Lehtonen Practices, No Timetable for Return

Thrashers goaltender Kari Lehtonen practiced with the team Monday after returning from a two-week conditioning assignment at AHL Chicago.

“Kari is not going to go just yet,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said. “We’ll see what he looks like on a day-to-day basis. I don’t want to set him up to fail. I want to make sure he’s 100 percent ready to go in and make an impact for us.

“I don’t know exactly what we are going to do. We might carry three [goaltenders]. We still have two or three weeks to decide.”

Anderson said Lehtonen will join the team for its three-game road trip to Denver, Minneapolis and Chicago, which begins Wednesday.

“The first couple of games over there were pretty tough,” Lehtonen said after Monday’s practice where he got a significant amount of work. “They got a lot better and I feel really good. We got what we needed from it. … [Playing an NHL game] is going to be different, but I think I’m ready to take that next step.”

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News: Lehtonen Returns from AHL Chicago

The Thrashers recalled goaltender Kari Lehtonen from his two-week conditioning stint at AHL Chicago on Sunday.

Lehtonen made his final start on Friday night, losing in a shootout after stopping 17-of-19 shots in regulation and 6-of-9 in the shootout. In all, Lehtonen appeared in four games, going 1-1-2. He allowed 11 goals on 109 shots for a .899 save percentage and 2.67 goals-against average.

I will see what the plan is at Monday’s practice.

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Thrashers Townhall Meeting Recap: 2nd question was basically “what’s the problem with Kari?” Waddell pointed to his lack of dependability and indicated that in the locker room the players no longer feel like they can count on him and perhaps they don’t play as hard for him as they do for Hedberg.

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P.S. Waddell forgot to mention how players feel about #31.

Kari Lehtonen Last AHL Conditioning Game: February 5, 2010

Chicago Wolves 2 – Abbotsford Heat 3 (SO) – (AHL Game #719)

Shots: 6 (6-4-7-2); Saves: 6 (4|1-2|1-7-2); Goals: 2 (1-1-0-0);
Time: 65:00 min; PIM: 0 min;

SO: s s g s g:s s s g

Kari Lehtonen First SO Loss: January 30, 2010

Hamilton Bulldogs 3 – Chicago Wolves 2 (AHL Game #686)

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Shots: 26 (9-11-6-0); Saves: 24 (5|3 -10|-6-0); Goals: 2 (1-1-0-0);
Time: 64:46 min; PIM: 0 min;

Kari Lehtonen First Win: January 27, 2010

Houston Aeros 2 – Chicago Wolves 5 (AHL Game #664)

source: see the game pictures here (more pictures)

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Shots: 27 (10-7-10); Saves: 25 (7|2-7-7|2); Goals: 2 (1-0-1);
Time: 59:49 min; PIM: 0 min;

Waddell in Labor: Goaltending Decison Coming Soon

One of the issues I did raise was the pending move concerning the goaltending. With Kari Lehtonen due back from AHL Chicago next week (he starts again tonight) the Thrashers will be back to three.

Waddell said the team will not carry three goaltenders. It’s too many, he said, to get everyone enough practice time. So expect a move, preferably a trade, Waddell said. One of the three – Lehtonen, Johan Hedberg or Ondrej Pavelec will be on the block.

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Kari Lehtonen First Game: January 23, 2010

Chicago Wolves 4 – Peoria Rivermen 5 (AHL game #644)

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Shots: 37 (10-12-15); Saves: 32 (6|3-4|7-5|1|5|1); Goals: 5 (1-1-3);

Time: 57:41 min; PIM: 0 min;

News: Lehtonen Headed to Chicago on Conditioning Assignment

Kari Lehtonen will begin conditioning stint in Chicago. He is at practice this morning.

He literally left practice today and went straight to the airport.

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See pictures from the morning Kari’s practice with the Thrashers

Under NHL rules the assignment can last up to two weeks, which would put Lehtonen back in Atlanta around February 6, giving him about a week with the Thrashers before the Olympic break.

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Tuesday Morning Practice

Two goalies skated (Pavelec and Lehtonen) along with four defensemen (Enstrom, Valabik, Salmela and Popovic) and five forwards (White, Armstrong, Boulton, Thorburn and Kane).

For today’s morning skate video includes an update on Kari Lehtonen from John Anderson. In a nutshell, he’s progressing well but is limited by the amount of time they can give him in goal in practice because they want to keep the other two goalies sharp. A conditioning stint in Chicago is probably in the cards in the near future.

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“We are getting to a point now where he is hitting a bit of a wall with practice,” Anderson said. “What I mean by that is we have three goalies out there. … At some point in the very near future we are going to have to decide if we send him on a conditioning stint, maybe to [AHL] Chicago, to get some games in. We want to make sure he’s ready to succeed in the National Hockey League and not throw him to the wolves right away.”

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New Kari, New Era

A court jester sees it all: “No goals. No assists. No points. No leadership. No desire. No hustle. No heart. No hope. No chance“. The team is going down. Uncertainty with the future in the captain’s head brings the uncertainty into the all minds of the team. The system needs a small explosion inside to change the course of events. Kari’s return could become this blast.