Grounded, in a good way

There's a line of thinking among hockey hounding circles that the weakest NHL teams were among the most friendly to fans and hounds. At one time, the Atlanta Thrashers were one of those teams. Most of them, save for the hound-pounded Ilya Kovalchuk and, for some reason, Andy Sutton, were willing signers.

Now that the Thrashers are the defending Southeast champs, it will be interesting to see whether the team is more interested in its swagger (really, it should be, don't you think?) than its signing habits. Given yesterday's outing, before Tampa Bay's 5-2 victory, success has yet to go their their heads. Well, most of them anyways.

Given my experience with the team, I knew that some players would be more difficult than others. Bobby Holik, a strict one-per, ignored two polite requests. Slava Kozlov looked straight ahead and walked as though he was in some form of international competition. My old buddy. Brad Larsen, well, I have his autograph and, trust me, one's plenty.

Other than that, though, most everyone else stopped, including Atlanta's Big Three -- Marian Hossa, Kari Lehtonen and Kovalchuk. Even tough-guy-turned-personality Jeff Odgers stopped to sign, wondering whether Florida's high temperatures and humidity ever subside.

Veteran defenseman Alexei Zhitnik became the first player to sign the 1999 All Star Game helmet. Had Holik stopped, I would have had him sign it as well.

One minor disappointment was that we missed Johan Hedberg. Normally a most-willing signer, only after learning that he would start against the Lightning did I understand his surprising denial.

Given that this team could have had a bit more swagger in its step, the Thrashers only improved their reputation as one of the more hound-friendlier teams in the league.

And, as always, the proof is in the pudding:

Pucks, shown above: Top row - Ken Klee and Kari Lehtonen; Bottom row - Steve McCarthy and Eric Perrin.

Cards, shown below: Niclas Havelid, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jeff Odgers and Todd White.