Thrashers Face Hossa In Detroit

HTML clipboardWhen the Thrashers played the Red Wings in the pre-season Marian Hossa satout. Both games were the second of back-to-backs for Detroit and he wasn't theonly vet to sit. You have to wonder if it had anything to do with theopponent though. Well, tomorrow night Hossa will suit up against the Thrashersfor the first time since being acquired before the 2005-06 season. The Penguinsplayed the Thrashers after Hossa and Pascal Dupuis were dealt for ColbyArmstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a draft pick but Marian wasinjured by then and didn't play.So now we get to see how he reacts to playing the Thrashers. It would betougher for him if he was playing in Atlanta, so maybe this won't be a big dealgiven that the game is in Detroit. Maybe it will. And maybe it'll be a big dealto some of his former teammates. Last year the Thrashers went into Detroit andwon 5-1 on the strength of a Hossa hat trick. Wouldn't you love to see IlyaKovalchuk torch the defending Cup champions for a hat trick of his own? And will former Red Wings Jason Williams, Mathieu Schneider and Slava Kozlovpull out the stops in a building where they all had so much success?There are more questions than answers heading into the Friday night matchup.Will Johan Hedberg get his first start of the season? Will Brett Sterling getinto a game? Will the offense step up and score more than twice in regulationfor the first time since opening night? The thrashers are 2-2-2 heading intotheir meeting with the Red Wings and have only given up one more goal thanthey've scored. Only one of the losses has been by more than a goal and theyhaven't been blown out, unlike the early portion of last season. While coachJohn Anderson hasn't been happy with all of the results he has been happy withthe effort. Will that effort be rewarded with a win in Motown?A reminder that Friday night's game will be live on SportSouth and onSportSouth HD. JP Dellacamera will be back in the booth on Friday and Saturday.Source