Updated: Waddell says no coaching change this season
Running behind today but here is the news from Thrashers practice.
I spoke with GM Don Waddell this morning. The full interview is below.
Here are the highlights:
*I asked if there was a chance that a coaching change with John Anderson could be made this season considering the six-game slide and slipping playoff chances. Waddell said no. Asked about the possibility of a change following the season, he said everything would be evaluated at that time – including himself by ownership.
*Waddell has not given up on the playoffs, but wants the focus to be the next game on Tuesday. Don’t look any further nor get caught up in numbers or scenarios.
*He said the poor play of the both special teams has contributed to the current slide. He also said missing a key contributor like Evander Kane has had an effect.
*There has been no real movement on signing potential unrestricted free agents. He said he had conversations with the camp of Pavel Kubina and Colby Armstrong, but such talks have been put on hold due to the packed March schedule.
Other news from practice:
Zach Bogosian’s injury is to his right thumb. He is wearing a splint. He briefly took the ice in a warm-up suit but did not practice. I will update when further results are available but to my knowledge he had not had the MRI before I left practice. I wouldn’t be surprised if the injury was not some kind of fracture.
Nik Antropov, Pavel Kubina and Johnny Oduya were at the facility but did not practice.
Q. What are your thoughts about where this team is right now with a six-game losing streak?
A. Back up 10 days ago after the game with the Islanders and we woke up in the eighth spot. Then you go five losses and an [shootout] loss and you find yourself five points out with the games counting down. You go from feeling pretty good about where you are headed, because you like not only where you are headed but you like the way you are playing, six without a loss. Then you hit a road block and it hit us hard. I like the way we played. We played I thought two pretty good periods Friday night against the Rangers and I thought we played very well [Sunday] night. I thought we deserved a better fate.
We’ve got our backs against the wall. We can’t look at who we play on Thursday. We have to look at who we play on Tuesday. It’s one game at a time and all we can do at this point is chip away. I still believe we can get there [the playoffs], but we don’t control our entire destiny. We can only worry about winning our games and we are not going to give up.
Q. From your GM seat, what has gone wrong between the win against the Islanders and your current situation?
A. It’s interesting because you analyze everything. You look at what changed. The one thing that has changed is we lost Evander Kane. It’s hard to imagine I’m going to put that much on an 18-year-old player, but if you just look at what he was doing prior –and if he is in the lineup we might have lost five in a row – I thought he was playing his best hockey when he got hurt with speed and the intangibles. I think that’s a part. Is that the reason? Absolutely you can’t put it all on an 18 year old. But I think that’s part of the reason.
I also think that we were getting away the last few games with our special teams not being as good as they can be. And then they went fully where we weren’t very good. I’ve said from Day One here, special teams are going to win and lose you hockey games and I think it’s starting to cost us games. We are running a fine line because we are still able to score goals five-on-five, but when we start getting shut out five-on-five then not scoring on the power play, and the other team was scoring every game on the power play, I think that’s a big difference.
Q. Is this season a disappointment now [with your struggle to make the playoffs] or will that come once the season is over?
A. I always believe you take the positive approach. Am I disappointed we went through this stretch? Absolutely. Am I happy the way we looked [Sunday] night? Yes. Now we’ve got to build off that. We are not going to dwell on that right now, these last five games. At the end of the year we will break down the months and weeks [of the season]. We had a couple other five-game losing streaks. Obviously, this is going to gain all the attention because when it happens. That’s why we talk about those points in October and November are just as important as they are in March and April. You’ve got to look at the entire season once you are all done.
Q. Is the fact that you are in a position where lines are still getting juggled part of the issue?
A. Some of it is injury. Part of it is trying to find guys that can click. You’d like to think you can be stabilized and have lines for the entire year, but obviously we’ve made some changes. Particularly when we brought [Niclas] Bergfors in, with [Bryan] Little and [Nik] Antropov they went really good. Now they’ve seemed to hit a little dry spell. Max [Afinogenov] looked pretty good with [Antropov] earlier in the year, so I think the coaches are just trying to find the combinations to give us some spark.
