- Paul Postma’s answers to your Ask A Thrasher questions are up and there’s some good stuff in there, even if the sandwich he chose as the signature Paul Postma sandwich is pretty much the chicken bacon ranch sub from Subway.
- Maple Ridge News has a nice feature about Andrew Ladd and his day with the Stanley Cup. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun got hold of some great pictures of Ladd on top of some mountains with the Cup.
- If you haven’t heard, Kovalchuk’s contract was rejected by the NHL. According to Kings GM Dean Lombardi the Thrashers supposedly offered him a 4-5 year deal in the $8 million range. What do you think? Would you welcome him back if NJ doesn’t end up re-signing him?
- There should be some Clarke MacArthur news soon, but probably not anything too surprising if you’ve been reading Chris Vivlamore’s stuff.
- John Kincade got into a debate with Thrashers fans on our Facebook page yesterday and some interesting points were made. What are your thoughts?
Sure – I’d welcome him back – but I suspect that ship has sailed. It seems the Thrashers made a reasonable offer out of respect, but the team is going in a different direction now.
The more important point that nobody’s making is that if Kovy/Grossman knew back in Feb that there was no possibility of one of these cap circumventing contracts for him in July, the probabilities would have been MUCH HIGHER of him accepting one of the Thrashers offers. That’s the reality.
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I have a long-standing policy regarding people that think they’re too good for me: I generally conclude I’m too good for them. Kovy snubbed this city and it’s fans in a big way over the course of last season and this summer. If he wants to come back and get the fans’ support, he’s got a lot of groveling to do. I suspect Kovy isn’t used to being in the groveling business.
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Personally, I like the look of the Thrashers without Ilya Kovalchuk. In December of last year, I never thought I would have backed such a statement. In all honesty, I’d rather see Atlanta re-sign Maxim Afinogenov for a shorter term and less salary than a longer term deal with Kovy for a significant salary.
I like the direction the Thrashers are headed and I’d be hesitant to add Kovalchuk’s lackluster three zone play back into the mix.
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I personally don’t want Kovy back. He’s a major defensive liability and this team needs defensive responsible forwards instead of leaving our actual defensemen and goalie out to dry every game. It’s been painfully obvious the Thrashers haven’t had the best defensive game in the league hence why we always seem to give up more goals than we score. Kovy doesn’t even use his size for anything either. He doesn’t hit like Ovechkin. He seems afraid to initiate any contact with anyone especially in the defensive zone. He’ll just take a weak half assed poke or swing of his hockey stick and some opposing forward turns a corner and goes right by him. I love watching Kovy score and the things he can do offensively are awesome but this is a team concept Atlanta Thrashers and we need players that play and believe in that.
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Nope….. the Kovy shipped has sailed!!!!
No way, no how!!
We’re building a TEAM! W/ Character, and a stalwart heart! Stones! Grit!
I’d buy Kovy a beer, and sit there, and drink it with him. I believe he’s taken extremely bad advice from his Agent. Maybe in a few years he’ll realize how poorly he treated this Organization, maybe not. Don’t care.
Water under Da bridge.
Let’s get on with it!
GO THRASHERS!
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I have to agree with some of the commenters on the Facebook post. 680 really doesn’t do enough to promote the sport. I’m not talking just the Thrashers, I’m talking hockey in general.
Devoting a couple minutes a day, at some chance time, is not going to generate fans. Kinkade pointed out that he’s not there to create a fanbase. To me, that’s perfectly fine. He’s not creating one now to begin with. However, you have to understand how the existing fans of the sport feel.
It’s July. There’s not much to talk about as it is. So why not discuss hockey? Is UGA that much more important? Is UGA buying the large amounts of coverage they receive? If that’s the case, how much do the Thrashers have to pay to get similar coverage? I could start a collection and we fans will get you that money. Just say the word.
Ben, tell me, why did the Thrashers re-up with 680 again? The Hawks games are going to get the FM Radio treatment. The Thrashers fans will all have to struggle to get any sort of reception in the car once they leave the vicinity of the perimeter. Is it comforting to see the Thrashers relegated? That’s exactly what it amounts to. I could click a link on the computer to hear the game broadcast over the internet. That would be great, if I weren’t in my car.
We fans have done a lot of “word of mouth” recruiting for the Thrashers. I’m not made of money, mind you, but I’ve bought tickets for several friends, who have since become Thrashers fans. I may have a few friends coming out from Hawaii to see games with me this year. It will be their very first exposure to hockey, but they want to watch.
You can only pay for so much “recruiting” of fans, especially when the product is mediocre. Kinkade cited the 2006-2007 season, and how the radio and arena was full of fans. 680s coverage of a team they are a flagship station for should not decrease simply because the number of fans showing up to see crappy hockey. People didn’t want to pay to see Kovalchuk cherry-pick at the blue line, looking for an outlet pass, which inevitably caused a goal against. People didn’t want to see Zhitnik on the ice, at all. People didn’t want to watch a bunch of smurfs and pillows get tossed around like rag dolls by much bigger teams.
Can anyone honestly blame them?
No. Fanbase creation might not be the job of 680. Fanbase interaction, however, is. It is unfortunate that there is very little interaction with the fanbase. In the future, Ben, please suggest the team seek out an FM station to broadcast on, or a station that can actually be picked up 20 miles outside the perimeter.
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