According to both Dan Kamal and Chris Vivlamore the scratches for tonight’s game in Tampa are Mark Popovic on D and Slava Kozlov up front. No word on what the lines will be with Kozlov out and Todd White in, so keep an eye on the AJC blog.
Assuming Kozlov is healthy you have to respect John Anderson for having the stones to scratch the veteran. It can’t be an easy thing to do with everything Kozlov has done in his career, but you have to ice the best possible lineup based on the way players are performing now.
Thrashers nemesis Antero Niittymaki will be in goal for Tampa and Hedberg for Atlanta. Kari Lehtonen is expecting to start for the Wolves tonight in Peoria.
Well gotta give Anderson kudos for having the…guts to sit Kozlov even if at least for one game. I love Kozlov and all but I think this year is showing that he just doesn’t have much left in the tank. He really hasn’t done a whole lot this year. I think it’s time for him to hang the skates after this season and look back on the good career he had. The Thrashers just gotta win this game. That was a badly played game against Carolina. You can’t leave Staal to be wide open to drive the net unchecked or sit there wide open in the circle for an easy one timer goal. I’m so glad Kovy has been taken off the point. Now the powerplay unit will have guys around both circles who can score instead of the team just having to defend one side of the ice and Kovy’s one timers.
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Are you kidding me? Kozzy has the Thrashers ironman streak and is the most loyal Thrasher in the team’s history. Any other regular 70-point man would have left for greener pastures by now but Kozzy loves this team. As a UFA after this season, I now have no vision of him being here next year.
Stones? No way. This is a time when the team needs all the leadership it can get and Kozzy would provide that. Even if he is having an off season, he’s by no means done. Remember two years ago when he had that terrible 2007-2008 and responded with yet another 70-point season last year? But now he’ll be in the KHL because coach Anderson is starting to panic.
Bad move coach Anderson, this move is coming too soon.
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Kudos to Anderson. Sitting Kozzy not only lets him know he has not met expectations, but sends a message to the others that they may be next.
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Hahahahahaha… SWEET JUSTICE! Coach Anderson panics and sit’s Slava Kozlov and the team loses in a shootout. Kozlov is the greatest shootout man in NHL history and in a time when the Thrashers cannot afford to lose any points, Kozzy would have been crucial in grabbing that extra point.
I bet anyone who was happy to see the “slumping” Kozlov scratched is starting to regret that now. Way to blow it John Anderson!
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Whatever John…4 guys had a chance to get one past Nittymaki, and it looked like Kovy sleptwalked his way through the shootout. Slava’s done, just like Todd White’s done.
I don’t understand how you don’t let the number 4 pick in this year’s draft get time on the power play or get a chance in the shootout over guys like Todd White. I’m pretty sure we didn’t draft Evander Kane to be another Jim Slater, so take off the training wheels and let the kid play.
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I’m with you, John. Anderson may have cajones, but he’s missing good judgment. I think the latter is more important. You don’t scratch the best shootout scorer in the league when you are in desperate need of points.
And our last 2 games vs TB were 1-goal losses for us…one of them in OT. Kozlov’s the SO king. He would have been a lot more helpful to this team on the ice tonight.
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Hey Jackass John – what team are you actually going for moron, Kozlov needed to be given a game off because he’s obviously not the same guy he used to be, he’s aging as all players inevitably do. I agree with my man Chris here, Evander Kane should have been given an opportunity to go, not Todd White… So shut the hell up before I come over there take Enstrom’s long stick and shove it up your ignorant asshole
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Okay Jared, I guess the whole sweet justice thing wasn’t neccesary. I’m a huge Kozzy fan and I was really disapointed to see him scratched. I guess the more dissapointing thing was that he was scratched for Todd White. And don’t call me a jackass. I want to see the Thrashers win just as much as you.
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On so many levels…………. I’m just tired.
It pains me to watch so many millionaires play a child’s game
poorly.
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John, whatever man, don’t take it personally what I said to you…if you can…I’m just really pissed of like you are and was just releasing some stress through venting on your comment. I’m just screwing around, now let’s hope we can get a solid win at home over the Ducks and maybe we’ll have remote chance of getting that 8th seed if we keep playing this unmotivated style of hockey, courtesy of DW and Anderson
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Jared, it’s all good man, I understand. I think we can still sneak into the playoffs and possibly be a dark horse; the team does still have some decent scoring depth up front.
