Crabb NHL debut photo essay

Joey Crabb made his NHL debut tonight against Nashville. Here it is in photos.

Crabb wasn't the most junior guy out there during the national anthem. Maybe this helped take the pressure off.

Putting Crabb in the starting lineup was a nice touch. Here he is on the opening faceoff.


He played on the fourth line with Eric Boulton and Jim Slater. Erik Christensen did not play.

Crabb on the bench (fourth one in) with Coaches John Anderson and Todd Nelson behind.

Ron Hainsey looks sideways at Crabb like 'that's crazy talk.'


Crabb turns his back to Hainsey and poses.
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Burke may not approve of Bogosian staying

Anaheim GM Brian Burke has something to say about everything. The topic of 18-year-old defensemen playing in the NHL is no exception.

“I worry about some of these kids," he said. "The number of drafts from '08 that are playing in the league I’m not sure how many of them are ready. I think Drew Doughty (LA) is clearly ready and he’s playing extremely well, Luke Schenn (TOR) appears to be fitting in but some of the other guys -- [Steve] Stamkos you knew was gonna be there -- but some of these other kids appear to be finding their way still so I think you’ve got to be careful rushing especially defensemen. If you rush them, sometimes you can ruin them so I’m not sure it’s wise to have as many guys in the NHL right out of their draft year as you do this year.”

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Bogosian vs. Pietrangelo

I was interested to compare and contrast the No. 3 and No. 4 picks from this summer's draft: Zach Bogosian and Alex Pietrangelo as the Thrashers met the Blues tonight.

Pietrangelo is bigger and some argue he has more offensive upside, but he looks pretty raw right now. He looked like he wasn't sure what he wanted to do, and when he did decide on something, wasn't very effective. Not quite ready for prime time. (I was much more impressed by Patrik Berglund, taken in the first round in 2006.)

Bogosian, on the other hand, looked very decisive and was almost always in the right position. He has a hard shot, which he unloaded several times, but often wide. He often hits, though certainly not the hardest on the team. He looked better tonight than Wednesday.

Overall, I'd take Bogosian over Pietrangelo. He seems like much more of a sure thing.

But regardless of readiness issues, Pietrangelo may make the Blues roster this year, due to the injury to Erik Johnson. Interestingly, the defenseman taken next in the draft, Luke Schenn, may make the Toronto Maple Leafs as well. That would make four 18-year-old defensemen making their teams once you add in Drew Doughty. That's very unusual.


Here we have John Anderson blowing bubbles and Randy Cunneyworth talking into his tie. We'll assume he's talking to Steve Weeks upstairs.

Pavelec's agent draws line in sand

There were problems signing Ondrej Pavelec in 2007 because his agent wanted him someplace he'd have an easier road to the NHL, but the deal got done. Now a little more than a year later, we have this (Sporting News):

Allan Walsh, Pavelec's agent, said the Thrashers organization didn't keep promises given to the young goalie when he signed with the team, so he wants out.

"When Ondrej signed two years ago, [Thrashers GM Don Waddell] gave Ondrej his word. He sat there at the table and gave Ondrej his personal word that Ondrej would never be held back," Walsh told SN. "Last year he led Chicago to an American League championship. This year he played in the first exhibition game and then the third period on October 3 -- they threw him into the game cold in the third period. That is criminal mismanagement of a young goalie."

I have to say I'm pretty surprised that Pavelec is agreeing to this move. Ondrej seemed pretty happy in the organization. This stinks like an unreasonable agent to me. One who went running to the press immediately instead of negotiating. In 2003, Walsh had three players holding out at one time: Martin Havlat, Marian Gaborik, and Pascal Dupuis. It's a common tactic for him.

How would I resolve it? Keep Pavelec on the NHL roster. He may be a better goaltender than Kari Lehtonen so let them fight it out. Losing Johan Hedberg would not be a big loss. A popular guy, his numbers just aren't that good.

