Thrashers and Big Buff Baffle the Masses with Move back to Defense

"I enjoy defence more than I enjoy forward" (an actual quote).

Some may call it a move made out of luxury, but it’s more so one of stupidity.

Blessed with the versatility of Dustin Byfuglien, who can play both the wing and defense, the Atlanta Thrashers finally lifted the curtain of secrecy to reveal their true idiotic nature after weeks of behind-the-scenes whispers. Indeed, in moving the power forward to the blue line on Monday the Thrashers are making a bid to negate a productive off-season by needlessly taking away one of their potential premier offensive weapons out of the picture.

One doesn’t need a PhD in hockey to get a decent handle on just how valuable Byfuglien was to the Chicago Blackhawks during their Stanley Cup run last spring. Even a trained monkey would know the significance of the term “game-winning” as it would pertain to goals scored in the sport. And one certainly doesn’t need to be Koko the ape to understand that scoring five of the 16 needed to win it all is a lot. Except in the case of Thrashers management, that is. 

Conversely, while playing as a defenseman in those same playoffs in the six-game first round against the Nashville Predators, Byfuglien was held pointless. Taking into account the fact that Byfuglien scored 16 points in 22 total playoff games, he actually scored a point per game as a forward. And still head coach Craig Ramsay wants to move him from forward. At this point, the team had better rename themselves the Birdbrains as a pre-emptive strike against all their naysayers for when the white stuff hits the fan. Reports indicate that Ramsay’s system is very offensive-minded and Byfuglien should have no problem finding the net as a blueliner, but to that argument I ask what kind of system were the Hawks, who scored over three goals per game, playing all of last year?

"Booyah! Yeah! Defence is so much more fun than forward!"

There’s little disputing that Byfuglien benefitted from playing with stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews over much of the course of those last 16 games, but to deny that his leviathan 6’5”, 265-pound physical presence in the crease and around the net didn’t in some way contribute to his point totals is akin to saying that known Hawks fan Vince Vaughn’s deadpan comedic skills did not at all add to the cult classic that is Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

Without Vaughn all you have are hilarious cameos from William Shatner, Chuck Norris, and David Hasselhoff... and that one scene where Justin Long confesses his love for cheerleader Amber only to get hit in the head with a ball for all his trouble. Undeniably laugh-out-loud material, but definitely not enough for a full-length movie. Not even as funny as this comedy of errors Atlanta started playing out in 1999 when it entered the league.

If you want a really true underdog story, look no further than the Thrashers who are trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006-2007. After acquiring the likes of Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Nigel Dawes, Fredrik Modin, and Ben Eager to boost their offensive depth (Patrick Rissmiller doesn’t count and Donald Brashear should really count as minus-one player) as well as defenseman Brent Sopel and goalie Chris Mason, the Thrashers seemed destined to at least compete for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference this year, especially taking into account how they finished a mere five points out last season. But they already have four capable offensive defensemen to man the point thanks to Tobias Enstrom, Zach Bogosian, Ron Hainsey, and Johnny Oduya, who more than proved himself capable of moving the puck with the New Jersey Devils of all teams in 2008-2009.

Stay-at-home specialists Sopel and Boris Valabik should complement those four very well, while Byfuglien would just take away one of their spots. Meanwhile, utilizing Byfuglien on one of the top two lines would allow the Thrashers to move a player like Ladd further down as a checking-line winger, a role in which he flourished in Chicago. Rich Peverley would also be one hoping for lower offensive expectations after putting up a career-high 55 points last season as the beneficiary of Ilya Kovalchuk’s sniping skills. With Kovy now patrolling greener pastures in Jersey (figuratively speaking, of course), Peverley had better pray for less on-ice responsibility lest he be found out for the checker in top-six forward’s clothing he really is.

"I have no idea why anybody would ever choose to play forward. Defence is soooo much more fun!!!!"

Byfuglien’s versatility makes him a valuable player, but there’s little value in moving him to defense when the Thrashers’ defensive corps is already complete. Moves such as this won’t just leave analysts scratching their heads... it will lead the Thrashers a few steps back in the team’s evolution. Even the dodo had the good sense to go extinct rather than regress intellectually.

Thrashers Look like a Pretty Good Team... No, Really

There is no team in the NHL marred by as inappropriate a name as the Atlanta Thrashers. Over their first 10 seasons in the league, they have more accurately been thrashees.

A simple illustration of this fact: The team has earned a winning record in just three seasons and has made the playoffs only once, getting swept in the first round.

Perhaps as expected, they’ve also taken a serious spanking over the turnstiles, finding themselves in the bottom ten places in league attendance every year this decade. In their inaugural 1999-2000 season, they actually managed to place 10^th, but ticket sales have suffered an almost perpetual decline since. Attendance has dropped in each of the last four years despite two of those winning seasons during that span.

There is hope, though, that the situation isn’t irreparably damaged down South. The Thrashers may have turned a corner, with last season comprising an undeniable overall success. However, it should be taken into account that low expectations serve as a pick-me-up in the direst circumstances, which in the Thrashers’ case amounts to constant mediocrity.

"That's what you get for trading me, a better team."

The team finished over .500 with a 35-34-13 record, just five points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. More interesting to note is that after trading Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils, the Thrashers went 11-11-5, doing just as well without a legitimate superstar. And, in addition to underrated Swedes Niclas “Anti Forsberg” Bergfors and Johnny Oduya, Atlanta also got a prospect and draft picks in return. There’s no doubt about it, there’s an air of change in Atlanta. But this time it’s no New Coke... this time it’s actually for the better. The Thrashers are now free to play a team game instead of “Pass the Puck to Kovalchuk”, which, rumour has it, was about as popular in Georgia as the Thrashers themselves. Needless to say, no PS3 versions were sold.

With the ability to build a more well-rounded team, new general manager Rick Dudley wasted no time, acquiring Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Akim Aliu, Ben Eager, and Brent Sopel from the Chicago Blackhawks, who at the time were a team as desperate as a crack addict a day into his most recent bid to get clean. Dudley also signed forward Fredrik Modin and number-one goalie Chris Mason via free agency. Modin should serve more of a checking role, while Mason will help to insulate arguably the team’s most important prospect, Ondrej Pavelec.

And on Wednesday came reports that former Calgary Flame Nigel Dawes, who must have mistakenly called gm Darryl Sutter by one of his brother’s names to warrant the contract buy-out, signed a two-way deal with Atlanta. If true, Dawes constitutes a veritable steal, one that adds to an already deep group of forwards.

Perhaps the team’s biggest strength, however, is its defense, which boasts proven puck-movers in Tobias Enstrom and Ron Hainsey, the unsung Oduya and Sopel, and superstar-in-the-making Zach Bogosian.

All in all, the team is young, talented, and poised to turn at least a few heads... and this year it won’t be because of a car crash on the ice. However, despite the team having a bird for its mascot, it’s disappointing to say, but the sky won’t be the limit.

At this stage, the best the Thrashers can hope for is a playoff berth... but it is a realistic goal. So it’s time for fans in Atlanta to get all aflutter as they will likely get a chance to celebrate the team’s first-ever postseason victory this season. It’s not much, but it’s something for a team that could just as easily have been called the Trashers.