Thrashers End Season with Dramatic 3-2 SO Victory over the Lightning!

As you know, the Thrashers are the Southeast Division Champs. This has been, obviously, the Thrashers best season in it’s history after narrowly missing a playoff opportunity last season.On Friday, when the Thrashers faced the Canes, I, nor did anyone, expect a Division Championship to come so easily… or that night. The emotionally-out-of-it Canes didn’t play with much heart or drive, and the Thrashers won easily 4-1. No surprise there. The surprise of the night, however, was the fact that not only was Center Ice doing another free preview and the game was on TV, but the fact that about every time I flipped back to the Lightning vs. Panthers game, the Panthers seemed to score another goal. Most assumed the Lightning would easily beat the Panthers, but most people were sadly mistaken. It was 1-0 Panthers, shortly after 2-0 Panthers… before long it was 4-0, 5-0… pretty soon there was a feeling that this was, in fact, the Thrashers night to clinch the Division. Not anything I expected to happen. Not even close. But soon enough it was 7-0 Panthers in the 3rd period. There was no way Tampa could even attempt to come back from a huge deficit like that. Tampa did manage to squeeze in 2 goals in the 3rd, but it was way too little, way too late, and by then, the Thrashers heard the news, they were your 2006-07 Southeast Division Champs!! So not only did we get into the playoffs, no matter what happens, we have a new banner to hang on Opening Night next season!!

It’s almost too bad the Division Championship decision didn’t come down to Saturday night’s last regular season game vs. Tampa. Of all the games this season, this one, was, by far, the most dramatic of the season, even though a Division was not on the line. Could you even come close to imagining what it would have been like Saturday night if the Division HAD been on the line? But what a game. I can’t describe it in words. I can’t get over seeing Kovy in the SO…and Kovy SCORING in the SO for the first time! If he had not had made that shot, everyone would have been up in arms questioning BH… but low and behold, Kovy made that shot. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. As my girlfriend said, the Thrashers reduced the Lightning to nothing more than mere static electricity on Saturday night. We sent them to face the Devils and Martin Brodeur. Good luck with THAT, Tampa!!

By the way, yes, I did happen to bring my Lucky Puck with me, holding it during the entire game... and yet again, it proved to be lucky. So you better bet that I'll have it with me during every playoff game!!

They seemed like two evenly matched teams. The Thrashers went down 2-0 but never gave up the fight. When Kovy came through with the first goal, you could just sense it. By far the best regular season game this season. The longest shootout of the season. Could you imagine if the Division championship was on the line in a SO? How tense would that have been?

As tense as it would have been, it would’ve been NOTHING compared to what you are going to feel Thursday night in the first ever Thrashers playoff game. This is going to be a whole new level that Thrashers fans have never experienced before. It’s going to grab a hold of your emotions and never let them go.

The only complaint I have of the Fan Appreciation Day… well there are a few. First of all, I was told by one person that the “jerseys off our backs” promotion was given out to random seats, it could be anyone in the arena. I was told by someone else that it was randomly chosen season ticket holders and they were notified days before that they would be given a jersey, and they just make it seem like it is random during the game. I don’t know what to believe. All I know is that I’ve never wanted to be down there more than I wanted to Saturday night. I know it’s a highly unlikely chance of getting to go down there, but I could SEE myself down there. I thought about it and thought about it and how much it would have meant to have been given the opportunity to have that experience. But it’s yet another season, yet another disappointment. But that’s ok. As much as I wanted and wished to have been down there, all that really matters was that we won, and won we did. But then there’s the 7th Man Contest. But it was no contest at all. I don’t personally know the lady who won it but the Thrashers have made it a PR media story all season long about the lady because she needed, I believe, a kidney transplant. While the story is great, and while I know she is a huge fan, I also know that the point of the contest was to give the person who wrote the best essay the 7th Man award… but she was obviously chosen, it was setup beforehand, it was totally rigged… meaning everyone and anyone who spent the time and used their creativity to come up with an essay never even had a chance; it was going to be her no matter what. It’s a great PR move for the Thrashers, don’t get me wrong, but that was not the point of the contest. There might as well have been no contest because it wasn’t a contest. I’m sure she still wrote an essay, or at least I’d like to think so, but I think she was chosen well before hand. While the story is great and heart warming, it was unfair to every single other Thrashers fan out there. I’m not upset that I didn’t win, although, of course, I was hoping one day I’d get that call… but I would have liked to have seen it to the fan that really wrote the best essay. Also, it has been a tradition at the last regular season home game to give out a team poster… which was not the case this year. I can just hope they are waiting to give them out during the playoffs this week.

Anyway, there’s always next season as they say. But now is the next step – the New York Rangers. The media, because they are based mostly in NYC, are, of course, going to pick the Rangers. The media is going to give it all to the Rangers, but don’t let it get to you. Take it with a grain of salt. In fact, take it with a giant sized CostCo bucket of salt. Let the boys on the ice determine who is going to win the series, not the media. Let it go in one ear and out the other and just worry about how the Thrashers do, not what the media says. But I wanted to share my thanks to the Thrashers for a great season. I wrote this on the message boards but I think it’s worth sharing with you here as well.

This has, obviously, been our best season as a franchise so far. Of course I want us to win and go all the way... but I just wanted to say thanks for everything, this season has been an amazing run and there are a lot of great memories... no matter what happens in the playoffs, I'm proud of my Thrashers, I'm proud of what we accomplished this year, I'm proud that we are the hottest thing to do in Atlanta, I'm proud that we won the Division, and I think we all owe our beloved Thrashers a big thank you for what they have done so far. You've made an entire city believe in Blueland, you've made a city fall in love with hockey and the Thrashers, and you've made a city that once could only depend on one team to win now have another winning team. What you have accomplished so far this season is priceless in terms of the history of this team and for the city of Atlanta. I appreciate all that you have done for us as fans, I appreciate feeling at home in Blueland, I appreciate you having great customer service, I appreciate you having great fan giveaways, I appreciate the open practices and being able to feel like you are a huge part of something, I appreciate all of the hard fought victories and the heart-breaking losses. I appreciate the hustle and the heart of our team and coaches. I appreciate what the ownership has given us the chance to do this year. I wish the Thrashers the greatest success in the playoffs; I hope we are in it until the end. But no matter what happens the rest of the way, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for giving this city something to believe in. I appreciate the dedication of the fans, especially to the core group who are there on nightly basis. I appreciate the fact that the Thrashers have shown the world that hockey belongs in the South, in Georgia, in Atlanta. It belongs here and hopefully will always remain here. I just wanted to share my hockey love for the Thrashers and wanted to say thanks for a great regular season.Congratulations to the Thrashers, their fans, the city of Atlanta, and best wishes in the playoffs!!

LETS GO THRASHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!