Kozlov asks for trade

(UPDATE: Vivlamore's blog post at the AJC)

Per C-Viv's Twitterino, "Slava Kozlov has requested a trade from the Thrashers and is willing to waive his No Trade Clause." Not wholly unexpected given I think he probably can help shore up some scoring on a playoff team that could use some extra secondary scoring, but I'm still pretty sad to see this one. I had hoped to see him retire out as a Thrasher, even considering play this season that could easily be described as sub-par.

Kozzy has always been my favorite scoring Thrasher. In my eyes, the man's a warrior even if he doesn't ever fight or even really go into the corners much. NHL players are tough punchers, but even most of them don't reach an Ironman streak of 300 or so games. Granted, it was on Thrashers' squads that weren't very physical in general, but the fact remains, he holds the young franchise's record for games played streak.

He doesn't seem like the type to seek the Captain's C on his jersey, but I always thought (until this season, at least) that he could wear it and be a very good captain as the rezident old cuss scorer, even with any remnants of the language barrier.

However, from the Thrashers' point of view, I actually like this. If they can move him, it will signal a full turnover in the top-6 from the "bad...." periods of Thrashers history, with the exception of Todd White, who, oddly enough, has had less trouble staying in the lineup than Kozlov this season. The top-4 D have all been replaced from that time with good draft picks in Enstrom and Bogosian and a couple of smart trades in Kubina and Oduya. Add in a halfway decent signing for Hainsey and the D-corps has been solidified in a way that it couldn't be with guys like Sutton or (dare I even mention his name??) Tremblay on the team playing big minutes. The Thrashers' scoring lines will finally make that same break from the old team, and hopefully the old ways, of not-so-good drafting, players that don't seem to fit the team, and a team that generally would have no idea how to carry themselves in the playoffs should they find themselves there, if indeed it truly could be called a team.

As Kozlov will be leaving, the Thrashers will have traded away two of the more prominent Russian players in the league. With Max Afinogenov due for a new contract after this season and his two Russian pals gone, he could be on his way out as well, which would leave just Antropov as the sole Russian on the team. Somehow that makes the signing of Nikolai not seem so smart a move. I must admit I'm a bit anxious to see how he performs as the sole Russian on the team. And if the Thrashers were hoping to bring Ilya Nikulin over from Russia, with almost no other Russians on the roster I think that is even less likely to happen now than ever. But then I doubt there was anyone who seriously thought he would ever leave one of the KHL's most dominant teams to come to Atlanta, as evidenced by Waddell essentially saying he'll believe Nikulin is coming to North America when he sees him at Philips.
Now naturally this leads straight to trade speculation. If Kozzy asks out, naturally, he'll likely leave the Thrashers via trade. At 37 years young, he won't step in and become the cornerstone of any team, even for the rest of the season, but he could help shore up the scoring and have a calming presence in the secondary scoring of a playoff team, maybe a young or inexperienced one, who is experiencing some playoff jitters.

While he could land on some Eastern Conference team with a need for secondary scoring and veteran presence and playoff experience (even if not in the last 6 or 8 yrs...), I tend to both think and hope he'll end up with a Western Conference team. The East has not had a very good year versus the West, so it's possible no Western Conference team in playoff position thinks he has the talent to cut it on their roster, but since the Lockout, the East generally has emphasized skating and open play more than the West, and with declining foot speed such that he has seemed to have trouble with the up-and-down style that the Thrashers have used over the last two seasons, I tend to think he'll be more likely to find a home on a Western Conference team. I think a Western Conference team would not need brilliant skating as badly as many Eastern Conference teams might would, and I hope he goes West because I'm not deluded about the Thrashers making the Stanley Cup Finals even if I do think they can make the playoffs, and while I really want to see Kozlov succeed and thrive, I am of the mindset that I want to see him do well except against the Thrashers.

