PTHI: Lucic en-route to ATL, Savard sitting, Bruins trade update

Title says it all, really. Milan Lucic will be in the ATL for tonight's game, hopefully playing. Game time decision yet again, so change your bets accordingly, ladies and gentlemen. Savard will not be playing tonight, again, adjust your bets. Holla to my Thrashers friends I quickly notified about Looch missing the game, please adjust your hopes accordingly. Juuuuuuuust in case.

I like to think my use of the Serbian in my prior post really helped him feel better (SHUT UP! I'M NOT DELUSIONAL, OK? I LIKE PRETEND.).

And since I'm posting and don't really want to post bomb you like I have been the past few days... More word on the street from Boston.

Summary: Chiarelli won't be making any trades until Lucic and Savard are back.
Translation: If you guys don't step it the fuck by the time those two return, you're ALL on the block. Give your heads a shake and get yo' shit TOGETHER  (in my head, Chiarelli's gangsta).
Solution: (Per me) Try putting Wideman with one of the stay-at-home defenceman tonight, and not with guys who're going to beat him up to the play. Think it through.

But ooooh, trade threats. Scary.

Here's to hoping Looch'll be on the ice shoving guys over the boards by their asses tonight.

Reading is fundamental

From the Edmonton Journal:

The Los Angeles Kings say their goalie search is on hold. With the emergence of Jonathan Quick, they dumped Jason LaBarbera, dealing him to Vancouver. Atlanta's Kari Lehtonen, who's fallen out of favour with the Thrashers, could possibly be traded for a forward like Patrick O'Sullivan.

So, first question is, when did Kari fall out of favour? I could be wrong, but isn't he the only goalie to get any wins in like.... 10 games?  Also, didn't he come back from injury, and significantly lower the GAA per game? And let's be honest. Is there another goalie in this league that can consistently face around 40 shots per game, come to play every night, and win when he's actually backed up by his team? Maybe he's wrong to call out the team for not showing up to play in this period or that, but someone should. With no captain, who's serving as the caller-outer? I totally made that word up, thanks for asking. But no seriously. If Lehtonen goes for a skater, who's going to play in goal? I think Moose's performance in Toronto shows that not even he can get the team to play well enough to win. So the team is down their star goalie, and now there is yet another awkwardly-fitting cog in this supposed machine. You do realise that if Kari goes to any city that has anything resembling "a team" in front of him, facing, say, 23 shots per game, he'll carry them quite deep?

In summation, trading Kari will further his career, and further mire Atlanta in the quicksand they're already buried waist-deep in. That said, let the rumour-mongering begin.

Well what the fuck does that mean?

Moose goes for two in a row
By Mike Knobler | Sunday, November 9, 2008, 03:00 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Johan Hedberg is starting today for the Thrashers, going for his second consecutive victory after winning in Buffalo on Friday night.

I asked John Anderson before the game how the Thrashers will handle their three-goalies-for-two-spots situation. He said they don’t have to make that call until Monday.


.................. ?

Rebuttal Numero Yksi (#1)

Wow, when there's a crapload of rumours flying around about the team you follow and, dare I say, cover, it's v disconcerting. So, here we have our first rebuttal to the Lehtonen rumour, from a well respected source, The Fourth Period's Editor, David Pagnotta, who put this addendum onto the original TFP re-post of the article I posted earlier.

So, because Lehtonen's a restricted free agent at season's end, the Thrashers have to trade him? That doesn't make much sense... nor does trading your No.1 goalie. The Thrashers are very high on Lehtonen. I'd be quite shocked if they pull the trigger on such a move. If anything, expect Atlanta to move Pavelec, but there isn't much of a market for him right now. -- David Pagnotta

Pop goes the weasel?

Posted by the Edmonton Sun and it's been picked up already by a few other papers.

When it comes to goaltenders, the Atlanta Thrashers are discovering that three's a crowd. With a trio of goalies -- Kari Lehtonen, Ondrej Pavelec and Johan Hedberg -- on their roster, the Thrashers have almost as many netminders as victories (five).

Many NHL observers think Atlanta GM Don Waddell wants to deal one of his surplus goaltenders in an attempt to kickstart his floundering team.

Pavelec, 21, is a highly regarded prospect and Hedberg has a strong resume, mostly as a backup. The player most likely to be dealt is the 24-year-old Lehtonen, who is making $3 million (all terms US) this season and will be a restricted free agent at the end of 2008-09.

There are teams with obvious goaltending issues -- the Senators, Kings and Oilers among them -- but they won't be the only teams that look at Lehtonen. Expect the Wings and Flyers to make inquiries as well.

Many around the league believe Lehtonen has plenty of potential. Compared with another goalie who is the subject of trade rumours, 35-year-old Nikolai Khabibulin, Lehtonen's contract is far more cap friendly and he has greater upside. He might fetch the Thrashers a much-needed forward or defenceman in return.

