Post by atlantagm on Jun 16, 2006 11:46:34 GMT -5
ATLANTA (AP) - The Atlanta Thrashers currently are sitting atop the Patrick Division and 2nd overall in Eastern Conference and it has been thanks to there impressive offensive numbers this year.
The Thrashers currently have scored the most goals this season with 139, 18 more then nearest competitor. Simon Gagne leads the IWHL in scoring with 42 points. The offensive explosion can be traced to putting together the top line of Evgeni Malkin, Martin Havlat and Simon Gagne. If that is not impressive enough the team just acquired centre Peter Forsberg from Minnesota for Maxim Afiniganov. Forsberg is centring Milan Hedjuk and Ryan Smyth, which could be a number 1 line on most teams.
Bob Hartley: "We are playing to our strengths definately. When your first picks in the Dispersal draft were all great offesive players then it is no wonder that we are winning games because of our offense."
That is not to discount Patrick Lalime's goaltending. Patrick is 13-3-5 on the season with a solid 2.85 GAA.
Hartley: "The great thing about this team is we have a young nucleus to build on for the future and we should be able to compete for a long time."
Amen to that.
The Thrashers currently have scored the most goals this season with 139, 18 more then nearest competitor. Simon Gagne leads the IWHL in scoring with 42 points. The offensive explosion can be traced to putting together the top line of Evgeni Malkin, Martin Havlat and Simon Gagne. If that is not impressive enough the team just acquired centre Peter Forsberg from Minnesota for Maxim Afiniganov. Forsberg is centring Milan Hedjuk and Ryan Smyth, which could be a number 1 line on most teams.
Bob Hartley: "We are playing to our strengths definately. When your first picks in the Dispersal draft were all great offesive players then it is no wonder that we are winning games because of our offense."
That is not to discount Patrick Lalime's goaltending. Patrick is 13-3-5 on the season with a solid 2.85 GAA.
Hartley: "The great thing about this team is we have a young nucleus to build on for the future and we should be able to compete for a long time."
Amen to that.