The lack of depth in goal the Thrashers had going into camp is going to bite them, no matter how this gets resolved.
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Camp preview done

It focuses on rookies, as you'd expect.

One comment is to underline again how little depth there is on defense. I thought I must be missing someone it’s so shallow. Picture me searching high and low for another player last week when I put most of this together – that’s pretty much what I did, going through all the press releases since July one more time. Nope, that’s it. Yikes.

Someone who works in hockey operations once said to me, “forwards are a dime a dozen” – in other words, you can always go out and get another one. Goaltenders and defense, they aren’t a dime a dozen. So lack of depth there is more concerning.

Thoughts on the vets that didn’t work in a prospect-oriented piece:

The choice of captain is more important this year than ever due to the locker room problems from last season. As for who it will be, it's important to point out that the decision comes down from above, not up from below, so consider that in your calculus. Colby Armstrong was brought in to provide leadership, and his name should be part of any discussion. He'll almost certainly get one of those A's vying for the C that Anderson talked about today.

Whoever is on Kovalchuk's line probably won’t be complaining about ice time. One thing Anderson does have in common with Bob Hartley is a tendency to lean heavily on his top lines.

A few thoughts from today's press conference:
1. Waddell's lips said he was excited to start the year, but the rest of him didn't. The passion wasn't there, and doesn't seem to have been for some time.
2. Anderson said that they have things in mind regarding the first line center that might catch people off guard -- and no one followed up and asked more about that. Odd.
3. DW was asked why not hire Anderson earlier in the year. I didn't watch DW's response, I watched Anderson waiting through DW's response.

Oh and here are the results of the last poll, the number of games that rookies will play in 2008-09. Not many of you voted, it's a hard question I guess.
50-100 -- 5%
101-150 -- 11%
151-200 -- 19%
201-250 -- 27%
251+ -- 36%

The most popular choice was 251+. I would say that if that's the case, be prepared for a losing season because it means there were a lot of injuries. I think I voted 151-200. Last year it was 210.

Rules: Entry-level contracts

Very soon, Zach Bogosian's contract signing will be announced. We already know several things about what that contract will look like, just from reading the CBA.
1. He will be paid a maximum of $875,000 in base pay. It's rare that first rounders don't get the max.
2. His signing bonus cannot be higher than 10% of his pay (including bonus)
3. Performance bonuses could top the total out at about $3.7 million
4. The contract will be for three years, because he's 18

The last point is the focus of this post about rules. Whenever a deal is signed, people inevitably will ask how long it's for. Well, it's not a mystery, nor negotiable, when it's an entry-level contract. There's a chart in the CBA (Article 9) that says exactly how long the contract is for. Entry-level deals are for a pre-determined number of years depending on the player's age at the time of the deal. All of this is unchanged from the previous CBA.

Age (on Sept 15) ......... Years of contract
18-21 ..............................3 years
22-23 ..............................2 years
24 ..................................1 year
25 and older ..................No required number (unless European*)

The rules are supposed to protect rookies, to give them time to develop while under contract. The biggest complaint with it is that teams often want to sign older rookies to longer deals, but are hamstrung by the CBA.

*Europeans have additional stipulations, in that players aged 25-27 are still subject to the entry-system for one year. Ilya Nikulin would have fallen into this for 2008, but would not in 2009, since he will then be 28. (Currently, the Thrashers indefinitely retain his NHL rights due to the lack of IIHF agreement. If a deal is signed sometime before next fall, Nikulin would likely be a free agent, per NHL rules.)

After the entry-level contract is over, a team can sign a player for as many years as it wishes. Insert your own Rick DiPietro jokes here.

Because of the rookie maximums on salary and bonuses, there's not much that's negotiable in an entry-level deal. This actually makes signing first-rounders rather easy for teams to do, if the team thinks the player is worth it. If they do not think the player is worth it, they can release the player back into the draft and receive a second-round pick as compensation. The Minnesota Wild did this in 2007with A.J. Thelen, who is now on a tryout in Austria.

