December Historically Dangerous for Thrashers

Well the Thrashers were red hot in the month of November. That isn't exactly out of the ordinary for the Thrashers though. The month of November has been kind to the Thrashers for quite a while. As the fall leafs give way to the call of Santa's sleigh bells the Thrashers have a trend of cooling down just as the temperature does.

Atlanta has compiled (since the lockout) a pretty impressive November record of 37-24-6 (not including this year) or 47-28-7 if you do include this year. Some other notable things to include in the statistics about November are the following:

• No record less than .500 for the month
• 10-4-1 this year
• 9-3-2 last year

 December, on the other hand is not as kind to the Thrashers. Since the lockout the Thrashers have compiled a 29-35-9 record for the month. The Thrashers last two Decembers have been almost too painful to watch with identical records of 4-9-2 for the month. They did post an 8-7-1 record in the 07-08 season when they won the division championship though.

Last year's record I think was partially due to the mounting Kovy drama but there seems to be a general let down and malaise that comes over the team during the last month of the year.

This month has started well with a record of 2-1 so far with a total of 16 games to play for the month, but this month is just getting started and it's going to be a grueling month for the Thrashers. Check out some of the bullet points on how tough this month is going to be:

• 4 back to back sets 
• All back to back games are home/away
• 2 Western Conference opponents
• 3 divisional games (2 Tampa and 1 Carolina)
• 5 games vs opponents in the top half of their conference
• Home/away sets with Boston and Tampa
• Pittsburgh away (again!)

On the bright side we've got games against Toronto, Ottawa, New Jersey and New York Islanders that could provide some lift hopefully as long as we continue to play our game.

Historically December has been fraught with danger and disappointment for this team but with Craig Ramsay now firmly in control of our boys in blue I'm beginning to feel a little better. The fact is you can see it's a different brand of hockey..it's team hockey..the way the hockey gods have always said it should be played.

We've got some tough opponents ahead of us...beginning with another match up with Colorado who always play us tough..and they are most likely looking for payback from the squeaker we pulled out in Denver last week.