In all, Kozzy has given us Thrashers fans some good years of good service. We saw both his career high in points and his career high in assists over the last four seasons happen in a Thrashers uniform while playing on great lines (Hosslov and Kahlua were pretty sweet lines in their time). He's been great on the powerplay for most of his tenure with the Thrashers, and has even played some quality time on the penalty kill (remember how good the Thrashers' PK was at scoring a few years ago with Kozlov-Hossa and Perrin-Dupuis? Even if they weren't the best at denying opposing PP goals, they were still impressive). And he's had some witty lines and great interviews during his time with the Thrashers. He seems to have been a genuine fan favorite for his persona and his play on the ice over the years in Atlanta. I think there are a great many Thrashers fans who will be sad to see him go. I'll definitely be sad to see Kozzy go, but I wish him well in his future endeavors. Thanks for all the years, Kozzy!

Why I don't think the Thrashers are moving within the next five years

(EDIT: I forgot the title)

I know this article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says nothing about the professional sports franchises in and around Atlanta, but it certainly illustrates what Gary Bettman and the Thrashers have been saying: The NHL is not leaving Atlanta. The corporate situation is just too damn ideal to move the team at this point. "Na- gon' do it. Doesn't make sense at this juncture."

Why'd the 'Peg "fail"? Certainly not due to lack of fans, as a Canadian that doesn't watch hockey is even more rare than they cook steaks on Looney Tunes. The fans packed the building, bought memorabilia, bought concessions, and basically did anything any fanbase can do to support their team. I've read recently that part of the problem with the Jets was that the team owner didn't own the building and therefore couldn't rake in concessions or sales in team stores in the building. The ASG owns the operating rights to Philips, so that's one major advantage, as is having another professional team in the Hawks, which they also own, playing in the same building. Hard to take away half of those home games between NHL and NBA teams in the building.

But whenever you hear people talking about the Jets leaving Winnipeg, the catchphrase "corporate sponsorship" comes up. (Boy, that goes right next to "moving in the right direction" and "improving our hockey club" on my bingo card...) The Atlanta corporate scene is growing. There simply is no denying that. The question for some, myself included, has been "Is it growing enough to support the teams?" And even if it is, "Will the fanbases back up the teams?" Now with some teams, the answer to the latter is pretty obvious. The NFL doesn't seem to allow anything less than a sellout, and I can honestly say the only time I've ever seen Turner Field empty was when the landscapers were out in force on a non-game day, though it's been some time since I kept up with the Braves much. With the Hawks, they really rejuvenated their fanbase with their Cinderella story in the playoffs a couple of years ago, short-lived though it was. Which leaves the Thrashers. It's long been said that the lockout threw a monkey wrench into the growing fanbase, as any lockout in any league will do. Add in some key trades that saw the Thrashers' stars and would-be studs leave town for what amounted to spare parts, less than optimal draft choices who never became what they were supposed to be, and a stagnant management despite what appears at first, and second, glance to be consistent inconsistency and failure, and it's easy to see why the fans in Atlanta have been disgruntled.

But the corporate aspect remains. Those luxury boxes and shop and restaurant rents don't get paid by your average Joe taking in a hockey game with his family or buddies. Some corporate entity has to pony up that money. And in Atlanta there certainly seems to be more than enough of that corporate money.

As the AJC article states, Ohio has been losing corporate dollar to Georgia at a pretty quick clip since 1999, the year the Thrashers started playing. As a southerner, and a guy with roots in Georgia, I have to admit I like the sounds of that. As an American, it's not as cool. It's like taking candy from one brother to give it to another because he doesn't seem so needy. (bad analogy, but it'll have to do) But the fact is that the Atlanta corporate scene is experiencing some proverbial sunshine right now. In all seriousness, given the information in that article, I'm more worried about the financial situation for Columbus than Atlanta. That's not to say I'm not concerned about the Thrashers though. With both teams seemingly on the upswing, I'm not truly concerned for either at this point in time.

And then there's the league itself to consider. The NHL hasn't been fond of moving teams over the last 10 or 15 years. People hate to hear it, but Phoenix isn't the first team to be "bailed out" by the league. Buffalo and Pittsburgh have been helped along, and both of those teams have done pretty well over the last 5 or so years. So the NHL has set a precedent of keeping teams where they are. Which bodes well for the Thrashers.

