lossjean
高级会员
注册日期: 2011-10-31
发贴数: 135
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| 发贴日期: 2011-11-07 17:03 | IP 已记录
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Faced with a crowded crease, the Atlanta Thrashers dealt Kari Lehtonen, who was supposed to be their franchise goaltender, to Dallas for a prospect and a pick. Miami Dolphins Jake Long Jersey . Numbers Game examines the Stars-Thrashers swap. The Stars Get: G Kari Lehtonen. Lehtonen, 26, hasnt lived up to expectations since he was picked second overall in the 2002 draft, struggling with his conditioning and durability, playing more than 50 games in a season just once in four NHL seasons. He has yet to play in the NHL this season, as hes recovered from back surgery. Despite those issues, the Stars are willing to take a chance on Lehtonen to be their goaltender of the future because, when healthy, he is an effective goaltender, with his .912 career save percentage an above average mark. Just as importantly, for Dallas, is that Lehtonen is an upgrade on their current goaltending tandem of Marty Turco and Alex Auld, though Turcos .910 save percentage this season is tied for his best since the lockout. The Stars should offer better defensive play than Lehtonen has grown used to in Atlanta as the Stars have surrendered 30.3 shots on goal per game this season and Lehtonen has faced 34.3 shots per game with the Thrashers in his career. So, facing four shots fewer per game should give Lehtonen a chance to put up better numbers, provided he stays healthy long enough to handle a good quantity of starts. Lehtonen, who is making $3-million this season, will be a restricted free agent in the summer. Committing too much to Lehtonen would seem foolhardy, given his health issues, so the Stars can take a wait-and-see approach, knowing that they dont have to do anything more than make a qualifying offer to retain the right to match for Lehtonens services next season. To Dallas credit, they are grabbing Lehtonen at a low point in his value, with the risk well worth the potential reward if hes their answer in goal for the next handful of seasons. The natural assumption now that Lehtonen is in Big D is that Marty Turco is totally expendable. The 34-year-old has lost a little in recent seasons, but is still a capable puck-stopper. The question is whether or not hes still able to withstand the standard starters workload for a contending team. Given his accomplishments, Turco should be in some demand approaching the trade deadline, but the goaltending market also has other options (like Martin Biron), options that cost less than the $5.7-million cap hit that comes with Turco, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Thrashers Get: D Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth-round draft pick. Vishnevskiy, who will be 22 this month, has potential and could be part of the future on Atlanta blueline. A first-round pick (27th overall) in 2006, out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Russian blueliner is the leading defence scorer on the American Hockey Leagues Texas Stars with 24 points in 51 games this season, posting a plus-4 rating. However, in the small sample of two games of NHL action this season, Vishnevskiy has struggled, going minus-2 in a little over 33 minutes of ice time. A mobile, puck-moving defenceman, Vishnevskiy could have a future on the power play, but its not an immediate need for a Thrashers defence that has the likes of Tobias Enstrom, Pavel Kubina, Zach Bogosian and Ron Hainsey already available. But, with some more seasoning, there is the possibility that Vishnevskiy will be part of the Atlanta defensive core in the years to come. Getting rid of Lehtonen turns the Thrashers goaltending over to Ondrej Pavelec and Johan Hedberg. While 22-year-old Pavelec figures to be the future between the pipes, hes had an up-and-down season (3.45 GAA, .902 SVPCT). Given Hedbergs strong play (2.52 GAA, .916 SVPCT), the 36-year-old should be in next years plans. A fourth-round pick isnt of great value, with a tad over 10% (from 1995 through 2004 drafts) playing at least 100 NHL games. Its a bit of a sweetener, though, as the Thrashers unclog their crease and gain a little room in the budget in the process. Theyre not a better team today because of this trade, and there is potential downside if Lehtonen achieves his potential in a new environment, but if Vishnevskiy pans out and becomes an NHL regular, the Thrashers can be satisfied with the return for their oft-injured keeper. Scott Cullen can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen Authentic Brandon Marshall Jersey . Those would be the requirements for members of peoples mediation committees, which would be set up around China under a draft law that went before the countrys top legislature Tuesday for its first review. LaMarr Woodley Jersey .Y. - Florida Panthers coach Peter DeBoer was hoping Nathan Horton would sometimes be more selfish and shoot instead of pass. Premier B.J. Raji Jersey . Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Dyricus Simms-Edwards career-highs of 26 points and nine rebounds vaulted the 10th-seeded Bradley Braves past the seventh-seeded Drake Bulldogs, 63-48, in opening-round action of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at the Scottrade Center. Leigh Bodden Jersey . Mark Pysyk, Brent Raedeke and Michael St. Croix scored for Edmonton (9-19-8), who returned from a six-game road trip. Torrie Jung turned aside 20 shots in net. New Orleans Saints Drew Brees Jersey . - Marty Turco has responded well to a challenge. Authentic Patrick Willis Jersey . The month of October has been exceedingly good to the Phoenix Coyotes goaltender. Bryzgalov stopped all 32 shots he faced Thursday night for his third shutout -- tying his career high for a full season -- and the Coyotes continued their strong start with a 2-0 win over the St. San Francisco 49ers Jersey . -- Former top-25 player Taylor Dent is retiring from professional tennis. Jay Cutler Jersey . The hard-hitting Brazilian is 7-0 in the UFC and only three of his opponents have made it out of the first round. The bookmakers are not giving Cote much of a chance to blot that mixed martial arts record, although some fighters believe Cotes standup skills give him a shot at the Allstate Arena (available on pay-per-view). (Sports Network) - While Colorado is hoping to make a late charge for a postseason spot, things just keep getting worse for New York, especially closer Francisco Rodriguez. The Rockies, looking to win in Queens for just the fifth time in 27 games, go for their first series win there since 2002 this afternoon over the fading Mets at Citi Field. Colorado was shut down in Tuesdays opener, losing a 1-0 decision to extend its miseries in New York. Things werent going much better last night as the Rockies managed just one run off of Mets starter Jon Niese over seven innings. However, the Rockies got to the Mets bullpen on the way to a 6-2 victory. Melvin Mora hit a two-out, go-ahead grand slam off Manny Acosta in the eighth frame, the fourth of his career, and Clint Barmes added an insurance run in the inning with an RBI single. Colorados pitching staff did their part in retiring the final 15 batters they faced, improving the Rockies to 3-3 on a seven-game road trip while keeping them five games behind the wild-card leading Giants. To shut them down and not allow any other commotion to get created after we hit the grand slam, job well done, Colorado manager Jim Tracy said. The Mets, meanwhile, managed just Angel Pagans two-run homer in the first inning as they lost for the sixth time in nine games and are eight contests back in the wild-card race. All-Star David Wright went 0-for-4 at the plate with four strikeouts and is just 2-for-33 at the plate over his last nine games. The offense is struggling, were scuffling as a team, Wright said. Im not having much fun right now. It takes a pittch or two, you feel comfortable in there and all of a sudden you get going . Rashard Mendenhall Jersey. ... hopefully thats soon. To make matters worse, Rodriguezs status is up in the air after he was taken into police custody at Citi Field following the game. According to multiple reports, Rodriguez, who did not pitch last night, was charged with assault after punching his father-in-law, who was taken to the hospital, in the face in the family room at the stadium. Johan Santana will try to calm the waters this afternoon and has won four of his last five decisions. The left-hander had allowed 11 runs over his previous two starts before limiting the Phillies to just five hits and three walks over 7 1/3 scoreless innings on Saturday to win a tight 1-0 contest. Santana, 31, improved to 9-6 on the season with a 3.06 earned run average. The Rockies counter with Jason Hammel, who snapped a four-game winless drought (0-3) with a victory over the Pirates on Friday. The 27-year-old righty was charged with just three hits over six innings, one a three-run homer, and is 8-6 on the year with a 4.38 ERA. Santana and Hammel have both faced their respective opponent just once before, with the two squaring off on July 30 of last year. Santana got the win with seven shutout innings of four-hit ball with eight strikeouts, while Hammel was hit with the loss for yielding five runs and seven hits over just 1 1/3 innings of work. Despite Colorados struggles in New York, the club has won six of the last nine overall meetings between the clubs. The Rockies havent won a series in Queens since May 10-12, 2002. ' ' '
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主题: Faced with a crowded crease, the Atlanta
