ATLANTA – Philips Arena may have had a sea of empty blue seats for the Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils game, but the few fans who did come to the rink were treated to a game featuring some solid goaltending on both ends of the ice.

Martin Brodeur was a brick wall, robbing the Thrashers at point blank range on several occasions, stopping all 25 shots he faced, for the 97th shutout of his career and a 1-0 win.

The 36-year-old Brodeur is only 10 victories from Patrick Roy’s NHL record 551 and 6 shutouts away from Terry Sawchuk’s NHL record 103.

Thrashers goalie, Keri Lehtonen, was busier on the other end and just as sharp; stopping 25 of the first 26 shots he faced. The Devil’s Brian Rolston broke a scoreless tie with a power play goal with only 1:03 left in the second period and Garnet Exelby in the penalty box.

The Thrashers who were 0-5 on the power play need to create some offense. “We hit a crossbar, and we hit a post,” said Ron Hainsey. “Kovalchuk had a great chance. We came storming back. We hit a post or a crossbar. There were some other chances down there. We just couldn’t beat their all-world goalie tonight on it. We had five great chances at him, and he made some unbelievable saves. That’s why he’s coming up on the best of all time.”

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Thrashers opened their 2008-09 season with a 7-4 win at home against the Washington Capitals.

In a game that saw Washington out-shoot Atlanta 43-31; goaltending proved to be the difference. Washington goaltender, Jose Theodore, the only addition to the Capital roster this year, was pulled at the halfway point of the game after letting in 4 goals on just 17 shots.

There were six different goal scorers for the Thrashers with Bryan Little’s second goal of the game at 13:57 of the third period being the game-winner.

Thrashers Coach John Anderson made his debut behind an NHL bench and was pleased with his team’s offensive performance. Anderson has an impressive resume in minor league hockey, including winning last year’s AHL Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves. He was facing his longtime friend and former Maple Leaf teammate, Washington Coach Bruce Boudreau, last year’s NHL coach-of-the-year.

Anderson received a raucous round of applause when introduced during the pregame introductions. After last year’s debacle in Atlanta, the fans of Blueland are hoping Anderson’s winning ways will rub off on the young Thrashers team.

The Thrashers, who had a tough time putting the puck in the net during their six preseason games, scoring only 14 goals in 6 games, found their offensive groove, turning the red light on 7 times in their first regular season contest.

Washington dominated play early with fierce fore-checking, controlling the puck and outshooting Atlanta by a landslide. Once the Thrashers settled down, they scored the first three goals of the game, including a power play goal by newly-acquired defenseman, Ron Hainsey.

Zach Bogosian, No. 3 overall pick in this year’s NHL draft, became the youngest player to ever play in a Thrashers uniform. The eighteen-year-old rookie had a rough first shift, turning over the puck deep in his zone then later on the same shift, being forced to take a holding penalty to compensate for a mistake.

Russia was well-represented in this contest with Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov going head-to-head against Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin, Sergei Federov and Viktor Kozlov.

Ovechkin, last year’s NHL scoring leader, was awarded a penalty shot four minutes into the third period after Tobias Enstrom closed his hand on the puck in the crease. Ovechkin made a nice move on Thrashers goalie, Kari Lehtonen, who made a last-second save, kicking it out with his left skate to keep the score knotted at four.

Ovechkin has had great success against the Thrashers scoring 20 goals and 40 points in 24 games but was held scoreless in this contest.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – As a teen, Zach Bogosian dedicated his summers to taking long road trips across the Canadian border from his hometown Massena, NY to Ottawa to attend vigorous workouts with premiere NHL players like Daniel Alfredsson and Daniel Briere.

Ottawa is a three-and-a-half hour round trip from Massena. Bogosian made that trek routinely over three summers, sometimes hitting the road before dawn to make a scheduled skate. The training in Ottawa was much more intense and Massena offered little to no hockey that time of year.

Possessing these strong work ethics and born competitive to the core, it was no surprise when the seventeen-year-old American was selected No. 3 overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2008 NHL draft.

Bogosian comes from a family of hard hitters with football chromosomes in their blood. His father, Ike, was a safety and captain of the Syracuse University football team and his Uncle Steve played defensive tackle at Army.

The 6′ 2″, 200 pound hard-hitting blue liner is a fierce competitor, capable of playing with a mean streak. Watching him compete and battle on the ice, it’s no surprise his favorite movie is “Gladiator”.