Entry-level contracts are all also two-way deals, meaning there is a different salary paid in the AHL than the NHL. And this is capped as well. A player drafted in 2006 can be paid a maximum of $62,500 in the AHL (I picked that year instead of the current year because those are the guys who are mostly turning pro this year.) Entry-level players can also be sent to the ECHL at any time, no consent necessary.

This ends today's reading from the CBA. Peace be with you.

Rookies of the year

Playing solitaire til dawn with a deck of 51
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo
Now don’t tell me I’ve nothin’ to do.
-- Statler Brothers, Flowers on the Wall

Suddenly, I’m very busy again. More on what's changing later as details get worked out. It could be an example of 'be careful wishing for change because it may not be what you want,' or it could be good. We’ll see.

As for what I’ve been writing lately, it’s funny the things you’ll do when you’re procrastinating. Cleaning the bathtub suddenly looks very appealing. So did writing an article on next year's Calder Trophy race instead of the Thrashers Top 20 prospects. But do not fear, the Top 20 will come in the next week or two.

Regarding the Calder, there are no Thrasher rookies on the likely list. Of the logical candidates to make the team, Zach Bogosian has two things against him – he’s 18 and he’s a defenseman. The last newly-drafted defenseman to win the Calder was Bryan Berard in 1996-97. If Bogosian can outscore Berard straight out of the gates, more power to him. One could reasonably make the argument that goaltender Ondrej Pavelec has a better chance than Bogosian, even though he’s slated to play in Chicago, due to the susceptibility to injury of starter Kari Lehtonen. Goaltenders have an easier time winning this award than defensemen. I would buy that argument, but not put my money there.

But my pick for the Calder is Kyle Okposo of the New York Islanders. I saw him play for Univ. of Minnesota, and came away impressed. He played nine games in the NHL last year (25 is the limit for eligibility), and scored five points. Not bad. His college, AHL and NHL experience will all help him. He should get plenty of ice time too.

Other small items

Kevin Doell signed with Leksand. It’s important to note that this is the farm club level (2nd league) in Sweden, not the elite league.

The Buffalo Sabres signed Colton Fretter as soon as they hired Kevin Dineen as their AHL coach in Portland. (Dineen coached there last year too, but that was under Anaheim.)

Among the NHL and AHL, only the Islanders and Rochester coaching jobs remain unfilled.

Don't forget Project Runway is on tonight at 9pm on Bravo.

Valabik feature done

I just finished a long feature on Boris Valabik.

I first met Boris almost exactly four years ago, the day before he was drafted by the Thrashers in the first round in 2004. There was a media luncheon at the 2004 draft in Raleigh, and knowing that the team was going to take defense, I very purposefully chatted up the several defensemen who were there.

It's funny what you remember about things four years later. I remember thinking Cam Barker looked virtually identical to one of my high school boyfriends. I remember sitting across from Evgeni Malkin and his parents, and how impressive he was physically, and he was still 17.

The next morning when Valabik was picked, I remember waiting for him to come into the media room standing next to Tom Hughes, the Thrashers head PR guy at the time. I mentioned to Tom that I had talked to Valabik the day before. Tom was planning on putting him on the radio in a few minutes, so he asked me how Valabik's English was. "Really good!" I exclamed, realizing just then how good it was for only being in Canada for a year. It really was phenomenal. He has a real gift for language to be able to pick up English so quickly. There are players who've been here many more years who never reach that level.

Valabik was very pleasant to talk to then, and has continued to be so on many occasions since then. And that's despite me asking him some tough questions at times. As things stand, I'm fairly certain that despite his short fuse, no matter what I ask, he's not going to pop me one. I do wonder if I were a male reporter if I'd feel quite so secure. Tough to say. Anyway, no matter what you think of his skills or potential, it's hard not to respect him personally. He's a stand-up guy.

