Bleacher Report - Atlanta Thrashers

Atlanta's Russian Express

Warren Shaw — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:25:07 -0500

The National Hockey League has built a solid foundation on great teams and greater players. In past years the game has seen legendary performers and marvelous forward combinations. In the old six team NHL forwards lines that could work in concert and produce goals on the ice were watched and admired. In Atlanta the Thrashers may have hit on a just such a forward combination that could catapult them to the Stanley Cup playoffs after finishing out of playoff contention the last several years. Russian born Ilya Kovalchuk, Nik Antropov, and Maxim Afinogenov have stirred up considerable excitement with their speed and exceptional skating, shooting and passing skills drawing comparisons with other great forward combinations. In the 1940’s there was the Punch line in Montreal featuring Maurice “Rocket” Richard, Elmer Lach, and Toe Blake. The Boston Bruins had the Kraut line showcasing German descendants Woody Dumart, Milt Schmidt, and Bobby Bauer. In the 1950’s Detroit had the formidable Production line starring Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, and Sid Abel. In later years The NHL got a chance to enjoy the Goal- A- Game line (GAG) with Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, and Vic Hadfield of the New York Rangers. One of the most exciting forward line combinations was the French Connection line made up of French Canadiens Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert. Another combo that caught the public’s attention was the Los Angeles King’s Triple Crown line with Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor, and Charlie Simmer. Team USA produced the Coneheads featuring Mark Pavelich, John Harrington and Buzz Schneider. In each case the catchy name of the line along with a flair for scoring goals made it easy to focus on the players and enjoy their electricity, pinpoint passing skills and skating. The opposition for purposes of survival designed defensive strategies to slow down or impede the productivity of these units. As far as the Thrashers are concerned, competing teams have now started to take notice and do just that. The attribute all of these great forward combinations share was their uncanny ability to understand individual responsibilities and unselfishly contribute to the good of the line. Most also had a knack for knowing exactly where their line mates were on the ice at all times. Typically there is a passer, a shooter and a checker on the unit. The Thrashers are no exception; Kovalchuk is the shooter, Antropov is the Passer and Afinogenov has been an effective checker. Each player is also capable of electrifying the crowd with their exceptional skating and puck handling skills while handling their individual duties. Kovalchuk, who is in the last year of his contract, is the catalyst. Now Captain of the team he is scoring goals at over a goal a game pace and is a early contender for the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer despite missing several games due to a injury. Barring anymore unforeseen injuries Kovalchuk is on track to score 70 plus goals this season. Kovalchuk got his hockey training playing for Moscow Spartak, a highly rated junior team in Russia before being drafted by the Thrashers. Kovalchuk wears number 17 just like his idol Russian Red Army superstar Valeri Kharlamov (deceased). Nik Andropov played for the Moscow Dynamo’s as a junior before being drafted in the NHL by The Toronto Maple Leafs. In three seasons with them he scored 18, 24, and 21 goals. He displayed National Hockey League skills but never reached the plateau expected of him in Toronto. He played in New York for 7 games scoring 2 goals prior to being picked up by the Thrashers. So far this season Nik has is averaging an assist per game. “I’m just starting to get back in the groove [of playing center],” Antropov said in a recent interview. “It took me 12, 14 games just to get the feeling back, being on face-offs and stuff like that. It was quite an adjustment. I haven’t played center in the last six or seven years. But I’ve started to feel more comfortable and the team is winning. That’s most important.” Even though Andropov has not scored any goals yet this season his line mates are confident things will come around. “He’s a great player,” Kovalchuk said. “He’s going to get his goals too. If everybody keeps playing well, we’ll all get goals. ... He can play center and right wing. That’s why we are blessed.” Maxim Afinogenov, the third member of the line has produced 141 goals and 210 assists in 586 games playing for the Buffalo Sabre’s since being drafted from the Moscow Dynamo’s like Andropov. He has scored consistently registering a point per game with Atlanta. At 6’6 Afinogenov represents a formidable presence that causes defenseman problems trying to keep him out of the goal crease while also trying to keep an eye on his line mates. One thing is without question; Ilya Kovalchuk, Nik Andropov and Maxim Afinogenov have provided the crowds at Phillips Arena a lot of excitement and hope of things to come. Now all they need is a catchy name! So whether they become the Russian Roulette Line, The Russian Express, or another name that describes, Thrasher fans will be looking for them to play and celebrate goals together.

Begin Slideshow

Quarter Way Mark

Andrew Buccellato — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:38:00 -0500

Ok, lets be honest now...The ending of last season wasn't a fluke and this team is amazingly fast and talented.

The scary part—We still have a line that led the team in scoring last year that has eight goals combined on it. Imagine what is going to happen when those goals start coming...yea, it's scary, I know.

Lets look at what the Thrashers have accomplished in the first quarter of the season:

An impressive 10-6-1 record that has them slotted in 9th in the easy with several games in hand. That's a points percentage of .617. Which means if we keep this pace up the entire season, the boys in blue finish with an astounding 101 points.
The PK is finally shutting down opposing Power Plays. Never once in my life did I ever think this organization could boast a PK unit in the top 10 in the league...never! We have and its actually sitting at number four right now
Goals against is down under three. That helps when you are scoring at an average of 3.65 goals per game.
Amidst all the goalie confusion and whether Kari Lehtonen is actually healthy, the duo of Pavalec and Hedberg has come on strong and given this team a huge boost.

