Coming off three consecutive losses, including two at home, the Atlanta Thrashers finished up their 2008-2009 season at home Saturday night with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
With it being the final game of the season for the Thrashers and it having been my birthday on Wednesday, my girlfriend bought us tickets to go the game since we haven't been able to make it out to a game all year due to my night shift work schedule. Using eBay (which I am a big proponent of using to purchase tickets, especially if your team ends up out of the playoff race), she got two tickets in the club level just below all the suites at Philips Arena. Face value of the tickets was $130 each, but she managed to win two for only $61, which was actually a bit higher than similar tickets that had been sold on eBay during the last couple of weeks, but I chalked that up to it being a Saturday night game and the final one of the season.
Anyways, the seats were terrific, and the game was as well. Atlanta jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a power play goal that Colby Armstrong got credit for on a deflection of a Zach Bogosian shot, and there were two fights in the first ten minutes. Unfortunately, we missed this action due to MARTA taking forever.
But once we did get in the arena, the first thing we got to witness was rookie defenseman Bogosian dominate Tampa Bay's Evgeny Artyukhin in a fight that saw Bogosian end up taking down Artyukhin. I was disappointed having missed almost half of the first period, but there was plenty of action that would make up for what we did happen to miss.
Less than a minute after Bogosian and Artyukhin got out of the penalty box, Atlanta's Jim Slater got 2 min for goalie interference. Short handed or not, it didn't matter as Marty Reasoner set up Eric Perrin beautifully on a 2-on-1 break that goalie Mike McKenna had no chance of stopping. McKenna saw plenty of instances where it didn't seem he had much of a chance.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored the Thrashers third goal of the night and his team leading 43rd goal of the season thanks to a great pass across ice and through two defenders by Todd White. After a power play goal by Ron Hainsey, his first goal in 52 games, McKenna was yanked in favor of Karri Ramo. McKenna gave up 4 goals in just a little over a period and a half stopping only 11 of the 15 shots he faced before departing.
Of course, Ramo wasn't much better against the Thrashers offensive onslaught. Ramo made 9 saves, but gave up two goals: one on Armstrong's second deflection goal and the other on Colin Stuart's 3rd period goal that was set up beautifully by Reasoner yet again. Kari Lehtonen was solid in goal for the Thrashers as he stopped 33 shots to earn his 19th win of the season.
Hopefully, this final game coupled with how well the Thrashers played down the stretch of the season (16-8-1 over their final 25 games) will propel the Thrashers toward a good offseason and a strong start next season rather than the 2-7-2 start they managed this season, which turned in to a 12-21-5 record they had compiled by New Year's.
The most pressing concern with the Thrashers will be the future of Kovalchuk. The captain of the team is signed through the end of next season, is the heart of the team, is one of the most prolific goal scorers in the league (40+ for 5 consecutive seasons), and is not only a fan favorite but also my favorite hockey player. If the Thrashers don't think they'll be able to re-sign him, they will end up trading him, and there is a possibility they could deal him even before the beginning of next season (most likely at the NHL Draft in June).
If Kolvy is traded, I'll be remiss in my ability to support the Thrashers whole-heartedly next season. Hopefully, he won't be going anywhere and the team will consider signing a free agent or two, so that he will won't to sign a long-term contract that would keep him a Thrasher for the entirety of his career and enable him to help lead us to the promised land of the playoffs.
In my many years of living near the semi/sometimes-glorious city of Atlanta, many of the greatest sporting events have been hosted by the city.
There were World Series games in '91, '92, '95, '96, & '99, but we were never able to get tickets. I missed out when my home city hosted the Superbowl in '94.
In 1996, I was able to attend a single women's field hockey event when the Olympics were held in the city and the surrounding areas. Luckily, I got to watch the good ol' U.S.A., and they were victorious over some country that probably only fielded a team for the free vacation and food for a week or five.
Then I missed out in 2000 when Sammy Sosa hit mammoth home runs during the home run derby in Turner Field when the city hosted the MLB All-Star Game, and missed out in '03 when Kevin Garnett outdueled MJ at Philips Arena in the only double OT game in the NBA's All-Star history, and then I missed out when the ridiculous looking 'Joke'im Noah and the best that is Al Horford dominated the paint and led Florida to a national championship when the Final Four was in Atlanta last year.
So this year with the NHL All-Star Game and festivities being held in my city, I wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity since I am now back in Georgia and was able to scrounge up a dollar or two.
After being able to take part in both the Dodge SuperSkills on Saturday night and the actual game on Sunday night, I must recommend anyone who has an opportunity to take part in a star-studded event such as the ones Atlanta has hosted should definitely scrape together the money to do so.