Fast forward to this year: a window into the anatomy of a feature article. A week before the end of the season, Craig Custance and I were waiting for the players to come off the ice after practice, both waiting for Valabik. Craig asked if I was planning a feature. I said probably, but it depended on what I got. I was hoping so, but things don't always work out the way you'd like. Well, as soon as Valabik said how he got close to McCudden in a way he normally doesn't with people, case closed. My question to Boris had been simply if he planned on working with Kenny that summer, but I pushed a button I didn't know was there.

I was headed to Chicago the next weekend, so naturally I talked to Kenny to follow up on it. To me, this story is an end of year outlook story -- about what Valabik needs to continue to do this summer to make the team in the fall. Since it wasn't yet the end of the year when the information was gathered, it needed to simmer. And I think Valabik would be glad that it simmered. He didn't really want to talk about the summer when he still had the entire playoffs with the Wolves to go. But I was persistent with the summer questions, as sometimes you have to be in these cases because seasons end so incredibly quickly in the playoffs.

The Wolves are moving on to the conference finals, having beaten Rockford in Game 7 tonight, but I think this is the right time for this story in any case. The summer is much closer at hand. And it's good to get it out before anything changes drastically. You just never know.

A couple extra notes. I asked Pavelec if he missed Boris while he was gone in Atlanta. "Best three weeks of my life. Nooo..." he joked. He admitted he missed Boris.

Popovic called him Borat. I'm not sure a non-teammate would want to try that though.

The Swedish camp that several Thrashers may go to -- the Swedes on the team aren't among the group who are going. And why would they? They are already excellent stickhanders. If Enstrom was there, it could only be as an instructor.

Custance on HFRadio

I found out about this HFRadio interview with AJC beat writer Craig Custance the way most people will, off a link. No one ever tells me anything. Isn't that the way most organizations work though?

It's funny that we're hearing from Craig via Canada, where our Hockey's Future podcast guy is located, but that's the way this crazy new world works I guess. Dustin, the other voice you hear, is originally from Lethbridge, Alberta, home of one Spencer Machacek. Naturally he works him into the conversation.

Craig sounds a little less relaxed than normal, but it's an interesting quick (under 10-minute) listen. It is, as you'd expect, mostly about rookies, prospects and the draft.

Rookie review finished

As mentioned a few days ago, the Thrashers had eight rookies who played a total of 210 games this year. That's plenty to write about, as I found out when I put this together. It felt like going into the way-back machine at times -- training camp sure seems like a lifetime ago now. But the rookies were one of the few positives of a rough, rough season.

Next up will be writing the CHL season review. Paul Postma's WHL Calgary Hitmen were knocked out tonight by the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He was the last Thrashers prospect standing in the CHL. Postma outscored teammate Karl Alzner in the playoffs, just as he did during the regular season. He's one to keep an eye on in the future.

The Gladiators were knocked out at South Carolina tonight as well, so they are done. Maybe Jeff Pyle will have the winning lottery ticket though. If so, I suspect we wouldn't hear from him again. The seasons of the prospects with the Gladiators will be reviewed together with those in Chicago. The Wolves are even up in their first-round series with Milwaukee, with three games left, two of them at home.

Rookie games played by Thrashers: 210

Last year around this time, I was supposed to put together a review of the rookies who played for the Thrashers in 2006-07. There were only two, Braydon Coburn and Mark Popovic, and between the two of them, they only played 32 games. Not much to write about. So instead, I focused on the rookies who would likely make the team out of camp. Predicting who will make it out of camp is much more straightforward than who will see time anytime that year because you're then not factoring in development (like in the case of Boris Valabik). That piece turned out not too bad.