I still have hope in this team and I still even have hope for White and Kozlov. Both of them had spectacular seasons last year after mediocre seasons before. If those two could regain their forms from last season, it would go a long way towards getting back into the playoff picture. Other teams are starting to pull away but it’s not over yet.
I still have (some) hope.
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John, I agree with what you’re talking about, despite white and kozlov, little has possibly been the biggest disappointment of the year, for he had 31 goals last year. The main issue in my mind is the high potential that this team has this year, I really think, or did think, that we would make a run for the cup this year. Respect John, now let’s kick some ass the rest of the year.
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Okay I am probably one of the biggest Kozzy fans out there. Do I wish he was in the game tonight…. YES but I understand WHY he was not in it. Let’s look at it this way… Anderson had no clue that we would go into a Shootout, he probbaly had high hope of skating away with a regulation win. Even in OT he probably hoped for a goal there… well that didnt happen… then and ONLY THEN did he probably kick himself.
About the leadership that kozzy offers… the TRUE leader of the team was on the Ice tonight and did one helluva job. Hedberg you are kicking some serious butt this year. Keep it up. I am behind you 100%
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First of all, John is 100% correct.
You don’t disrespect the most loyal guy in franchise history.
It was a chicken**** move by a desperate coach.
Yeah, we sure had MORE scoring punch without him in the line-up!!
And we didn’t miss him in the shoot-out either, did we JA??
The problem with this team is not that Kozzy is slowing down, it’s that the young guys are not stepping up.
Little, Kane, White and Armstrong, our talented quartet of young guns, all have fewer points than Kozzie.
None of them are worth a damn in the shootout, either.
When are they going to step up?
White is -15?? That’s worse than “Grandpa” Kozzy.
Armstrong is a former first round pick. He’s a great agitator, but his scoring is a joke. 8 goals and 9 assits after 50 games?
If another person trys to tell me what a great deal DW made for Hossa, I’m going to pull their shirt over their head and kick them in the ass.
Christensen (sic), Armstrong and Esposito . . . a.ka. Moe, Larry and Cheese! (no, limboiger!)
Easy to dump on Kozzy, but he and Hedberg are the only guys with class on this class starved franchise.
Kovy is a great sniper, but he’s not a leader and a poor Captain. Just watch the passion the OV shows on the ice and the way he fires up his teamates. He leads by example.
If Kozzy he decides to leave, I will miss him, but won’t blame him a bit.
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http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-thrashers/the-art-of-the-272384.html
“Kozlov is the NHL’s all-time leader in shootout goals with 27 and game-deciding shootout goals with 11. His 58.7 shootout percentage is tops all-time among players with more than 13 attempts.”
Our last 2 games vs TB going into last night, have been 1-goal ATL losses, with one game going to OT.
In his last 5 games, Kozlov was +1 with 4 assists. A lot of guys have worse records than that in that time span.
We only have 4 Thrashers who have scored in a shoot out this season. Slava’s the anchor, with an impressive 4G on 6 shots. 8th in league this season, BEST overall ever.
Anderson picked the WRONG guy on the WRONG night to make a healthy scratch. How important is that “message” he sent right now, as other teams pass us in the playoff race?
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Anderson made the right call. You can argue that having Kozzy for the SO is important but his play of late on the PP was what got him benched. He was mishandling pucks and giving up easy clears. You want your best team on the ice and I can’t be alone in thinking that Kozzy was in many ways hurting this team night in and night out. I expect Kozzy to watch another one. White played with a lot of bite and speed.
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Here’s why John can’t leave Kozlov in for the shootout potential. 15% of NHL games go to a shootout this year, and before the TB game the Thrashers were below the NHL average at 14% (roughly 1 in 7).
However, when he is in the shootout our expected goals (assuming 3-round shootout) is 1.17, and only 0.75 without him (non-Kozzy shooters are 5 for 20 this year). And since our shooters are 0 for 7 when he’s not in the SO lineup, it may be lower.
So his expected SO value at game time is the difference with and without him times the possibility of going to a shootout. That’s 0.42*0.14=0.05. At TB game time, leaving him in was worth 0.05 shootout goals.
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Jared, good point but Little is still young enough to rebound. Just as some call it the sophmore curse. I think White may get traded by the deadline, Kozzy will either retire or go to the KHL next season.
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