Q. You haven’t been consistent all season with putting a winning streak together and you have had a nine-game losing streak. Is there some reason for that?
A. We’ll have to look at that at the end of the year. If it was that easy and I could pinpoint it, it would happen once and never happen again. We’ll have to take a hard look and see.
Q. Will you make a coaching change between now and the end of the year?
A. No.
Q. Will that be something you would look at as part of the end-of-year evaluation?
A. I think everything has to be evaluated. Obviously, if we don’t get to where we want to be all positions need to be evaluated. It’s part of the business. We all want to win and have success and make the playoffs and if we don’t reach our goals that we feel were attainable you have to look at every avenue in the organization.
Q. How about you and your position?
A. That’s up to the owners. Every year you go through an evaluation and see what happens. I expect the same this year.
Q. With several unrestricted free agents, are you working to re-sign any or will you wait until the season is over?
A. During the Olympic break, I did talk to [Pavel] Kubina and [Colby] Armstrong. There was nothing that was pressing to get a deal done. With the schedule that we have going, I don’t want any distractions for these players. If we get into April and it’s gone one way or another, then maybe we can re-visit it. It’s just another month. They can’t go somewhere else in the next month. Sometimes if the player is more anxious, the agent will be more diligent. In this case I’ve talked to both guys and they are fine.
Q. So, Kubina and Armstrong are two players you’d like to bring back?
A. There are a lot of guys we are going to talk about. … I don’t see anything happening any time soon.
Q. In your opinion, to make the playoffs are you looking at a certain number of wins? How do you look at it?
A. I think we got caught up in that a couple of weeks ago, trying to figure out how many points it’s going to take. Right now, we should worry about Tuesday night. That’s what I’ve stressed around here. We are about Tuesday. When we get through Tuesday, we’ll worry about Thursday. Stop watching the big picture. Last week when we had the eighth spot, everyone was trying to figure out magic points. My line has always been, you don’t have enough points to get in right now, so don’t worry about it. Just keep putting points on the board.
Q. Are you still confident with the home games this month that will be a help?
A. I said all along our schedule was set up that if we were going to have success it was a favorable schedule. We’ve got to take advantage of it. This is a huge week for us. It starts Tuesday. We’ve got to take advantage of it.
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125 comments Add your comment
Barry
March 15th, 2010
7:27 pm
This is a tough subject. Sure Waddell has made more mistakes than done good over these last 10 seasons but this season I thought he did good in brining in Oduya and Bergfors along with a draft pick for Kovy basically. I’m still not sold that Anderson can take this team to the playoffs. There has just been too many consistent problems like 1) Not having his team ready to play the first drop of the puck. 2) Powerplay and penalty kill struggles for the last 3 months. 3) His team not able to play 60 minutes consistently.
I mean how hard is it for a team to be ready to play start of the first period where you are wanting and trying to win games and make the playoffs. That just blows my mind how most nights this team ISNT ready. I haven’t seen a whole lot change on the power play to make much improvements. They are still not getting enough traffic in front of the net. They run the same plays. The players pretty much skate around a LITTLE bit in the same zone areas. When you are playing ZONE offense it’s REALLY easy for the PK team to play ZONE defense.On the other side we see other teams powerplay streaking towards the goal, going back door, busting towards the slot but…our Thrashers…just don’t.
Seth
March 15th, 2010
7:37 pm
How about a GM change? oh wait that would only help the franchise and we wouldn’t want to do that now would we?
Lord Stanley
March 15th, 2010
7:39 pm
Bring a new GM and let him decide the future of JA. JA has hads success with Chicago, so he know something about coaching young hockey players.
Tom Davis
March 15th, 2010
8:08 pm
The Season Ticket Holders need to applaud DW again like the last town hall meeting.
