Back From The Dead

I haven't updated this thing in quite a while. I haven't lost any interest... far from it. I have no excuse other than I've just been busy.

We all know where the Thrashers stand right now. We've been doing well but the last two games haven't been pretty. The Devils game was actually a really good game... a fluke goal, a 5 on 3 and ane empty netter at the end... and that's it. The Thrashers have historically faired well against Brodeur but on that night... he was nothing short of a 10 foot thick concrete wall infront of the net... no matter how many chances we generated, nothin' went in. It was a much better game than the score indicated... and you just have to tip your cap to Marty.

I'm not sure WTF was up with that guy tonight with the Devils jersey on and a Yankees hat... he's lucky he only got booed... Never seen that guy at a Thrashers game, so I have no idea what he was thinking... that being said, I myself a Martin Brodeur fan and even though I always particiapte in the goalie suck chant, I simply can't bring myself to do that when Marty's in net... way too much talent and way too much respect to tell him he sucks.

The next night night was Thrashers vs. Pens. I didn't watch an ounce of the game... mainly because I was at the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech game... and even though I was back in time to watch the end, when I saw it was 4-0 and 5-0... I didn't even bother. I know, I should never give up... we've had some amazing comebacks recently. But I just knew we weren't coming back from that kind of deficit... not on the 2nd game of a back-to-backer. The Thrashers never seem to play well on the 2nd game of a back-to-backer. Hopefully they'll rest up, recoup and be ready for Thursday's game against the Maple Leafs.

Tonight was an interesting night. I snuck outta work early and made it down to CNN Center about 6. We ate dinner and then headover over to the Omni Hotel's North Tower Grand Ballroom. There were quite a few people waiting in the lobby. We scarmmed in and grabbed some seats right up front... though it really didn't matter all that much. They gave away some prizes by asking some hockey and Thrashers trivia... thankfully that's NOT how they are giving away the tickets to the game itself. They didn't give away anything that exciting... some golf balls, NHL 08 games, hats... nothing that great. They did have some of the biggest damn chocolate chip cookies I think I've ever seen and damn were they good. They also had Pepsi... ooops, yeah uh last time I checked this is Atlanta.... this is a Coke town.... I guess that's why there were a crap ton of them left on the tables.

Basically they made a few introductions, a rep from the Thrashers spoke and got us all to do a "Let's Go Thrahers!" cheer and then they did some trivia and gave the stuff away, and then handed out the applications and they walked us through them. After that, we turned them in and that was bascially it... not sure why they could've have just sent them out via e-mail, but it was nice to meet everyone in person... and the free huge chocolate chip cookies made it well worth it. I think we were all hoping for some free swag, but not tonight... We did get some free hockey cards though... I basically applied to do anything and everything... so we'll see. There were a TON of people... aparently well over 100 people (including me!) signed up at the first pre-season game and they noted that was a record... the crowd was HUGE... awesome to see so much interest in hockey here in Atlanta.

What else... during the Devils game, I had a lady offer me $10 for my Thrashers blanket. $10. Ten damn dollars. WTF? Up the anty just a liiiiiiiiiitle bit and maybe we'll talk... but $10? I told her just to look around after the game to see if anyone left theirs. As we were walking to my car after the game in CNN Center, some crazy ass girl came up to me and asked me for blanket... I told her no (I wasn't rude at all) and she got all in my face. It's a damn blanket... they've given better ones away for signing up for a credit card. Not sure why people were so damn crazy about it... I guess it's because they aren't giving us any damn good giveaways at all this season... so this is what... the best giveaway this season? That's sad. It's just a damn blanket! If ya wanted one SO bad, it's called GET IN LINE EARLY ENOUGH!!!

Sometimes people will line up in the left most "lane" for games. For whatever reason, Philips doesn't operate that late on some nights and everyone in that line is forced to get in another line. For whatever reason, they feel as if they can just migrate into an existing line and not actually GET in line... I don't understand that shit. And then on games where there's a big crowd (Friday or Saturday night) the doors on the right are never setup for a line... yet about 10 min before they open the doors, they bring over the barriers and table... and setup a line... so those of us who have been waiting in line an hour and a half or two hours get fucked... and people can just run over there and get up front in a line and wait about 10 min... EITHER SET UP THE FUCKING LINE JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHERS OR DON'T SET IT UP AT ALL!!! Sure it helps get folks in but it's NOT cool. They should have to wait in line like the rest of us.

Secondly - If FLORIDA... fuckin FLORIDA... and TAMPA can have season ticket holder entrances... there is NO reason on earth Atlanta can't have one. It would be an aweome perk. That set of doors near the wall with all the NHL masks... that would make a PERFECT door... must move the table that's setup there somewhere else. Sine STH are there on a nightly basis... just do it. No offenese to those who don't have season tickets... but it would be a nice perk for those who are there every game... Loyalty goes a long way with me and I wish that loyalty paid off a bit more than it does these days. I'm not asking to be treated like some VIP... far from it... but I am jealous of the fact that two other teams... close to Atlanta.... have a STH entrance... and we don't. Turner Field does. It's not hard. Believe me I'm not the only one who wishes there was one... but no one else speaks up about it.

What else... let's hope the boys get rested up and ready for Thursdays game with Toronto... we've been doing well agaisnt teams in our own Division recently... let's just get back on track with a W against Toronto.

Thrashers Finally Back Home - Thrashers vs. Caps Game Preview

There's one question on everyone's mind tonight: Will Ilya Kovalchuk get another hat trick? We'll just have to wait and see.

Other questions:

- Will the Thrashers continue to be "Comeback Kids"? With the last two games being huge comebacks, nothing would surprise me. However, I hope this title doesn't hold, especially tonight. We should score first and not let up from there.

