MVN - Most Valuable Network

Black Tuesday in Blueland?

At the beginning of the century the Thrashers were called “The Team that will be King” by many NHL experts. Dany Heatley and IIya Kovalchuk arrived in Atlanta. They were electric, limitlessly talented and provided the promising foundation for an organization for which the sky was the limit. The organization was young and vibrant. The team was wild. They made many mistakes but the potential for greatness was obvious. It was just a matter of time. Many transplanted Atlanta hockey fans became Thrasher fans and made the decision to stick with this team as it matured. We invested in our hockey club. The future was bright.

Seven years, one terrible car accident, many poor drafts, ill-advised trades and acquisitions later……

The minimum wage in the state of Georgia is $5.85 per hour. The minimum amount an NHL is allowed to spend on their roster in 2008-09 is about 41 million. The Thrashers current payroll is currently about 33 million or about $4.68 per hour. (Stretching this analogy to its outer limits) At this point the Atlanta Thrashers are violating labor laws and are not an NHL team by definition.

It’s free agent frenzy day in the NHL and as of 8:06 pm EDT, 42 players have been signed. Twenty two NHL teams have made moves. Some have completed as many as four signings. The biggest news out of Atlanta is that the Thrashers have lost their Captain, Bobby Holik. None of the massive available salary cap has been used to acquire a Defenceman, Forward, bag of pucks or even a new pair of blades for IIya Kovalchuk to wear when he skates out of Atlanta at top speed in two years.

At 5:40 Brian Campbell was signed to a multi-year deal with Chicago - Disappointment, he was our #1 target.

At 6:24 Brian Rolston was signed by the Devils - Further disappointment followed by a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach. Rolston was the perfect complement/second weapon for the Thrasher offense and his price was reasonable.

At 7:37 Wade Redden was signed by Rangers - Anger has set in round these parts. Is our GM asleep or has this franchise conceded the upcoming season?

At 8:06 the Islanders signed Defenceman Mark Streit - As far as I can tell the D-man pool is now a puddle, shallow and uninviting except for some fella named Ron from Columbus.

Hossa, Sundin, and Jagr are all still available. Please raise your hand is you think the Thrashers are in the running for any of these superstars no matter how much green they throw in the ring. Go ahead, raise it up. Anyone? No hands can be seen, visible are only expressions of disgust and disappointment. Have Atlanta Thrasher fans once again been sold a bill of goods and let down by the management of our chronically underachieving, over-promising organization?

Or…..

Maybe this deafening silence is followed by a dramatic crescendo. The contracts secured by Redden, “Soupy” Campbell and Mark Streit seem excessive. Maybe, just maybe, Dan Boyle becomes a Thrasher in a trade. Perhaps our GM is wise to be patience and is ready to strike after buyer’s remorse sets in for teams who stretched their wallets wide in the feeding frenzy. Perhaps Don Waddell has 11th hour moves up his sleeve that will cause the Blueland faithful to cling to some hope for success in the near future. Maybe all is not lost and the sky will remain overhead.

Then again, maybe not….

Your Loyal Servant,

Sean Grace

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 9:18 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.