East Point Bob
March 15th, 2010
8:29 pm
How about a GM change ? that is what this team needs more than anything else, the current GM
has built a house of cards and it is falling down all around him.
Just what does it take to replace this loser as GM ? Can anyone answer that ?
Lew 39
March 15th, 2010
8:30 pm
How many more five year plans will the Thrashers go through before we make the play-offs again, let alone win a game when we get there.
I was at the game Friday and saw a team stop playing after 12 minutes of the first period. What game was Don W watching?
Roscoe P. Coltrane
March 15th, 2010
8:42 pm
Levenson knows the STH’s left because he refuses to release Waddell. He and the other owners have slashed the new season ticket prices to the bones like St.Louis and Dallas did a few years ago. That means they realize they need to get fans back.
DW MUST be let go or at the very least moved out of Hockey Operations if the owners hope to bring the old fan base back. They were hitched to the Playoff horse when Levenson told the STH he wanted to keep DW, but now that the bottom has dropped out, there’s nothing left but to kick his ass out.
Perception is Reality and the Reality is no one is buying DW or tickets.
Tom Davis
March 15th, 2010
8:44 pm
What would it take DW fired you ask?
I don’t even think DW getting caught with 3 hookers, 2 midgets, and a bag of blow would get him fired.
Scotty
March 15th, 2010
8:55 pm
“Why do we have this same conversation every f’ing year?!?!?!?!!!!!”
Ooohh pick me, pick me. I know the answer to that one!
It’s because Don Waddell is still the GM and the Thrashers have once again failed to make the playoffs.
Now give me a gold star.
AUgirl
March 15th, 2010
8:57 pm
Could we not make it a priority to sign free agents at some point this season? It seems like we are always “busy”. How about we work out a deal with Kubina and announce it April 6!?
Lord Stanley
March 15th, 2010
9:17 pm
Sorry Augirl no good free agents want to come here, that is why it costs us double to get any decent person.
Jimbo
March 15th, 2010
10:09 pm
We’re in the midst of a total collapse and Donnie Brilliance claims that we have to “build off Sunday’s game” Gimme a friggin break! After 10 failed years, the best that we can hope for is to build another loss off the previous one. Too bad Edmonton is so bad or we’d have the most ping pong balls in the blender. Throw the bums- Donnie and Johnnie out- NOW
East Point Bob
March 15th, 2010
10:20 pm
We the fans have evaluated Don Waddell, and he is FIRED ! Real real simple, when will the morans who own this mess open their eyes and see Waddell is a complete failure, PERIOD !
But I suppose with all the owners being drunk all the time, what else could you expect ?
Fans say FIRE Waddell NOW !
Wayne stuck in AL
March 15th, 2010
10:31 pm
This being an area where college sports (OK, college football) are king, we can take a tip from wealthy boosters at major college sports programs: When those wealthy boosters get dissatisfied with a coach, they’ll go up to the AD or the school president and threaten to withhold a sizeable donation, or leasing that luxury box, or donating cattle and livestock to the team’s training table (Big 12 people) until said coach is fired. Why can’t STH’s explicitiy tell their season-ticket rep that unless Waddell and Anderson are fired, they’re withholding their money?
You're All HILARIOUS!
March 15th, 2010
10:49 pm
Did you guys all b!tch & moan like this when you were kids? I bet you did. You all probably grew up in the same neighborhood under the powerlines, chewing on lead paint chips on the walk home from school.
“Ooooo! I think we should fire DW and the owners!” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…Sorry…..But I’m laughing so freakin hard it’s literally difficult to type…..
“Oooooo! We need a new coach!”
“Oooooo! We need new players!”
“Oooooo! We need to get a friggin LIFE!”
