Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. After years and years of a sports team posting losing records, trading away superstars for questionable returns, dwindling away their credibility in the community with incompetent roster management by a much ridiculed GM, and piss poor ownership support in terms of payroll authorizations, the team has started to, at least on the surface, turn the corner. A young nucleus of blossoming stars is shaping itself together. Fans who had abandoned their support of the team are starting to come back on board. A few savvy offseason acquisitions are performing well above expectations. It seems that everything is in place for the team, which had bottomed out the previous season, to start to make a legitimate run, at least for respectability, if not for Titles and Championships quite yet. Approaching the halfway point of the season, the team seems to be gelling and moving in the right direction. There is buzz about who, and how many total players, will be representing the franchise in the All-Star game.
This is obviously a situation that the Pittsburgh Pirates currently find themselves in, and that is fantastic for baseball, for the city, and most of all for the long suffering fans of the beleaguered franchise. Not to throw a wet-blanket upon unbridled optimism that is now surrounding this current squad and its possible future incarnations, but I’d like to pull some posts from one of my favorite sports blogs that was centered upon a team that found itself in a similar situation 6 months ago: The Atlanta Thrashers.
To say the “wheels fell off” for the Thrashers would not do their fans justice. The wheels fell off, the floor of the car rusted out, the driver (fans) fell through the floor, was dragged through a bramble bush on the roadside after falling out, and was left barely conscious on side of the road, when a roving rouge biker gang drove up, smashed in his car with baseball bats, set it on fire, took his wallet, and spit upon him and kicked him a few times in the gut just for good measure.
Now I’m not suggesting that the Pirates are going to be pulled up by the roots and relocated to the Central Canadian Prairie anytime soon. There is a better chance of the Pope resigning from his post as head of the Church to take up a lifelong secret desire to become a Hula Dancer.
But when reading over these posts take note of how a situation for a sports team that looked so promising in the not-so-distant past went horribly bad, horribly quickly. The posts are from the Bird Watcher’s Anonymous blog, a group of well informed, well written dedicated fans of the now defunct hockey team.
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11/26/2010 I'm Thankful the Thrashers are Playing Smarter Hockey
The Atlanta Thrashers are playing the most intelligent brand of hockey in team history. Hallelujah! When the team first arrived in 1999 I was extremely excited to have the NHL in the city I call home. I watched every game that was televised and attended nearly every home game in person after Season 2. I watched many defeats and many bad decisions over the last decade. Given that context, I keep pinching myself when I watch this version of the Atlanta Thrashers--because they're playing a smarter brand of hockey. Many of the things that I'm seeing are subtle. About two weeks ago, I was at the home game and the Thrashers had a power play. The puck came over to the right side point men. That point man noticed that the opposing PK unit was sagging off him to protect the passing lanes. Inside of just burying his head and blasting a long shot, the Thrashers defenseman moved in towards the top of the circle which caused the defending PK man to move towards him opening up the middle of the ice more. It was a very small thing, but it was an adjustment that elite players or elite teams make and bad teams don't. It was an adjustment previous Thrashers teams rarely made. On Wednesday, the Thrashers beat a very good Red Wings team. The Wings didn't bring their best effort after the 1st period and the Thrashers made them pay for that. In the past, the Thrashers probably would have found a way to let the Red Wings climb back into the game. What impressed me the most about the victory over the Wings was that the Thrashers forwards were consistently getting the step on the Wings defenders and creating 2 on 1 rushes. The Thrashers ability to get out wide on Detroit's defenders was obviously the result of a team strategy because more than one line was taking this approach. The coaching staff saw something they thought they could exploit on video and the team bought into the strategy and then they executed it. The Thrashers probably have the best coaching staff in the history of the franchise--and it shows in many little details. The Thrashers players are making little clever plays in each game. Those small improvements will not always produce a victory but over the long run they could add a couple of wins to the team's total. Remember how competitive the Eastern Conference playoff race usually is--stealing a few extra points here and there over 82 games could prove to be enormous. Credit also should go to GM Rick Dudley. Not only did he bring in this coaching staff, but he brought in many of the players who fill out the roster. Some of these guys are simply smarter hockey players than the guys they replaced. The players have embraced the team concept, they are listening to the coaching staff. The scoring by committee has been enough to keep the team in the hunt. Also the Thrashers PP unit has not allowed a shorthanded goal against--something the PP defense should get credit for. The on-ice direction of the team is very good right now. Certainly the players will make some boneheaded plays as we go along, but the ratio of stupid decisions to smart decisions has shifted in the correct direction--and I'm very thankful for that.
11/27/2010 Thrashers Blank Habs 3-0, That's Four & Counting
Yes, Thrashers fans, that's four wins in a row. Not just wins, but clear-cut, make-a-statement, we-can-hang-with-anybody kind of wins. I almost don't want to jinx it by talking about it. But I will. Hit the jump for more. Some particulars of note: - Atlanta put 47 shots on net to Montreal's 25. In the second, the Thrashers fired 23 shots to the Habs' 4. - I think the Thrashers may have found a goalie. Ondrej Pavelec has allowed just 4 goals in his last 5 starts, with a save percentage of .974 over that span. - Atlanta has now beaten three of the league's top five teams. They also have a plus-2 Goal Differential, which is a pretty good predictor of post-season eligibility.
12/05/2010 Five Game Report Card: Games Twenty-One through Twenty-Five
This Five Game Report Card covers the games beginning with the overtime win against the New York Islanders and ending with the overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche. The Thrashers won all five games in this series thanks to, in large part, the heroics of Dustin Byfuglien. Big Buff netted a team-leading 4 goals and team-leading 6 assists to go along with a team-leading +5 and team-leading 30 shots. Yeah, he was pretty awesome. Let's not forget the incredible play of Ondrej Pavelec. OP shut out the Montreal Canadians and gave up just one goal to the Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins. During this series, the Thrashers finally started looking like the team that was promised: a hard-working team that gets scoring from all players. Perhaps most promising? Not a single Thrasher was a minus-player over this series. Over This Five Game Period · Record: 5-0-0 (1.000 P%) · Goals Scored/Allowed: 17/4 (4.250) · PP%/PK%: 23.8%/89.5% · Goal Leaders: Byfuglien (4), Peverley (3), Stewart (2) · Assist Leaders: Byfuglien (6), Ladd, Enstrom (5) · Point Leaders: Byfuglien (10), Enstrom, Ladd (6) · +/- Leaders/Trailers: Byfuglien (+5), Oduya, Enstrom (+4), Hainsey, Burmistrov (+1 as trailers) · Team +/-: Plus-44
12/18/2010 Postgame: Thrashers/Devils - Wow. Just, wow.
Attention Thrashers' fans: I know your surroundings must be unfamiliar to you. Some of you have never been here before, thus leaving you confused and possibly frightened. Others of you have been here before, but it's been so long that you've forgotten. For your convenience, I have drawn up a map to help you better orientate yourselves:
Proceed with caution though, as the landscape may shift at any time. If you need me, I'll be over there. Being giddy.
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As you can see, and as I'm sure you already know, sports teams go through wild and unpredictable swings all the time. 6 months after Atlanta Thrasher fans were wild and giddy with anticipation; their team was pulled right out from under their noses. There are many possible lessons here, but I will leave it up to your to draw your own conclusions.
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