Dirty Birds taking flight

It’s hard not to view the Atlanta Thrashers with a bit of hairy eyeball.

A team that’s made the playoffs just once since entering the league in 1999-00 presently sits sixth in the Eastern Conference. Are we really supposed to believe Maxim Afinogenov and Rich Peverley are point-per-game players?

While a certain amount of suspicion is justified based purely on precedent, we’re here to tell you the Thrashers are for real.

It starts with goaltending, something Atlanta has received in spades from Ondrej Pavelec and Johan Hedberg. Up front, a major bounce-back year from Afinogenov and the stunning continued success of Peverley, a waiver-wire pickup nearly one year ago, have helped give the Thrashers the kind of offensive depth they’d previously only dreamed of.

On the back end, slick Swede Tobias Enstrom is tied for sixth in league scoring among defensemen, while big Pavel Kubina is plus-16 and providing a great example for the team’s future stud blueliner, sophomore Zach Bogosian.

This turnaround under coach John Anderson started halfway though last season and now the Thrashers are on track to reach a new threshold for success.

The Hockey News ranks the teams 1-30 each Monday based on a combination of last week’s play and a squad’s overall outlook.

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