On Saturday, I traveled down into the heart of the city early. In the CNN Center (which is adjacent to Philips Arena), Upper Deck & McFarlane Toys hosted a card and collectibles trade show with autograph signings by some NHL Alumni, a couple of the YoungStars, and Todd McFarlane (the creator of the comic book Spawn & designer of the McFarlane SportsPicks Toys: check out how detailed).
After grabbing some items and meeting McFarlane, I headed outside to the players entrance of the arena, where the NHL and Dodge had set up a red carpet and lots of other cool stuff including gaming stations. The red carpet arrivals of the players ended up being my favorite thing of the entire weekend. Those who were right on top of the carpet were able to get autographs from almost all of the stars. Being about four people back, I was more content with snapping off some pictures.
It was easy to see why the fan favorites are indeed the fan favorites. Rick DiPietro was one of the nicest guys as he signed and chatted with throes of fans. Alexander Ovechkin and Jerome Iginla joked with fans as they signed away for little kids and big grown-ups who were like little kids as well. The hometown Thrashers (Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk) got the biggest roars from the crowd as they would all weekend and the most requests for autographs. Hossa got ushered away for interviews, but Kovalchuk had to be pulled away from the fans. He was still not even half-way when some of the first Western Conference stars began catching up with him on the carpet despite their bus arriving 15-20 minutes later.
Oh yea...Zdeno Chara is HUGE.
[gallery=2]
After the red carpet arrivals, everyone headed inside, where all 4 or 5 team gear stores Philips Arena has were packed to the brim as fans searched for just the right All-Star apparel. There were literally waiting lines to get into the stores, and rightfully so as there was some very good looking merchandise.
As far as the SuperSkills and All-Star Game, NHL.com has full recaps (SuperSkills & All-Star Game) so I'll just give my tidbits about what I saw:
SUPERSKILLS
[gallery=1]
- The new obstacle course event wasn't that interesting, except for the goalie shots.
- The fastest skate needs to go back to being a full lap instead of the quick sprint that took place.
- Tomas Kaberle is Accurate (4 of 4, 3 of 4, and absolutely shattered the sudden death target).
- Manny Legace seemed like he stopped everything all weekend until the actual game.
- Chris Osgood seemed like he didn't stop anything until the game...and then he still didn't stop anything.
- The new YoungStars game was a lot of fun...definite improvement for the SuperSkills, but I don't know why they couldn't get a couple young goalies to participate instead of having Osgood get scored on even more.
- I'd hate to get hit by a Chara slapshot...103.1 mph, second hardest shot in the event's history!
- Ovechkin is creative, but not good at baseball. Of course, I'm still impressed by everything he did, and that's not even taking into effect that I think everything done while skating on ice is impressive.
ALL-STAR GAME
[gallery=3]
- The Hives obstructed my view of the All-Stars all standing at center ice after the introductions...so therefore, I now hate The Hives.
- 12 seconds happens really fast! I hadn't even put away my camera from taking a pic of the opening faceoff.
- I knew it was going to be exciting all night when it was already 1-1 before two minutes had elapsed.
- I thought Ovechkin was going to easily get a hat trick after getting two in the first period.
- Evgeni Nabokov was too good.
- 51 shots by the West and they still lost = equals good goaltending IMO
- The tribute to Willie O'ree should have been bigger.
- Ne-Yo's performance during the second intermission was well done. It's hard not to like a drumline performance and surprising that there wasn't one slip on the ice.
- I was disappointed Kolvy didn't score, but Nabokov just made two incredible saves. There was excitement buzzing in the building every time he was on the ice.
[singlepic=108,320,240,,]
- It was good to see former Thrasher Marc Savard score the game winner although I would have liked to see another former Thrasher, Dany Heatley be able to participate.
- Speaking of those unable to participate...it really would have been fun to see Sid the Kid, especially after he scored two in the same building just a couple of weeks ago.
Well, those are my thoughts and rumblings. The events were done well. The Thrashers and the NHL did a great job displaying a great product. I'm glad I was able to participate...and finally the drought is over.
With some of the minor festivities of the NHL All-Star Weekend already underway in Atlanta, the Versus Network and their marketing network, Sinuate Media are looking to bloggers to help promote the game.
The network is giving away prizes, such as hats, mugs, jerseys, and the fan-favorite ice cube tray, for bloggers who post banners and video clips...so why wouldn't we oblige them. (Thanks to Blueland Blog for the heads-up.)
Also, check out a fun video done by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution: "How to Fight in Hockey"
Blood gushed like an awful scene from a graphic video game. But this was no game...this was a life or death situation.
Last night during the Buffalo Sabers 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers, Panthers forward Richard Zednik had to be rushed to the hospital after his throat was slashed by teammate Olli Jokinen.
Jokinen was in the right corner behind Buffalo's goal when he was upended by Buffalo's all-star defenseman Brian Campbell. As Jokinen fell head-first toward the ice, his right skate came across and found Zednik's neck.
