assed, but I wasn't paying a lot of attention. When I went to watch it later on the Tivo, I discovered I'd recorded the only available feed - from SunSports. Fail. No commentary on the Leafs win since I'm not a sado-masochist and can't watch the morons on SunSports. So here's what I know, I won't expound on what I don't or paraphrase from other peoples' writing.

The Bruins won all 4 road games, bringing home a majestic 8 points, putting them in 1st place in the Northeast Division. The return of Milan Lucic, and having Savard with the team on the roadtrip, and on the ice for the last 2 games, indeed infused the team with the jump and energy they needed to get it done. David Krejci had a monster of a shootout goal, and I'm disappointed in Savvy for not potting one, considering he and Shane Doan are apparently the 2 best shootout shooters in the NHL (keep your remarks about Timmy helping Savvy cheat to yourselves).

The bothersome bit about the Bruins' game was mentioned in paragraph 1, line 2. Milan Lucic caught his skate in a rut, fell awkwardly, twisting his knee in a manner that knees are not meant to be twisted, then made the most awkward hop off the ice I've ever seen, and was helped down the runway to the room in order to be checked out. However, Chiarelli just addressed the media prior to the morning skate and informed them that Looch has a high-ankle sprain, and will be out for a month. I'm not the greatest at math and dates and shit, but I'm fairly sure this all but eliminates Milan's chances of making the Canadian Olympic team.

Looch, Looch, Looch. Baby take care of yourself. You're having a run of bad luck with the injuries. Your fans are rooting for you, and I hope I speak for everyone when I say get well soon. And watch out for ruts.

You're doing it wrong.

Apparently last night, Milan Lucic broke a finger. Halfway through the 2nd. And kept playing. But is out of the line up. And on the bench. For probably 2-3 weeks. Maybe more, maybe less.

So Lucic-less Bruins to take on Soon-to-be-homeless Coyotes. But Guillaume Lefebvre, not to be confused with Bret Favre, will be stepping in for Looch. Not sure on what line, or who's going where or really, whether to wind my butt or scratch my watch, but hey the Leafs are only down by 1 after the 1st! So there's that.

Maybe tomorrow I'll talk about what's wrong with the Leafs. It could be a long post. Maybe a short one. Maybe I can do it now: Everything. Someone make that team watch Miracle.

Get well soon, Looch. Can you splint that thing and play anyway?

When the juice ain't worth the squeeze

Lehtonen may play tonight
By Mike Knobler
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen went through half a practice with the team on Tuesday and said he might be able to play tonight against Buffalo.

"We don't know yet what's going to happen [tonight]," Lehtonen said, adding that it might depend on the result of another visit with the team doctor.

Lehtonen got hurt —- he and the team describe it only as "an upper body injury" —- in Thursday's victory over the New York Rangers when he fell backward after Sean Avery crashed the net. Replays appeared to show the back of Lehtonen's head hitting the ice. He finished the final five minutes of the first period before being pulled.

"I felt good enough to try to battle there," Lehtonen said when asked why he kept playing. "It didn't end up well because they scored."

Right. So. As you all know, I pretty much consider myself an expert on everything (don't hate. That kind of pretension gets you places in life!). So I'll throw it out there that I have some expertise on concussions. And dear readers (you're looking great, by the way - gearing up for beach season?), there is one thing you can do to prevent concussions. Wear a mouth guard. Guess who doesn't wear a mouth guard? That's right!! You so smart! I so proud! Our lovely goaltender does not wear a mouthguard. So pretty much ANY time he hits his head on ANYTHING, he'll be concussed. He kept right on playing after he hit his head though, and chances are good that whatever mild damage was done, it worsened with the continuing play. With a Grade I concussion, in theory you can return to 'athletic activity' after 15 minutes, but only after receiving examinations every 5 minutes during that 15 minute span. Which didn't happen. Since he hasn't played or practiced since the end of that period, I'm guessing his concussion (I mean, upper body injury!) is a lot worse than just Grade I.

So bottom line? There's nothing left to play for, Kari won't break his 100 wins record this season no matter what. Cut the loss and IR him for the remaining... 4 games? 5? Whichever. In this case, the juice definitely ain't worth the squeeze.

Let the season go, Karppa, you done good. Hopefully next year, the team'll follow your lead, and do good as well.

Pohjanmaan kautta, kippis terveydeks!

Golf, anyone? Anyone?!

Hm. Someone could be beginning their summer a touch early this year.... :

ATLANTA (Ticker) — In the wake of the upper body injury suffered by Kari Lehtonen one night earlier, the Atlanta Thrashers on Friday recalled fellow goaltender Dan Turple from Chicago of the American Hockey League.

Lehtonen left Thursday’s 5-4 shootout victory over the New York Rangers after one period and is not expected to play against Ottawa on Saturday.

Well THAT sucks. I mean, yay for Turps... I'm guessing Ondrej's too busy trying to make playoffs, or also injured? Curious though. Good job getting injured in the last almost-two weeks, Kärppä....

