Thrash on the rise

Don't look now, but the Atlanta Thrashers look to be blazing a path to their first ever playoff spot. Since the Olympic break, the birds have won eight of eleven games, including two impressive wins over Buffalo, who currently holds the fourth seed in the East.

The city of Atlanta is not unaccustomed to NHL playoffs. While the Flames were playing there between 1972 and 1980, they qualified for the playoffs six times. However, they were eliminated in the first round each time, winning a grand total of two playoff games. The first year in Calgary, incidentally, the Flames easily advanced all the way to the semifinals of the Stanley Cup playoffs before falling to the Minnesota North Stars.

Right now, the Thrashers hold a wafer thin lead over Les Habitants for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Habs have a game in hand, but they haven't been playing well, while Atlanta is flying high.

This is a team that should scare people. They're coming in way under the radar, and they've really looked good lately. Carolina has gone 4-2 against them this season, and the two Atlanta wins have been very lopsided. We know what they're capable of "on any given night". Now, however, it looks like "any given night" is turning into every night.

Don't be surprised if the Thrashers knock off a top seed in the first round.