A Scary Win on Halloween and Other Spooky Thoughts

51 shots on goal. A 3-1 win against the Sens... just one question... where was the D? Granted, I didn't get to watch or listen to the game, I was at Taco Mac with my family watching the Dawgs go down in a much more horrific sporting event. We got back in the W column, and a win is a win, 5 shorts or 500, but 51 shots on goal? Thanks to Pavs who stood on his head and whatever else he could find... he stole us two points. Can we rely on that every game? Hell no. Totally unacceptable. I know Kovy is out. I don't want to hear excuses because there are none. 10 years of NHL hockey and we put up with this. Our "hot start" seems to have turned into a very cold losing streak that was ended today, but with 51 shots against, it's hard to be very happy about it... but we found a way to win, and that is the most important thing... but 51 shots... that in and of itself is the scariest thing I've seen this Halloween... so far.

But I am going to take a minute out here to go on a rant. Why? I just feel like it. It's my blog, so here we go.

Philips Arena has been around for over 10 years now. It's an awesome facility, and I love being there every time I go. People bitch and complain about the lack of customer service at the concession stands, they bitch about how the food sucks, they bitch about how outdated the technology is in the arena... the giant wall of early-90's style bigscreen TVs, the outdated video scoreboard, the info screens on both sides of the arena are missing tons of pixels and they look horrible, and probably haven't been touched since they were installed 10 years ago... but they are remodeling the suites, which is nice, and that is where they money is, so of course that is what they focus on first.

But Philips Arena is much more than just Blueland, as much as we'd like to believe it's our house of hockey love and nothing else. Of course the Hawks play at Philips, there are concerts all the time, and people from around the globe come to Philips for events all the time. It's part of the heart of our city and something we should be very proud of. But, you go inside, and you get crappy customer service (I will say that I have no issue with Thrashers sales and customer service employees, it's the in-arena staff...), you have extremely outdated technology... and there are things hanging from the ceiling from when they drop them for fans, there the roof is torn in places, and certain things just need to be updated, fixed up and repaired. But, despite all of that, Philips is still one of the nicest places to come see any type of event. I love it, I've been there to 100s of events of the years, and it truly is my home away from home. But it's the little things fans notice... no spin and win this year, no freebies at the door, and worst of all, in Atlanta, you really need, some times, something to draw fans to the game other than the game itself... and they just aren't doing that. Of course, I come to see hockey and in hopes that we win, and everything else just happens to be there... but there are, of course, the epic of epic Wetzel Pretzels and it's well worth the drop downstairs if you are sitting upstairs to get one... man they are good as hell.

Anyway, the team has GOT to pick it up without Kovy. Speaking of scary things, was Thursday's nearly-empty game a sign of things to come? Is that how things will look if Kovy goes? Will fans come at all if we don't have Kovy? I've been to many a Thrashers games, I rarely miss a home game... and I mean rarely.... but I've never seen such crappy attendance... it was a Thursday night and AO was in town... you'd think, if nothing else, people would want to come see Ovy... I mean he pretty much almost single-handidly beat us... speaking of scary things... yet the arena was empty. And it was a Thursday night... why was it so empty? I show up, I do my part, I got my brother and one of his friends to come... where are those same people who packed the arena for the playoffs? Opening Night? Where are you? Are you hockey fans or do you just come because it's a "big event" and you have to be seen there? I don't get it. There are tons of hockey fans here... so get your asses to the arena!

Oh, and the NHL's idea about these new message boards... I can tell, as a moderator, that usage has gone WAY down. SAD down. I even admit I'm not as active as I used to be because, well, they boards just suck. It's a huge fatal mistake and they smartest thing they could do, IMHO, is just bring back the old boards. I honestly don't hate using them to the point where I won't, but they are pretty bad... poor design = loss of use = much less activity = not so great boards.

I want to see another banner up there in Philips. I want to see us get this season on track and start winning games and earning points every night. Giving up 3 goals in a minute and some change... ain't going to earn us anything. Yet, I do see a difference in this team... no matter what the score is, they don't seem to give up and play heartless hockey like previous Thrashers teams... we try to scratch and claw our way back... but yet something isn't quite right, something isn't clicking just yet.... what is it? What is wrong? Coaching? Attitude? I dunno. But it's gotta change.

Well, back to watching the World Series. I hate the Phillies but I hate the Yankees more, of course, so I am rooting for NL.

That's all for tonight. No more rants tonight.

Just glad we got in the win column today.

Back In Business!

My life has changed so much since I last wrote in my blog. But it's time for me to get this thing back in gear.

So, here we go, the season started well, but the last couple of games have been a goaltending nightmare. Putting that behind us, Thursday night is a rematch vs. the Caps... let's hope we'll fair better, even with out Kovy. The entire team has to step it up and give 150% now that Kovy is out for a little bit.

My brother is coming down from Athens before going to the Cocktail Party and we are going to the game... his first one of the season. My goal this season is to not miss a single home game... so far, so good.

It's late and I don't have too much time right now, however, I will be changing the blog up, and of course, doing my best to keep up with it throughout the season as best I can. With a full time job, going back to school and other things going on, I can't say with 100% certainty that I'll be able to keep up with it as much as I'd like, but I'll do my best.

Looking forward to going back to Blueland Thursday night.