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Look No Further Than Goaltenders For Thrashers’ Recent Success

TheHockeyGuy — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:11:24 +0000

There is no secret to the Thrashers’ recent success.

It’s all about the goaltenders.

The Thrashers have won three straight, two by shutout, with Johan Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec minding the net. The two of them have stopped a combined 106 of 110 shots in wins over Detroit, Carolina and Philadelphia. That’s a save percentage of .964.

“When they are on top of their games and they feel good about themselves, they want to play,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said. “We are blessed with two real good goalies right now.”

Remarkably, both rank in the top 10 in the NHL in save percentage. Hedberg, who earned his 12th career shutout Saturday against Philadelphia, is tied for second in the league with a .932 save percentage. He trails Buffalo’s Ryan Miller by just .001 point. Pavelec, who posted his second career shutout Wednesday in Detroit, is tied for eighth with a .921 percentage.

Click here to read the full article – By Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Falcons coach takes blame for loss

GameSetMatch — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:27:42 +0000

You came blame Mike Smith for the Falcons loss to Dallas. He does.

The head coach took responsibility for Sunday’s 37-21 defeat at the hands of the Cowboys. And he presented his own case in a point-by-point analysis at his Monday news conference:

• The Falcons had three turnovers.

• Quarterback Matt Ryan was sacked four times.

• The team gave up two long scoring plays: one a 59-yard touchdown pass from Tony Romo to Miles Austin, the other a 73-yard punt return by Patrick Crayton.

• Romo passed for 311 yards and three touchdowns. He had a quarterback rating of 141.

“We did some very uncharacteristic things [Sunday],” Smith said. “We started fast in all three phases. … After the first quarter we were not able to sustain that. In fact, we really struggled with it. We’ve got to sustain the level of play to be successful in this league.

Click here to read the full article – By Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Falcons’ Norwood returns to practice

GameSetMatch — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:51:31 +0000

Falcons running back Jerious Norwood, who suffered his second concussion of the season against Carolina on Sept. 20, was medically cleared and returned to practice on Wednesday.

Norwood initially suffered a concussion in the preseason when he took a crushing hit from San Diego’s Antonio Cromartie. He missed the final exhibition game.

Norwood caught a career-high six passes in the season opener against Miami but did not return kicks. Against Carolina he performed his kickoff-return duties before leaving the game with a head injury.

Click here to read the full article – By D. Orlando Ledbetter of ajc.com

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