The “speed kills the trap” message from inside the Thrashers’ dressing room this morning came from veteran Mathieu Schneider, who said it was imperative Atlanta comes at the Wild hard and fast tonight up the gut.

Coach Jacques Lemaire said that Craig Weller would probably make his Wild debut tonight after being a healthy scratch opening night. Lemaire said the coaching staff has tried to convince Weller to keep his shifts short, and that will be a must. Lemaire then talked a lot about how rookie Colton Gillies needs to do the same.

He joked in junior, Gillies played three shifts, the first period, second period and third. That can’t happen in the NHL, Lemaire said. So a betting man would say Gillies will be scratched for Weller tonight, but Lemaire’s fooled me all week (Koivu captaincy, Opening Night scratch), so don’t bet on it.

Tomas Mojzis was getting bagged, so same defensemen, it would appear.

I just got off the horn with Aaron Voros, the NHL’s leading scorer. OK, it’s early. OK, the Rangers have played five games and everybody else three max, but Voros’ seven points are tied with linemate Brandon Dubinsky and his three goals are tied for second.

Maybe he should frame today’s stat sheet. Or, maybe he’ll keep it up.

Last night, I was at an Atlanta restaurant with my brother and about a dozen friends for a reunion of sorts. Versus was on in the bar (did you see Washington was outshooting Vancouver 25-3 thru two?). Also, the Carolina-Detroit game was another TV, so I was pleasantly surprised to be in the south and see two hockey games on during a night of Monday Night Football and playoff baseball.

Back to my original thought, Versus showed a clip of Voros scoring and he did his typical face-first celebration into the glass. I thought, “I should give that dude a call.” That guy is going to be loved at Madison Square Garden.

Voros said he “begged” the Wild for a two-year deal and the Wild wouldn’t give him more than one. So he became a free agent, 10 teams called and it came down to the Maple Leafs and Ranger.

He got three years, $3 million from the Rangers. Of course, he’s playing on the second line in New York with Dubinsky and star in the making, Nikolai Zherdev. In Minnesota, he wouldn’t have the same role now most likely. And he did dry up bigtime last year.

Of course, when he was scoring last year for Minnesota, he was playing with Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra and getting quality ice time. Later in the year when he dried up, it was largely due to his ice time being dropped dramatically and fourth-line linemates.

You can read more about Voros tomorrow. I did get in contact with Tom Lynn about Voros because I always want to be fair and tell both sides. It’s true the Wild only offered one year, but Lynn a two-year deal would have been less money per year because of the “risk,” so it was a non-starter for the agent. The Wild told him that if Voros had a great year, he would have more earning power.

And that is true. If Voros has a monster year, he may be regretting this three-year deal.

In other news, I exchanged an email with Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom about Nolan’s four-minute double-minor with the Wild up 4-2 against Boston. Remember, it happened with 3:10 left and Nolan was sent to the locker room.

I emailed Walkom, “What if the game went to overtime?” Walkom said “be assured that if if had [gone to overtime], I’m sure these guys (Chara, too) would have made their way back to the penalty box.”

Here’s the problem: I asked Nolan this morning if the linesman that escorted him off the ice told him that. He said no. He was told he was gone and removed his gear. Well, Boston cut it to 4-3 with more than a minute left. There was a great chance that game could have been finished without Nolan or Chara if it got to overtime.

Talked with Todd White this morning. He’s excited to play his former team for the first time since leaving as a free agent before last season. He was hurt before last year’s match between the two teams. Of course, he’s facing a much different-looking team than he played with.

OK, lots of work to do. Bye.

OH, I forgot to tell you, I went to Ted’s Montana Grill for lunch with a colleague, and standing outside? Ted Turner. He eats at his own restaurant.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Pregame skate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.