In case you haven’t noticed, all your b!tchin & moanin for years hasn’t resulted in anything! Go ahead and cash in your season tickets cause someone else will gladly take them. Our NHL team has been drawing some of the best crowds of the season lately, despite the losses. Because real fans know that losing is all part of the game! Sometimes you score, sometimes you hit the pipe 5 times a game. It’s called HOCKEY!!!!!!
So stay at home and cry into your keyboards….You’re all sorry excuses for FANS anyway! You expect every game to be a W! Like the Thrashers are the only Atlanta team that consistently doesn’t make the playoffs…..You must be NEW!
The Braves…..Puh-LEEEZE!
Falcons…..That’s a Laugher!
Hawks…..They’ll go a round or two until JJ walks at the end of the season, then they’re toast too for a few more years.
Why don’t you point your wicked little fingers at the real problem – Unrestricted Free Agency? Players control the game now, not owners, not GMs, not coaches. Seems like some of you doofuses could figure that out on your own. Guess not. They want to walk, then they will. And you cry and scream at the owners & GMs…..unbelievable!
The Thrashers still have some good play left in them this year. Too bad you guys will all be wiping each others tears away instead of supporting your team and enjoying hockey games. So let me know how “firing the GM and the owners” goes for ya, OK? ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Resident Grammarian
March 15th, 2010
11:15 pm
Dude. You’re supposed to be a professional journalist. Take some pride in your work and, umm, proofread.
“In tact” is not the same as “intact.” If I’d written a headline that read “Coaching staff to remain in tact for remainder of season,” I’d be darn embarrassed. Then I’d wonder where “tact” was, how the coaching staff got there (boat? plane? camel?), and when they might be coming back.
Actually, I’d be hoping they’d just say in “tact” and never come back.
Just sayin’.
Tom Davis
March 15th, 2010
11:26 pm
You’re All HILARIOUS! –
you need to be drug tested immediately.
You're All HILARIOUS!
March 15th, 2010
11:43 pm
Oooooo! You gonna fire me too? LOL
Obviously the Thrasher organization should immediately turn over all of their day-to-day operations to you bunch of know-it-alls! I’d like to see one of you blowhards go into one – just one – free agancy negotiation or negotiate a player trade. I wonder if you’d pee your pants or sh!t them first? What a group of lonely whiners who are legends in their own minds!
this thread was more interesting than the article
March 16th, 2010
12:13 am
I think You’re ALL HILARIOUS! is hilarious… and correct.
Sage of Bluesland
March 16th, 2010
1:08 am
“…Go ahead and cash in your season tickets cause someone else will gladly take them….”
I stopped reading this tripe at this point–sure they will, chief, sure they will–they’re just lining up at the gates.
(Are you Don Waddell? If not, are you his precious wittle daughter? That would explain so much, I can assure you…)
Seriously?
March 16th, 2010
1:13 am
Anderson is a proven winner is a great coach. You cant blame him for the lack of defense in every game. It has nothing to do with special teams…it is the crappy defense and terrible puck handling that has cost ATL games.
Lee
March 16th, 2010
6:54 am
Firing JA won’t do anything until DW is fired. Who traded Marc Savard? Who has been known as one of the worst GM’s in history?
The Real Thrash
March 16th, 2010
6:55 am
What we need is a GM change!!
The Real Thrash
March 16th, 2010
6:58 am
The use of the loss of Kane as a reason for the 6 game slide shows either that the GM is an idiot for placing that much on a rookie or the GM is just an idiot.
You choose.
kjfg
March 16th, 2010
7:34 am
just remember that whatever big wad or the asg say, the opposite will happen.
Hope
March 16th, 2010
7:43 am
What the heck Bruce…..do you have any pride?
Seriously, folks...