It's not all rosy and cozy though. As Jeff Schultz reported some time ago, hardly a Craig Custance as far as reputation goes but pretty solid in that particular piece, Bettman is also growing tired of the Ding-a-ling Brothers Circus Show running (ruining?) the Thrashers. And to be perfectly honest, it gives me a measurable quantity of confidence in league and team to see that the commissioner of the league wants the owners to straighten up and doesn't put their public image (which wasn't very saintly to begin with...) above the success of the Thrashers and the NHL in Atlanta.

The good news is that everyone seems to realize that the most recent rumor is just that, a rumor. Thrashers General Manager and Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Don Waddell recently refuted the rumor himself. And the Winnipeg Free Press recently told people to chill out, that the NHL isn't returning to Winnipeg in the immediate future,though they certainly don't completely extinguish hope for an NHL team, but who can blame them? Not I, for one. I'd sure as hell miss my Thrashers if they left town. Yes, I know Atlanta has already lost one team in the Flames, so it's a little different, but the general idea is that losing your team sucks. But with the corporate situation the way it is in Atlanta, it doesn't look like the Thrashers are in too much danger of leaving in the near future. Which is absolutely alright with me.

Now let's work on those owners...

Blizzard Warning in WNC

This could be fun... It's not like it'll be major accumulations by Canadian or New England standards, but still, windy as hell + blowing and drifting snow = blizzard.

I just hope it doesn't knock out the power so I don't have to miss the Thrashers game, ironically against the Avalanche, tonight.

More on Kari Trade

First off, The Cust's blog post on the Kari trade and its impacts on Dallas and Turco in particular. He's not called Craig Custance for nothing.

And something else, which I just realized was the fruition of a pipe dream of mine from last offseason. I'd been hoping the Thrashers would trade Kari since last summer if he didn't step up in 2009-2010 and become what made him the #2 (hahaha) pick in 2002. My reasoning? If he never realized his potential, or enough of it, with the Thrashers, they would need to sever any and all ties possible with that era of drafting mistakes. As the only other marquee name of his draft class from that era, Lehtonen was the obvious choice to me. Shipping him out signals a full turnover for the Thrashers in my mind, and a certain kind of accountability, an admission of error perhaps. Not in drafting him so high, for he truly had the upside to merit such, but rather in holding on to him so long. I would've been largely done with him after a truly dismal playoff performance and Kari Down 2007-2008. I know that's giving up on him really early, especially with how he played in 05-06 and then in 06-07 to get the Thrashers nearly into the playoffs and then into the playoffs in front of far inferior defenses, but I never did think he had the mental fortitude to do it. I can't really put my finger on it but he seemed too Christensen-type of critical of himself and others, almost like he was really beating himself up about any mistakes, and that just can't exist within the mind of a goalie backing playoff-caliber team.

For his sake, I hope I'm wrong and he has a successful career revival with Dallas. And for the sake of his quality of life after hockey, I really hope he is through with back/hip/groin/neck ailments.

Kari Trade Impacts

So. Karppa is headed to Dallas. Southbound trains, singing the blues, that sort of thing? Not likely. A new start, a change of scenery, an (almost) absolutely clean slate, and a new team. As Marty Turco has been struggling of late, and not getting any younger, I like this deal on Dallas' end. In my mind they didn't give up too much, but this deal won't be fairly evaluated, ever. Down the road it'll be judged by how Kari played, and to an extent that is fair. But that completely removes the gamble taken by Stars' management. I like this move for that alone: A ballsy declaration that they're at least gunning for the dance for Lord Stanley's Cup, right now. In the here-and-now, I'm sure there are those who say Waddell absolutely fleeced GM Joe N. in Dallas. I say that ain't any more likely than Kari playing another game in Atlanta. And I'm sure there are those saying Dallas gave up WAY too much for a porcelain goalie who probably won't even be able to win the job from Turco if he IS healthy. To them I say watch and see. Karppa is a true talent. Almost got an over-the-hill or wet-behind-the-ears Thrashers team into the playoffs in 05-06 even after a FIVE GOALIE CAROUSEL to start the season. In 06-07 he wasn't quite in the same form, but he still got the Thrashers into the playoffs. Next time he's there I would think he won't buckle under the pressure. And yes, there was pressure in Atlanta. Wah WAH, wah wawawah. (how the hell do you spell Peanuts Gang's adults' conversations??)

