Last season was supposed to be a banner year for the Atlanta Thrashers: it was their first season after a Southeast Division championship, and Philips Arena hosted the 2008 NHL All-Star Game. Quickly, however, it turned into a nightmare, as six games into the year the team sat winless and without its head coach Bob Hartley, who was fired two weeks into the season.
Now enter the 2008-09 season, a year that will be marked by change and fresh faces throughout the organization. The changes began on draft night as Atlanta not only used its No. 3 overall pick to choose the new face of their defense for years to come, Zach Bogosian, but John Anderson was named as the team’s new head coach. Anderson comes from a winning tradition, one he built as the head coach of Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. In his 13 seasons with the Wolves, Anderson won five league championships but now must navigate the waters as a coach for his first NHL team.
To help with the scoring, the team brought in two centers in Jason Williams and Marty Reasoner. Williams, an oft-injured playmaker with the Chicago Blackhawks, is looking to resurrect a once promising career as a winger in Atlanta.
All of these moves paled in comparison to the one made by the Thrashers just two weeks ago, however, when the team traded for veteran defenseman Matheiu Schneider. Schneider was traded from Anaheim to clear cap space, but for Atlanta the reasoning is superfluous, as they now have one of the most offensive-minded defensemen to head Anderson’s new system and to guide first-round pick Bogosian.
PLAYOFFS IN BLUELAND?
To make the playoffs for the second time in franchise history, Atlanta will most likely have to be the last one standing in the Southeast Division due to a lack of representation in the playoffs from the league’s southern-most teams. When looking at the best player in the division, Ilya Kovalchuk is second in production only to defending MVP Alexander Ovechkin. Kovalchuk may have gotten a start in last year’s All-Star game on his home-ice because of an injury, but it was still an honor he deserved, carrying Atlanta on his back through the first part of last season.
As for Kovalchuk’s linemates, they are unproven, especially as a unit. The first-team line assumes to have Williams on the other wing opposite Kovalchuk and Eric Christensen manning the center position. Christensen was picked up in the deal with Pittsburgh for Marian Hossa, and has showed flashes of his talent through the preseason.
Behind the forwards is where fans will see the biggest difference personnel wise. The additions of the aforementioned Schneider and former Columbus Blue Jacket Ron Hainsey, along with Bogosian, should improve what was the league’s worst defense last season. Unfortunately, some of the numbers in the preseason would suggest otherwise, as Atlanta finished last in the NHL in goals-against, but that was without full contributions from Schneider. Anderson’s aggressive style might not affect the goals-against numbers, but he will at least put this talented backline in positions to add to their own goal totals.
The final line of defense for Atlanta may be where the biggest question mark lies, and the key to success for the team. That will weigh heavily on the shoulders of starter Kari Lehtonen, who was crowned as the next great goaltender when he was drafted second overall in 2002. Lehtonen struggled with a nagging groin injury throughout last season, but still did enough to earn a one-year contract. It is assumed this is Lehtonen’s final chance with the team that drafted him, as highly touted prospect Ondrej Pavelec is waiting in the wings.
AROUND THE SOUTHEAST
The rest of the division has just as many question marks: Tampa also has a new coach; Washington doesn’t know what to expect from former All-Star goaltender Jose Theodore; Carolina lost a lot of scoring; and Florida must live up to their assumed talent.
It is not out of the question for Atlanta to win the division or make the playoffs in a watered-down Eastern Conference. Atlanta will be chasing Pittsburgh, the N.Y. Rangers and Montreal in the standings, but outside of those three, the rest of the East is wide open. There has always been that cliché about the “Wild West,” but this year, the craziness in the standings will reside back East, giving the Thrashers plenty of opportunities to sneak their way in.
Boral can be reached at jboral@scoreatl.com.
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