March 16th, 2010
8:32 am
Don Waddel has the best job in sports. He (suppossedly) ansers to a fractured, half-assesd “owenership” group and is comforted in the knowledge Atlanta features a luke-warm (I’m being kind here) hockey fan base that by all accounts – even his, as in his pompous “I’ll answer for wins and losses” comment – should have torched him long ago. Think he would still be employed in Philly; NYC; Boston, et all, making the rather absurb assumption he would even be considered for a job in one of those organizations?
bugman
March 16th, 2010
8:36 am
“you guys will all be wiping each others tears away instead of supporting your team and enjoying hockey games”
I haven’t cried over this “team” and never will. They stopped being my team @ 8 years ago. This is your “team” D-Wad (backed up toilet is more apropos). Congrats on another “successful” season, a-wipe.
The problem is not UFAs (in case you haven’t noticed none of any real value want to come here), it’s that YOU are still the GM.
I DO support my team. They just happen to be in Gwinnett.
Don’t you have something more important to do than troll on these blogs?
Don Waddell SUCKS
March 16th, 2010
8:59 am
It’s not the coach that needs to go!
IT IT THE IDIOT GENERAL MANAGER! WHY IS HE STILL HERE! PLEASE GO NOW!
Brendan
March 16th, 2010
9:05 am
It’s as simple as this. If you don’t support or want the product, don’t buy it anymore. If there’s someone else who wants your seats, I say, “let them have your seats.” Don’t prevent someone who wants them from having them. But there’s no point to hanging on to something you don’t want. It’s not as if the people abandoning their season tickets are somehow confiscating the seats from the organization. No one is saying, “This is my seat, but if I can’t have it, no one else can.”
If you are abandoning or have abandoned your season tickets, how likely is it that you could not, at some point in the future, find one (1) of the 18,545 possible seats, for any given game? Shoot, you could walk up to the box office on your lunch hour and pick the 10 games you want to attend, using a credit card. No deposits. No commitments. Probably, at a discount, too. It won’t be hard to find seats, later on. And the more expensive the seat, the EASIER it is to find. Go look at the club level seats. Is there a ‘waiting list?’ I repeat, you walk up to the box office … and pick one. There are thousands of them. And chances are, you’re paying LESS than the person sitting next to you, who owns their seat, as an STH.
GOD of Hockey
March 16th, 2010
9:14 am
DON WADDELL ……YOU’RE FIRED !!!
GOD of Hockey
March 16th, 2010
9:23 am
SO IT SHALL BE DONE!
PMC
March 16th, 2010
9:27 am
why would they change coaches at the end of a lost season?
Especially when the entire organization should turn over the staff in the off season.
Get The Puck Out
March 16th, 2010
9:34 am
Kovy was the centerpiece when he was here and i watched the Devils – Bruins last night and Kovy looked like a second or third line player. Fanning on shots, lack of d, (we already knew this), and just not part of the offense shows on a really good team. Zach Parise is much better. This team will never compete with a team of that caliber simply because of poor leadership and a coach that hasn’t caught up to the NHL level of play. The current owners will never push the salary cap, thus any top tier UFA’s will never be here. Gotta have owners that are willing to want a playoff team even if it takes big money to get that player that you need to make it work. Draft picks have come and gone because they see the team isn’t dedicated to making it work to be a playoff caliber team. The current mess is just a continuing mess from the start. Who’s been here since the start- DW. ASG is not going to do what it takes to make us playoff contenders. I know what needs to be done and i’m no expert, but DW needs to gone and i’d probably let JA go also. Scouts, etc, etc. Clean house. Maybe then players will see that an honest effort is being made to send this franchise in the right direction. Hey YAH – you stink.
Badger Bob
March 16th, 2010
9:36 am
Resident Grammarian, I’m surprised you didn’t jump on this part of Chris’ blog regarding Bogo’s thumb: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the injury was not some kind of fracture”. Say what? Does that mean he would be surprised if it was a fracture? Gotta love the double negatives (like DW and Octocluster, the ultimate double negative).
And Sage, to correct your quote, we all are smarter than YOU – much smarter. Try bringing just a morsel of insight rather than pure whining. There are plenty of people who share your opinions, like LAC, but they actually advance their ideas rather than just repeating them mindlessly.