This year, I can take the rookie assignment at face value and just write about how the rookies did, since there were eight of them, totaling 210 games played (over six times as many as last year). I'll still include a bit about who might make it next year, which was one reason for holding off until I got back from Chicago. I wanted to share the numbers now though, to give you something to chew on.

Little, Valabik on way back to Chicago

In about an hour, Bryan Little and Boris Valabik will board a plane back to Chicago to join the Wolves. Today was checkout day at the Thrashers practice facility, in which players clean out their lockers and get their exit physicals. It was appropriately dreary outside -- overcast with a bit of rain. Little and Valabik seemed to be the happiest ones in the place, since they know their seasons are not over.

Little said he would probably move back in with Scott Lehman in Chicago, who he had lived with while there earlier this year. He said he thinks Lehman has been driving his car while he was away, having sold his own. Apparently those two don't talk on the phone as much as Valabik and Pavelec do or Little would know what his car was doing.

Little has shaved off all of his blond curls, saying it's getting too warm now. I said he might be sorry he did that when he gets to Chicago because it's still pretty cold. He asked me if it was still snowing there. No, but that's not a crazy question, unfortunately.

I asked him a little bit about Mark Recchi and whether the advice he gave was the fatherly type. "I think he might be as old as my dad," Little joked. "But don't tell him I said that."

In a semi-related move, defenseman Chad Denny is expected back in Gwinnett. The Gladiators begin their playoffs on Tuesday against Charlotte.

LaVallee photo montage

I was all around the arena tonight following another story, but I managed to get some photos of Jordan LaVallee's first home game. I'll present them with little comment.




LaVallee with Bryan Little.


LaVallee and equipment manager Joey Guilmet share a laugh.



This hit looks effective from the photo, though he had some failed hits as well. He was on a line with Todd White and Eric Boulton. Later he assisted on a Mark Recchi goal.

Not sure how Florida didn't get called for holding on this one.


LaVallee scored his first NHL goal, on a backhander where he just threw it at the net through traffic. His line had been buzzing leading up to it. Here he's caught watching the replay on the jumbotron.

Be cool, be cool.


A couple non-LaVallee photos. Tobias Enstrom.

Boris Valabik versus two Panthers in the corner.


LaVallee on the bench with DW behind him.


He's ready to go.

And he's off...
With a goal and an assist, LaVallee was named No. 2 star.

He takes his whirl.

Valabik at practice

I went to practice today, largely to talk to Boris Valabik about how it's going. The team worked on moving the puck in units and some skating. Valabik matched up with and beat Bobby Holik at the agility race. He was paired mostly with Joel Kwiatkowski and Mark Popovic for drills, the same guys he's been playing with the past few games. Crowd turnout was good, but if they wanted autographs, they were largely disappointed. Not a happy team, though there were a scant few smiles which I happened to catch below. First, Valabik points out something across the ice to assistant coach Steve Weeks.

He pointed out the same thing to Kwiatkowski, who got quite a laugh out of it. I think it may have involved a kid and a sign.


I asked Valabik a bit about the Chicago Wolves locker room to try and gauge how far they might go in the playoffs. He spoke fondly of the guys. He said Steve Martins is the biggest joker in the room, "the funniest hockey player I've ever met." That's quite a compliment. He also mentioned Kiwi as being funny. Among the younger guys, he said Chad Painchaud is a joker too. I said I was surprised to hear that, since Painer is usually pretty shy. Valabik agreed that he's shy, but said once you get him going, he's like that.

While I was waiting, I grabbed Valabik's stick off the stick rack (a RBK X-stiff Flex 10). It's taller than me. In heels. That makes it at least 5'10. Looks like he has a 2" end plug (piece of wood typically) to extend it. Geez.

As far as his skates go, he said he's on Pair #3 for the year. He has a fourth pair in Chicago, but he doesn't think he'll break them in before the playoffs. Recall that he said in November that he needs to cycle through skates more frequently so that he doesn't experience ankle problems. Newer skates are stiffer, and that's what he needs.

