Focus on a Thrasher: Max Afinogenov

I'm trying to get this show back on the road. I thought this Monday would be a perfect time to the Focus On A Thrasher about Max Afinogenov. Max said "Afinogenov this team" last week when he signed a five year deal with the KHL. Mad Max was only with us for a year, but the fans loved him.



Max came to Atlanta in the 2009-10 season when he was given an invitation to training camp to tryout.



One of my favorite Mad Max stories is about how he played pick-up hockey in Birmingham, Alabama. Visiting the city with his girlfriend, tennis star Elena Dementieva, Max wanted some ice time during the Olympic break. His agent called up the local ice rink and reserved some time. You can read the whole story here: http://blog.al.com/ray-melick/2010/04/melick_fed_cup_lures_mad_max_t.html



Max was born in Moscow, Russia, on September 4, 1979 to parents Raisa and Sergei. Sergei introduced Max to hockey as soon as he could walk. By his early teens, Max was an accomplished player. Coaches were amazed at his ability to get shots off, but confused as to why they weren't finding their way to the back of the net.



Max is not the only star athlete of the family. Katia, Max's younger sister, was once thought to be the prodigy of the family in the sport of tennis. At age 13, she moved to Florida to study with an instructor who trained both Venus and Serena Williams as children. Max's mother was also a noted track and field star who was twice the Soviet track and field champion at 800 meters.



Max played for 4 seasons with the Moscow Dynamo, one of Russia's elite junior teams, and by his final years with the club, his shots had definitely started hitting the back of the net. Max was drafted in the 3rd round, 69th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1997 NHL entry draft. In 1998 he also represented his country in the World Junior Championships and scored 16 points in 16 games. He was also named the top forward of the tournament.



With is junior hockey career behind him, Max split the 1999-00 season between the Rochester Americans of the AHL and the Buffalo Sabres. Max made his NHL debut on November 10, 1999 and scored a goal and an assist in a 6-2 win over the Boston Bruins. While in the AHL, Max lead rookie scoring at the time of his recall. At the end of the season he was 8th in the NHL for rookie scoring.



Once Max was called up from the AHL, he never went back. He started the 2000-01 season with the Sabres. He appeared in 78 games for the Sabres, scoring 36 points (14 goals 22 assists). He also scored his first play off goal in game 5 against the Philadelphia Flyers. At the end of the season he was tied for the team high of 5 game winning goals.



The 2001-02 season shaped up to be a good one for Max. He had a (then) career high year for points with 40 (21 goals 19 assists) in 81 games. He also had a 6 game point streak.



With such a good season, it's not surprised that the Sabres signed Max to a $2.4 million contract on September 4, 2002. What IS a big surprise is that later that day in a game of pick up hockey in Moscow, Max took a puck to the head that gave him a concussion. (Max and those damn pick up games). He was out for most of the 2002-03 season, only playing in 35 games and scoring 11 points.



For the 2003-04 season, Max was looking to bounce back from this concussion syndrome riddle previous season. He was able to play in 73 games that season scoring 31 points (17 goals 14 assists). He scored his first NHL hat trick on December 31, 2003 in a 7-1 win against the Washington Capitals.



During the 2004-05 lock out, Max returned to Russia and played 36 games for the Moscow Dynamo of the Russian Super League scoring 27 points (13+14). He also represented Russia at 2005 World Championships in Austria, scoring three goals and two assists in nine games



The lock out seemed to rejuvenate Max and he came back to the NHL on fire and finished the season as the team's leading scorer. The 2005-06 season was his best to date. In 77 games with the Sabres he scored 73 points (22 goals 51 assists). He also had a team high of 18 multiple point games.



Max continued to dazzle in the 2006-07 season. Despite missing 26 games, Max still managed to score 61 points (23 goals 38 assists). In February of 2007, back up goalie, Martin Biron, was traded. This made Max the longest-serving Sabre on the roster.



For the 2007-08 season, Max was once again limited to 56 games, but failed to dazzle with only 28 points. His production fell even farther for the 2008-09 season where due to a groin injury, he appeared in only 48 games and scored 20 points. He became an unrestricted free agent and was not re-signed by the Sabres.



