Another Casino Night is in the books. I had the chance to chat with some great fans and it looks like everyone had a great time. The Thrashers went on a tear after the event last season so maybe they’ll do it again. Look for more pictures and a video from the event tomorrow (or maybe later tonight).
***UPDATE**
I was just talking to Chris Thorburn when a woman came up to him and asked if he’d talk to her son on the phone. It’s his 8th birthday this weekend and she’s here at Casino Night. He’s a big Thorburn fan so Chris took the phone and talked to him for 2-3 minutes. You have to love hockey players.
Here’s a photo gallery from the first half of the evening. My favorite picture is six shots in. Not because of the fans in the foreground, but because of the expression on Johan Hedberg’s face in the background. Priceless. The funny thing is that he makes the same face EVERY YEAR in a picture.
***UPDATE**
Don Waddell addressed the fans after the player introductions, and with the recent results there wasn’t a whole lot he could say. You don’t want top put a damper on what’s supposed to be a fun evening for charity, so he went the humorous route and pulled it off.
“We had a game agaisnt the Rangers on Thursday and we were very happy with the result and the way we played. Our next game is agaisnt the Senators on Tuesday. We’ll leave it at that.”
Not a bad effort from the GM who has always had a knack for working the crowd.
Players are at the card tables now and fans are enjoying getting to know them a bit better. If you’ve never been to a Thrashers Casino Night it really is an outstanding event. It’s not a coincidence that other teams are copying it and holding casino nights of their.
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Tonight is the 10th Annual Thrashers Casino Night which is one of the two biggest fundraisers of the year for the Thrashers Foundation (the other being the golf tournament).
This is our second year in a row at Opera on Crescent St. in Midtown (just off of 14th Street). I’m all set up in a back corner and the players have just arrived. The doors open for fans at 6 pm and then things will get underway. I’ve been assured that there are no surprise announcements tonight, unlike last season when Kovy was named captain.
I’ll be refreshing this post with anything of note that happens, whether it’s funny player stories or thoughts from fans I talk to. Nobody is happy about the recent results on the ice, but this is a night to have some fun and raise money for a good cause. I’ll try to post some pictures during the event, and I’ll likely keep the Tweeting to a minimum unless something is really noteworthy.
nobody should be happy with the recent results.
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Raise money ? This team should give money back to the people who have believed in them since 1999. REAL FANS. Money for pain and suffering..I actually wear Thrashers gear. Do you know what that’s like ? How about a night honoring the rest of us, those of us not at Casino Night, say you are sorry for nights like last night. Seasons like this one. I mean are they gonna put in effort to drink and party, because they sure didn’t put in effort to you know..play hockey last night. We stick by them and we get crapped on.
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Have fun tonight, I’m hoping that we will hear some good news (Even though you have been told otherwise), about a someone’s contract.
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There won’t be any news tonight, but I have heard that there was a whole lot of skating at practice this morning. The coaches worked them pretty hard.
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Nah, they’ll all get drunk and happy!
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I wondered if that would happen after last nights game.
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Two other things the players need to work on is actually passing it TO their fellow teamates not just to open ice to the opposition. They were also making passes behind another Thrashers player or sometimes on his backhand and handcuffed themselves. Another thing this team needs to work on is actually making their shots hit the net instead of in the gut of the opposing goalie. I can’t believe how often Thrashers, forwards and defense, just completely miss the net.
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If you click on the photo gallery for casino night on the home page you are directed to NHL SSL VPN Service page prompting to for a username and passcode.
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Thank you for fixing the link… it is working now.
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Memo to Jack’s Raging Bile Duct: Those of us who have been REAL fans for ten years care more about this than the management and ownership.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing, over and over, and expecting a different result.
What have we done for ten years?
Watch the goalie merry-go-round, throw money at talent that doesn’t want to be here, and listen to excuse after excuse after excuse.
The people who run this franchise either don’t know what they’re doing or they don’t care.
What’s the difference?
So we have to make a choice; accept this for what it is and enjoy the game (opposing teams) or bang our heads against the wall.
It sucks.
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Ok this is getting rediculous. Some of you need to grow up and mature a little bit. Yeah the team isn’t doing so well and saturday was a disaster. Hey news flash, a game like that happens once in awhile. How many franchises in any major sport have had a lot of success in their first 10 years? I believe the Tampa Bay Rays didn’t make the playoffs till their 10th year i believe. I havn’t seen the Houston Texans or the Charlotte Bobcats make the playoffs yet in their short history. It usually takes about 10 years or so before a franchise team gets their feet under them so to speak. Yeah all of us would like to see them make the playoffs this year but we have a lot of free agents coming up and this year i think is the year that will determine our next 4-5 years. Of coarse if we resign Kovy then the team will be set in my opinion for future success. You can only have so many high draft picks before they catch up to you.
I hope Casino night was a big success and i wish to one day attend it. Remeber guys, it’s for charity. GO THRASHERS!!!
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Jimmy – I appreciate your optimisim- but 10 years is plenty of time for a hockey team to make something happen. I cite the Colorado Avalanche and the Carolina Hurricanes as two prime examples.
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Jimmy, ditto.
Chill out boys. It’s sports. I hope you don’t cry every time your favorite speller falls out of the ESPN Spelling Bee. Those poor kids probably take it really hard when you bash them on their blogs too
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Swil… um, those two teams were not expansion teams… they were the Quebec Nordiques and Hartford Whalers.
A better comparison is the Phoenix Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. Not much to brag about there either, is it?
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@GaVaHokie,
No, a better comparison would be Nashville, Columbus and Minnesota. Phoenix used to be the Winnipeg Jets.
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Jimmy The devil rays, and bob cats both had to fire their GM’s to get better results and the texans fired two GM’s in the first ten years.
For a GM to have done this bad a job at not just building a team but also a market and a club is just sad. Most here support the Thrashers but are tired of paying to send Don Waddell to hockey GM school so that one day he might figure it out.
He has failed in every duty a GM has and the only thing any one has to look forward to is who Don will use as a scape goat this year. As GM when the players are not producing you get rid of them and bring in players that will Don has no idea of how to trade or manage and less on how to build a market since the owners are more or less back together I can see no reason to keep any of the front office from Don on down but I would never bet against DW keeping his job because that is the only thing he has excelled at in the hockey world.
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Ok John, the Bobcats are only in their 5th season(Thats half of 10 if you didnt know). They are still no where near success. The Texans are in their 7th or 8th season(once again that is not 10). Houston still has not ever tasted the playoffs and could be a couple of years away from making them(They probably have a better chance the sooner manning retires). Some franchises go more then 10 years with out even going to the playoffs. How do you think all of the Falcons fans in this city have felt all these years with that team doing nothing for so long? The Thrashers did a good job just to get into the playoffs a couple of years ago in, I think, their 8th season. If you were to get rid of all the people in the front office you set this organization back at least 5 years. Yes everyone expected this team to have success this year but we have hit a wall so to speak and haven’t done so well. I hate to say it but either the Kovy signing or making or missing the playoffs is gonna determine how this team is gonna do for the next several years. Now if you have such a problem with this team then go find another team to root for or go apply for Waddell’s job and show everyone how to run things.
GO THRASHERS!!!!!!!
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Its for a great cause BUT the only thing I noticed was Kovy avoiding the pics and the mics. He is so ready to be TRADED!!!!
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