Ondrej Pavelec - any hobby hopes?

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shortstopguy12

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Now, I know their are a few of us on these boards that collect this guy, so hopefully he does not catch on absolute hobby fire (which I do not see happening) or most of us probably will not be able to afford him.

This year he has started in 10 games and looked very shaky in quite a few. Last night he put up a solid performance. The guy is only 21 and still have tonnes of time to improve. Right now you can pick up a nice Cup RC around 40$ off of Ebay. He has also been the subject of trade rumors for quite some time now. He is young, and still has lots of time to develop. Being in Atlanta, do you see him getting any hobby love? What are your overall thoughts of Pavelec? Any Thrashers fans around that see him play on occasion?
 
He is going to be a star. Can not blame him for being on a bad team. I had the pleasure of watching him play juniors, and he was a horse, He I feel will be a better goalie then the other Eagle Alum Marc Andre Fleury.
 
As a goalie collector, he's high on my list for potential, and star status. He won't be getting any love in Atlanta. Kari and Ilya get the love there, so that's just fine with me.
 
I'm here in Atlanta and the consensus here is that he will be a starter.

The question looms, will it be with Atlanta?

With Kari Lehtonen as the current starter, who is overall a better goalie, although injury prone, will Ondrej get enough games in to make him happy and further his development?

Ondrej definitely needs more time at this point, but I think D-Wad wants to have 2 starters like past San Jose and Buffalo. We have had such disasters in net that, long-term, stability will be needed.

Is Atlanta a hot-bed for hockey? No. Prime example, Ilya Kovalchuk. While I love picking his stuff up at bargain prices, and there are some serious bargains to be had, his stuff doesn't set the hockey card world on fire.

Thrashers future does look bright, to me at least.
Zach Bogosian, Angelo Esposito, Boris Valabik, Tobias Enstrom, Bryan Little, Pavelec, Kovalchuk and Lehtonen, plus whoever they draft this summer should end up making the Thrashers perennial contenders for a playoff spot.
 
I saw one of his first games in Pittsburgh last year. He took a loss, but he was really the only bright spot on the Thrashers team during that game. He was sharp, technically sound, but still lost the game 5-0.

He's only 21, which gives him plenty of time to develop into a starter.

-m.
 
He reminds me of a handful of other young goalies that were highly touted but wound up being much ado about nothing. Dan Blackburn, Al Montaya to name but two. The Thrashers have a terrible team right now, so if he is going to flourish as a starter, Atlanta should not be the place. David Leneveu is another goalie that was pretty highly touted and now I have no idea where he is..
 
allberts said:
I dont think Lehtonen will be around much longer.. I just dont think Lehtonen is all that
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He would be Berto if he had a good agent. Kari is a tad slack when it comes to body maintenance. He needs to drop 20 pounds of Rotten Ronnies to perform at a higher level. However is playing a team with little to no defense.
 
chakhae1 said:
He reminds me of a handful of other young goalies that were highly touted but wound up being much ado about nothing. Dan Blackburn, Al Montaya to name but two. The Thrashers have a terrible team right now, so if he is going to flourish as a starter, Atlanta should not be the place. David Leneveu is another goalie that was pretty highly touted and now I have no idea where he is..
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Dan Blackburn would have been good but had chronic injuury problems and Al Montoya is far from a bust yet, he's like 23 or 24, that's young in terms of Goalies, he didn't get play time in NY because of Lundqvist, he's with the Coyotes now and once Bryzgalov is gone, you can bet he will have every opportunity to start.

LeNevue is in NY now, was oart of the trade that sent Montoya to Phoenix.

Pavalec is a very good prospect, a change of scenery would help a lot.
 
allberts said:
Well Shane.. thats part of the job
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For sure. I think he takes the NHL for granted.

I'm a soldier. Up until 2006, 2 hours a day was spent on keeping in shape. You're right, it's duty.

Kari shows up, does his gig, and then back to the couch. I wish I could have an hour with him.:D
 
He could be a hobby star if all the dead southern teams fold and/or move to relevant markets, but for most goalies it seems like they need to play on a top tier team that wins a few cups and/or is near the top of the standings for many years imo.

Kenny
 
First of all, he will be a STAR. If he was in any place but Atlanta and besides LA, TB, or FLA, he'd be getting much more buzz. I love the way he plays and he's an excellent goalie. He has a great attitude and works his hardest to improve. As long as he stays healthy and if he gets traded to a half decent team, he should be good for at least 30 wins per year in the near future. Another option and I'm sure would be better for him is if the Thrashers traded Lehtonen and brought in some better players. Oh yeah, some defense might help too! Just my 10 cents...
 
NoThreat said:
Dan Blackburn would have been good but had chronic injuury problems and Al Montoya is far from a bust yet, he's like 23 or 24, that's young in terms of Goalies, he didn't get play time in NY because of Lundqvist, he's with the Coyotes now and once Bryzgalov is gone, you can bet he will have every opportunity to start.

LeNevue is in NY now, was oart of the trade that sent Montoya to Phoenix.

Pavalec is a very good prospect, a change of scenery would help a lot.
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Blackburn was injured while lifting weights, he suffered nerve damage in his left shoulder and he could not rotate his glove hand anymore..He tried to come back using two blockers but after a few games decided to retire..
blackburn_vi.jpg
 

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