NHL: Slava Kozlov Says Atlanta Thrashers Are Lying

Slava Kozlov is not happy with Atlanta Thrashers coach John Anderson.  

Uncharacteristically, Kozlov vented to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) about the Thrashers ineffectiveness in producing a playoff team. 

A healthy scratch for nearly 30 games, Kozlov had several complaints that he made public in the news article.  

“I don’t want to say any bad thing about coach (John Anderson) but I don’t have anything good to say.” 

Kozlov blamed the team’s offensive strategy and inability to make adjustments during the games for the Thrashers failures.  

 “I am very positive this group of players could win under a different system.” He said.

He also criticized Anderson’s use of four lines and pointed out how elementary he thought the Atlanta breakout plays were. “Everybody knows what we are going to do. We make two, three passes and make one mistake in the neutral zone and they counterattack us.”  

What seemed to really upset Kozlov more than anything else was the feeling that he had been lied to by the Thrashers team management.  

“Coach (Anderson) told me he had pressure from upstairs. I talked to (GM) Don (Waddell); he said he never talked to the coach. Somebody is lying.” He told the AJC.  

The Atlanta Thrashers have a lot of forward planning to do before next season, but you can bet Kozlov will not start the season playing for the Thrashers as he has for the last several years.

Kozlov does have options though indicating he has 4-5 teams he would like to play for or possibly signing on with the KHL (Russian League).

We have not heard the last from Slava Kozlov yet.