Atlanta Thrashers’ Lehtonen Placed on Injured Reserve
That’s gotta suck! I don’t care what team it is, I hate to see a goalie put on the injured reserve! To compensate, the Atlanta Thrashers have called up Ondrej Pavelec from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
Kari Lehtonen suffered a strained groin during Thursday night’s 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers. “Lehtonen stopped eight shots before aggravating his groin with 8:30 remaining in the first period.The Finnish native is 0-4 in five games this season with a 4.49 goals-against average” (that’s worse news that the groin pull!!!!!). In 2005, he had a similar injury that made him sit out for more than two months!
Lehtonen is winless so far this season so maybe he can heal his goalie powers while he rests his groin :)
“Certainly, he’ll be out a while,” said general manager Don Waddell, who is also serving as Atlanta’s interim coach after firing Bob Hartley on Wednesday.
Johan Hedberg will take over as the No. 1 goalie. The Thrashers also have former NHL goalie Fred Brathwaite playing for the Wolves.
“You hate to see a goalie ever get hurt,” Waddell said. “But we’re very fortunate to have other goalies who can come up.”
This is my favorite part of the article:
Lehtonen also passed up the opportunity to compete for Finland in the 2006 Torino Olympics and worked hard the following summer to build up his muscles.
Last season, Lehtonen played a career-high 68 games for Atlanta, helping the team win the Southeast Division and earn a playoff spot for the first time.
I’m guess that he didn’t do those special workouts this past summer???
Pavelec, 20, was 2-0-0 with the Wolves this year, posting a 1.49 GAA. The Thrashers made Pavelec a second-round pick (41st overall) in the 2005 NHL entry draft.
He was a first-team all-star in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2005-06 and the following season with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
Good luck to the Thrashers because this season is off to a very rough start!
Tags: kari lehtonen, lehtonen injured, lehtonen groin, atlanta thrashers
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POSTED IN: Atlanta Thrashers, News, Players
1 opinion for Atlanta Thrashers’ Lehtonen Placed on Injured Reserve
Minor League Hockey Fan
Oct 20, 2007 at 6:05 pm
He’ll be back. Oh yes, he’ll be back. Then again a groin injury for a goalie can be brutal.
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