Below is the video of the action as it occurred. The clip is a little fuzzy, and you can't really tell what happened until there is a replay later in the clip (the actual action occurs in the first five seconds). However, if you watch closely at the beginning when the play happens, you see Jokinen tumble over and then Zednik go down to the ice.
If you watch closely, you can see just how quickly the blood comes from Zednik's neck as when he slides across the ice there is a large dark spot behind him.
Luckily, Zednik immediately got up and headed toward the bench area. On the spot, Florida's trainer met him in front of the bench with a towel to suppress the bleeding. Zednik was then rushed to Buffalo General Hospital where he underwent surgery to repair the neck laceration that severed Zednik's carotid artery, which Zednik's doctor described "as 'hanging like a thread' when he arrived."
From the Florida Panthers web site: "During a press conference Monday afternoon at Buffalo General, doctors said Zednik was alert, was able to speak, and didn’t appear to have any longterm injuries from the incident."
It was a scary incident, but thankfully, it appears Zednik should make a full recovery. You can stay updated on his progress and leave a message if you'd like on the Zednik Get Well Page the Florida Panthers have set up at their web site.
Yea, I used a frowny face in the title of this post. It's true I'm disappointed my hometown Atlanta Thrashers had to trade away the five-time All-Star forward who had 56 points in 60 games this season.
Though rumors had him going a number of other places, Marian Hossa was sent, along with forward Pascal Dupuis, to the Pittsburgh Penguins for young frontliners Colby Armstrong (25), Erik Christensen (24), and 19-year old Angelo Esposito. The Thrashers also came out of the deal with the Penguins' first round pick in the next NHL Draft. It's always tough to watch your favorite team lose a player with as much talent as Hossa possesses (similar to the Falcons losing Deion Sanders, the Braves splitting with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, or the Hawks and Dominique Wilkins parting ways).
Despite my disappointment, I think the Thrashers actually got the better end of this deal. Instead of Hossa being lost to free agency later this summer in exchange for nothing (which may still happen to Pittsburgh), Atlanta got back Christensen and three first round picks (Armstrong in '01, Esposito last season, and the pick in the next draft).
The Thrashers will still have a chance at re-signing Dupuis after the season as it has been reported that he and his family enjoy the Atlanta area. There is also a very slim chance the Thrashers would also have a chance at re-signing Hossa if the Penguins are unable to secure a long-term contract with the Slovakian, but if Hossa and the Thrashers couldn't come to terms any time this season, nothing makes me believe the two sides would come together in the off-season.
Don Waddell, Atlanta's general manager/coach, may have gotten the better end of the trade, but he still managed not to address the Thrashers' true deficiency -- defense (evident by the tie breaking and subsequent 3 morethird periodgoals allowed to the Canadians in the Thrashers first game following the trade). Instead of improving a defense that has given up the fourth most goals in the NHL, the Thrashers traded away two of their top penalty killers for a center in Christensen who has 9 goals and 11 assists and Armstrong, a forward, who has accumulated 9 goals and 15 assists this season.
Without any defensive additions, it's highly unlikely the Thrashers will be making a playoff surge (which they pretty much conceded wasn't worth holding onto Hossa for). Instead they appear to be looking to the future. They opened up some cap room prior to the offseason (where they better get some defensive assistance), and the inclusion of the Penguins' 1st round draft pick and Esposito could give the Thrashers two future studs.
Esposito, who was projected to possibly be drafted in the top 5 last season before unexpectedly falling to the Penguins and the 20th selection, could be the star of this trade when looked back upon in the future. With the Quebec Ramparts, he has amassed 26 goals and 29 assists in only 48 games this season.
As for Pittsburgh, they now have three of the top scoring threats in the league with Hossa, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin as they make a push for an Atlantic Division title and then hopefully a prominent playoff run. Trading for Hossa, who could be with the team for only a couple of months, is a risky move for the Pens, but it ultimately could net the grand reward...Lord Stanley's Cup.
Here at the Blue Workhorse, we're having difficulties getting our photo galleries set up, but when we do we'll have photos posted of last night's NHL Dodge SuperSkills competition and the red carpet walk through that was held prior to it. We'll also get photos up of tonight's NHL All-Star game, as well.
UPDATE: Photo galleries of all the events attended during the NHL All-Star Weekend are now available.
I'll be in attendance in HotLanta cheering on the hometown heroes Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa, which is why I won't be able to get the photos of last night up until late tonight or early tomorrow. I will go ahead and say that the SuperSkills competition last night was fun. The NHL made changes to the competition and some of them were hits...while others worsened the event, but I'll get to all of that when I do a wrap-up of the entire event later on.
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics.
Advertisers
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
Bloggers Wanted
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account!
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 