I also talked to Mark Popovic about Valabik. At the end I asked Pops if he would be back next year (knowing that it's not up to him and there's not much room on the blue line). He smiled and said "you'll have to ask Don about that." He said of course he'd like to stay. He's an RFA this summer with just 43 NHL games experience.

It's a shame that there's probably no room for him because Popovic is a perfect 6th/7th defenseman. He's versatile in terms of being a two-way guy who plays either side and he has a very positive attitude all the time. The "all the time" part is the key. September or April, win or lose, Popovic is positive. But if a top defenseman (or two) is acquired, guys still under contract must be bumped down the depth chart. Squeezing out one of the last positive guys in the room is really not what the team needs going forward but they would have to get creative to keep Popovic.

(Sidenote: Someone asked me recently how cold the practice facility is. I took a thermometer with me today and measured 58.5 degrees. It's not a place for the ill-prepared clothing-wise.)

Valabik debut, part deux

Tonight was Boris Valabik's second NHL game. He played fewer minutes than in his debut because the game was much closer, and wasn't on the ice for any goals against or for. He played 11:50, had two hits and one giveaway. Kept his shifts extremely short.


At warmups I got the money shot, Valabik next to Toby Enstrom. Throw in a little Ilya Kovalchuk for comparison's sake. Love it.

Chris Thorburn can chat and blow bubbles at the same time. He's been playing great lately, by the way.

Valabik played with Mark Popovic this game, and as expected, this pairing was much more effective. Joel Kwiatkowski was a scratch.


The Capitals were obviously told to try to get under Valabik's skin, as they went after him on the very first shift. (Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau would be familiar with Valabik from his time coaching the AHL Hershey Bears.) Alexander Ovechkin got things going by hitting Valabik on Shift #1. The Caps were successful, drawing Valabik off the ice with an unsportsmanlike early in the first period.

During this early period of the game, Valabik fell down two or three times. I could tell what was wrong though. The first few shifts of a game with a new team (including new equipment manager)? I recognize those falls. I've taken those falls. His skates were too sharp. Didn't know where his edges were.

You could see him testing his skates out during the next TV timeout. Probably just dulled them up a bit and he was good to go the rest of the game.


Valabik showed more physicality in this game, which showed more confidence. Again he was very good defending the rush, using his body to shield the player or pokechecking the puck away. He showed an interesting technique around the net -- hit the player to separate him from the puck instead of using body position or a stick check. Unorthodox but it worked. He also made a kick save to keep the puck out of the net at one point.

Bad points included shanking on an outlet pass, though given he was aiming up the middle, it's just as well. Again he treated the puck like a hot potato, getting rid of it as soon as he got it instead of looking around for the best option. He also puts a little too much mustard on his short passes and surprises his teammates with them. It's all they can do to catch the things, leaving them a bit handcuffed.

The Thrashers lost the game 5-3, following a late surge by the Caps. Below, assistant coach Steve Weeks mapped out a strategy during the timeout.

Caps celebrate Ovechkin's 60th goal.

Boris Valabik's NHL debut

Tonight was the NHL debut of 2004 first round draft pick Boris Valabik.

We begin at warmups, with everyone taking his picture. Below, team photographer Scott Cunningham lives up to his name, cunningly grabbing a photo as Valabik parks near the bench.


Valabik is going to keep an eye out for that from now on.

Overall at warmup he looked like a nervous guy trying not to look nervous. He chatted with Kwiatkowski, Slater and Popovic. Popovic tapped him on the butt with his stick as encouragement. I would have liked to post a picture of him next to Toby Enstrom, but the ones I had were not good enough. It's entertaining though.

Waiting his turn to shoot.

"I think I look good in blue."


Valabik played with Joel Kwaitkowski all night. These two were not a pair in Chicago, so there was some getting use to each other, though Valabik said after the game that knowing where the forwards were going to be was tougher than knowing where Kiwi would be. (Valabik said he played mostly with Brian Fahey and Grant Lewis in Chicago.)