You're All HILARIOUS!
March 16th, 2010
9:41 am
“Sage of Bluesland
March 12th, 2010
7:23 am
“…Does it matter?….What does it take ro get rid of these clowns???”
I’ve preached the VERY answer for years now. Stop going to the games. Period. Force a change–from either ownership or, better yet, the league office. Continuing to subsidize this utter abomination only gives the decision-makers a false-impression, a sheeplike impression…One that does more HARM than good in the long run. Don’t believe me? Pick up a basic Economics book and give it a read.
Most of my ire has been directed at Don Waddell, as he has been the only constant in this mess (and the fact that such a “classy” guy refused to respond to three of my emails circa 2002). However, I have recognized that an even bigger problem exists (ownership).”
Now I get it! You named yourself “Sage” because you’ve been called Loser all your life! The General Manager of a professional sports team didn’t answer your thwee wittle e-mails 8 friggin years ago so you’ve visited the AJC Thrashers Blogs every single day since and told people to stop going to games. That has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve read yet (and there are some pretty stupid things written here).
Is this your “life”? Is this what you do every day? Can’t you get a clue and just stop going to Thrashers games if you’re unhappy with the product and get on with your life like a normal person? Why on earth would someone devote 8 years of their life to hiding behind a PC and posting messages in order to “fire Don Waddell and ownership”? How’s that been working for you?
Why didn’t you get off your unsatisfied @ss and go to the Townhall Meeting and tell Don to his face that you’re “firing him”? Why didn’t you wipe your pathetic tears and ask him to his face why he didn’t respond to your 3 wittle e-mails 8 years ago? He probably remembers them…..The ones “from that raving lunatic.”
Fortunately, real fans ignore your garbage. If everyone stopped going to Thrashers games, then the Thrashers would leave Atlanta. Can’t you connect the dots? You should be thanking the real fans who show up to games for keeping this team (and hockey) here. It’s certainly not because of you. You guys sound like a bunch of old women in a sewing circle. You all know exactly how to “fix” the Thrashers while you can’t even wipe your own butts without getting sh!t all over your fingers!
Hilarious or pathetic? I don’t know. It’s a close call.
You're All HILARIOUS!
March 16th, 2010
9:51 am
“bugman
March 16th, 2010
8:36 am
“you guys will all be wiping each others tears away instead of supporting your team and enjoying hockey games”
I haven’t cried over this “team” and never will. They stopped being my team @ 8 years ago.”
You’re the SAME GUY! The 8 years ago thing again. Sage/bugman, forever psychologically damaged because Don Waddell didn’t answer his 3 e-mails 8 years ago. I’m embarrassed for you.
Coaches Safe in Atlanta for Now | Getzlaf and Selanne Day-to-Day | Wild Sign UMass Center | My NHL Trade Rumors.com
March 16th, 2010
9:54 am
[...] Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Vivlamore interviews Thrashers GM, Don Waddell. When asked if there will a be a coaching change (John Anderson) before the end of the season, Waddell said no. The coaching situation will be re-evaluated after the season though. Waddell talked to Pavel Kubina and Colby Armstrong during Olympic break, both are upcoming UFA’s, and he plans to talk to them again in a month or so. [...]
tatertot
March 16th, 2010
10:02 am
The Thrashers have dumped salary, are not even trying to sign their own free agents and have a coach they got on the cheap besides keeping DW instead of firing him and paying him off. Can you say Hamilton, Ont. Thrashers? The owners group needs money to keep their primary franchise (the Hawks) competitive and they have spent a wad of $ on court costs. It’s been a rumour around the NHL for months that the Thrashers are for sale. If the commish wasn’t against it they’d have left mid season. I’m not going to waste money buying season tickets for a team that isn’t going to be here!
Curious George
March 16th, 2010
10:11 am
Okay Hilarious, I’ll bite.