When asked what player he wants to model his style after he responded, “Chris Chelios was always my favorite player. He’s a warrior and a leader. He’ll do anything it takes to win.”

Bogosian has reached his first goal of making the Thrashers NHL line up. His first game will be on opening night, October 10th in Atlanta when the Thrashers take on the Washington Capitals.

Bogosian’s offensive-minded style is a perfect fit for new Thrashers coach, John Anderson. Anderson wants his defensemen to be aggressive with the puck and loves the style of play his young rookie brings to the Thrashers. “If there’s a lane open, he can take it. It’s up to the forward to drop back and cover.”

Although most young draft picks take years to develop before making a roster in the NHL, Bogosian found himself in a unique position, being drafted by a team that is rebuilding and looking for young stars.

Bogosian’s journey from the small town of Massena to Atlanta, a city five million people strong, has been one full of challenges and commitments. Now that the young prospect snagged a spot on the Thrashers roster, he can concentrate on winning games and become a part of a team in search of new leaders.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – It seems like an eternity ago when the Atlanta Thrashers’ roster was overflowing with high-profile, star-caliber players, won the Southeast Division and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Philips Arena was rocking with wall-to-wall fans in blue with dreams of their team orchestrating a long playoff run . . . a run that could possibly lead to the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

It may feel like distant history but that was actually April 2007 and that dream ended abruptly when that star-studded roster was easily swept by the New York Rangers 4-0.

Just like that, four games and out! Barely a week into the playoffs and the high-salaried, underachievers from Blueland had an early exit onto the golf course.

GM Don Waddell carefully built that roster around proven veterans with tons of playoff experience and leaders who had been on Stanley Cup winning teams. The main acquisitions were Bobby Holik who signed for 4.25 million per year and Marian Hossa, one of the brightest NHL stars, who went on to tally a club record 100 points that season.

In addition to Holik and Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk, Slava Kozlov, Alexei Zhitnik, Keith Tkachuk and captain Scott Melanby wore Thrashers blue that year but a lot has changed in Blueland since then.

After under-achieving again last season and unable to make the playoffs, this year’s 2008-2009 roster is looking quite different. When the Thrashers take the ice at Phillips Arena this October, all the above-mentioned stars have exited through trades or free agency except for Kovalchuk and Kozlov.

Last year’s Thrashers Mark Recchi and Pascal Dupuis have also moved on. The only transactions worthy of mentioning since the ‘garage sale cleanout’ are the signings of puck-carrying defensemen Ron Hainsey and Mathieu Schneider and forward Jason Williams.

Hainsey, a former first-round pick and Schneider are expected to add much needed help on the blue line on this roster packed with young less experienced players, including No. 3 overall pick, Zach Bogosian.

Waddell made an aggressive attempt to sign premiere veteran free agents like Brian Campbell and Brian Rolston before they decided to sign in NHL cities where it snows several times a year. Working against him was the fact Atlanta is considered one of the least desirable places to play in the NHL.

A few months ago, Lightning’s Dan Boyle who loved it in Tampa finally agreed to waive his “no trade clause” when he was threatened with being placed on waivers and landing on the Thrashers. He was then traded to the San Jose Sharks.

The bottom line here is approximately 60 goals departed with Hossa, Dupuis and Holik and in today’s low-scoring NHL that’s a huge void to fill.

Kovalchuk is one of the most talented players in the league but he will be forced to carry a majority of the load, game in and game out, and with a grueling 82 game schedule, it may wear him down to the point of inefficiency.

With this current roster, an injury sidelining Kovalchuk could put an immediate end to any hopes of the Thrashers having a productive season.

With a new man behind the bench, John Anderson, who has never coached at the NHL level, it will be interesting to see how the team responds. Thus far they are 1-3 in the preseason and have some final roster moves to make.

The regular season opens against Washington on Oct. 10th at Philips Arena. With mountains to climb and the outlook bleak, the biggest challenge facing Waddell and the Thrashers organization may be trying to NOT make the arena feel like a ghost town; they need to sell some tickets.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

LOS ANGELES – After years of hiding in the shadows of the rival NBA, the NHL made its way back into the ratings and into Hollywood’s spotlight after the last season’s playoffs. Just days after the Red Wings clinched the finals, the Stanley Cup made a trip down the red carpet and appeared on several popular television shows including “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.”

