Town Halls, Practice, Moose Signings, and some Green Ice!

What an exciting game and what a setup and blast by Zhitnik. Ok, so it wasn't technically a sellout but man people love to argue over the stupidest things.

It felt DAMN good to win that game too. I was jumping up and down and yelling as if I had just won the lottery... I'm not sure if that's what it feels like to win it, but it must be close. Yeah, it felt that good.

Last night really could not have gotten any better. There were lines by the time I had got there, but for some reason, there was still one entrance with nobody standing in line... even though the other lines were already pretty deep.... weird. Anyway, we stood there until my brother arrived, I got him a ticket and he took our place in line. Soon as the doors opened, he ran to Headlines Grill, grabbed a seat and saved us two seats while Sam and I went to the Town Hall Meeting. If I had known my brother was going to be there when I signed up for the meeting, I would have invited him, but oh well. I've never seen a Town Hall THAT packed full of fans. It looks like people have signed up here at the end of the season and for next season... now that we are doing so well, people are jumping on the Thrashers bandwagon fast and furious. With success surely this was to come. It's all good.

Most of the questions asked were great, legit hockey-related questions. But then you always have the people complaining about game start times, radio stations, gate opening times... while I understand their concerns, the POINT of a Town Hall Meeting is to disuss the Thrashers and the game of hockey, NOT things outside of the game. There simply is not enough time and too many people wanting to ask questions to waste time on questions like these. People complain they can't get into the city by 7... too much traffic... yes but there are also those of us who already work downtown and are around the corner from the arena... so I could care less if the game starts at 7, 7:30, 8... hell the game could start at 6 pm or 10pm... I'd still find a way to be there... I look at it like this... first of all, it's not the Thrashers problem you can't be there on time. Second, the schedule is out BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS, so if you want to go to a game, PLAN AHEAD to make sure you get there on time! It's just that simple. People complain - I wish the arena was in the suburbs... I wish you started the game later... I wish you did this , I wish you did that... The Thrashers themselves have little control over it. Nothing is perfect. A hockey fan doesn't care when the game starts, they are going to be there regardless. A hockey fan doesn't care when the arena doors open as long as the team wins. I hockey fan doesn't care what the radio station is because you are going to be at the game anyways, and for away games you can't go to, you probably already have XM... this sounds like someone I know... wait...that's me ... and plenty of other Thrashers fans... but man, people still haven't learned... don't waste DW's and the rest of the fans time by asking questions about things aren't imporant... I mean.. if you can't make it to the game by 7, what difference does 30 minutes make? Not really that much. Please, if you attend these Town Hall Meetings, ask anything you want... as long as it is related to the GAME of hockey! Ask your ticket rep or customer service about the other issues... not DW!

Anyway, I brought my brother some food from the meeting and he deserved it because he managed to save Sam and I two barstools, so props to my brother for saving us seats, especially with a packed house.

Moose was the man last night. That's the best performance by him I've seen by him as a Thrasher. Amazing saves I'm sure you've all seen and watched the highlights over and over (I can't stop watching the OT winner sequence.)

So we got to go to the Town Hall, get some free food, my brother saved us two seats right behind the goal at Headlines Grill, my brother got food, the Thrashers won in OT, and to top it off, the Sabres beat Tampa in regulation 3-2. The night could not have gone any better!

So last night the Sabres were our best friend... but Sunday they are going to be our worst enemy. Win or lose this game, we are in good shape. It's always a good game between these two teams. It seems like just yesterday the Thrashers played them for the first time at the beginning of the season and stopped their 10 game start winning streak . Remember all the media coverage we got for that one? Last night on TSN, the headline wasn't about the Thrashers, the headline was "Rangers pick up a needed point in OT Loss..." what a bad headline... instead of the Thrashers win in OT, it was about the Rangers?!? WTF was up with that?

The thing I am NOT looking forward to on Sunday is the Sabres fans. They are, by far, the worst, most obnoxious fans in the NHL. I hate them. I wish we could put every single Sabres fan up somewhere in the nosebleed upper corner of the 400 section. Keep them away!!!

This morning I decided to go the the Thrashers practice. It didn't look like they were doing anything too demanding at all... it looked like they were having fun if anything. I brought my Moose bobblehead from his rookie year with the Pens and also his rookie card. A nice older lady in front of me offered to let me use her silver photo pen to have him sign it and she was in front of me and got him to sign it for me. A few moments later, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to reach Moose with as many people that were at practice this morning, but he noticed the bobblehead and looked surprised to see it. He signed it very neatly and somehow he fit it on the body of the bobblehead; at first I thought there'd be no good spot for him to sign it, but Moose is the man, and he found the sweet spot to sign it. I told Moose thanks and he smiled back... I figured what better day and time to get my Moose stuff signed then after his incredible performance last night.

I also got KT and Simmer to sign my hat. It was tough to get any good pics from the practice there, but KT was out there with his kids skating around and that was nice to see... and good ole Odgers was also messin' around on the ice and looked like he was having a the time of his life out on the ice. After the practice, I drove over to the Gwinnett Arena to pick up some Glads tickets... normally when we go, there are pleny of great seats left, and I figured that this early in the day there'd still be some good seats left... but I was wrong. We got lower level but in the corner.. tonight they have green ice for St. Patrick's Day, so it should be something to see.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Sabres game and then I have to go directly from the game to my girlfriend's Rollerderby game; I'm helping out their team keeping up with people in the penalty box... if you have never seen Rollerderby you have got to come out. If you are a hockey fan (and you are since you are reading this) then this is RIGHT up your alley.

Visit http://www.atlantarollergirls.com. The game is tomorrow night starts at 7. My girlfriend plays for the Apocalypstix and will play vs. the Sake Tuyas (otherwise known as the "Sucky Tunas"). This game is a re-match of the Championship Bout from last season, and the Stix are looking for some down and derby (dirty) revenge. Think of it like this: It's a bunch of chicks on rollerskates beating the living crap out of each other. That's all you need to know. And there's PLENTY of time to go to both the Thrashers vs. Sabres game and then head out to Stone Mountain for some derby action. The Thrashers game should be over by 4:30, 5 at the very latest, leaving you plenty of time to get a quick dinner and head out to Stone Mountain for the game.

If the Thrashers can beat the Sabres and the Stix win, I know I and my girlfriend will be happy as hell. I just hope it can go that way. Win or lose, the Thrashers are still in great shape. I do know that my girlfriend wants to win her game more than anything, so I just want to see her happy at the end of the night... if the Thrashers find a way to win, that will simply be the cherry on top. But don't expect a post tomorrow; I'll have to get to it Monday... I'm going straight from the Thrashers game out to the derby game, and won't be home till late, so I just won't have the time.

Till next time...