Pavelec Must Clear Mental Hurdle Of Playing For Thrashers Before Returning

Pavelec wears his old Sudbury Wolves gear.
Is he ready to hear the truth?

Blair Charbonneau, Hockey Net

ATLANTA — Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec is back practicing after being evaluated by team doctors earlier this week and expects to play soon — provided he clears one final mental evaluation.

“We still haven’t reminded him he plays for the Thrashers,” lamented head coach Craig Ramsay.

After collapsing on the ice during the first game of the season, the Thrashers’ net-minder was told by team doctors that he suffered a “fainting spell.” However, Pavelec was reassured to hear the experience is “relatively common among players in blasé hockey markets” and “usually doesn’t reoccur too often.”

“It having been the home opener, with flashing lights, loud music, and murmurs of the few hundred fans, we think reality sunk in and Ondrej’s subconscious hit the eject button,” explained long-time Thrasher Jim Slater.

Meanwhile the team has been wearing logo-less, white jerseys to practice, covered up all Thrashers paraphernalia at the arena, and instituted a complete media blackout for Pavelec. Atlanta’s goalie coach, Clint Malarchuk, offered further analysis,

Malarchuk can empathize with Pavelec’s on-ice crisis, after he tried to take his own life with a skate in 1989, driven to despair as a Buffalo Sabre.