They also forgot to mention Ottawa, NJD, NYI. My personal feeling on this is that, if the team is going to step it up and perform in front of Johan, and step it up and perform in front of Ondrej, then maybe it is better for Kari if he goes to a team that will actually play in front of him. Because this one could be called the Atlanta Sybils for their constant personality changes from game to game. Sometimes they'll play great for him. Sometimes he'll take up to 50 shots with no D. I can't imagine it's very much fun going to work every day and not knowing if your support staff is going to actually support you, or make your life more difficult.

There are a lot of factors involved in this rumour, and a lot of things to consider, especially if you're the GM, and super especially if you're the GM of the interested team. And I know I'm considered Kari Central 'round these parts, but you know what? This is the most you're going to get out of me on this topic until something actually happens. Because you, me, and every other blogger and forum member can prognosticate until the sun sets in the east, but at the end of the day, none of us know Waddell's mind. We've as much chance of figuring out what Waddell would do (WWWD) by playing rochambeau 25 times and declaring a winner. That said - if something is going to happen? Make it happen. Don't drag it out.

Ehkä se on parempi, voit mennä parempi joukkue, joka on hyvin puolustajilla. Tsemmpiä, tapahtuipa mitä tahansa!

Moose got the W, maybe secured his job?

V interesting article from Knobler. Interesting because it's the first "media admittance" that one of our goalies could well play their last in Blueland. Tomorrow night's game is probably going to be hella interesting, and Lehts is slated for the start. Guess we'll see what we see, eh? And once again, the article's edited down. Check AJC for the full article.  And sorry no photos up yet from last night. I've been up to my eyebrows in my car's engine all day. I'll post them sometime soon though.

Buffalo, N.Y. — Johan Hedberg was playing for his job Friday night, and it wasn’t going well. The Buffalo Sabres had scored four goals on him through two periods. He might have been headed for his third loss in as many starts. Teammate Niclas Havelid skated over to him after the fourth goal, tapped a stick on his pads and told him to keep going. And Hedberg did.

“I’ve been chasing this feeling for a long time now,” Hedberg said. “It’s been a hard time. Hopefully, this is something that I can build off and the team can build off, and we all can take strides and get better.”

Hedberg entered the game with the lowest save percentage and the highest goals-allowed average among the NHL’s 67 goalies. He was on the verge of getting squeezed in a numbers game between soon-to-return No. 1 goalie Kari Lehtonen and up-and-coming youngster Ondrej Pavelec. NHL teams don’t keep three goalies on the roster.

No one had to tell Hedberg that his eighth NHL season might have been heading for an abrupt end.
“I’m not blind. I’m not stupid. You have to realize the situation you’re in,” he said. “At the same time, you can’t think about it, either. I want to come out, and I want to play hockey the way I can. I haven’t done that for a long time. Tonight, I started getting that feeling back a little bit, and hopefully it’s going to be something that’s a trend.”

Did Hedberg do enough to keep his roster spot?

“Yes, absolutely,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said. 

One finger, stirred, not shaken

I'm gonna edit this down. You can read the full article at the site. 

Waddell not looking to shake things up

By Mike Knobler | Thursday, November 6, 2008, 07:58 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Thrashers rank last in the NHL standings. Their general manager suggests the best way to get the team out of last place is to leave the roster the way it is. I asked him directly whether before Sunday’s victory he’d thought about shaking things up.

“I don’t think we’re at that point by any means,” Waddell said. “I’m not looking out there right now. I like the guys we have.”

The plan for now is to play Kari Lehtonen in goal on Sunday at Carolina. That raises the question of what to do when Lehtonen, Johan Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec are all healthy. “You try to think ahead about what you’re going to do, but every day [the situation] changes, Until we’re faced with the reality of having three guys that are ready to go, then we’ll make a decision.”

I had a lot of things to say about this but they all hinged on me being able to find a particular cartoon panel from 03 and a news article from 02, and I was unsuccessful on both fronts. So imagine a lot of wittiness here about how I don't believe a damned thing Waddell says to the media and the public, accompanied with wittier illustrations and illustrative articles to further my point. Or just nod and smile and point out how Pavelec got W#2.

Oh and photos tomorrow!

Funniest rumour ever, and photos!

First off, this found its way to my inbox this morning, and let me tell you the HILARITY coursing through my veins that someone would even raise this as a possibility. Clearly it's someone who has absolutely no ties whatsoever to this team, community, or management. I hope.

Another suggestion is shipping [Ray] Emery and perhaps another player or a prospect to Atlanta for forward — and former Senator — Marian Hossa and either Kari Lehtonen or Johan Hedberg.

