Recently the Atlanta Thrashers name has popped up in newspapers across the country. This shouldn’t come as a surprise this time of year, as the wheeling and dealings of the offseason is underway two weeks into the free-agent signing period. Unfortunately for the team, their name is usually being pulled through the mud, instead of surrounding personnel moves.
Dan Boyle, a former Lightning player that was recently traded to the Sharks, began the mudslinging by claiming the reason he waived his no-trade clause in Tampa was out of fear that he might be cut and end up with the Thrashers. This along with an article written by Larry Brooks of the New York Post, in which he mentioned Atlanta as one of the three “no-man’s lands” in hockey, has extinguished some of the optimism from last month’s coaching hire and draft.
Along with Atlanta, the NY Islanders and Edmonton Oilers were mentioned in Brooks’s article, because they would have to “throw exorbitant amounts of money” to get any players to sign with their respective teams. The only solace to take from this is the cure is as simple as sustained success. Both of the other organizations have struggled in the standings as of late, but are two of the best ‘hockey towns’ in the league. So while it’s easy to just peg Atlanta as a poor hockey town, it relies more on the results and the front office has shown its willingness to oblige.
Being in an election year it seems appropriate that just like Obama, the Thrashers and Coach Anderson have preached change throughout the offseason, leaving open the possibility of blowing away the league’s perceptions and expectations for the team. Last week was Anderson’s first opportunity to take a break from the campaign trail and let the hockey speak for itself.
New draft pick, Zach Bogosian, hit the ice for the first time as a Thrasher as he took part in the team’s prospect development camp at the Thrashers’ practice facility in Duluth. The camp helped players work on skills on and off the ice, in preparation for training camp in a few months. While there’s little you can derive from a one week prospect camp, consisting mostly of players who won’t even be playing at Blueland next season, this week’s workouts did show a glimpse into the new head coach’s head.
The offensive drills were run at a harrowing pace. Passes were shot in hard, as the coaches had little regard for their players’ puck handling skills. One drill in particular demonstrated Anderson’s aggressive, offensive gameplan. It consisted of a coach at the center circle shooting passes in to a player curling off the boards. The player then had to pull their best one-on-one move to get past one defender and the goalie. Think AND 1 Tour on ice.
But these weren’t touch passes the players were corralling, instead these were shot in by the coaches with a purpose, just a sampling of the new flavor the offense hopes to bring come October.
Coach Anderson’s new attitude has not only brought change on the ice, but off it as well. “Things are a bit more relaxed. [Coach Anderson] wants us to have fun, and he reminds us of that,” prospect Myles Stoez said after finishing his workout.
With a more relaxed atmosphere fans should expect this team to be totally different from last year when the puck drops in early October. It is hard to guarantee a playoff position so far in advance, but it wouldn’t be farfetched to assume the team will be at least fun to watch. Gone is the slow, plodding, “play defense” style of hockey, and in with an attack that uses its offense as its best form of defense.
There is still a long way to go from here, but I would ask both Dan Boyle and Larry Brooks to come back next offseason and see who wants to be where.
Boral can be reached at jboral@scoreatl.com.
Loading ...
