While this afternoon brought about its fair share of bad news, there are at least a couple pockets of sunshine.
Take, for instance, the fact that the Atlanta Thrashers activated Ondrej Pavelec from the injured reserve (and sent backup Peter Mannino to the minors) today. As you may remember, Pavelec suffered a concussion after a scary fainting incident during the team’s season opener against the Washington Capitals.
Last we heard, doctors were unable to target the exact reason he fainted, as they apparently didn’t detect any defects (such as the heart problems that ended former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer’s career) after extensive testing.
The Thrashers have big hopes for the 23-year-old Pavelec. He showed flashes of brilliance during the 2009-10 season, although his 42 game stats were pretty pedestrian: he posted a 14-18-7 record, 3.29 GAA and 90.6 save percentage.
Aside from one brief relief appearance after Chris Mason was shelled in an October 22 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mannino was more or less on the roster so the Thrashers could dress the minimum two goalies. He did stop 15 out of 16 shots in a little more than 38 minutes in net, though.
It’s unclear exactly when Pavelec will start again, but it might even happen this week.