A Post-Kovalchuk World

Last night may have been the most Earth-rumbling day in Atlanta Thrashers history.

Today, it might be the quietest.

Look on Atlanta's lines for tonight, and you won't see a loud name. No league superstars. No name you'll see on the jerseys of the fans in a half-filled Philips Arena.

Instead, you see a bunch of guys that will give you goals, but not on a league-topping level. Then some grinders and a few power forwards.

It's almost like opening night in 1999 once again. All because of one trade that shook the hockey world.

Friday night, The Thrashers traded captain and all-time leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk along with defenseman Anssi Salmela to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Johnny Oduya, forwards Niclas Bergfors and Patrice Cormier and a first-round pick.

That's right. Ilya Kovalchuk. The only Thrasher that most Atlanta residents know.

And that could be a huge problem.

Now without a superstar, Atlanta is forced to find a new approach to marketing this team and filling the seats. It used to be simple--plaster Kovalchuk's face on billboards, commercials, season ticket advertisements, etc.

But if Kovalchuk isn't there, who cares anymore? What semi-Thrashers fan will be pulled to a box office if the heart of Thrashers hockey isn't there anymore?

That's my fear, as a fan of this team since Day 1. How will Atlanta be able to reassure this city that Thrashers hockey is still worth buying a ticket?

It's obvious that the marketing ploy was based around Kovalchuk. And who wouldn't pimp a player like that to the city? He's arguably the top goal scorer in the entire league.

So is the solution now to market a new franchise face, such as the budding Evander Kane or Zach Bogosian? Or go with the current "big three" in terms of scoring--Maxim Afinogenov, Rich Peverley and Nik Antropov? Or how about the blueline quarterback Tobias Enstrom, who has established himself as one of the league's top offensive defensemen?

Or how about all of them?

This is a better time than ever in team history to promote team play as whole, from an on-ice perspective and a marketing perspective. No more dominating pictures of Kovalchuk scattered across the arena and the city. Market EVERYONE. It's already started in recent years, as I've seen Bogosian, Kane, Kozlov and even Boulton in advertisements. That's good to see.

But if you're going to market the whole team, you have to play like a whole team.

In the midst of this groundbreaking franchise move, we tend to forget where Atlanta stands at this point in this season. Things are far from over. The Thrashers are three points out of a playoff spot, sitting 11th in the Eastern Conference. There's still a chance to make it. But it means this team will have to be perfect for the rest of year.

And even without Kovalchuk, it can be done.

Head Coach John Anderson will have to be perfect. Afinogenov will need to keep his scoring up. Peverley will have to find the game he had when he first arrived in Atlanta last season. Enstrom will have to continue to lead the defense. Bogosian, Kane, and heck, even Jim Slater will have to play like first-round picks. Even the goaltending will have to step up. Desirably, I'd like to see a bona fide No. 1 starter, but that's unlikely. Just stop pucks, fellas.

Take a look at Colorado. The Avalanche don't have any huge-name superstars. Paul Stastny is getting there, as is Wojtek Wolski, but no one on the team is averaging over a point per game.

They're sixth in the Western Conference. And it looks like they're playoff bound.

Call it a high school football coach speech, but if the Thrashers can adopt a team-first mentality similar to that of Colorado, playoffs are still an option. But team first means everyone playing the best hockey they've ever played.

Additionally, a break due to the Olympics will give the team some much-needed rest. A few depth moves may be made before the trade deadline, according to Don Waddell.

Today begins a new age of Atlanta Thrashers hockey. If we're thinking cup half-full, this is no longer Ilya Kovalchuk's team. This is everyone's team now. Play like it, make the playoffs, and prove to the city of Atlanta that this team still has legs.

Still Being Lazy

Still waiting on some free time to update. But with no class tomorrow and free time tonight, I'll have something up here.

Right now is probably the best time every to be Thrashblogging. Undoubtedly the best hockey player in team history, Ilya Kovalchuk is on the verge of being traded. Atlanta General Manager Don Waddell has already announced that Kovalchuk will be dealt before the deadline.

With that, the rumors began swirling. HFBoards has already maxed out a trade thread, and my Twitter feed is busy. I also can't get any homework done. Thanks, Ilya. Ruining my education.

More will be up tonight. I'm super excited.

Mitch

A few updates

I apologize for the lack of updates. I didn't really expect to be able to have daily updates and game recaps all the time, but I should be able to be less sporadic, at least over a week.

I'll have a full blog up tonight with my latest rambles from The Bulb, including Kovalchuk trade talks and Lehtonen's AHL assignment.

Atlanta is 2-2 in last four (since I last blogged) and there's nothing bad about that. A big 2-1 win over the Ducks last night that featured a 34-save performance by Johan Hedberg.

More to come tonight.

Mitch

Game Recap: Thrashers vs. Panthers

Panthers 1, Thrashers 0

Man, what a crappy way to start this blog.

I thought maybe Atlanta would sneak out a win in this one and give me something good to blog about in my first recap.

Not so much.

