Ilya Kovalchuk Breaks Foot, Out 4-6 Weeks

One can bet that on Saturday night all of Georgia were holding their collective breath and thinking the worst when Atlanta Thrashers captain and leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk blocked a shot and in the process suffered a fractured right foot. This explosive scorer who already has nine goals represents a huge loss for the Thrashers who jumped out to their best start in franchise history at 4-1-1. Coach John Anderson stressed that even without his big gunner he still wants his team playing an offensive style as opposed to emphasizing defence. “I want us to attack,”Anderson who is in his second season behind the Thrashers bench said. “I want our (defence) to move up on the play. I don’t think we change our whole thought process because we lose on guy. I would hope not.” Even though he is scheduled to be gone for approximately five weeks Kovalchuk who calls this current squad the best ever in Thrashers history wants to remain close to the team and even go on the road trips. He also wants to make sure that his tough luck injury doesn’t become a distraction in bringing down the team. “I have to be in a good mood you kinow,” Kovalchuk said. Coach Anderson will be looking for the foursome of Nik Antropov, Bryan Little, Slava Kozlov and Colby Armstrong to elevate their play. Armstrong has scored only one goal while the rest of that group are all looking for their first goals. Last season all four had 20 or more goals and now will be the perfect time for them to start producing. “I think they realize it,” Anderson said. “I think that they’re actively doing things in practice to get better and to work on things in practice as to why they’re not scoring, but we need that production absolutely right now.”