The Post-Kovy Thrashers - BAGM (NHL11)

[bthomp05]

What bad luck losing you #1 pick... Hopefully he will be up and running by opener.

[thrashman]

Quote: Originally Posted by bthomp05

What bad luck losing you #1 pick... Hopefully he will be up and running by opener.

I think he will. Thankfully the injury is not too serious, but I was freaking out at first.

[thrashman]

ATLANTA INKS FOUR PROSPECTS


Carl Klingberg will make the jump to North America.

October 2, 2010
Associated Press

ATLANTA - Atlanta Thrashers General Manager Rick Dudley announced today that the club has come to terms on deals with four young prospects drafted by the team in recent years. The players are forwards Carl Klingberg and Ivan Telegin, as well as defensemen Ben Chiarot and Cody Sol. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed, but they are three year entry level deals.

"We have great expectations for these young men in the future," Dudley said to reporters. "Pretty much every successful team in the NHL builds through the draft, and that is what we are trying to do here in Atlanta."

Klingberg, 19, is the highest drafted of the four players signed, picked 34th overall in 2009. The 6'3, 205 pound Swede plays an aggressive and bruising style of hockey that should guarantee him a future bottom-six spot in the Thrashers lineup at worst. If he can continue to develop on the offensive side, Klingberg has a chance to be an intimidating power forward with his combination of size and good skating ability. After spending last season with Frolunda in Elitserien where he scored 6 goals and added 7 assists in 42 games, Klingberg is expected to make the jump to North America and play with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.

Similar in mold to Klingberg with his 6'3, 194 pound frame is 18-year-old Ivan Telegin. Picked in the 4th round of this year's draft, the talented Russian holds a higher offensive upside than Klingberg, but is not quite as physical, although he does play with an edge and can be useful in all situations. A product of the Metallurg Novokuznetsk system, Telegin will report back to the OHL for his second season with the Saginaw Spirit.

Chiarot and Sol are two big, 19-year-old Canadian kids who both have a mean streak to their game, especially Sol. Chiarot is 6'2, 209 pounds and has more mobility and some semblance of an offensive game, while the 6'4, 214 pound Sol may find his niche as an enforcer. Both will return to the OHL for this season, where Chiarot plays for Sudbury and Sol for Kitchener.

[bthomp05]

Great working in securing your future. Those two d-men will come in handy down the road.

[thrashman]

Quote: Originally Posted by bthomp05

Great working in securing your future. Those two d-men will come in handy down the road.

And I expect some D spots to open up by at least next offseason, so hopefully someone can contribute.

[thrashman]

THRASHERS SOLID IN PRESEASON


Dustin Byfuglien has made a good first impression in Atlanta.

October 2, 2010
Associated Press

ATLANTA - The revamped Atlanta Thrashers hope to have shown what both fans and themselves expect this season, a winning hockey team. Craig Ramsay's new look crew managed a 3-1-0 record in the preseason, something they hope to build off of with the NHL's regular season kicking off next week. However, many Thrashers teams of the past have given fans optimism in early October, only to let them down. Maybe this latest version of Atlanta's club won't follow that same path.

Atlanta opened the preseason at Verizon Center against the vaunted Washington Capitals and seized momentum early by jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period on goals by Dustin Byfuglien and Bryan Little. However, Washington goaltending prospect and current Kingston Frontenac, Philipp Grubauer would settle down after the Thrashers initial onslaught and wind up with 35 saves on the night. The Capitals pulled even in the 2nd on goals from Brian Willsie and Alexander Ovechkin, leaving a deadlock that would have to be settled in a shootout. Atlanta's snipers were up to the challenge, scoring on all three of their shootout attempts to pull out a 3-2 win.

The Thrashers then returned home to Philips Arena to face a Tampa Bay Lightning team with high hopes for this season. At least for this night, those hopes were not to be realized as Atlanta crushed Tampa Bay 5-1 to the delight of the hometown crowd. The Lightning got the lead in the 2nd period on a Ryan Malone goal, but by the end of the period goals from Niclas Bergfors and Ben Eager put the Thrashers ahead. Three 3rd period goals from Alexander Burmistrov, Evander Kane, and Anthony Stewart sealed Tampa's fate, although the highly touted prospect Burmistrov would leave the game with an ankle injury shortly after scoring.

The only slip-up for the Thrashers during the preseason came in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers who entered the game with an 0-3-0 record. Tomas Vokoun was on his game during this occasion though, stopping 23 of 24 shots for a team who hopes the 2010-2011 season will end a playoff drought that began back in 2000-2001. Chris Higgins and Rostislav Olesz found the back of the net for the Panthers, while only Dustin Byfuglien could crack Vokoun for the Thrashers who fell 2-1.

Returning back to Atlanta, the Thrashers closed out the preseason against the Carolina Hurricanes with nail biter. After two periods, only Johnny Oduya had tallied a goal, but the 3rd period turned out to be a wild one. Rich Peverley put Atlanta up 2-0 before the Hurricanes answered with three goals from Erik Cole, Patrick Dwyer, and Chad LaRose. With less than five minutes left in regulation, Zach Bogosian pulled the Thrashers back even and the game would eventually go to a shootout. In the third round, with no one scoring so far, Niclas Bergfors finished a forehand-backhand move by Cam Ward to give the Thrashers a 4-3 win.

Newly acquired Dustin Byfuglien led the Thrashers in the preseason both in goals (2) and points (3). Rookie Alexander Burmistrov also had a good preason with 1 goal and 1 assist in 2 games before being injured. Leading the team in penalty minutes was Evander Kane with 6, but he did add 1 goal and 1 assist as well. Tobias Enstrom had a disappointing preseason with 0 points, as did Thrasher newcomers Andrew Ladd and Fredrik Modin. Goaltending was solid both from Ondrej Pavelec and Chris Mason. Each had 1.92 goals against averages, while Pavelec's save percentage was .935 and Mason's was .875.

[thrashman]

NEWS


Sign LW Paul Kariya to 3 year deal



Sign D Marc-Andre Bergeron to 3 year deal

[bthomp05]

Hahaha, Sabes pick up Kariya....