Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - Things were expected to change in Atlanta during the 2002-03 season. The three horrid years -- that garnered an average of 18 wins apiece -- the club had suffered through after entering the National Hockey League in 1999 were merely supposed to be growing pains all expansion clubs experience before emerging into the realm of respectability.
Well, the Thrashers have moved into a realm alright, but it's one that hardly commands respect.
Despite some decent offseason additions -- Slava Kozlov, Shawn McEachern and Richard Smehlik to name a few -- Curt Fraser's troops have been plagued by the same breakdowns and defensive miscues that have been their calling card since inception. Sure they can score -- they're seventh in the NHL in goals-for at press time -- but their goals-against is once again the worst the league has to offer, at 4.42 per contest.
Through seven games, the Thrashers have accounted for nary a victory, and can't even claim a tie to speak of. The lonely point in their row at the bottom of the Southeast Division standings came courtesy of a 5-4 overtime loss to Florida back on October 12.
The 0-6-0-1 start is the worst in the franchise's dismal history, but thankfully Atlanta is not quite halfway toward matching the 1943-44 New York Rangers' disastrous record of 15 games without a victory to begin a campaign.
The frustration continued this past Wednesday night at Philips Arena as Fraser's crew dropped a 2-1 decision to the New Jersey Devils. It already marked the Thrashers' fifth one-goal setback of the young campaign, further proving the team's lack of defensive prowess when it counts.
And in actuality, the loss wasn't as close as 2-1, as Ilya Kovalchuk's power- play goal with 1.7 seconds left on the game clock was the only blemish to the stat sheet of Devils' backstop Martin Brodeur. Atlanta pressured the perennial All-Star often during the tilt, but its chances usually ended with the puck sailing high or wide.
"There is no question we should have won that game," reigning Calder winner Dany Heatley said. "We had more than enough chances. We're right there and it's frustrating obviously. We're just a step away. Once we get a win, I think the monkey will be off our backs and we'll be rolling."
If the Thrashers are to get "rolling" as Heatley put it, he and Kovalchuk will obviously need to play integral roles. And so far, each player appears as if he is ready to build upon his strong rookie campaign, with some expected bumps along the way of course.
At press time, Kovalchuk is tied for fourth in the NHL with five goals -- that puts him on pace for nearly 60 markers -- and has thus far proved the dazzling displays he put forth a season ago were merely a sample of what's to come -- at least in terms of offense. He has, however, experienced a couple of incidents that show his green age and lack of maturity.
In the October 12 loss to Florida, Panthers coach Mike Keenan challenged the curvature of the 19-year-old's stick, and it was found to be illegal. The resulting penalty wiped out a Thrashers' power play in overtime, thus allowing Florida's Olli Jokinen to score the game-winner 14 seconds later.
If that wasn't enough, Kovalchuk embarrassed himself further against the Panthers nine days later. The brash youngster put his squad ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal in the latter stages of the first period, but proceeded to taunt the Florida bench while pointing to his new, and hopefully legal, stick blade. If the taunting wasn't bad enough on its own, the fact that Kovalchuk and Co. squandered a third-period lead en route to yet another loss makes it downright laughable.
Keenan gave his opinion of the act after the match, and it's something Kovalchuk would be smart to take to heart if he plans on becoming an elite NHL player.
"Excellent players in the league, such as Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux and Peter Forsberg, they don't do that," Keenan said. "They have a lot more respect for the game and for the people they're playing with and against."
For the Thrashers' sake, Kovalchuk will learn the proper decorum for an NHL superstar, and that should come in due time -- maybe once he reaches his 20s. Remember, the kid is at a point in his life when kids in this country often spend their time pondering which fraternity party they should frequent on a particular night.
In other words if he can score 40-50 goals this season, a few immature instances like those above can be tolerated.
Atlanta's more pressing problem right now is figuring out a way to get things going in the defensive zone and provide some protection for goaltender Milan Hnilicka, who put forth one of his better performances against the Devils on Wednesday.
A problem with doing so is the Thrashers' lack of that blueline anchor who can gobble up hordes of ice time and be expected to shine in all situations, at all times. Smehlik and oft-injured veteran Uwe Krupp, who is already sidelined with back trouble, were brought in to provide support in the corps, but neither has the talent or pedigree to be that ace Fraser can throw out there for 30 minutes per game if need be.
The closest thing he has to that is sophomore Daniel Tjarnqvist, who logged 28:17 of ice time in the loss to the Devils. The 26-year-old emerged as the team's top rearguard last winter and spring, but even Fraser doesn't believe he's quite ready to assume a starring role at the moment.
"The better teams have a horse on defense who can fill any role," Fraser said. "Daniel can be that for us. Is he ready to play 30 minutes right now? I don't think so. But by January he will be. He'll get more minutes, not less. Defensemen are at a real premium. Daniel can be a real good one."
Unfortunately, the Thrashers don't have until January, and will have to get as much out of the Swede as they can in an effort to break their early-season lull. And something must give soon or Fraser could be skimming the want-ads by the time Tjarnqvist finally does enter into his own.
The 44-year-old bench boss has been given the proverbial "vote of confidence" by general manager Don Waddell, but if losses keep stockpiling, that tune could change rather quickly.
And the saddest thing of all might be the fact that there doesn't seem to be many people who'd necessarily care if the Thrashers didn't end their slide in the near future. Only 10,641 people showed up at Philips Arena on Wednesday -- it holds 18,500 -- and the game wasn't televised -- anywhere.