Then we gave him a tryout! On September 29 2009, he signed a one-year contract with the team worth $800,000. His first goal as a Thrasher...on October 17, 2009 against the Buffalo Sabres. I love irony. Fans loved watching Mad Max fly up the ice. While in Atlanta Max played in all 82 games and scored 61 points (24 goals 37 assists).


Good luck in the KHL, Max! I can't fault a man for wanting to go back home. You have had a great career and were only a Thrasher for a little while, but you have fans here!

Congratulations Ondrej Pavelec!!

The Czech Republic has won the IIHF World Championship upsetting tournament favorites Russia! Riding the bench on that team, The Thrashers own Ondrej Pavelec!



Pavs spent most of the tournament backing up Tomas Vokoun, but he did play in one game against Norway. Congratulations on your gold medal, Pavs!





Also worthy of congratulations is the Thrashers Max Afinogenov. Max represented Mother Russia well. He played in all 9 games of the tournament finishing with a plus/minus of +7. He had 7 points with 3 goals and 4 assists. Congrats on the silver medal Max!

Mad Max Picks Up Some Ice Time In Birmingham, Alabama

I never miss the chance to tie in my home state of Alabama with hockey! It's rare I get the chance to do so and even more rare that it's the Thrashers.


Max Afinogenov has been in Birmingham, Alabama all week with his smoking hot girlfriend, Elena Dementieva, who is playing in a tennis tournament there. Training camp for the Russian national team is coming up, so he told his agent he wanted to get some ice time. His agent called the director of hockey at the Pelham Civic Center. Max showed up for some pick up hockey. Yep, that's right super star Max Afinogenov playing some pick up hockey. Very cool.

You can read the entire article here:
http://blog.al.com/ray-melick/2010/04/melick_fed_cup_lures_mad_max_t.html

Olympic Dreams Over For The Thrashers

Yesterday was an exciting day of hockey in which all of the teams with Thrashers battled to get to the Gold Medal in the Winter Olympics...FAIL!


First up was Russia. In a game that many thought would be the gold medal game for the season, Team Russian faced the Canadians. Unlike this picture, Max was one of the few players not laying down on the job. Russia totally shit the bed and Canada pounced. Nabakov was a million miles away, or at least he wished he was. He let in 4 goals in the first period. Everyone thought for sure that Bryzgalov would start in the second period, but oh no, Nabby was back in net. Early in the second period, Nabby allowed 2 goals to be scored on him within less than a minute. They finally sent Bryzie in to try and stop the bleeding. Too late. Ovechkin who??? Malkin who?? A true disgrace. The wheels just fell off. I was so disappointed. Max did score one of the goals, congrats on that. Sergei Gonchar and Dmitri Kalinin scored the other two. Final score was 7-3. Do Svidaniya, Russia.



Next up, The Czech Republic vs Finland. This was a great game and the results were heartbreaking for Thrashers fans. I usually like Finland, I love Teemu Selane and even though he's a Thrasher Killer, Niittymaki. I was pulling for the Czechs though because they had 2 Thrashers and because I didn't want USA to have to face the tough Finns in the next round. As expected, it was a battle of the goalies, Kiprusoff vs Vokoun. Both teams were held scoreless through the first, second and part of the third periods. Then in a sad turn of events, Pavel's helmet was damaged and slid back. For those that don't know, in IIHF rules which the Olympics follow, if you lose your helmet you must immediately leave the ice or get a penalty. Pavel went to the bench giving Finland's Niklas Hagman a rare moment of freedom which he capitalized on and scored. Devastation. The Czechs never recovered and Finland scored an empty net goal in the final few seconds of the game to make the final score 2-0.



Pavs did a good job of handing Vokoun towels from the bench.



The final game of the night was Sweden vs Slovkia. Sweden won gold in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Most of my favorite players are Swedes and Team Sweden has 2 Thrashers so of course I was pulling for Sweden.