Now then. On the the Thrashers.

Impacts. Waddell recently said the Thrashers could very well be buyers at the deadline after the Olympic break. One thing you HAVE to have in order to buy the talent you want/need is prospects (EDIT: also, draft picks, and we have a few of those we could move as well). Are the Thrashers acquiring a few extry prospects here and there with intent to sell? On defense, there's already something of a logjam (again. And hey, I think I could get used to seeing that written about the Thrashers!) with Oduya, Bogosian, Enstrom, and Hainsey likely making the top four next season, with Valabik and Schubert rounding out the top six. That doesn't list the prospects, but my mind organizes differently than that. The prospects who are thought to have a halfway decent shot at making the NHL roster are Kulda, who would likely fall somewhere 4-6, and Postma (who I personally think probably needs another little while in a pro league and a few more pounds, but I'll willingly admit error on that) who could challenge for a top four spot should a vacancy arise. So there doesn't seem to be room for Vish II. Whether or not a veteran defenseman is moved next season, as it is highly unlikely for this season with the team striving for a playoff berth down the stretch (unless the team stinks up the last 3 games before the Break and is in a position to sell at the deadline), is pure conjecture, and would need some more information first: do we hang on to all these prospects and move a veteran Dman (Kubina?) or do we buy at the deadline and send some prospects somewheres else? Either way, fun stuff. And certainly a hell of a lot more excitement for 'Lanter fans than we've had in many moons as regards player movement.

Kari Down 2010-2011 Dallas

If Kari Lehtonen needs to spend some time on the fritz next season, it looks like he'll be doing it in Dallas. Frankly, I'm blown away that Waddell could get anything for him. But then, I suppose, now that he's "healthy" again, and before having gotten into a single second of NHL action this season, with his finish to last season in mind, he is something akin to a commodity stock: high risk, high reward. If he is no longer seemingly made of glass, Dallas has not lost the farm on a roll of the die, and if he returns to the form he displayed at the end of the 2008-2009 season, Dallas could well have made an extremely shrewd trade. It all depends on how Lehtonen does. However, as stated, I'm surprised Waddell got anything for him. EDIT: Upon viewing further details, the return seems to be less than I had thought at first, though the prospect coming Atlanta's way seems to be mustard. EDIT II: Upon reading the clarification, there was also a 4th rounder thrown in for Lehtonen. I like that. Some good, gritty players can be found in the 4th round, and some late bloomers. With Rick Dudley a Thrasher now, and doing what he loves to do, evaluate talent, I have a lot more faith in this team's scouting. I'm not predicting a Datsyuk-esque coups, but I think in years past a 4th round was essentially like giving an aborigine Australian a laptop computer: "Cool, what's this? Shiny. How's it work, and what do I do with it? ... Nah, no thanks. I can't use it anyway. I'd just squander it so I'll just let you keep it." I think this is about right for both teams. Kari is a SERIOUS gamble right now, though I tend to believe he'll at least be around 80% of the player he was expected to be, which would still be a bona fide NHL starter. He may never be an All-Star, but he should be a serviceable goalie for the Stars for a goodly little while, if they re-sign him in the offseason that is. And I could be wrong on this, but it seems to me that Dallas has a thing for Finns. Lehtinen, Miettinen from a while back, seems like I'm forgetting a few but anyway, and now Lehtonen? (Also: Nice. Hope the fans can pronounce Kari's name in Dallas. It's soooo unlike anything they've ever seen before...)

Now then. Kevin Allen seems to have been the main Thrashers news breaker of late, and I don't know if he's ahead of the curve or not, but he is what I would call a reliable media outlet, so I take what he says at face value.

Kari being traded

Dallas giving up prospect defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy

Not sure what you're getting at here, KA...

A little tidbit on Ivan Vishnevskiy

Clarification! Thanks Kev!

Thrashers de-claw kitty cats

Holy Hell! These Thrashers just knocked off a pretty solid Panthers team backed by All-World caliber netminding.

