Saturday, September 27, 2008

Poll: Predict Anderson's bench minors

The poll question was "How many bench minors (unsportsmanlike) will John Anderson's Thrashers get this season?"

The main thing I got out of the answers is that everyone agrees Anderson is an old dog. He's either already learned his lesson and will keep quiet, or will continue to be penalized like in Chicago. He won't stop at 1 bench minor -- only 2% voted for that choice. The most popular answer was 4-6 times, with 31% of the vote. I believe that's what I voted as well.

Results:
0 -- 17%
1 -- 2%
2-3 -- 29%
4-6 -- 31%
7 -- 19%

I think from this you could set a betting line of about 3.5 bench minors.

Everyone has a beast they fight, and Anderson knows he needs to be better with the refs. Another thing he should probably work on is not chewing gum and blowing bubbles on the bench when the TV cameras come out.

Above is Anderson with his trusty writing pad. He's unorthodox in not using a dry erase board for drawing up plays. "I like my pad there because I can rip it off," he said after the game. I asked him about how the coaches were getting along on the bench. "Oh we were arguing," he joked. "No, it worked out really well. Actually we had a little problem with our mic on the bench to cut clips, but I guess that's why we do exhibition games. It's not just for the players but for the coaching staff."

Anderson and Randy Cunneyworth interacting on the bench.

Assistant coach Steve Weeks served as the eye in the sky, and he'll likely do that most of the year. He's been the "systems" coach for a few years because he has a good eye for the macro level.

At least there are no Swedes to break in during preseason this year, with their guaranteed too many men calls. Last year Toby Enstrom went through it. In Sweden, players have more leeway on line changes so when they get to the NHL they often get whistled for it. Swede Patric Hornqvist took two too many men penalties for Nashville on Thursday.
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In other news, former Thrashers draft pick Mike Hamilton has been invited to Quad City Flames camp as a tryout.

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