Hot Atlanta Thrashers Cooled Off by Montreal, but Young Team Just Warming Up

Montreal beat Atlanta last night 2-1 in a shootout, outshooting them 35-23 playing their best game of this young season.

The Thrashers are off to a surprising start in some people’s eyes, but are they really?

At 4-1-1, they sit one point behind the high flying Capitals for the Northeast Division lead, and during those six games they have only given up 15 goals with a team GAA of 2.33 good for sixth overall in the NHL, seeming not to be the Thrashers of old. Their power play ranks second overall clicking at 30 percent, no surprise with the fire power they have.

Out of the 24 players listed on their roster, 11 are first round picks, three are second round, and two are third round picks. That’s 17 players in the top three rounds. Remind you of anyone who won the Stanley Cup last year.

Led by an elite player/captain Ilya Kovalchuk, who seems to have been around the league forever but is still only 26-years-old, is tied for second in goal scoring with seven. He’s been in the top 10 in points and goal scoring almost every year since coming into the league while playing on a very thin team, mostly.

Colby Armstrong, in his second full year with the Thrashers, seems to be taking on a leadership role now wearing the “A” on his jersey with physicality, size, grit and nose for the net.

Vyacheslav Kozlov, the ageless wonder who seems as though he played in the summit series provides, added leadership and can still bury the puck or find someone who can with his wily ways.

Rich Peverley, in his first full year now, has continued where he left off last season being a main contributor along with additions Nik Antropov, Pavel Kubina, Christoph Shubert, and ex-buffalo sniper Maxim Afinaganov, this team has gotten some much needed depth forcing teams to not only to focus on shutting down the Kovalchuk line and having obviously improved on the back end.

Young gun Evander Kane, 2009 fourth overall draft pick, has fit in immediately contributing with two goals and two assists along with bringing some toughness along the boards and some great hands, which Team Canada Juniors coaches knew all about.

Another one of the NHL`s youth players to step in without missing a beat has been Zach Bogosian, the 2008 third overall pick, who in his first season last year played 47 games and got better with each passing day, continues to improve and gain confidence.

Goaltending has always been a problem for the Thrashers, but young 6'3" 22-year-old Ondrej Pavelec who showed signs last year of having the right stuff, has the starting job and is 3-1-1 with a 2.37 GAA. Both he and 25-year-old Kari Lehtonen has had veteran Johan Hedberg to gain insight from.

Head coach John Anderson has winning experience coaching in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves taking the Calder Cup twice and holding a 506-283-99 regular season record and 105-60 playoff record. Assistant coaches Todd Nelson who was with Anderson in Chicago, Randy Cunneyworth, and Steve Weeks bring tons of NHL experience as players and coaches.

All in all this Atlanta team has many of the right parts on and off the ice and is not just off to a good start, but are here to make some noise, and will make the playoffs. This is not a dark horse team and should be in the thick of things all year long, watch out for Hotalanta!