Valabik saw a bit of PK time tonight in addition to even strength.


His night actually looked worse on the stat sheet (-2, on the ice for five goals against and two for) than it did in person. On only two of the goals was he really at fault.

On the second goal, Valabik failed to clear the puck, tossing it instead to a Hurricane player who took a couple strides in from the blue line and fired. It was pretty far out to be a good goal, so Hedberg was either screened or shares some fault there.

On the fourth goal, Valabik's guy scored on a pass from behind the net. He was near the guy, just didn't eliminate the threat in time. He skated back to the bench with his head down, defeated. He knew that was his bad.

Personally I would like to see him with a partner other than Kwiatkowski. Playing two guys who've spent most of the year in Chicago together is going to doubly expose weaknesses.

Valabik's strengths tonight: Good defending the rush and was sufficiently physical (credited with two hits). Kept up with the play and didn't get beaten wide. Defensive positioning was good.
Weaknesses: Moving the puck without a plan, turning the puck over (credited with three giveaways), missed passes. Overall decision-making. Cutting from side to side was slow. Bryan Little picked up someone because Valabik couldn't shift over quick enough.


As far as why he didn't play against Philadelphia last night, the stated reason was to get some practice in first, but that doesn't make a lot of sense because he only had one morning skate with the team. The real reason was much more likely to be the fact that Philly is a very chippy team and they want him to stay away from that stuff for now.

Below he's in a puck battle with Tim Conboy.

He took a hooking call at the end of the game. I asked him about this and he didn't have much of a reaction. It was sort of irrelevant by this point. Valabik got in no scrums, and walked away from Joe Jensen early in the game when something could have potentially come of it.


After the game, Valabik was much harder on himself than his play warranted, and harder on himself than Don Waddell was.

"Not the game I was looking for obviously, I was really really nervous," he said. He noted how little time he had practiced with them, then said "It's not an excuse. I have to play better. Guys were helping me the whole game, they were great. Hopefully I can just play next game and show them what I can do."

The coaches told him to keep it simple, play his game and that's what he tried to do. Waddell praised his physicality and great reach after the game. "It's his first game, we know he'll get better. He'll be fine," Waddell said. "He's a player that really cares."

Cheer up, Boris. Tomorrow is another day.

Valabik will wear #48

The Thrashers did not take a morning skate this morning, but game notes were available. Boris Valabik, who is scheduled to make his NHL debut tonight against the Hurricanes, is listed as #48, the number he has worn in training camp the past couple years.

Don Waddell has said in the past he is against players wearing high numbers (a traditionalist on this question), but the exception seems to be training camp numbers. Often rookies will move to a new number later. So while this will help you pick Valabik out tonight -- as if at 6'7 that were a problem -- don't run out and get your jersey custom-made just yet.

Impressions and notes from townhall meeting

With the Thrashers well out of playoff contention, Friday night's game results held no real importance. The important action was actually at the pre-game season ticket holders townhall meeting. This is one of many times that I'm glad I shell out what seems like extraneous money so that I can sit with my SO. The organization served some rather tasty boneless buffalo wings as hors d'oeuvres, but they should have served popcorn because it was good, though quite subtle theater. You had to know what you were looking for.

Item 1: Don Waddell talked for 2-3 minutes about the coaching change and situation, and there was no mention whatsoever of associate coach Brad McCrimmon. I have maintained since shortly after Bob Hartley was fired that the next coach would come from outside the organization (and system). The current situation has been merely about stalling until the summer and the favored candidates become available. (Click the label at the bottom called "new coach" to see all posts on this topic). I've never understood why so many people think McCrimmon was or is the obvious choice. The inmates don't run the asylum so who the players like is irrelevant. A coach is needed who will make them play as a team, which is why they need an inspirational leader. I don't think McCrimmon is that guy. Nor is the defense any good, and he's supposed to specialize in that. Any indication the organization might have given that he was the heir apparent is window dressing so as not to undermine his authority during the season, and probably in response to a direct question on it, not something they went out of their way to say. The next coach will be inspirational not only for the team, but the city as a whole, selling the game.