- How will Pav do in his first home game start? Will he be a bit nervous in front of the home town crowd? I doubt that; I think he is primed and ready to go. He's been really sharp and I think he'll keep us in the game tonight, giving us a huge chance to win... and we should. We better. I'm not walking out of Philips Arena tonight until we win... I don't care how long it takes!

- Will there be any leftovers from the infamous Chicken night? Will Hanlon make a move again in the halls of Philips Arena against DW? Will he talk smack again? Those chicken masks from the past were awesome.

- With no TV tonight at all on either side (Thanks, VS!) will we draw a bigger crowd than normal? It might be a Tuesday night but I wana see a packed house. Bring your asses down to Philips for the game!

- Most importantly: Will the Thrashers win? I think it's a no-brainer. The Caps came here on our Opening Night and ruined the night of our SE Division Banner ceremonies. I think it's time the Thrashers paid a little revenge for that night... with the Caps losing to the Flyers and then big time to the Canes 5-0... and the Thrashers coming off a pretty successful road trip and an awesome comeback win over hated Tampa Bay, then yes, the Thrashers should win... with Pav in net and Kovy on the loose... and if Hossa steps it up a bit... he's come a live... a little... the last couple of games... the Thrashers should win this one outright.

Score Prediction: 4-1 Thrashers.

Got a bit of time before I head down to Philips today (it's always nice to have off work on a gamedays...) but can't wait to get downtown. See ya'll tonight! GO THRASHERS!

Atlanta's New Comeback Kids?

Braves fans will probably remember the title the Braves once had. While this title will always be from those amazing years of the Braves, the Thrashers, at least for our past two games, can borrow the name. After the near miracle comeback against the Senators... and Saturday night's comeback victory over the hated Tampa Bay Lightning, I believe that it is certainly a fitting title. That being said, it's not a title we should ever have... No way should we have to come back down 5-0 and 4-1 to try to win games. But a win is a win is a win, and if you have to comeback to do so, then so be it. Maybe it's that dramatic, fiery speech that a coach gives the team that creates the spark. Perhaps it's that one goal that helps to spark the team to comeback. Whatever it may be, it's worked the last two games. I really hope the Thrashers don't become know as Atlanta's New Comeback Kids... but they very well could adapt that title if these kid of comebacks occur more down the road. At least for the last two games it is a very fitting title to say the least.

Kovalchuk has been playing like a bat outta hell. Nothing against Bobby, but right now Kovy is leading this team. I wouldn't be surprised if you take the jersey off, underneath is a Terminator-like, hockey playing, highly advanced robot. There's no doubt that fans have already cast their All-Star vote for him in their minds. I'm sure he'll be a hometown hero for the All-Star game.

Of course, as a fan, it feels good to comeback and win over any team. But after our trip to Tampa a few weeks ago, after the altercation with those two losers, I have a feeling they went home crying to their mommies. It's called revenge and sometimes it's best served up ice cold with a 6-4 comeback victory. Those two jerkoffs had nothing better to do than come ALL the way up to our section to talk shit... it wasn't even good shit, it was about the level of a 3rd or 4th grader. In fact, I hope they found their way back up to the group of Thrashers fans that were there in Tampa and were reeling in their fruitless, pointless effort. I hope that if those two losers were there that Thrashers fans got their point across to them. But enough about these two loser Tampa "fans". No longer can Tampa and their fans expect an easy win against Atlanta in their house. For whatever reason, Tampa has always had our number in Tampa and I'm tired of it. Hopefully Saturday night's win will end that.

Back To Blueland

So, finally, after over three weeks of no home games, the Thrashers are back home tomorrow... back in Blueland... finally! It's been way, way too long. There's another fairly long road trip in Feb and one at the end of March, but there are plenty of home games the rest of the way.. at least one game every week this month... and Dec has at least two games each week... so we'll surely have our fill of games in Blueland! This 3+ week road trip has felt like an eternity but finally, thankfully... we'll be back where we belong tomorrow night! With this big string of divisional games coming up as well, we have a good chance in front of us to make up a lot of ground after our disastrous start, which will hopefully start against the Caps tomorrow night. It's been way too long. I went to the Hawks Home Opener, and it was fun and a great game, but it's not Blueland. Gladiators games help with the hockey game withdrawal symptoms, but it's far from Blueland. I'm glad Tuesday is almost here!

Thrashers Games In Athens

I was in Athens this weekend for the Dawgs game against Troy. Troy is a helluva of a team by the way. Anyway, thankfully the Dawgs game was a day game and we didn't have to miss the Thrashers game. My little brother is a Senior at UGA and he lives in ECV (East Campus Village) and of course I go up to Athens all the time to visit and for football, basketball and baseball games. While ECV is a really nice place to live, for whatever reason, UGA does not provide SportSpouth to university housing. My brother is also a huge Thrashers fan but rarely gets a chance to watch Thrashers games because of the lack of SportSouth. We did find a good place to go - World of Wings ("WOW") Cafe and Wingery . Each booth has it's own small flat screen TV, so you can choose whatever you want to watch, and thankfully they have SportSouth. We were the ONLY table in the entire place watch the Thrashers game. When we started to come back, we were screaming and highfiving, getting plenty of "WTF?" looks at our table. What a good feeling... Dawgs win, Thrashers comeback over Tampa... what a good night. So, if you are ever in Athens and need a place to watch Thrashers games... it's going to be very hard to compete for a TV with all the college football games going on on a Saturday night, but you can catch all the football you want... and still not miss the Thrashers Saturday night games either. And the food was pretty good to boot. Why UGA has never bothered to add SportSouth to their TV lineup is beyond me.

Well, I've spent more than 20 mintues doing this when I should be doing work... so I need to get back to business... but I'm ready, I'm anxious and I can't wait to get back to Blueland tomorrow night!