Atlanta Thrashers winger Maxim Afinogenov.Gerry Broome
So here's a thought about the future of a franchise - the Atlanta Thrashers - that passed through Calgary this past week, which brought back memories of the earlier failed attempt by the NHL to put a team in the Deep South.
That was the Atlanta Flames, the New York Islanders' 1972 expansion cousins, who lasted only eight seasons in Georgia, before Nelson Skalbania and a consortium of Calgary oil men purchased the team from Tom Cousins and moved them to southern Alberta.
With only a few blips along the way, the Calgary Flames have been a major NHL success story - competitive almost as soon as they arrived in Canada, three times a Stanley Cup finalist, once a champion, and from a business standpoint, able to do what the Atlanta version never could do, which is sell a lot of seats for a lot of dollars over a 30-year span.
In short, they are a picture of financial health these days - and not a bad squad on the ice either. Internally, Flames ownership believes that a new facility to replace the aging Pengrowth Saddledome is a priority in the next five years, but even if they need to muddle along in their current digs for the foreseeable future, they are operating nicely in the black, even as the economy falters all around them.
Atlanta? To paraphrase John Fogerty, it's déjà vu all over again. The Thrashers desperately need this year's modest on-ice improvements to be real and to take root. Otherwise, they're facing a losing battle in a city with the usual small, but rabid base of hockey aficionados that develops in a non-traditional market - and a much larger group of indifferent sports fans that might turn up if they get a sexy, winning program going. Like Washington, in other words, where their northern neighbours were just as much of an afterthought until Alex Ovechkin came along to add spice; coach Bruce Boudreau introduced a winning system; and general manager George McPhee developed the necessary supporting cast.
Which is why, in a roundabout way, the key to success in Atlanta may be the Max Factor, or more specifically, the Max Afinogenov Factor.
Think of it this way: Whatever Atlanta may accomplish this year can be quickly unraveled if Ilya Kovalchuk says bye-bye at year's end. Kovalchuk is one of the NHL's most dynamic players, a performer almost at Ovechkin's level in terms of pure, raw scoring ability. But Kovalchuk has been with the Thrashers for eight not-so-great years and is starting to get itchy for success. A potential unrestricted free agent following the season, Kovalchuk is amendable to staying in Atlanta (where he has developed roots and a strong command of the English language), but only if he believes the Thrashers can mimic the Capitals' success and evolve - sooner rather than later - into Stanley Cup contenders.
Understanding that the future of his team is now, general manager signed both Afinogenov and Nikolai Antropov as unrestricted free agents last summer, in much the same way that the Capitals once brought in Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov to make Ovechkin more comfortable.
Kovalchuk actually had a hand in coaxing Afinogenov to Atlanta, after two dismal final seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, in which he had become a bit player for the team. Afinogenov's pure talent would always surface occasionally every year - and be good for a YouTube highlight or two. But more often than not, he was an invisible presence with the Sabres, someone who needed a change of scenery in order to get his game back on track.
Even as the Thrashers' high-powered attack hit a hiccup during its cross-Canada tour that began in Toronto last Monday and ended in Vancouver Thursday night, Afinogenov has resurrected his career. He's been flirting with the top 30 in scoring and - in a year when Bryan Little and Slava Kozlov have both had trouble finding the back of the net - has picked up the slack in an important way.
Afinogenov is not the only NHL reclamation project paying big dividends this year - Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders may be an even more inspiring story - but it does prove that, sometimes, a fresh start on a team prepared to work with your various quirks, inconsistencies and defensive shortcomings can make all the difference in the world.
In John Anderson, the Thrashers hired a coach that is very Boudreau-like, someone who had some offensive abilities as a player and then learned his craft in the minors, where the need to make accommodations for a players' weaknesses is front-and-centre virtually every day. It breeds a brand of coach that understands the value and importance of patience.
"Sometimes, in your career, you come to a reckoning," says Anderson. "Either you've got to get going again, or it's over. I think he came to that point. We gave him an opportunity to show his wares and he's been wonderful for us. He loves it here. He's got some Russian friends on the team that helped him feel acclimated right away. That helped tremendously. His skill level, his speed and his thinking of the game are tremendous. It was just a matter of getting it back out of him."
Anderson, who launched a successful hamburger chain in his playing days with the Maple Leafs, had a lengthy apprenticeship with the AHL's Chicago Wolves that finally culminated with his appointment to the Thrashers' head coaching position at the beginning of last year.
"Sometimes, you get a little stale in an organization," said Anderson. "I played in Toronto for eight years and I didn't think there was any other place to play. Then I went to Quebec and it was like a breath of fresh air for me. Maybe that's just what it was for him."
To Kovalchuk, Afinogenov's bounce-back season is "all about ice time. When you play five minutes a game, it's tough to create the chances. You're freezing cold sitting on the bench and they put you out there somewhere and it's tough to get anything, so … if you play 18 or 20 minutes and the coach put him out in the key situations, he feels that confidence. He's working hard."
As for Afinogenov, he says he never seriously considered the many overtures that came his way from Russia's Continental Hockey League (KHL).
"I wanted to be in the NHL. All my thinking was about being in the NHL. I got many offers from back home, especially from my home team, Dynamo, but I just told them: I want to be here. After 10 years of playing in Buffalo, I wanted to see what was happening on other teams - and to give myself a chance. If I can play, I can play. If not, then it's not. I think I make the right decision. Atlanta was calling and invited me to the camp and I said yes. I really appreciate my chance."
