Insight

From Kevin Allen's Mucking & Grinding:

Since being plucked from the Nashville Predators earlier this month, Rich Peverley has become an instant sensation in Atlanta, producing two goals and five assists in four games as Kovalchuk’s center. With Peverley playing a key role, the Thrashers have won three games in a row.

“I can’t say I expected this, but we liked his skill,” Waddell said. “Kovy really likes him. He came up to me after the first game with him, and said, 'Don, good player.'”

Kovy Likes him. Good enough for me.

WOOOOOOOOOO.

With all due respect, and remember I'm sayin' it with all due respect...

Nice.

This'll get old one day. But not today.

Re: The Peverley Bounce? No, it's not the hottest new dance in the Buckhead clubs - it's the initial jolt after a fresh dispensation of some Pevs. After last nights' 3rd period, I'm wondering if it isn't starting to wear off. No real sustained pressure, 18 shots allowed... not a good sign. Kari shouldn't have to work that hard. Hopefully the momentum can keep rolling tonight.

Re: Scoring. I love it when people not named Kovalchuk have mutli-point games and multi-game point streaks. Shuts the haters right up.

Re: Jimmy Slater Get well soon. Haste the return of Joe's Crabb Shack. And hopefully Ex. 'Cause this looks like fun:

Next up: Philthadelphia.

Fact: I have never been to a Flyers game without someone wearing orange being escorted out of the arena. True story.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go, Part 2

Continuing the theme, I give you tonight's top line, left to right:

17 LW Ilya Kovalchuck (C)

Pros: 500 points in 500 games; unbelievable slapshot; even more amazing wrist shot; the celebrations:


Cons: Tends to cheat a little defensively.

Verdict: Stay.
Please, please, please for the love of hockey in this town, Stay.


47 C Rich Peverley

Pros: Almost a point-per-game in 4 years in the AHL; rated among the top 20 Preds prospects by HockeysFuture.com (great interview with the magnificent Holly Gunning to be found here); all stats point to a possible top scoring forward

Cons: "Knock, knock"
"Who's there?"
"Rich Peverley"
"Ummm.... who?"

Other than lack of name recognition, Peverley looks like a keeper. An RFA with a cap hit this year of $244,000, and 2 more years at roughly $500,00 each, Pevs looks like a forward who cold find space on not only this roster, but some others as well (ooooh, trade bait!).

Verdict: Stay.

20 LW Colby Armstrong

Pros: Great locker room guy; fan favorite (rumor has it, some Pens fans cried when they learned of Army's trade); has at least 20g/20a potential; pretty chippy, likes to agitate, but in a good way; massive hits; just a ton of fun to watch.

Cons: Still prone to making "young guy" mistakes; hasn't had a consistent enough role to establish an identity.

A hard hitter, a point-producer, fan-favorite, and locker room glue. As long as he likes Atlanta, I'll have him.

Verdict: Stay.

Tonights game v. Sens: The team we love to hate, the only team in the league more depressing to watch (c'mon, those preseason expectations were at least a little higher than 34pts at the midpoint). We can leapfrog 'em with a regulation win, boys. All eyes on Pevs. And Little. And Bogo. All hands on deck, full speed ahead.

Go Thrashers.

Tibits and such...

Just because I feel compelled to comment, and no one is around to stop me...

Re: Florida game. Y'know, I actually had hope after Kovy's goal in the third... the whole thing about not going quietly into that good night and such... but, too little, too late. C'mon Kari, time to put on the big-boy pads and play like a pro. No matter what time the game starts.

Re: Kovy's captaincy. If what Waddell says is true about the other A's giving him the thumbs-up, that's a tremendous vote of confidence. It also puts to bed the biggest fear in my mind: that Kovy was a locker room problem. Now, most games (especially the games that resulted in a win), that thought would never even cross my mind. But other games... The rap on him was that he was a selfish "showoffy" player. In my mind, that conjured up images of a locker room demeanor that would be less than productive. Not along the lines of a Sean Avery, but more like a bizzaro-Avery: so quiet and reserved that his on-ice celebrations and actions would cause others to avoid him. Throw in a lack of production from the rest of the team and a scoring slump, and that thought started to creep in more & more. So when the trade rumors stared to float around, I started to wonder, "Is this how he's gonna go?" Giving Kovy the 'C' (and more importantly his decision to accept it) is a huge bright spot in a pretty dismal time.

Re: Rich Peverley. On the ajc beat blog, a commenter made this statement:

It’s kind of embarrassing when you grab a waived guy and make him the first line center, eh?

I understand the point: how good can your team actually be when you pull a guy off the wire and then drop him on the top line for the very next game.

But then there's the chemistry. Just like Savard coming over from Calgary improved his point total considerably (btw... required reading: Mike Chen's article on Savard and the "unraveling"), this might be the move that Pevvy needs to jumpstart his offense. You can never make judgement calls on how a line will play together until they actually play together. Who predicted the success of the Kahlua line before the season started? If I remember correctly, it was Slava who said they were so successful because they think so much alike. Rich may have a mindset that fits Kovy's game perfectly. On paper, Kovy-Pevvy-Army makes a lot of sense. Super-offensive left wing, offensively-minded centerman, and gritty right wing. Let's give it a shot. Johnny A. may have some experience with/against Pevvy. Besides, it's not like there's another number one center kicking around to mortgage the farm for...

...oh, wait...

Re: Speaking of Johnny A... He and our esteemed GM were taking to the airwaves today. Check out Rawhides' recaps.

Re: "James Wisniewski, the Audubon Society is on line 1 for you..." The Blackhawks hate pigeons. Pigeons, stay away from the Blackhawks.

Re: The newest Thrasher/Wolf. Welcome Brett Skinner. Trade bait, or Chicago depth?