The Thrashers Are In!

While I will generally talk about politics and other topics of the day on this blog, it is my blog and I want to talk about my beloved Atlanta Thrashers. On April 1, the Thrashers clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in their seven seasons of operations. I remember that first Atlanta Thrashers game back in October 1999. I still have my ticket, in the little souvenir display box that we received immediately after walking through the gates. I remember singing the national anthem and watching Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion drop the ceremonial first puck. We lost that game 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils with Kelly Buchberger scoring the lone goal, against Martin Brodeur, on a nice assist from Patrik Stefan.
Bernie Geoffrion is dead. Kelly Buchberger is retired and coaching back in Edmonton. Patrick Stefan is in Dallas of all places.
But I am still in Atlanta and very much looking forward to seeing an Atlanta Thrashers playoff game. Whether it's game 1 or game 2, I will be present and I will lose my voice cheering in Blueland. I will drink too much Guinness and my wife will have to apologize to the fans of the opposing team who I offended. And it will be wonderful.
The history of the Atlanta Thrashers is checkered, at best. Our premier player, Ilya Kovalchuk is despised by many in the league for being a show-off and a braggart. Don Cherry hates him. Mike Comrie isn't too fond of him either. Our best all-around player, Marian Hossa, was traded for, arguably, our most popular player, Dany Heatley, after Heatley requested a trade.
And then there's Dany Heatley and Dan Snyder, a story so tragic I get emotional every time I think about it. Dan Snyder was a wonderful young man who was taken from us far too soon. All Atlanta Thrashers fans remember him very fondly.
The lack of success from a well-built franchise is the biggest albatross hanging around the Thrashers' neck, however. Hockey insiders have, for years, spoken of GM Don Waddell's commitment to building this team from the ground up and he has been widely praised for the deals he has made(Marc Savard for Ruslan Zainullin?!?!) G Kari Lehtonen is believed by many to be on the verge of greatness and coach Bob Hartley has a Stanley Cup ring from his tenure with the Colorado Avalanche. But this team was supposed to make the playoffs last season. Massive goaltending injuries made sure that didn't happen. It was a disappointing end of season and the off-season was tough as well. The team made a couple of moves, but the lineup was fundamentally similar to the previous year. Could this team avoid injuries(a plague on this franchise) and attain the success everyone knew they were capable of?
Yes, yes a thousand times yes!
The Thrashers were off to a blazing start and emerged as a serious threat when they derailed the Buffalo Sabres' quest for a record win streak. They were getting great goaltending from Lehtonen and the defense corps, long our Achilles' heel, was playing well together. Then came the January-February swoon. With the Tampa Bay Lightning playing well, the Thrashers' picked a lousy time to fold up their tents.
And then came the trade deadline. In the past we were either sellers at the deadline, or Waddell felt the price teams were asking was too high. But this year Waddell had to make a deal. He picked up Eric Belanger, Alexei Zhitnik, Pascal Dupuis and Keith Tkachuk. On Monday, February 26, 2007, I saw Keith Tkachuk wearing Cam Neely's number 8 in an Atlanta Thrashers sweater. I was almost moved to tears so giddy was I with excitement.
Since the trade deadline the Thrashers have won 11 of 15 games and are one of the hottest teams in the league. Not a bad way to enter our first playoff hunt.