Specifically what Don said on the coaching question was "I will not coach this team next year" and that candidates available early in the year as are not as good. The search begins immediately when the season is over, and they hope to have a coach in place by July 1, as it helps sell free agents on joining the team.

Owner Bruce Levenson said later in response to a different question that if they had to do it again they probably would have named an interim coach instead of having Don do both jobs because it is too difficult to do both.

Item 2: I wrote in my notes during the meeting: "BL doesn't get it." Levenson didn't seem able to see things from other people's perspectives. His answer to ticket was prices was "ticket prices will rise every year." No explanation of the economic pressures that make them do this, apology for the inconvenience, or anything of the sort. A friend of mine summed it up best right as the meeting ended by calling him a jackass. That's about right. He had a room full of people who are interested but skeptical of the product. He needed to do a sales pitch, but he did nothing of the kind. It was just bad business. He almost certainly lost buyers instead of gaining them.

There did not seem to be warm feelings between Levenson and Waddell during the tag-teaming either. Bruce was kind of steamrolling and Don stepped aside to let him do it. In hindsight they should have just let Don talk because he actually has some people skills, unlike Bruce.

The only other things that were interesting enough to mention is that it sounded like getting Brian Campbell at the deadline as a rental would have cost something like Ondrej Pavelec and a first round pick. I guess you need to explore all options, but it seems pretty ridiculous that the team would have been a buyer.

Don said some things are broke, but "it's not a blow it up situation." In other words, add some important pieces over the summer, don't blow up the entire team. My own thought is that in this era of parity, does anyone blow up their team anymore? There's a much finer line between being at the top and bottom, so it doesn't take as long to rebuild. As such, I don't know if teams raze the landscape now like they used to periodically do.

Don said they would have about $17 million freed up to spend. In goal, "we're fine," with two guys and Pavelec. That made me believe that Johan Hedberg would continue to back up next year. Don said realistically the team has two top-four defensemen: Toby Enstrom and Nic Havelid. Guys like Exelby and Klee have been playing above where they need to be. Sounds like they want to get Boris Valabik a few games this year so they he can experience the speed of the NHL and know what he needs to work on this summer.

Don said they recognized about 10 games into the season they had a big problem on defense, but that it was impossible to trade given the parity and cap. They tried many times. He said if he had to do differently, maybe they would have raised their offers significantly, "maybe it was worth giving up a top player."

Armstrong and Christensen in Thrashers uniforms

I had my camera with me tonight so I took some photos of the newest Thrashers, Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen.

First, a couple from Islanders warm-up. Rick DiPietro is laughing in there somewhere.

Blake Comeau looked like he lost his dog. In ALL my shots of him.


In-game, Chris Thorburn aims for Comeau and they brace for impact.


Here's Comrie's goal being scored. You can see a little of what went wrong.


A later Islander celebration. No one reading the blog will notice how well-balanced this photo is, since it's for the wrong team.


Colby Armstrong is upset about being scored on, but thinks "damn that is a nice jumbotron." And it is. It's so good, sometimes you forget to switch back to real action. That's what Philips getting their name on the building brings.

Bryan Little is back and better than ever (which was pretty good to start with).

Another returnee, Joel Kwiatkowski.


OK, so here are the new guys. Erik Christensen first. He's got really big shoulder pads on, but also could probably stand to eat something, no?

In the faceoff circle.


Colby Armstrong forechecks.

And takes a faceoff.

And celebrates Klee's goal. Cheering for blue looked pretty natural.


Kovy gives him a little love back at the bench, with Recchi next in line.