... where did all those fans come from?

First question of the day, obviously, is why the hell they're reporting Kari's "injury" as "upper body" when it's not like there's a chance in hell the team will make playoffs, and don't need to really keep their players' injuries under cover? I mean, seriously. I'm all for keeping a guy's situation guarded when he's in a situation that he can get hurt, badly, and the team needs him, badly. But when there's 15 days left in the season wherein a team's been mathematically eliminated, "he got his bell rung" would not be an out-of-line description of an injury. Nor "well his own player cross checked him into his own net after that douchebag Avery checked him, so, y'know, we're just gonna let him take it easy so he doesn't go back on the ice and try to kill that man-purse carrying asshole." Just a little honesty, that's all I'm askin' for!

But in other news, what an awesome win. And no, seriously, where did all the fans come from? Was it free beer night at Philips? I don't think I'd EVER heard as loud a crowd there as when Moose denied Drury in that last shootout round. Least, not this season anyway. Whatever the case, props to the locals for putting their butts in the seats to round out the season.

Someone please tell me that in 15 more days, we'll NEVER have to see or hear Natalie Taylor's insanely vapid "interviews" again. Please please? Make my day, willya?  There've been few occasions where I honestly considered a true-to-life replay of that "wanna get away?" commercial where the guy throws the Wiimote at the TV... and I don't have a Wii, but the insanely over-acted slap-happy routine when she interviewed Whitey gave me an itchy throwing hand. Honestly, who did she blow to get that job? And can I blow them too? Because I could do a better job hammered off my tits on Long Island iced teas while wearing skates. Seriously, get me a contact name. It's for the betterment of the team!

I know I've kind of fallen down on the "blogging" job lately, but as it were the blogging job that actually pays the bills has really gotten in the way of my fucking-off time, both at work and at home. Not that I'm complaining, I mean, I still have a job so there's that. And being busy at work is nice. But holy shit do I have a couple frillion photos for y'all once things get into a normal groove for me. And it appears that time will dovetail nicely with the end of the (Thrashers') season. Although then I'll be frenetically foaming at the mouth over the Bruins, and possibly the Oilers, should they manage to make it out of the bubble and into the top 8. And golfing. I will definitely be golfing. I think I'ma switch to lefty, since my right shot cruises about 3' off the ground, no matter how far I drive that fucking thing.

Right right, you don't care. Anyway, here's a photo of Kari from tonight. Surprisingly, this was NOT a goal. I say surprisingly because K's eyes are closed, and it looks like the puck's going over his glove. But it's labeled as "makes a save" so .... come to your own conclusions?

And just to make it fair, here's the same guy, in the same game, shooting on a different goalie. Same result though: NO GOAL!

I hope I've satiated your craving for a couple HQ photos. More later. Eventually. No REALLY! I PROMISE!

Yes we did! Looch to miss Young Stars

Uh, so yeah, how about that thing downtown today, eh?? Was that intense or what?? I almost wish I had gone down just to hear that song Yo-Yo Ma and Izhak Perlman played echoing through the empty canyons of the abandoned city streets. Welcome to a new dawn, America. Let's try not to fuck this one up, k?

Moving on to hockey. Milan Lucic is bowing out of the Young Stars game due to a lingering injury. Frown.

Thrash play Habs tonight. Thrash play Flyers tomorrow night. Here's a tip for all you statisticians - Niittymaki is ill, and likely to not play. Start adding your 1s and 0s and tell me what you come up with!

Anyway, stuff to do, places to do it that aren't here.

Kari! Moose! STAY HEALTHY!!!

You guys...! Pony is hurt! Possibly with a groin pull. And Krahn was playing with Turple on the bench, which means Gherson's down as well. Pavelec left warm-ups on the 30th and didn't return in uniform, and he also did not play nor back up for the game last night. The only thing I can find on the situation is one line from the Mantioba Sun: 

Ironically, Krahn wouldn't have been playing if Ondrej Pavelec hadn't been injured during the pre-game warm-up.

And a blurby on the Wolves message board:

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:18 pm
According to reports Pavelec left the pre-game warm-up early going down for a shot. Sounds like he could have pulled his groin. Might be nothing but we'll see who's in net in a few minutes.

Why is reporting on AHL injuries so NON-EXISTENT?!

Anyway, stay healthy guys. MIND THE GROINS!

*headdesk*

Thrashers place G Lehtonen on injured reserve
Published: Friday, November 21, 2008

The Atlanta Thrashers on Friday placed goaltender Kari Lehtonen on injured reserve, retroactive to October 31. Lehtonen has been out of action since a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers on October 30, first because of illness, and then because of back stiffness.

In a corresponding move, the Thrashers recalled right wing Joey Crabb from Chicago of the American Hockey League. Crabb, 25, has tallied five goals and five assists in 16 games for Chicago this season.

Kari-less November?