Some other things that made this possible are the minds upstairs. Not sure whose idea it was to find Mr. Rick Dudley and hire him as the man that fills the holes in the organization, but who ever did deserves a serious pat on the back for that one. Some very shrewd decisions to bring in serious competition at all positions during training camp worked wonders and made all these guys realize that no ones job is safe (OK, Kovy's might be, but you get the idea).

The offseason might be one of the biggest reasons this team is doing so well. The Thrashers took chances on a few players that other teams had considered either not useful, or just not good enough. Turns out they are becoming the cornerstone of a winning franchise. The Trade to bring Kubina into Atlanta makes Waddell look like a genius (wow, I just said that, haha), and Brian Burke a rookie GM. The Big A (Nik Antropov) might not be scoring goals but he has let Afinagenov and Kovy run rampant on the wings and score at will.

The one glaring hole that we seem to never be able to shake is the shots against category. Now I understand that 30+ shots a game is a lot to ask a goalie to stop, but when I started looking into things a bit more I started to realize that most those shots aren't from "prime scoring areas". What I mean is, long shots from the points or on the boards that the goalie can see easily and handle easily. I can deal with that if the shot are coming from the outside, not like last year when Kari had developed a rap sheet for how many goals he stole from opposing forwards.

That's just some thoughts on what has gone right as a team thus far. I could go on for days and days about individuals and what they have done, but another good man has already beaten me to it. Have a read .

Read more Atlanta Thrashers news on BleacherReport.com

Sophmore "Offenseman" Zach Bogosian Compared to 10 Best

Warren Shaw — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:15:38 -0500

Zach Bogosian is emerging as a standout talent in only his second year in the NHL. Despite the fact that he is only 19 years old Bogosian has quickly become a leader on the Atlanta blueline. With little fanfare he was designated alternate captain by coach John Anderson and has recently been logging 24-25 minutes a game while playing a regular shift as well as serving time on the powerplay and penalty killing units. Not bad at all for a teenager whose favorite video game is NHL 2008. It is tough enough to earn playing time as a forward, but defensemen have it even harder because of the steep learning curve necessary to deal with world class forwards like Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Columbus forward, Rick Nash just to name a few. Ovechkin and Nash are capable of turning veteran defensemen inside out, so most second year players can easily be overwhelmed watching players of that caliber cradle the puck on their stick and head down their side of the ice with a full head of steam. Bogosian was different from the start. During his first NHL rookie training camp, held in Duluth, Georgia, Zach displayed an unusual confidence and self assuredness that few rookies possess. When the season began Bogosian was in the Thrashers lineup. “If not for a broken leg who knows how he would have fared” said former teammate Ken Klee. Not one to shy away from the rough going Bogosian even dropped his gloves to fight NHL heavyweight Donald Brashear. Bogosian and his team have so far this season come out pretty well in their matchups with teams like the Capitals and Bluejackets. In a recent matchup against Washington, Zach showed a glimpse of his shooting ability blasting a laser like shot past goaltender, A welcome dimension in Bogosian’s play has been his offensive productivity. After 17 games this season he leads all NHL defenseman with 8 goals; his 2008 rookie year total was 9. Based on his current productivity he is on track to score 30 plus goals this season. “I think my strengths are skating and my (physical) strength. I like to play defense, but I do like to play offense, too” Bogosian said. He did not mention his blazing slapshot which is drawing rave notice by the opposition. In games against Washington and Edmonton his shot released and hit the netting behind the goaltenders before they could blink. Prior to being drafted as a first round pick by the Thrashers Bogosian was a highly touted junior starring for the Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). While in juniors he distinguished himself as both an offensive and defensive standout. Zach ranked second among OHL defenseman with 50 assists in his final season in juniors. He also was a leading contender for the prestigious Red Tilson Memorial Trophy as the league’s outstanding player and also was selected in the top 2-3 by OHL coaches as the best defensive defenseman, offensive defenseman, hardest worker, and smartest player. Prior to being drafted in his rookie year Bogosian was constantly compared to Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. The comparisons were inevitable since both were highly rated juniors with outstanding offensive abilities. So far this year Doughty has impressed with stellar play but has not mimicked the goal scoring prowess of Bogosian. Doughty has produced 4 goals 17 points in 22 games. Still some have mentioned Doughty as an early season Norris Trophy pick due largely to the King’s early success. The Atlanta Thrashers have also surprised quite a few experts with their performance so far this season. A large amount of their success has been the improved performance of the defense led by Bogosian, Tobias Engstrom, Pavel Kubina. Ironically, Bogosian and Doughty have switched profiles in the NHL. In juniors Bogosian was more of a playmaker while Doughty had a reputation as more of a scorer. So far this season Bogosian has only 2 assists to go with his league high 8 goals. Both sophomores are performing above expectation and stack up well versus other NHL all-star defenseman in their second season. Hall of famer Bobby Orr, whose number four Bogosian has worn since he was a youngster, scored 13 goals in his second year before setting every conceivable defenseman scoring standard known to man. Orr, now President of The Orr Hockey Group represents Bogosian as his player agent. Bogosian has been a Bobby Orr fan since he was a child so he is probably not at all surprised by his own success. Soon we won’t be either.

Begin Slideshow