The Thrashers are starting their season with some familiar news. Kari Lehtonen will not be in camp, as he's recovering from back surgery, which he had in the off-season. The surgery was not supposed to keep the Finnish keeper out of training camp, but his recovery has not been going according to schedule. Johan Hedberg, Ondrej Pavelec, Manny Legace and Drew MacIntyre are all in Thrashers camp going after the number one goalie job for the beginning of October.
In 2009, Lehtonen only played in 46 games for the Thrashers, coming away with a 19-22-3 record in the year. He also finished with three shutouts, finishing with 45 points in the pool. He ranked as the 30th goalie in the pool last year, but starting the season on the shelf should keep him away from a good year.
Well, if you didn't already have him scratched off your list, you probably should now. I was a big fan of Lehtonen back when he was emerging as a good young goalie, but now he isn't the goalie that everyone thought he would be. This is a good chance now for Ondrej Pavelec to show his stuff and take over that job. He could turn out to be quite the sleeper.
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