- Firstly, with all the wheeling and dealings the past few weeks the Thrashers were short one AHL player so today they signed UFA F Michael Ryan.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...id%5B%5D=45084
Mr. Ryan is now a regular on the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL, and feel he will be a good fit on the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
- The deadline came and went and the Thrashers made one move on actual deadline day. Tom Kostopoulous (72 ov, signed 2 years, 900K) was brought in for Nick Tarnasky (68 ov, and a 4th ott).
"It was nice to bring in a depth player who can play on our 4th line. He is having a good year this year in the CPHL with 55 points and it gives us another body in the playoff run especially with injuries possibly happening up front." - GM Sutaria
- The Thrashers made most of their moves prior to the deadline with Doan, St.Louis, Ohlund, Lang, Sydor, Mason, Matvichuk and Walz coming in over the last 20 games.
"No question we made alot of moves over the last 20 games, but especially the last week. I think we were up to like 8 deals the past 13 or 14 days. We felt we needed some more high end talent and we got that. We feel we have depth up front. Doan and St.Louis have been a great duo for us since we acquired them. They are the top end talent we need to win some games here. St.Louis is familiar with us as well, as he was the MVP last year of the playoffs. Lang just adds another scoring element for us up front. Walz is a good veteran guy to have that can kill penalties and play good sound defense and shut other teams scorers out or atleast minimize their chances. On D, bringing in Ohlund, Sydor and Matvichuk really gave us a boost. Our defense is probably our strong point on this team. All three of those guys are leaders and can play big minutes for us. In goal, we felt we wanted a more veteran backup and Mason gives us that. He's a good team guy and can come in and win some games for us if needed.
We know going into the playoffs no matter who we play it's going to be tough and we will be the underdogs. We are fine with that role and know we have the personnel in this room to beat any team that we face if we get the consistent effort we need. It's looking like we will play the Panthers or Canadiens in round 1 and regardless which team it is, we have to be at our absolute best to beat them. Anything less then our best won't get the job done. They are two elite teams and we are fine with the underdog role that is given to us. We don't face the pressure here, and we feel the pressure is on them. Noone is giving us a chance but we look to surprise some people. Win or lose, Atlanta will be playing their hearts out and will be at our best. That's the way Thrashers hockey is. We feel we have the team to go out and beat quality teams like that in a best of 7 series, all that's left is to go and play the games. Both Florida and Montreal have great teams and will pose a challenge either way. It should be fun either way. Let's get this party started! Atlanta is coming to it ready to get down to business and to have some fun"! - Thrashers GM Sutaria
Thrashers News and Notes
