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Atlanta Thrashers are the masters of frustration

Ondrej Pavelec

Atlanta Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec lies on the ice after giving up a goal to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 25, 2010 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

AP

Every now and then, Pro Hockey Talk will ask for insight from some of the best team bloggers out there. For this feature, we asked a simple question: “Who is your team’s most frustrating player?” Just for fun, Brandon and I also provided our “guesses” as to who that player might be. First, here are our guesses for Atlanta.

Brandon: Vyacheslav Kozlov - To me this was a no-brainer. I’m not exactly certain what Thrashers fans feel, but someone who is the 2nd-highest paid forward on the team should never have the lowest plus/minus, while putting up wholly pedestrian numbers.

James: Vyacheslav Kozlov - The player who was once among the league’s most underrated is now one of its most frustrating. I doubt you’ll see him in an NHL uniform next season.

Laura Astorian is one of our best blogging buddies and happens to be a go-to source for both St. Louis Blues and Atlanta Thrashers blogging goodness. She’s also helping out with Cycle like the Sedins among many other endeavors. You might as well follow her on Twitter just to be safe.

Asking for only one great source of frustration for a Thrashers fan is like asking someone at Godiva what their favorite truffle is. The common areas of irritation are Kozlov, White, Armstrong, and Pavelec. It’s extremely easy to target any of those players as someone who makes you want to pull your hair out. Kozlov and White, after career years for each of them last season, dropped off the radar. Somehow, though, despite similar production and a similarly horrible +/-, only Kozlov found himself benched. White has been placed out there time and time again, and despite being fairly serviceable on the penalty kill, at even strength all that he does is highlight the need to get Kane back.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say he’s being played over Kozlov because he still has a year left on a contract we overpaid for, and Kozzie’s a UFA ... but what do I know?

Army, well, I have seen a gangster in cement shoes skate faster than he does. He’s another victim of heightened expectations for this season.

The biggest frustration, but the easiest to cope with, is that of Ondrej Pavelec. He’s only 22, so you can argue that he has more than enough time to find his stride. He has had flashes of absolute brilliance, and then lays a massive egg the next game. His confidence got rattled after some rough OT/shootouts. There was a stretch of where it seemed like he allowed an average of 3-4 goals every time he started. He’s working stuff out, but as close as the Thrashers are to a playoff spot, it’s rough to think of the games that we could have won if Johan Hedberg had been in goal.

On the flip side, we would have signed Legace and his knee would have imploded after 3 starts, and then we’d be right back where we are now. I’m convinced that they have a framed plaque of Murphy’s Law up on the wall in the locker room somewhere.