ATLANTA – Riding the wave of a four-game win streak and dramatic last-second victory Monday night against division rival Florida Panthers, the Atlanta Thrashers will be taking a great deal of momentum into their game Thursday night against the New York Islanders at Philips Arena.

The Thrashers under the great leadership of Captain Kovalchuk appear to be adapting to Coach John Anderson’s offensive scheme as the team leads the NHL in goals per game with an impressive 3.46 mark. To put that in perspective, the dominating Detroit Red Wings led the NHL last season with a 3.52.

One of the reasons for the Thrashers hot start is the contribution of several players who were not on the roster at the start of last season.

Three of the top four names found on the team’s current stats sheet are Rich Peverley (10g-16a-26pts), Maxim Afinogenov (11g, 14a, 25pts) and Nik Antropov (2g, 21a, 23pts). Afinogenov scored the game winner with 5 seconds remaining in regulation time in that dramatic win against the Panthers.

Another factor is the impressive play of their youngsters. Nineteen-year-old Zach Bogosian leads the NHL in goals by a defensemen with 8 while eighteen-year-old rookie Evander Kane, another first-round pick, has contributed as well, adding (8g, 5a, 13pts), creating a rookie-of-the-year buzz around the city of Atlanta.

Goaltending is another area the team has improved and they’ve done it without Kari Lehtonen, their starting goaltender over the past few seasons. While Lehtonen continues to recover from an injury that required surgery, back-up goaltenders Johan ‘Moose’ Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec have been sharing the crease duties.

After registering two shutouts (one each) over the past four games, the Thrashers find themselves in the upper half of the league in goals against average, a vast improvement over the past few years when they hovered near the basement in that category.

Pavelec, who earlier this season allowed a 180-ft shot to score, shut out the Red Wings 2-0 in Detroit while Moose put up a 1-0 goose egg at home against the pesky Philadelphia Flyers. Moose’s win snapped a 14-game winless streak against the Flyers.

Currently the Thrashers own one of the best road records in the NHL at 8-2-1 and find themselves in the 5th position in their conference with several games in hand on the leaders.

To put that in mathematical perspective, if the Thrashers win all four of the games they have in hand on the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, the Thrashers would find themselves one point ahead of Sid The Kid in the standings; but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.

More NHL:

Thrashers’ Goalie Pavelec Allows 180-ft Shot to Score (video) – Sports Climax

Captain Kovalchuk Returns Early & Shows Great Leadership –  Sports Climax  

Yahoo!Sports – Puck Daddy

Bill ‘Iceman’ Tiller – Atlanta-Journal-Constitution

Copyright © 2009 – 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