I may have been a bit rash in declaring a hiatus was a'comin' for my following of the Thrashers. The team played as, well, a team. As has happened for a majority of the season, the Thrashers fell behind in the first. Just like in Warshington. But in both these contests, unlike many others during the earlier part of the season, the Thrashers came out and competed in the first period, and never really stopped competing throughout the entirety of the game. It was a true joy to take in, with the Thrashers playing very well before a damn big and damn loud and rowdy crowd.

The Thrashers had a hell of a time getting back to Philips Arena though, as inclement weather necessitated spending all day traveling together instead of going back home to their own homes and families. Which raises the question (again, as it has been a major question all season) - If the Thrashers are so much better on the road, why? Of course, the dwindling home crowd could be a factor, as it's always far easier to play before your home crowd when they can be called, well, a crowd. And that's true for any sport. But that is something the Thrashers can control only indirectly through winning games and playing good hockey. What I wonder is this: What do the Thrashers do differently for away games? Is it that the team all stays in the same hotel and therefore the team is more immediate?

I don't suggest the team move into a complex from which there is no escape, but surely it wouldn't hurt the overall budget too badly to experiment a time or two by staying in a team hotel the night before a game and having everyone go back to the hotel instead of back to their homes. I doubt they'll ever even try it, but it would be interesting to see the results of said experiment. Though I will say there would be no real and true method for quantifying the results, so it could just as easily be a fluke of circumstances were it actually to "work" and the team perform well following the hotel stay.

But it's pretty interesting to think about. Anyway, it sure as hell beats the dismal what-ifs we Thrasher's fans have discussed of late...

Hiatus a'comin'

There once was a man named Kovalchukit,
Who wanted to make the big ducats,
Have a competent GM,
And a team that could win,
And so as a fan I say I've about damn had enough of this crap!

I wish the boys well, but I'm gonna take a little hiatus from the Thrashers after this weekend, as I have nothing better to do during the course of the weekend itself.

Thrashers fans' bagged heads

Instead of disgruntled fans going to Thrashers' games wearing a bag on their head that says "FIRE WADDELL" I think they should wear bags that say "FIRE GROSSMAN"

Tomatoes at those at whom tomatoes should be thrown

With Kovalchuk being traded there really isn't a lot of joy in Red Mudville right now. And a lot of people are dumping on Waddell yet again. "He'll never get what Kovy is worth in a trade. He just isn't capable." etc. But the thing that everyone saying that seems to be overlooking is that there is no such thing as a fair trade involving a superstar. They're like goaltenders in that regard: there simply is no equivalent value in terms of skaters.

So Waddell getting what he got for Heatley was phenomenal: he actually got back a player who could be classed as a superstar. However, getting what he got for Hossa was probably about par for the course, even though it effectively trimmed the fat out of Pittsburgh's pipeline. Waddell has had some real stinkers in his time: Stefan (but at the time he was the consensus; had it been almost any other GM it would've been put entirely on the player) for starters, goalie carousels for years, Kari Lehtonen's injured (and out of shape?) self taken way too high in the draft (see also: DiPietro, Rick. My point here is that at least he wasn't signed to a ludicrously lucrative contract), Coburn-for-Zhitnik (again, a good move at the time: Zhitnik actually helped put the Thrashers back into the playoffs in a way that Coburn wasn't, whether due to coaching [Hartley always did seem to favor veterans even when they'd outlived their usefulness...] or his own faults as a young guy who'd had his brains scrambled a bit by Mike Rupp in a fight he should've declined) to merit pause for thought and even consideration for termination of employment. Hossagate gets lumped in there, but it doesn't belong there. Again, there quite simply IS NO EQUIVALENT TO THE VALUE OF A SUPERSTAR IN TERMS OF OTHER SKATERS EXCEPT ANOTHER SUPERSTAR.