The problem with this is the Thrashers might not wish to move Lehtonen or Hedberg and would probably seek a better return for Hossa than a package with a problem child like Emery as the centerpiece, who at this point isn't much of an upgrade over Lehtonen or Hedberg.

First off... Emery isn't an upgrade at all. From either tendy, in terms of performance, in terms of what he brings to the team, in terms of how hard a worker he is. He's got nothing on either of our boys, and it would be absolutely ridiculous to think he's close to even Heddy in worth. And for Hoss? They'd have to send Anton Volchenkov and Antoine Vermette over too, to even entertain this as a serious offer. He is the new Jose Theodore - he had one amazing playoff run after his starter got hurt, and he'll spend the rest of his life trying to live up to that moment of glory, and fail miserably. Further, I know Ray. I have friends who know Ray. And we all agree on one thing: It's all a front. No skill, no talent, no personality, no heart. And that is the absolute last damned thing we need on this team. Locker room cancer, no thank you.

Last night's photos:

Exhibit 1(a): 1st goal of the game.
Exhibit 1(b): First goal of the game.

Awww, Jimmy Slats so happy! SCORE MORE, BABY!

No goal for you, Evgeni Malkin!
(Does Kari even know the puck is there?)

Why Ruutu better watch his back.

Being escorted off the ice, possibly so he is not killed en route.

Speaking of..... Ass. Hoooooole.

Ruutu defended the hit as an intended routine check.

"I meant to finish my check," Ruutu said. "He ducked away and I barely hit him. I didn't change direction. I just went for a hit." (Right! It was just your knee slamming into his knee, with little other contact.)

"I got five minutes for fighting and I didn't even throw a punch. I had my gloves on the whole time." (Cry me a fucking river)

McCarthy said Ruutu was "a good teammate" when the two played together in Vancouver, but he said Ruutu had to answer for the hit on Kovalchuk's knee.

"When he takes a liberty like that, it's unacceptable," McCarthy said. "He plays his game well, but when he takes advantage of one of our best players, that's unacceptable."

When asked if he was concerned about a possible suspension, Ruutu said "There's no reason to be suspended for that hit."

Except that, you know, you purposely went knee-on-knee on Kovy after trying to take out Perrsy and failing. I mean, I wasn't even watching, and I get it. That "who me, I'm innocent" crap may fly with Therrien, or even Shero, but probably not with the rest of league, and hopefully not with Colin Campbell and the rest of the honchos in TO.

What do you guys think?

[RUMOR] Ovechkin and Kolzig on the block | Eminger Watch '08

I live in the DC area, and any hockey talk around town is about the Caps, the FBI, CIA or Secret Service hockey teams. I'm digressing, back to the Caps... the Caps community is pretty close-knit, around here and most of the retired Caps decide to stay around town (unless they're Randy Carlyle or Ron Wilson, and then they go to the West Coast and do things like winning Stanley Cups, or at least trying), coach pee-wee, run charter fishing, whatever.

Well one of the former Caps, to save my LIFE I can not remember his name right now because there was a lot of other talk at the time, (but he played with Langway, and was a smaller-name player - Todd Krygier maybe?) is coaching pee-wee. Well, talks during a pee-wee practice session led to talks of trades, and he claims that both Ovechkin and Kolzig are going to be involved in a huge trade with an unnamed team[s], due to their salary requirements for next season. It seems Olie wants $9-10mUS (what's that, like $1m Canadian?! haha, I've been dying to make that joke!), and Sasha is looking for the max raise under the CBA. Were that to come to fruition, the team would have little money to play with to bring in new players.

Let me be the first to say that if Ovechkin left DC, not only would the 9 Caps fans in the area revolt, rise up as one, and slay GMGM, but Sasha Semin would also want out. Viktor Kozlov is not enough reason for him to want to stay in the area, and despite the Caps' +.500 play since Boudreau took over as head coach, last I knew, Semin didn't want to play here - Ovechkin is his main tie to the city.

So are you thinking what I'm thinking? Ovechkin to Atlanta? Waddell has said publicly that we have a huuuuuge chunk of our cap left, which is why he's hoping other teams will make offers to Kari so he can just counter. OMG it's like a Thrashers fan's wet dream, Kovy and Ovie. Guh!

And hey, while we're on the subject of the Caps, STEVE EMINGER PLAYED AGAIN LAST NIGHT!!!!! No, I'm serious! He DID! 10:00+! And he had 4 hits! It's like... it's like... he's trying to prove something. Whether to GMGM or to other GMs is unknown, but I still stand by my Steve-for-Steve trade. Waddell, are you listening? Do it, brother!

Look! See! There he is! He was even +1 for Steck's goal! Hi Emmy!!

OK. Game day preview up later, I promise! Oooh and we're playing the Panthers! C'mon, say the motto with me! Panthers "hockey" LOL!