Instead, the Thrashers (21-20-7) let the Panthers jump over them in the division standings, pushing Atlanta back to third in the Southeast. So not only is this team losing ground in the conference, but now it can't even keep it's head above water in arguably the worst division in the NHL.

The Panthers (21-20-8) are now a single win away from cracking the top eight for first time in what seems like eons.

And these losses hurt the worst. One-goal losses are at least kind of bittersweet when it goes past regulation, salvaging a loser point.

But when your offense can't even manage a single goal in 60 minutes of hockey, while the other team only needs one for the win, it only makes you realize how one decision change could have made the night a lot different.

But it's not all that bad. The nights have been worse.

This could be a completely different tone of post if Atlanta had been struggling to score for a couple of games. Saturday's 5-3 win over Carolina reassures us that the offense is still there, and that tonight's game was nothing more than a solid outing by Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun, who had 27 saves for his fifth shutout of the season.

Of course, the Thrashers were outshot, as usual. But only by a small margin. 27-24 to be exact. Atlanta had a small surge with 14 shots on goal in the third period, so something was going right. Once again, nothing more than Vokoun playing solid hockey.

But props as well to Johan Hedberg playing solid goal at the other end. 26 saves is a relatively easy night for an Atlanta goalie.

Other things:

Both teams sucked on the power play. A game total of 0-for-7, which is a surprise, seeing how Atlanta and Florida are 21st and 22nd, respectively, in the NHL on the penalty kill.

Eric Boulton had four shots on goal. Probably because he's getting more playing time with offensive-minded players, now that he's been broken up from Chris Thorburn and Jim Slater. But there's no reason that he should be the high shooter for the night.

Slater was good on the faceoff. Winning seven draws. As for a team total, Florida had a 27-20 advantage. Tsk tsk.

A typical goalie's game. Vokoun and Hedberg both played well, and a small miss on Moose's part ended up being the difference maker. Shit happens.

With Toronto in town tomorrow night, Ondrej Pavelec will likely get the start. He's been hot as of late; his GAA is under 2 the last three games. But at this point, you can't make any assumptions about the goaltenders. Pavelec has been known to ruin his hot streak with awful games.

I'm out. Bed awaits.

Mitch

And so it begins...

I always told myself I'd do something like this.

Become a blogger for one specific team that I could go on and on and on about. A beat blogger, if you will.

I tried it on my personal blog (which is here, by the way), but then if I wanted to delve into something about my personal life and not sports, the varying entries would awkwardly offset each other.

Well here, it's nothing but Thrashers hockey. Probably too much Thrashers hockey. The one thing I probably know too much about. Believe it or not, there are Thrashers fans out there that have a strong following for this suffering NHL franchise. Believe it or not, there are Thrasher fans.

And despite the hard times, I've sat through it all. Sometimes laughed, mostly cried (or just left the room and stopped caring). And now, after ten years of just being "another fan," I'm sitting through it all, with a blog in front of me.

So what are my credentials?

I'm a who-knows-what-year senior at the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!), majoring in Journalism with a concentration in Newspapers-

No, you don't have to remind it's a dying industry. Print is suffering, yes, but a whole new world of online journalism is gaining epic ground every year.

-Anyways, I'm also taking some classes to get an interdisciplinary certificate in New Media. This basically means I know how to use the web for media-related purposes, something that will probably not likely take me far in terms of careers if once I actually graduate.

In terms of fan experience (wouldn't that be something to put on a resume?), I have followed Atlanta Thrashers hockey since the team came to life in 1997, then began play in 1999. As a chubby six-grader, my Dad and a couple of his colleagues split season tickets for the inaugural season, and I've been hooked ever since. Since then, I've been to more games than I can count.

Now an old man of 21, hockey is the one sport that I just can't pry myself away from. And give me extra props for sitting through the 10 years of almost complete garbage that has become the Thrashers.

So as a hopeful sportswriter, it's time to put my thoughts on imaginary Internet paper and get to work.

Should you choose to commit (and you, as in, the zero people who are reading at this point), keep these things in mind as you go along:

1. I will post often, but I can't obsess over this thing. Remember, I'm in college. I have to study and drink occasionally. I might be a few days late on big news. But once I deliver, I can guarantee entertainment and good web times.

2. I don't go to games as often as I used to. Once again, I'm in college. It's hard enough to get out of Athens. Therefore, if you want a play-by-play breakdown, I'm not your man. If you want some decent post-game analysis based on overall observations and statistical analysis, then we're set. When I go to games, I'll probably live tweet. My twitter is here. Feel free to follow.

3. I will sometimes rely on stats alone. Yeah, yeah. It's a major no-no on HF Boards, but if I can't get to a TV or a live stream, I'll be breaking down stats and watching highlights. And yes, I completely understand hockey numbers.

4. Yes, the three facts above may negate me as a die-hard fan. But dammit, I love this sport. And I love this team. And I have opinions. Every Thrashers fan has opinions with how much we suffer through.

And so today begins what will hopefully be a collective and intriguing adventure into the the thicket of Atlanta Thrashers hockey.

Enjoy.