Practice Does Indeed Hate Me

We established this year that Thrashers Practice hates me. I know live on the opposite side of town from practice, it's a haul. Twice I drove to practice to get there and find it canceled. Another time I drove out there and the guys stayed out there for 30 minutes. I decided it wasn't worth it any more. The last time I had the chance to go to practice and chose not to, I missed the Boston Bruins.


The final Thrashers practice for the season was April 9. I decided not to go. There was a game Friday and Sunday. My dog was acting funny. My toilets were dirty. I decided to stay home. Great, the Penguins were there.


Fortunately for me and the blog, my friend Sandy and her adorable girls were there. She got some pictures and the girls made out like bandits.


Here are the girls and Flower.



The girls and Disco Dan, Coach Dan Bylsma.



Though Sidney Crosby hasn't been playing due to concussion, he WAS at the practice. Sandy got to see him do some stick handling which she said was amazing. Her daughter Abby wanted to ask Sid for a stick. Sandy told her "no baby, don't bother him. You probably won't get it anyway." Abby pleaded and Sandy said okay. Well I'll be damned...he gave it to her! He also signed it for her, but the signature got smudged.



They decided to go outside and get her stick re-signed and get some more autographs. Sandy said that grown men were begging for the stick and offering wads of cash. I might have gotten security to walk around with me!


Jordan Staal.



Flower signs for some happy fans.



And finally, Sid the Kid re-signs Abby's stick.



So now Abby has one of the most coveted pieces of hockey memorabilia going today. Her sister Sara didn't walk away empty handed, she got an Aaron Asham stick, too. He autographed it as well.


Seeing the Pens practice was one of my favorite memories last season. Hopefully practice and I will be on better terms next season and I'll have new memories like this!

Thanks to Sandy for letting me exploit her kids for this post!

Fuck Practice

I live in Marietta now. Practice is in Duluth. Practice is now 42.3 miles away from my home. For the second time, I drove to practice only to have it canceled. I know they played last night. I know they probably got in at 2:00 in the morning. I'm not mad at them. It's not their fault. I'm mad at who ever is responsible for schedules, website notification etc.


They want people to come and support the team at games and come and watch the guys practice. They advertise at the games how practice is free and open to the public. I checked the schedule repeatedly before leaving, because practice was moved up on Thanksgiving. The schedule still says practice should have been at noon today, didn't happen. I checked the Blueland blog, I checked the twitter of Ben and Chris Vivalamore...nothing. I understand schedules change. I want them to do whatever they think is going to help the team win. But if you ask me to come and support the team somewhere...LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU CANCEL. Change it on the website, tweet it, facebook, something.


Fuck it, I'm done with practice. No more 80 mile round trips for nothing. It actually wasn't for "nothing" I guess. We watched some little guys (14-16 year olds) play. Then I went and shopped for shoes and we decided to go to the Gladiator game.

Final Thrashers Practice for the 2009-10 Season

*sniff*
*sniff*
I'm really going to miss practice. It's been my saving grace since I got laid off. I've loved being a rink rat this season. Sometimes it was the only thing that got me up early, dressed and out of the house. I will miss it! I'm sure all of my readers will miss the awful pictures as well.



Practice was a madhouse. It is spring break so all the kiddies are out of school. I got my super moose sign signed by Johan the day before.





This is my favorite Moose sign I've made. I've dragged it on 3 road trips and it's been on TV several times.





Today I wanted to get my favorite picture of him signed. I don't know why I love this picture so much, but I do. It's from last season and just something I love about his positioning and the look on his face. I am trying to break it to myself that Moose might not be here next season, so I need to get everything signed that I want to have signed.

It sucks because the quality of the print wasn't great, it came out kind of yellowy. Oh well...hopefully Moose will be here next year and I can get a better quality photo signed.


Pavs stretches it out.





Someone get the Moose a power bar, he's hungry!
Moose: I wonder how this tastes.





Moose: Ewwwww.....not good.





Moose is so considerate. See how he leans back so I can get a shot of Pops? Sorry Moose, I actually cut Pops head off.





Bergy doesn't have a demon eye, it's a smudge on his visor.





Another Thrashers staple for the past few seasons who probably won't be around next season, Slava Kozlov. (sorry Ally)





One of my favorite sights, a Moose in the net.





I don't have many smiling Moose pictures, this is close.





Peverley concentrating on the last practice.





Another player that people are saying is as good as gone is Colby Armstrong. I love Colby. He is soo funny and I love him on the line with Slater and Kane.

A Behemoth Descends Upon Atlanta

Today was the first day fans got to see the Artyukinasaurus Rex, Evgeny Artyukin. Wow he's a big boy. At 6'5'' and 250lbs, you can't miss him on the ice.