Don's a great guy from everything you can read about him from people who've actually met him. He seems to have a very affable personality and is a very personable guy. He doesn't get upset when asked a question he has stated he will not answer. He hasn't ever curtly said "Next question." when asked an uncomfortable question by a disgruntled fan in a Town Hall meeting. He even takes the time to talk with fans even when he's clearly on business. I've honestly never hear or read of a time he got huffy with a fan and told them to leave or left them himself. And many people agree that on the whole he's been pretty good with the money end of things for the Thrashers (even though the team seems to be leaking oil like Exelby would be after playing two and a half minutes and then having the puck iced) and has competently run the Atlanta Thrashers from the business side of things. However, he has more critics than Ian Laperrierre has bends in his nose when it comes to the hockey side of things. Those critics will often say things like "He didn't even have any measurable success in the IHL. He can't possibly be successful in the NHL, even if he were handed an all-decade team." and it is somewhat true, he's never really had much measurable success (read: PLAYOFFS/CHAMPIONSHIPS) but he has built a good team from next to nothing twice in Thrashers history, and this last time it took only a couple of years. And as Daculafan said, the owners deserve a very large portion of the blame for these things. I feel like Waddell is at least a slightly above-average NHL GM who has an ownership group that is so piss-poor at everything they do (except in-fighting in court or almost anything Atlanta Hawks) that they bring him down so much, he could probably build a consistent playoff-caliber team with a solid and stable ownership group. And so with that in mind, I say let's see how the Atlanta Thrashers look in the Post-Kovalchuk Era before calling for Waddell's head.

To me, Don Waddell has just always seemed like the Dutch kid with his thumb in the dyke.

HEY-oh!!

Thrashers Ninged by Lightning

Bollocks. Can't win if you can't score. And these Thrashers just aren't built for the 1-0, 2-1 games.

C'est la vie.

Kovalchuk to Russia.

With the Thrashers unable to re-sign star left winger Ilya Kovalchuk this far into the National Hockey League season, it's a safe bet that the Russian standout hockey player will go back to Russia following completion of the Atlanta Thrashers' 2009-2010 campaign. Many have speculated that he will be traded to another team before the NHL's trade deadline on March 3, and that is a distinct possibility. But don't count on the Russian forward sticking around the NHL after the season: sources say it is far more likely that he will return to Russia. And while many believe he will be going back to Russia in order to play in the Kontinental Hockey League, that could be as wrong as saying he will re-sign with the Thrashers.

Rumors regarding Kovalchuk's future have flown almost as nimbly as Russia's new fifth-generation fighter, but in truth he will be going home with intent to fly the new Sukhoi T-50. Always fiercely loyal to his country, Kovalchuk frowned when asked if he would to stay in America, where he has lived for several years, and fly an American F-22 Raptor for the United States. "(The T-50 is) like the American F-22, but cooler, because it's Russian," Kovalchuk said.

It is believed by the Chops that this article, written by Ilya Kramnik, was actually authored by Kovalchuk himself, as it is very common for a psudonymn to be the same first name and last initial, Ilya Kovalchuk, and that Kovalchuk was testing the waters for whether or not his knowledge would be accepted into aviation circles in Russia. His athletic ability cannot be questioned, as he has performed to a near-superstar status on dismal Thrashers' rosters for nearly ten years and is always near the top of his club in average time on ice per game. After having exhausted the exhilerations of playing NHL hockey in Atlanta, it should come as no surprise that the Russian sniper often referred to as "the Czar" would seek to become the Czar of the skies in a multirole fighter jet that will be as big an international star as Kovalchuk himself.

The parallels between Kovalchuk and the T-50 are very intriguing, indeed: both are Russian and tend to let their actions speak for themselves; both are expected to play major roles for Russia at the international level for the foreseeable future; and both have been delayed in serving their country to the fullest by facing financial issues, the resolutions of which will bring both Kovalchuk and the T-50 to the foreground in Russia.

In hockey, Kovalchuk has had great success in the international arena, much more so than with the Atlanta Thrashers. And like on international ice, where Kovalchuk has often etched his name on the scoreboard with stealth, agility, or just sheer firepower, he hopes to utilize the stealth, agility, and firepower of the aircraft to win the hearts of Russians in yet another way. But as usual, "Kovy" was humble when asked about how big a role he could play in Russian air power. "I don't care about (being a star). The most important thing for me now is just do my job."

"I'm excited for the challenge. Hopefully, we can do some damage," said Kovalchuk. Indeed, it will be a challenge for Ilya, but it is perhaps the challenge for which he has been waiting his entire life.