Since the notorious lockout season, there have been many questions surrounding the lack of marketing and publicity for the NHL. Ratings had dipped to historic lows while some national sports commentators grew apathetic to the league and its stars, until last year’s dream finals match-up between the Red Wings and Penguins.

The rating numbers reported by NBC for the prime time finals indicated the NHL was on the way back and the league used that momentum to kick their marketing and publicity into high gear as soon as the finals were over. After the Red Wings returned home with the Cup and completed their photo day, they gained an onslaught of attention from the national media and publicity soared.

Chris Osgood and Nicklas Lidstrom helped make that happen. Still battered from a long season and finals series, they gratiously accepted an invitation to fly to L.A. and appeared with the Stanley Cup.

After their “Sexy Back” dance performance on  Leno’s show, we shouldn’t expect Osgood and Lidstrom to  make it to “Dancing With the Stars,” but their representing the NHL and Red Wings that night in front of millions of coast-to-coast viewers was exposure the league desperately needed.

While on the same West Coast trip, Osgood and Stanley were again in the spotlight when they joined some of Hollywood’s stars including Mike Myers, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Alba and Verne Troyer for a walk down the red carpet at the opening premiere for the hockey-related comedy “The Love Guru.”

Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Myers grew up an avid Maple Leaf fan and getting exposure from the Austin Power’s star may have helped the NHL “get its mojo back.” In addition to Myers, Hollywood has a long list of celebrities who love the game including producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun, Armageddon, Pirates of the Caribbean) and Verne Troyer who portrayed Mini-Me in the Austin Powers movies to name a few.

This year, the NHL should take their relationship with Hollywood to the next level and continue to include these stars in their marketing plan. Hollywood stars have helped promote other leagues like the NFL and NBA and there is a lot to gain by inviting them to functions put on by the league.

Every year there are stories about the trips Stanley makes throughout the summer. Tales are about the far away countries visited or the occasional strip club stop. Those journeys do get attention, but that exposure is minimal compared to the exposure the league gained by these Hollywood trips.

The NBA promotes their relationships with celebrity fans including Jack Nicholson and Ashton Kutcher. If the NHL continues to pair Hollywood with their sport in 2008-09, what celeb might be sitting on the glass during the next Stanley Cup playoffs?

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

With the constant buzz about the NHL expanding their league to places like Las Vegas, Nevada, I was reminded about a humorous incident that occurred in Tampa Bay during their first ever NHL hockey game.

I was living in Central Florida when the Tampa Bay Lightning was franchised under the direction of Phil Esposito with the support of Japanese investors.

Originally from Detroit and brought up an avid hockey fan, I was salivating for NHL hockey so I snagged a few tickets for the inaugural game; the Lightning against the original six Chicago Black Hawks on October 7, 1992 at Expo Hall.

Expo Hall was an arena located at the State Fairgrounds and was normally used for rodeos and tractor pulls but this was NHL expansion hockey so even this makeshift arena could not stop many of us fans from filling it up.

After driving through a muddy bumpy dirt parking area, following the painted plywood parking signs, I made my way into Expo Hall.

The referees called more penalties than I have ever seen in a game allowing the Lightning to live on the power play. The Lightning went on to win the game 7-3 with forward Chris Kontos scoring the first hat trick in Lightning history.

Hat trick!

Where are the hats?

After several seconds, a lone hat, a worn-out looking baseball cap, came floating down like a feather in the wind, gliding to a smooth landing onto the surface of the ice.

With tens of thousands of fans in the seats, we usually never know what loyal die hard sacrifices his hat . . . but this night was an exception. The hat-tosser was the fan, one section over, who was being escorted out of the arena by security personnel for littering debris on the ice.

The innocent man pleaded, trying to explain the tradition, but these dedicated security personnel would have no part of this “radical, rule-breaking” fan and continued tugging the man by the arms, leading him up the stairs.

After watching for several seconds, a few nearby fans rushed to the fan’s aid, trying to help explain the tradition to no avail. Finally, a nearby security guard rushed over and saved the fan from expulsion. The disgruntled fan was allowed back to his seat bringing laughter and a huge ovation from those of us familiar with the game.

Since this incident 16 long years ago, Tampa has evolved into a city that loves hockey. A city that proudly hangs their Stanley Cup champion flag from the rafters of their current home, the Ice Palace, the home to many hat-tossing loyalists who have gotten to know and love the game.

So viva Las Vegas . . . “Hats off” to expansion hockey!