Thrashers still keen on Tavares for 2009 draft

The WJC didn't change the Thrashers' thinking on who the top guy is for the 2009 draft -- to them it's still John Tavares. From CBCsports:

“You have very few chances to get that kind of player,” said Thrashers executive vice-president and GM Don Waddell. “We still have four months left in the season to evaluate, but if it was the Atlanta Thrashers, we’d take John Tavares.”

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Hedman not NHL ready?

“Hedman will be a top defenceman in this league - no doubt. But it may take him a little longer,” Waddell added. “Tavares is ready to play and that may be a factor.” (By the way, the undrafted Swede who really impressed him was forward Magnus Svensson Paajarvi.)

Waddell also related an interesting story about Hedman and last year’s draft. After Steven Stamkos, the next four picks were defencemen: Drew Doughty (Los Angeles), Zach Bogosian (Atlanta), Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis) and Luke Schenn (Toronto).

“I asked our guys where they would take Hedman if he was available,” he said. “They told me not ahead of Doughty and not ahead of Bogosian. I then went outside our organization to another scout I trust and respect. He said the same thing.”

One could quibble with the statement that you have very few chances to get that kind of player. If you're the Thrashers, you have quite a few chances actually. They've only gotten out of the first row of tables, what, twice? Three times?

Svensson Paajarvi was really good for sure in the tourney. He looked just as dynamic as Tavares.

I recently talked to a goalie who played with Tavares, who talked about his shot. That was interesting. Now I just need to remember I have that material for when the right time comes.
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Atlanta as a hockey marketplace

Lest anyone think that there's something wrong with the Atlanta marketplace for hockey, a few observations.

1. I recently went to a late afternoon open skate at the Cooler in Alpharetta that was so crowded I left early.
2. My rec hockey league is filled to capacity, despite the economic crisis, and many people were left out when registration closed.
3. The Gwinnett Gladiators are fourth in attendance in the ECHL with 5,281 per game. This may be down from last year, but it's in line with the economy.

There's a good market here for hockey. Atlanta is being affected at about the same rate as the national average, and hockey is continuing on the same despite the downturn. With 5 million people, a large chunk of whom are transplants from the north (present company included), it doesn't even need to be a conversion project.
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Documenting the Thrashers poor attendance

This is what an announced crowd of 10,750 looked like on Sunday at the beginning of the third period of a lackluster 4-1 loss to Tampa. The photos pretty much speak for themselves, but I would add that there have been several times over the years that I thought the Thrashers had hit rock bottom as a franchise, only to see an even lower bottom. Can it get worse? Sure because they're not yet living in a van down by the river.

Lasu may miss WJC gold medal game

Thrashers 2008 draft pick Nicklas Lasu is playing in the 2009 World Junior Championships for Sweden. But an injury could hold him out of the final game against Canada, the gold medal match.

From the Canadian Press:

Like Canada, the Swedes are a little banged up.

Los Angeles Kings prospect Oscar Moller has not been the force that was expected, but he played well and got his first goal against Slovakia. And winger Nicklas Lasu, a human wrecking ball who hits everything that moves, skated gingerly in practice with a sore thigh and may not be ready to play.

He has 2 goals in the tournament, but they both came in a 10-0 rout of Latvia.
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Three Thrashers pro scouts in the building today

For those looking to blow up the team, some good news. The presence of a team's own pro scouts often precedes a trade because you need to know what you're giving up as well as what you're getting. Mark Dobson (Dir of Player Personnel), and pro scouts Pete Mahovlich and John Perpich were all in the building for the game against Tampa, and so was Wolves GM Kevin Chevaldayoff, who really doubles as a pro scout for the Thrashers.


Scouts in the GM's box. The photo has poor lighting, but you could see better through binoculars. Larry Simmons and Don Waddell are on the ends.
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Secrets of drafting a rec league team

Yesterday I was a proxy GM in a recreational league draft, filling in for a friend who couldn't make it. Given the shenanigans that go on in the league on and off the ice, I thought drafting would be entertaining, and it was. And still pretty serious too, because people pay a lot of money to play in the league.

How it worked: All the players were rated 1-10 on consensus (kind of like Central Scouting) and then the list was printed out and distributed to the captains. Players can make comments when they sign up online, and those comments were on the sheets too. The league has an average age of about 35. With 15 players on a team, the draft goes 15 rounds.

Each of the 10 captains had to select themselves when players of similar ratings were going, which led to comments like this when someone took a long time in picking: "You could take yourself. Sure, you could reach."

There was one signup who hadn't been in the league before, but put down had been playing since he was 5. He could be really good. I took a gamble on him in the second round, because no risk, no reward, right? On second thought, there's no reward for me here since I play on a different team. I guess all I'm going for is that at the end of the season the comment is "You should let Holly pick your team again."

When in doubt, take the player with the French-Canadian or Russian name. Generally they can play.

There were a lot of moving parts in this draft, as many if not more as in the NHL draft. One guy needs to play a Sunday-heavy schedule for religious reasons. Some skaters also play goaltender and have to keep those obligations first.

Everyone gets picked, even Angry Bob. There's one guy who is not only no good, he has a bad attitude. He was the booby prize at the end, and people took preventative measures to avoid getting him. What kind of preventative measures? Well, there are about 30 twosomes in the league, relatives or carpools that need to play on the same team. It's like the Sedin twins in the NHL, except there are a lot more of them, and they aren't of the same quality. So if you take the player rated a 7 and they're part of a pairing, you have to take the player rated a 3 as well. In this draft there was even a threesome.

There are lots of things besides talent that can affect your draft position, and we're not just talking great attitude. The comment on one player as he was taken: "He's a 6 -- a 4 who brings great beer."
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Fellow Stingray rookies pummel Neuvirth in 3, 2, 1...

Sometimes people say more than what's good for them.

Tonight I was talking to Michal Neuvirth, a top goaltending prospect for the Washington Capitals. I had asked him all the questions I had written down, but for some reason I kept going. The equipment manager was rolling stuff out to the bus and I asked Neuvirth if he has to carry bags as a rookie or do anything else like that. He replied with something that he regretted the moment it came out of his mouth. Meanwhile I'm thinking "this is gold." He didn't want to elaborate, but the horse had left the barn at that point, so I got a bit more out of him. I'll let you read for yourself. As a taste, Neuvirth had trouble with the word "heels" meaning high heels (he called them girls' shoes), and also the word underdog.

Normally I don't write up feature stories late into the night after games, but between the timeliness of the groin pull and the comedy noted above, I knocked it out.


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