Category 5: Thrashers vs Hurricanes

One of our divisional rivalries blew into town on Thursday, The Carolina Hurricanes. Surprisingly, this was the first time we have played the Hurricanes this season. The Thrashers have been playing really well, so the home town was hoping for a victory.


Ladd chants with his old Stanley Cup winning buddy, Cam Ward.



Boultsie still has a bit of a shaved head.



Sopel is pretty predictable in warm ups. He and his position never change, but the opponents in the back do.



Thanks for the cheesy smile Nik. Your hair looks awesome, the wings are perfect.



Thor blowing bubbles.



Eager checking to see if he has bad breath?



Johnny Oduya.



Buff looks deep in thought.



Hainsey getting some chuckles.



Buff's fro is getting a little wild.



The guys hanging out waiting to take some shots.



A good shot of Bolton's head. Eric Staal photobomb in the back.



Swarming the goalie.



Buff patrolling the blue line.



Eager wants to kill someone.


Ha! Even Santa is a Thrashers fan.



I guess someone has been watching Vancouver games. It takes guts to walk around in those suits lol. Freddie Falcon is dumbfounded.



A tip: If you are going to snipe front row seats, don't do it in a red leotard. Security put them back in their seats 1/2 way through the period.



Eager finally gets the chance to go with someone.



Pevs in front of the net.



Staal has the puck in the air.



At least the red guys mad it on the jumbo tron before they got booted.



Some action in front of Ward.



Cam is down, but not out. I don't understand how it's possible that Cam wasn't one of the starting goalies. He faced almost 50 shots.



Eric Staal making sure no one gets one in on Cam.



Cam takes a shot in the logo. Good thing he has pads!



With Thrash being locked up in jail, his fellow Atlanta Mascot buddies showed up to cover his shift. Harry the Hawk and Homer are out on the ice during intermission.



Harry made the rounds in the stands.



Damn Staal, trying to get on in.

Yeah, well he did. The Thrashers blew a 2 goal league and couldn't get the job done in OT. You know what that means, Thrashers Kryptonite...A shoot out.

Our first shooter was Nik Antropov, and he actually scored. There was hope!

Baby superstar Jeff Skinner comes in on Mason.



Poke checked away.



Ward makes a save, and several more.



Hurricanes win. Boo.

Carolina Hurricanes To Host 2011 NHL All Star Games

The 2011 NHL All Star Games will be held in Raleigh, NC on January 29-20. The only people who are guaranteed tickets are Hurricanes Season Ticket Holders. I desperately want to go. The 2008 All Star Game and festivities was awesome! I'm not sure if this is common for every game, but they are making it sound like it is going to be hard to get tickets. If you want to go and are NOT a Hurricanes STH, you should get yourself on the waiting list. Follow the below link to do so and read more about the announcement.
http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=61883

Congrats Hurricane Nation! Also, if you are in the Raleigh area, I highly suggest looking into volunteering. I know several people who did and they say it was an awesome experience. I know a few people who got to shuttle NHL super stars to and from the airport.

Thrashers Vs Hurricanes (again)

I started this game still on a high from the road trip to Raleigh. I should have known better. Interesting statistic for the season...when these two teams have met this season, the road team always won.


Warm Ups!


Here come the Thrashers!





Slater has a nice shiner developing.





I have so many pictures like this.





Pavs being serious.





WTF? Marty is doing some kind of Spider Man stretch.





Hey Army, I think that girl is trying to get your attention.





What are you peeping at, Moose? Of course I'm here taking pics.





Toby hanging out by the bench with Pavs and Slater.





Coach Anderson went with the same lines he did in the last game. Why not? They were very successful. There was one big difference in the other team's net though. Cam Ward was playing for the first time after being out with an injury. We were hoping he was rusty.





Moose is going to charge Hainsey out of his crease.





Zach looking pretty hot.





The standard Little Nikky pose.





Our rookie phenom, Bergfors.





Swarming the goalie.



First Period!


Max has been doing this thing where he does some kind of stretch behind Moose. Or, maybe Moose is wearing some new cologne.





Before the game, the Gilner-Reeves award was presented. This is an award named for two slain Atlanta police officers. It is awarded to the player who goes above and beyond the call of duty to make his community a better place. This year's recipients were Marty Reasoner and Jim Slater. Congratulations guys!



On to the game!







Get him Army!





Stupid Cam Ward making another great save.





Army in front of the net.





Some action in front of Ward.





Get up you big baby. Thorburn got 4 minutes, so I guess Titty Baby Staal bit his lip and drew some blood.





Funny how it looks so slow in pictures.





WOO HOO! Antropov scores!





I'm not sure how intimidated by Heatmeiser Cam Ward is, but the guy next to Heat is intrigued.





Look at Pops, the master Dman! He's been playing his ass off.





It's little Timmy Stapleton called up from Chicago!

At the end of the first period, fans were full of optimism. The Thrashers were up 1-0!


Second Period!







Blah blah, great. Yes Cam Ward, spin around and be fantastical.





Reasoner trying to make something happen.





I guess Kostopoulos decides to get his team pumped by fighting...with Artyukhin!?! You chose poorly, my friend.





About now Kostopoulos is thinking "please don't hit me again." I'm sure Thorburn is remembering the ass whipping Arty put on him in the last game of the season last year.





Thrashers fans were thrilled to finally see the big man fight!





Fucking Jokinen and LaRose. God how I hate them.





Get some, Thor!





Carolina fans when put on the kiss cam did the Triple H/Shaun Michaels/Degeneration X "suck it" move. They should be embarrassed. I should be emberrassed for even knowing what that is.





Another save.





Just go on and slide your big ass on in there!





Meanwhile up in the suite...
Boris: Hey Whitey, are my taxes done yet?
White: Not yet, I'm still working on Espo's. Espo, I know you are here a lot, but you can't claim the Thrashers suite as your primary residence.
Esposito: Damn.

Well the Second Period certainly ended on more of a sour note than the first. Even though Atlanta stepped up their shooting (out shot Canes 13 to 8) we went into the 3rd period down 2-1.


Third Period!







Not even "Some Other Guy" could get it past Ward.





Give Pitkanen hell, Thrash! You tell him!





Johnny being the fantabulous Dman that he is. Hainsey says "don't look at me, at least I didn't kick it in!"





Stupid Jokinen in front of the net.





Ward deflecting the puck.





UGH! Why didn't that go in??





Dog pile!





Nice try, guys. You can see the puck just going into Ward's glove.





Little is hurt, he made it off of the ice by himself though.





Once the Thrashers were down 4-1, the game was no fun and I started looking around the crowd. I don't know if this chick was drunk, but she was certainly angry and belligerent. She was yelling and cursing at the ushers. She repeatedly screamed "FUCK YOU" at them and flipped them off.





My friend Randy went and got some more security guys. She screamed about how they were all going to be fired. I'm not sure what happened, but it was entertaining...damn well better than the show that was going on with this game.





Hurricanes win! Boo. Once again the road team wins. Once again the Thrashers give up a game they should have had and will wish they had won win Washington, New Jersey and Pittsburgh is standing between them and a play off spot.