AROUND THE RINKS
In an effort to get his team captain Vincent Lecavalier back on the scoring track, Tampa Bay Lightning coach Rick Tocchet put him on the No. 1 line with Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone for the Oilers game, this after all three, along with Steve Stamkos and Alex Tanguay, were sat down for the final seven minutes of a discouraging shutout loss to Washington. Lecavalier's assist total is fine - 19 in 30 games, which is top-20 in the league - but the Lightning want more goals from him, after he led the league with 52 in 2006-07. At his current pace, Lecavalier will fail to score 20 for the first time since his rookie season 11 years ago. Tampa Bay opened a six-game road trip Friday in Colorado; as Tocchet noted, a team can slip from eighth to 13th in a hurry if the losses mount on the road. "The urgency is not now," he said. "It was yesterday" … It would have been a homecoming of sorts for the Oilers' Nikolai Khabibulin this past Wednesday, when Edmonton visited Tampa Bay and his former team, with whom he won a Stanley Cup championship in 2004. With Khabibulin out indefinitely with a creaky back, Jeff Deslauriers was solid in his place, stopping 123 of his last 130 shots and earning the victory over the Lightning. Deslauriers's biggest strides have come just by keeping it simple - puck handling is not his strong suit, but then again, it isn't Khabibulin's either … So Ray Emery's problematic recent results were the result of injury, not poor play. Well, that finally clarifies matters. Flyers' general manager Paul Holmgren denied there was anything wrong with Emery, so everyone just assumed that the 21 goals he allowed over five games was a slump, pure and simple. Then came the announcement earlier this week, that Emery needed surgery to repair a torn muscle in his abdominal wall and will miss six weeks or so. The good news is if Emery comes back and plays the way he did in October, then the Flyers might be okay in net. But in the meantime, they need to get consistent play from the terminally inconsistent Brian Boucher ... Philadelphia could have put in a claim for Michael Leighton, waived by Carolina this week after Cam Ward returned, but gave him a pass. For now, they're using Johan Backlund, a 28-year-old Swede, as a back-up. The Flyers opted for surgery after treatment options - rehab, cortisone shots - failed to improve Emery's condition … A fun fact from the stats wizards at the Elias Sports Bureau: Only once previously in their history have the Washington Capitals held down the No. 1 overall spot in the NHL standings this late in the season. It came in 1991-92, with Terry Murray behind the bench, when they were tied with the Montreal Canadiens for first place with 54 points through 41 games. That year, the Capitals held sole possession of the highest point total in the league as late as their 35th game (49 points). The Capitals - visiting Toronto Saturday night - leapfrogged the San Jose Sharks earlier this week … Anze Kopitar's days atop the NHL scoring lead were short-lived, thanks to a month-long goal-scoring slump that coincided with Ryan Smyth's exit from the Los Angeles Kings' line-up. Kopitar had 14 goals in his first 18 games, zero in his next 13 and then finally broke out vs. San Jose Wednesday with No. 15 on the season … Finally some good news from the Detroit Red Wings' injury ward: Centre Val Filppula had the cast removed from his broken wrist this past week. The next step is getting some of the stiffness out and improving his mobility. Filppula is on target to return before the end of the month … The Carolina Hurricanes' much revered captain, Rod Brind'Amour, was a healthy scratch for Monday's game against Pittsburgh, after running up the worst minus total in the league (minus-17). Carolina won that night against the defending Stanley Cup champions, posting their first road win of the season, but Brind'Amour was back in the line-up for Wednesday's date with the New Jersey Devils, playing left wing on a checking line with Stephane Yelle and Scott Walker. It was the 1,433rd game of Brind'Amour's career, moving past Mike Gartner for 19th all time. "It's never easy to sit out any player," said coach Paul Maurice, to the Raleigh News Observer. "You ask your players to prepare physically and mentally for games, and at no point has anyone said, 'Roddy's not doing that.' He does everything he can to prepare'".… Figure the Hurricanes' versatile Ray Whitney to be this year's answer to Bill Guerin and/or Mark Recchi: A valuable addition for a Stanley Cup contender at the trading deadline. In four-and-a-half years with Carolina, Whitney is averaging just under a point a game … The Columbus Blue Jackets have managed to catch the Carolinas for the worst defensive record in the league, with goaltender Steve Mason (1-7 in his last eight decisions) immersed in a massive sophomore slump. Mason led the league in shutouts last year with 10; this season, he earned his first Wednesday by a 3-0 count over Florida … Believe it or not, the Oilers really missed defenceman Denis Grebeshkov, who has missed 11 games and counting with a knee injury. Grebeshkov rejoined the Oilers for the tail end of a six-game trip that wrapped up in St. Louis Friday night and probably won't be completely healthy until the off-season. Grebeshkov leads the Oilers in average time on ice with 23 minutes per night … Of late, the Sharks' scoring has been spread out a little, beyond the contributions of the top line. The biggest gains were made by Ryan Clowe, who had one point in his first 10 games but has been a point-per-game producer ever since. "He's found his game, he's confident now," said Todd McLellan, to the San Jose Mercury News. "He's protecting the puck well and limiting his turnovers now. Anytime you do that, your teammates enjoy playing with you a little bit more and you have a whole lot more success."