The State of the Thrashers Union
Things aren't so good in Blueland. My blog isn't your typical Thrashers blog. I try and give people a taste of what it's like to be at a game, post my pictures, pass on some information and have a little fun. I can't really NOT post about how craptastic the Thrashers have been lately. We have lost the last 9 games. We did not win a game in regulation in the entire month of December. What the hell happened?
This is Blueland, we are kind of used to sucking. What really makes this hurt is we started the season well, we had a record breaking month in November. In October and November our defense was a scoring machine and still managed to play defense, now they can do neither. Our goal tenders seem to have become human again. Early in the season, our net was minded pretty consistently, with occasional shades of brilliance. Now, you never know who might have to be pulled. You can't heap blame on the goalies without pointing out that our defense has absolutely collapsed. With the exception of Kubina and Enstrom, our defense is struggling. We allow 3.26 goals per game (28th in the league). Unacceptable. We are usually woefully out shot, too. I understand that we are often out shot because of our "style" of hockey, but you can't have a collapsing defense with sub par goal tending and get out shot without something bad happening.
Scoring is usually not a problem for us. However, many of our scoring stars from last season are on serious droughts. The entire Little White Russian line (Kozlov, Little and White) is struggling. Little and White usually can't buy a goal. Afinogenov, Kovy and Antropov are at the top of numbers scoring. It is usually a productive line for us. Peverley, though going through a bit of a drought now, is pretty solid and he is fourth on the team with points. The rest of his line though (Kane and Armstrong) are way down the list of scorers.
Pretty much the wheels are coming off of this team. Is it a coaching problem? Maybe Anderson's system just isn't for us? Should we fire Waddell? Do the players not care? Is there a lack of effort? Everyone has their own opinions about these questions, just look at the Atlanta Thrashers' message board.
Add on top of this there is the whole Kovy situation. Will he re-sign? Will the Spirit actually pay him? Kovy wants to stay. Kovy wants to go. Kovy is going to Russia. If the money (about $10 million) rumors are true, is Kovy WORTH signing. Do we want to tie up that much money with Kovy and risk the chance of not being able to afford paying people to play with Ilya? The Falconer over at "Bird Watchers Anonymous" makes a DAMN good case for the argument of "No, we don't want to pay $10 million for a goal scorer who has no defense."
http://www.birdwatchersanonymous.com/ 
This is pretty much the attitude in Blueland right now. Of course the above funny .gif that I love so much is frequently the state of fans in Blueland, especially around this time of the year.
BTW, if you want some good "meat" about the Thrashers on a regular basis, be sure and check out:
http://www.birdwatchersanonymous.com/
and
http://fanthrashtic.blogspot.com/
These are two of my favorite Thrashers blogs. I compare it to food. I don't consider my blog to be "Skittles." Skittles are like music by Lady Gaga...pretty, damn tasty but no nutritional value. I think I'm like a yogurt parfait...wholesome ingredients, pretty, and tasty but you certainly can't survive alone on yogurt parfaits. These two blogs are like a savory grilled chicken breast with a side of steamed vegetables and brown rice. They are healthy, delicious and packed with important nutrients. And throw in a piece of cheese cake for fun!
Another good blog is http://wazzupwitchu.blogspot.com/. It's well written (hey, she IS a teacher) and it's done by a chick so I like it even more!
8 comments:
So you didn't do the usual State of the Union propaganda and come out and say "The state of the union is strong". Bold move!
Sunshine, I think your blog is like a yogurt parfait served in a PINEAPPLE BOAT! "Wholesome ingrediaents, pretty, tasty" - and fun! :)
PS: ONOZ is right re: Thrashers current state...yowzas.
as always, blog is dead on. It's back now like most of last season, sitting there and wondering, what are we doing here, hummm, I'll surf the net on my phone, or maybe knit a sweater.
You are right, it's painful! We hit this season with such strength and promise and were clicking like a fine tuned Chevelle Supersport and now we are just hemorrhaging, but it's there, lurking beneath the surface...can they find it again? Is it too late? Can they heal this? I still think so, but it's going to be a really rough last half of the season and attendance is dropping off like flies. It's a vicious cycle.
Ok, Love the graphics :-)
Great blog, while I know it was painful to write.
See ya tomorrow nite at the Thrashers Dasher Board bedside for the 1st home game in what seems like a month. I *am* ready to see them come home.
I'm not gonna watch Thursday's game; it seems a football team out of Tuscaloosa is playing in California about the same time...
LOL...as Donkey in "Shrek" said, "Everybody loves a parfait". :-)
As for the Thrashers, IDK...The Pens weren't doing too well up till the game on Tuesday, and I'm not saying *they're* out of the woods yet. I think the condensed schedule is throwing EVERYONE into a fit at some point this season. Some teams just had theirs to start the season, and now seem to be coming out of it. Others combined the screwed up Olympic schedule with the screwed up holiday schedule (Penguins), and had a wonderful time the last couple weeks.
The Kovy thing probably isn't doing much to improve things around the locker room, either. Bluntly and honestly, I don't think Kovy (at this point) is worth almost 25% more than Sidney Crosby. No, Sid's scoring isn't worth writing home about right now, but at least the kid backchecks on a more than regular basis. And at least when Sid isn't scoring, there are the bit players putting in their 2-cents. I almost had a fit the other day when I heard the stat about the last so many games when Kovy had scored, the Thrashers had lost. That's not putting much of a positive spin on anything. Ugh.
Recaps, I decided not to be a Gary Bettman "The Phoenix Coyotes are doing fine financially...pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." lol Things are bad, but hell, they always seem to be bad.
Krisabelle, thank you! I like the idea of the pineapple boat. Maybe I could get one of those little umbrellas as well.
Michelle, I know. I hate going to the games with a sense of dread.
Wayne, I think that game as well as a Dixie Blizzard is going to keep most people home from tonight's game, too. There will 20 people there and 15 of them will be asshole Ranger fans.
Candace, I agree about Kovy. He is our big superstar, but we can't seem to win consistantly with him. Kovy and backchecking often are not friends. Kovy is a dynamic goal scorerer but this team needs a well rounded player for that kind of money. I can't say I blame Ilya for trying to get the max, I mean who wouldn't??
Thanks for the props...I love your blog too and you have more nutrients than you give yourself credit for too.
We may be the commentary but you give our voice a face...so it all works great.
Keep shutterbugging and I'll keep digging what you do.
Amen to that! I really appreciate your slant on things as well as the wonderful pictures! Keep it going and I'll try my best to keep blogging at As the Birds Thrash, as they are certainly quite the soap opera sometimes. Let's be thankful no one (at least that we know of) is sleeping with another's wife!! Like in Philly.
Go Birds!
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