They had him on a line with Peverley and Max. I knew he was fast, but wow. He could totally keep up with Max. You aren't expecting speed from something that large.



My husband pointed out that he wasn't much of a finisher, but if he's that large and that fast, if he can get the puck to Pevs or Max...look out! I'm hoping to see his large ass in front of the net! I'd love to see him be our version of Dustin Byfuglien (Chicago) or Tomas Holmstrom (Detroit)



Also at practice were both Colby Armstrong and Slava Kozlov, both of whom were said to be on the "trading block." Slava asked to be moved, but as of the close of the deadline, no one was interested. Looks like Slava will stay here for at least a little while.



Another epic win at practice...I got my Oduya jersey signed...Oh did I???

The Gang's All Here!

I went to practice Sunday morning and all of the Thrashers Olympians were finally back home!


Olympians Toby, Pavel and Max watch the action.



Johnny is back, too! Oh is he? Yes he is! I bought a jersey in the gear store at the ice rink. They were a little cheaper than the arena and they had a bigger size I wanted (which actually turned out to be a little too big...didn't think that was possible!) so it will be my Oduya jersey by Tuesday night!



The team has been off for a while, so Coach Anderson had them doing some mountains. Moose totally kicks Pavs ass on this drill.



Moose chewing on his glove. Someone get that man a power bar!



The guys chilling after practice. Someone must have told Johnny something funny. Maybe he is just excited because he heard that someone will be rocking the first Oduya jersey soon!



Uh-oh! Looks like someone told Moose I was getting an Oduya jersey! Don't worry pumpkin, you are still my absolute favorite NHL player!


I've enjoyed the Olympics immensely, and I'm super psyched about the gold medal game today, but I can't WAIT to see the guys back at Phillips Arena this Tuesday.

Go Thrashers!

Chasing Peter Mannino

As most have probably heard, the Thrashers called up Peter Mannino from the Chicago Wolves this week. With the Olympics winding down, Thrashers practice has kicked back up. I wanted to see Mannino and I was ready to see my Thrashers again, so I headed up to Duluth.


Peter was taking some shots and doing some drills when I came in.



I turned to chat with some friends and didn't even realize...that's Moose! I noticed when he did that thing where he snaps his mask back down. His new mask is done and from a distance, it is similar to Mannino's, so he fooled me! I didn't get any good shots of the mask, hopefully I can soon. I do see the little Moose on the side.



So I walked back down to the other side to watch Mannino do some drills with the coach. Then he moved BACK down to the other side, and I followed.



Mannino has some kind of little Scottsman snowman on the side of his mask with a bird body for the Thrashers.



So I got to see Mannino face some more shots. Peter has been tearing it up in the AHL and is ranked #2 in the league. He has a SV% of .934 and a GAA of 1.97.


I guess with Pavs coming back to town, Mannino will be going back to Chicago, but who knows. Hope to see everyone at the Thrashers Skills Competition tonight!

The Boy Is Back In Town!

Or at least he was yesterday.





Kari Lehtonen has been recalled from Chicago. I went to practice yesterday and got some shots of him. Who knows if this is the last time I see him. Rumors are that he will be traded. I was going to go to practice today, but once again, I'm very sick. I'm starting to think I'm like a kid who never goes to daycare, they get sick when they are around other kids. Reason 3,428,482 I need a job.




Come on Zack, that's not nice. Get your butt out of Moose's face!





Pavs watching the action down the ice.





Kari and Pevs stretching.





Kari doing some crease keeping. This net apparently doesn't stay on the moorings very well.





Kari seeing some shots and being screened by Pevs, Max and White.





Moose taking a breather.





Wow! Kari sure is flexible!





Maybe Johnny got me sick. He's wiping his nose here.





Time for some mountain skating!





In Soviet Russia, mountain skates YOU!





Kari taking a break while sharing his crease with Pavs.





Coach Anderson talking to the new guys.
Johnny: What are all those people doing?
Anderson: Watching us practice.
Niclas: Did they win a contest or something?
Anderson: No, Thrashers practice is free, and open to the public.
Johhny: Damn! No Way! You mean we have to interact with the fans?
Anderson: Yeah, didn't you do that in Jersey?
Niclas: Hell no. Lamoriello would have us use underground tunnels to get to the arena if he knew how and certainly no open practices.





Pavs: Dude, I'm taking your job.
Kari: You don't know that.
Pavs: Everyone knows that.
Kari: Whatever.





Johnny getting ready to come out and meet some fans.





He's looking a little perplexed.





See Johnny, it's not that bad!





Bergy isn't ready to exit yet.


Thrashers hockey is over for almost a month! No practices for a while either. I hated I had to miss today, but I felt so poorly. I'm hoping to go to some Glads games so I should have pictures of that. I'll also be doing prospect and Olympic updates.