Per Ben, Kari's not skating and won't be playing tonight. Pony looks to be getting the nod.

So I'm considering starting a pool. Do you guys think Kari will play at all in the month of November?

Post-game Review

4 - 5
(SO)

• Hedberg has made hockey a full-contact sport for goalies. This is full of WIN!
• Perrin was, completely unshockingly to us here at FWH, a BEAST on the ice, with 3 points (2 goals), and nearly scored the OT winner for the hatty.
• Where the HELL were the rally helmets?
• If we knew Antropov was going to deke on the shootout goal, how did Hedberg not know? Hedberg has a damned 5-hole you can drive a Zamboni through.
• Toronto announcers: Hedberg's first name is said yo-HAHN. It does not rhyme with man. And Kovy's last name ends like chuck. It is not chook. And Lehtonen's name is not Carrie. It's KAH-ree. OK? Make a freakin' note.
• Congrats to Heddy for going 5-0 career in the shootouts,

Watching 2 somewhat crappy and desperate teams playing is always pretty awesome. It was indeed a barn burner - we'll have to download this one for posterity. Not quite a football score, but we were pretty close in our prediction.

Huge congrats to Tobi Enstrom on his first NHL goal!


(AP Photo/Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press)

Your three stars are:
* Kovy
** Sundin
*** Enstrom

---

Dominic Moore was finally taken off D2D after 22 days, and placed on IR today with his abdominal strain. No article on this, but google-news it and you'll find one-line mentions in a few different publications. Get better soon, Dom!

Lehtonen out 6 weeks

According to AJC, Lehtonen out 4-6 weeks. The MRI taken Friday, and extensively reviewed, reveals a long-term groin strain, different from the one that kept him out for the majority of the 05-06 season. However, this is not a tear, which is amazingly good news. However, the recovery time for said strain will be on the very-high side of 4-6 weeks. The strain was not one that occurred to an integral core muscle (also amazingly good), but being that he's a goalie and uses those muscle much more than your average hockey player, it will be much closer to 6 weeks, if not longer, before his return, which will be in December, minimum.

Hedberg will take over as the team's #1 goalie in the interim, with Pavelec getting his first NHL start soon, likely on the upcoming road trip.


Typical groin strains for hockey players occur to their abductor longus muscle. We don't know which particular muscle Kari has strained, but the fact that it's not a core muscle is fan-fucking-tastic. Typical recovery should include physical therapy and (gasp!) yoga. Luckily, it tends to not involve surgery, from which recovery can be long and painful.

Obviously, not having Kari in net for (likely) the remainder of the calendar year is a huge blow to not only the team, but to the team's psyche as well. Without him backstopping them, and uncertainty about Pavelec (at least from the players' standpoint), and Hedberg having been conditioned for the past year and a half to be a backup, this is huge cause for concern. Now is the time for the team to step up and play their game the way they can.

To learn more about athletic groin strains, please visit the following sites:

• Strength Cats
• Athletic Advisor (very medically technical)
• The ACC: Chronic Groin Strains
• Sports Injury Center: "The Hockey Groin" (PDF)

We will be talking soon to some friends who work as athletic trainers, to get a better overview of the type of training and recovery Kari is facing, as well as his possibilities for setbacks, given his history with groin strains.

Kari placed on IR

We here at FWH are heartbroken to hear this. Parane pian, Kari!

Thrashers place Lehtonen on injured reserve
Goalie suffers groin injury vs. Rangers; Hedberg to start on road trip

By CRAIG CUSTANCE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/19/07

The Thrashers placed goalie Kari Lehtonen on injured reserve on and recalled top goalie prospect Ondrej Pavelec from Chicago (AHL).

Lehtonen injured his groin in the first period of last night's win over the Rangers and had an MRI done this afternoon.

Before the injury, Lehtonen was playing his best game of the season and had stopped all nine Rangers shots.

"Everything felt great, I was having so much fun and then I just made one kick, a desperation save and I felt my leg go," Lehtonen said. "I was hoping that it didn't feel that bad."

But it did. The team will turn to backup Johan Hedberg for the majority of the work during the upcoming seven-game road trip but coach and general manager Don Waddell said the team is also confident in the 20-year-old Pavelec who has never played an NHL game.

Pavelec was 2-0, with a 1.49 goals against average for the Wolves.

Until the results of the MRI come in, there is no timetable on Lehtonen's return.

Lehtonen out with a groin strain [UPDATED!]

Kari went out at 11:30 of the first with a groin strain. He will not return.

Parane pian, Kärppä!

ETA from the Thrashers @ 2227:

Lehtonen stopped eight shots before going out with 8 1/2 minutes left in the first, having injured his troublesome groin again. A similar problem in 2005-06 sidelined the Finn for more than two months, but it wasn't immediately known how long this ailment might keep him out.

And another entry into the race comes from beat reporter Duh McNoshit at the AJC, entitled Lehtonen suffers groin injury.