The game was scoreless after the first period. Coming into the 2nd period, Henrik Lundqvist stet a record for a goalie going the longest without being scored on. Unfortunately once someone got one in, 37 seconds later they got another one in and the score was 2-0 Slovakia. In an even more bizarre turn of events, the next two goals scored by Sweden were also 37 seconds apart. Toby got an assist on one of those goals! Unfortunately a few minutes later Toby got a tripping penalty and while he was in the box, Pavol Demitra scored another goal for the Slovakians in the last few minutes of the 2nd period. Toby had a good Olympics over all. He played in all 4 games and saw 48 minutes and 44 seconds of ice time. When you are a defenseman on a team with Nick Lidstrom and Mattias Ohlund, that's pretty good. Toby was a +3 and had 2 points during the tournament. Good job, Toby!



Johnny didn't see as much ice time, only 36 minutes and 10 seconds. He didn't score a goal or an assist but he did manage to finish the games at an even zero. So hey, you didn't f*ck anything up. Good job :)


Welcome home guys! You were missed and I'm still very proud of you all!

Totally Awesome Video!

Not only is this a great video because it's hysterical...if you look at the last few seconds of the video, those pictures of Pevs and Max...I TOOK THEM! WOO HOO! I took those pictures for the Atlanta Thrashers Fan Club when they awarded them the Players of The Month Award!







When I saw this in the arena I lost my mind!

Thrashers Olympians Off To Good Start

All of our Thrashers Olympians were on winning teams this week!


Max and his Russian buddies got things started on February 16 (Tuesday) against Latvia.
Max was on the ice for almost 14 minutes and was on the ice for Kovalchuk's goal and got a secondary assist on Malkin's goal. Way to go, Max! The Russians defeated the Latvians 8-2.



Team Sweden was victorious over Germany on February 17.
Johnny Oduya got a fair amount of ice time, with almost 12 minutes. Unfortunately he also had about the same number of penalty minutes. He got a 2 minute penalty for checking from behind, and a 10 minute game misconduct! Simma down na' Johnny! I'm sure he'll be back on his game when they face Belarus.



Toby was a star for the Thrashers! He had almost 14 minutes of ice time and assisted on Mattias Ohlund's goal! Good job, Toby! The Swedes went on to shut the Germans out, 2-0.



Last night (Wednesday) the Czechs took on the Slovakians. I found this game to be one of the more enjoyable, evenly matched game....Chara, Gaborik and the Hossa's vs Jagr, Elias and Erat. Good times! The Czechs beat the Slovakians 3-1.


Pavel saw over 15 minutes on the ice for this game. He was a +1 too as he was on the ice for Elias' goal.



Ondrej warmed the bench nicely and passed towels to Vokoun. No shame in that. When you are backing up Thomas Vokoun, you probably won't see a lot of ice time. We are still proud of you, Pavs!


Good luck in the next round, guys!

Thrashers' Olympians So Far

Team Sweden announced their Olympic team this morning. While I was truly sad that Johan "Moose" Hedberg was not named as at least the 3rd back up goalie (I mean Liv, again? Really) I was delighted to see that Toby Enstrom, Atlanta's best little D man was on the roster!





Mother Russian chose her champions earlier this month and it was no surprise that Ilya Kovalchuk was on the roster.





A bit more of a surprise was the naming of Max Afinogenov.


As more and more teams announce their rosters, we see more Thrashers being named. Don Waddell said Bogosian is a bit young, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him anyway. Ron Hainsey would be another possible choice. Boris Valabik will probably be announced for Slovakia and Ondrej Pavelec could get the nod for at least a back up spot on the Czech Team.

Congratulations gentlemen!! You have made us proud!!

It's Blogger Day Again!

It's blogger day again...a/k/a I got credentials bitches!





This one was a little last minute but being that I am jobless it's not like I have any commitments to get in the way. Plus, it's my second favorite team in the league, the New Jersey Devils! The thought of seeing Martin Brodeur wondering around the back had me giddy!

