Ilya Kovalchuk Is A Devil!

At least for a little while. Thrashers GM, Don Waddell, has said that the Thrashers would definitely be buyers when the deadline came around. So maybe Kovy will be coming back! But, at the moment, Kovy is a New Jersey Devil!


Kovalchuk's impending contract re-signing/trade has been the buzz in Atlanta for weeks. At first, we were reasonably certain that Ilya would re-sign. This has been his home for 8 years. He and his wife recently built a large beautiful house. Both of his children were born here and his wife is very pregnant with their third child. Plus, Ilya said he wanted to stay. He said Atlanta was his home. Okay Ilya, we believe you.


Time went on and no contract. Don Waddell said he hoped to have something done by Christmas. The fans were excited.

Christmas as well as the new year came and went. We started thinking that it must be the damned owners, the much criticized, and rightly so, Atlanta Spirit. They own the Atlanta Thrashers as well as the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. They also own our venue, Phillips Arena. They are notoriously cheap and have been lamented as being horrible owners. That must be it. Kovy wants to stay, but the cheap bastards aren't willing to pay him.


More time passed and eventually Don stopped talking about it. Trade Rumors were running wild. One rumor was that Ilya wanted an obscene amount of money, like cap max money. This divided Blueland (Thrashers fans) into 3 categories:
1. Pay the man, he's Ilya-freaking-Kovalchuk.
2. Cap Max for Kovy?? Yeah, he's a scoring leader, but he can't back check for shit, he's defensibly irresponsible and he's not been that great lately. He's the face of our franchise, but we've been losing just fine with him for years. How are we supposed to pay other players to play with him if all our money is tied up with Ilya?
3. The typical douche bags that are just at the game to be seen or because they got some free tickets at work.


In the last few days we have found out that Ilya was indeed offered 2 very lucrative contracts, including one that was $101 million for 12 years, one of the highest in the league. He turned it down. Apparently all of that " I want to stay in Atlanta" stuff was an act. I think maybe he didn't want to look like an ass by wanting to leave, so he asked for ridiculous money thinking the Spirit would say no. Then they called his bluff and he had to answer.


So Ilya is now a Devil, I'm fine with that. The Devils are actually my 2nd favorite team. In return for Ilya and defenseman Anssi Salmela, we got Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfros, prospect Patrice Cormier (made famous by his seizure inducing hit in the QMJHL) and a first round draft pick. I'm a huge Oduya fan, so I'm excited. Even if Ilya does not come back to the Thrashers and his career takes him else where, I'll be a fan ( as long as he doesn't sand bag Atlanta fans or something). Good luck Ilya!

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Welcome To Atlanta!

Where the players play (sing along to the rest of the Ludacris song in your head). I am super excited to be a part of this great collection of lady hockey fans. When I found the blog and saw that my beloved Thrashers had no coverage, I knew I had to represent! I am originally from Mobile, Alabama which oddly enough, is where I found hockey. I started following the ECHL Team, The Mobile Mystics. I moved to Atlanta (so did they incidentally, now the Gwinnett Gladiators), met my husband who was a hockey nut and the love for the game (and him) bloomed. Now I am also obsessed with taking pictures at hockey games, that's why I started my blog: http://gettingpucksdeep.blogspot.com/

1. Where you're from, what you do - basic things.

I am originally from Mobile, Alabama but currently live in Atlanta, Georgia. I am an administrative assistant who has been unemployed since June.

2. Your team and why you like them.

I am an Atlanta Thrashers fan because I live in Atlanta. I love being a southern hockey fan because hockey fans in more traditional markets think they are as likely to see a rabid southern hockey fan as they are a magical unicorn.

3. Your least favourite team and why?

I have a few least favorites. I hate Montreal because I don't like the hockey attitude of most of their fans towards non-traditional hockey markets. And I find it hard to cheer for anyone who would boo their own goalie. I also hate Carolina because they are division rivals and dealt me a sports heartbreak last season that took me months to heal from when the destroyed the Devils in the last few seconds of game 7.

4. Your favourite player of all time & now?

My favorite player of all time is former Thrashers goalie, Pasi Nurminen. He was my first goalie love and started my goalie obsession. Current favorite is Johan Hedberg.

5. Which hockey player is your least favourite and why?

My least favorite player is Cam Ward because he's so damn good and usually is at the heart of some crushing defeat for a team I love.

6 What do you hope to gain from joining HLOG?
I want to meet other hockey loving women from around the league. I also want to show that there are many passionate and knowledgeable hockey fans, especially women, in Atlanta.

7. What role do female fans contribute to the game of hockey? What does female fan support do for the league/team/player she supports?
I think that female fans contribute the same thing to the game as males do, we just look better while doing it. I think that good female fans help erase the stereotype of women who just go to the games to look at hot players or to be seen. People kind of expect guys to be into sports, but when you have a woman who is in to hockey, that helps show what a fantastic sport it is and would possibly attract other fans. As a female fan in Atlanta, I feel like I'm an ambassador of sorts for the Thrashers and as many fans as I can get into the game, the better.

8. Hockey just isn't the same without __________!
Goalies. I'm a complete goalie nut. I love everything about them. I love that everything about them is different from the other players on the ice. Different equipment, different rules, different training, I love that "last line of defense" aspect of the position. I'm the only person I know who enjoys more shots on goal and less scoring.

9. If you could make your own team, regardless of whatever players, what would it be called and where will it be/how would it be like?

I would return the Winnipeg Jets to Manitoba and it would be owned by Jim Balsillie. Canada needs another team and Jim would finally stop sniffing around my teams. Maybe some of the "Atlanta is going to move/be sold" crap would stop. It probably wouldn't stop, but a girl can dream.

10. Who gets your squee and why? (keep it short & sweet, y'all!)

Goalies in general get a lot of squee, but there is no better squee than Johan "Moose" Hedberg. I mean just look at him. He's beautiful. He's my #1. Non-goalie squee is Boris Valabik.

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