So I headed down to Phillips Arena early Saturday morning. At 9:45 the guy that sets up blogger day met us outside of Phillips Arena and we went in for morning skate.




Moose chatting with Anssi before morning skate.





Moose stretching out.





Max Afinogenov had his son on the ice skating with him. He's a tall boy, almost as tall as Max.





One of the many things I love about Moose, anything for a save!





So I'm sitting there watching morning skate and I see a guy come up the stairs and have a seat. I did a double take...it's Doc-freaking-Emerick! I'm a huge Doc and Chico fan and was so excited to see Doc.





The guys skating around.





Also watching the morning skate...Devils GM and newly inducted Hall of Famer, Lou Lamoriello. Lou is known for keeping his team on lock down and not really allowing a lot of access to the team. I am sure blogger day would NEVER happen in Jersey. I looked over a few times and he was actually scowling at us.





Peverley isn't scowling, but he is definitely wondering what we are doing there.





Whoa now Moose! I know Pavs did it for a few seconds, but we don't need you going all Jacques Plante on us.





By request, some Anssi Salmela.





A rare occasion, Hainsey isn't chatting. He looks like he is about to though.





It's Czech-&-Slovakia....get it? Czechoslovakia. Yeah yeah bad joke, but it made me laugh.





Group pow wow.


While watching the morning skate, we were joined by Natalie Taylor, the rink side reporter for the Thrashers. You know Natalie as the pretty blond chick who does the player interviews and other in-arena pieces...not games such as Win it All, that's that goof J Bird. I always called her Sco-Jo because I think she looks just like Scarlet Johanson. ANYWAY...Natalie joined us and chatted for a while. I learned a little of her background which was interesting and that she wrote all of the "keys to the game" she did last year as well as the material for the interviews. She's no window dressing, the girl knows her stuff. I also found out she likes my blog. After my head stopped swelling and I was able to focus again, I was very flattered. We had a cool "girl power" hockey talk. It's always good to meet other chicks that love hockey!




After morning skate we went back into the locker room area to watch Coach Anderson give his game day speech, that's always fun. Then we hung around for a bit and got to speak with Max Afinogenov!


What really impressed me about Max was how warm, friendly and chatty he was. I was expecting someone a little more stoic like Slava. There were never any one word answers and he smiled and joked again. He is really soft spoken and we all had to move forward to hear him. Once again I asked no questions, but really enjoyed the ones that were asked. Max was asked how he liked playing in Atlanta as opposed to Buffalo. Max said that he was born and raised in Moscow and was used to a big city with a lot to do. Buffalo was much smaller and there weren't as many options. He had friends and family, but not a lot to do. He enjoys living in a large city again. And of course, he enjoys the weather. Max was also asked about what Coach Anderson said when he made the team as far as Anderson's system and what role he was supposed to play. Coach Anderson told him to be himself. He also talked about coming into a situation where there were several Russian speaking teammates and how that helped him acclimated.




Max also posed for a picture with his bear that the Atlanta Thrashers Fan Club made. These bears were the talk of the town and helped raise quite a bit of money for the Atlanta Thrashers Foundation.


Well I didn't see Marty Brodeur or any other Devil in the back. (I did see head coach Jacques Lemaire, he looked mean) I did however see Doc Emerick. I saw him standing there looking in his bag and I had to say something!! I went up to him and said "you are Doc Emerick." (duh) He said yes. I told him I was a huge fan. He was soooo nice. He asked me what my name was and where I was from. A few minutes later he came over and chatted with the rest of the bloggers and asked what exactly we were doing and talked about how cool it was. SOO nice!




I over heard Doc saying that since the Devils played last night, only a few were skating in the morning skate. Of course you know the great Martin Pierre Brodeur was NOT gonna be one of those. He was laying up in the bed at the hotel ordering room service or something.

On the ice for morning skate was Yann Danis.





Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblonde. He was definitely out there and I'm 75% sure this is a picture of him.





I know this goon, Andrew Peters. He's a newer Devil and still growing on me.


The morning portion of the blogger event was over and it was time to head home and rest up for the game!