So the problem is unrestricted free agency. What are the factors that allow some teams to succeed despite unrestricted free agency while others seem to perpetually struggle with it? What can the Thrashers do to become, at the very least, a playoff caliber team?
woody
March 16th, 2010
10:18 am
“You are Hilarious” I like your attacks on this blog. You are right writing crap here is not going to change anything. However these people posting here are the “real fans” of the Thrashers or they wouldnt waste so much time writing their opinions. Truthfully I think a lot of them are Hockey Nerds. As much as I tried, I will never be a “Real Fan” of the Thrashers until they start winning and going to the playoffs. I am not a masochist like these people here. I am not going to waste my money on a team that shows no improvment year after year.
Let me ask you one question. Why do you want to keep DON WADDELL? He has made all the decisions for 11 years now and he hasn’t produced and thats the bottom line. All those years of low drafts picks and nothing to show for it. Other GMs like Ray Shero have been able to build a Stanley Cup winner in much less time than 11 years. So why should he stay?
will
March 16th, 2010
10:24 am
Seriously..The GM has to go..The only constant has been him.,..Pathetic
Badger Bob
March 16th, 2010
10:53 am
DW must go. Octocluster must sell. But HILLARIOUS is exactly right that people like Sage who only ever post “Fire Waddell” add nothing to the conversation. Sage was noticably absent when we went 4-0-2 one game after losing Kovy. It was impressive, but he’s got no comment. He doesn’t reappear until we have an equally unimpressive 0-5-1 streak. Sage does not bring one iota of insight to these discussions and should rightly be ignored.
Badger Bob
March 16th, 2010
10:58 am
tatertot, there’s been no salary dump. I’m not defending anyone – heck, if a salary dump would have left us stronger for next year, then do it! But adding the General and Arty ADDED salary. Keeping Army and Kubes at the trade deadline kept two big paychecks on the team. There’s plenty to criticize about DW/Octocluster, but you lose credibility in those criticisms when you misstate facts. It’s actally a sadder statement that we DIDN’T dump salary and yet are now dwelling with the salary-dumping Canes and Panthers…
Spud Webb
March 16th, 2010
10:59 am
It doesn’t matter if we fire DW (though I’m ALL for it). I do like Anderson, but he’s not getting all of it from our players. So, I think he should go.
As far as DW, he’s got photos of somebody in the asg, doing something they should’nt!!! I want DW to go but more importantly I want the ASG to sell this team. It appears (key word) that the troll (bettman) is commited to keeping the team here. So lets get some investors that live here and know what icing is and run it like the money making machine it could be if we put a winner out there. Pipe dreams….ugh….
Smoothie
March 16th, 2010
11:03 am
“You’re ALL HILARIOUS” has been the most entertaining presence on this blog since the epic fail that was EOB to try to control and steer the conversation on this blog while Vivlamore was busy writing articles.
Badger Bob – at this point, would you re-sign either Army or Kubina? I lean towards bringing back Kubes, but I’m afraid of the price-tag. But such is the state of affairs for the Thrashers, chronically having to overspend for talent. I say let Army walk. I have not been impressed with him very much this year compared to last, especially not at $2.4 M.
alex
March 16th, 2010
11:26 am
but according to donny at least he running clean drug free organization also 18 years boy got hurt (sorry to offend somebody, still not sure if he is future 2 liner) anyway because of this 2 factors asg please give donny life long extensions. this move put to rest forever “FIRE WADDELL” talk by 99.9% people on this blog.
Old Time Hockey
March 16th, 2010
11:31 am
Bottom line is this team has the talent to win and make the playoffs. That is the GM’s job. To get the players that can win. Then they need to be coached properly. Then they need to go out and perform. At what point do you blame the players for their lack of consistent effort. I’m not a Waddell apologist, but what is firing the GM going to do to make these guys start playing with consistent strong EFFORT. You really think Waddell not signing Savard is why they lay an egg on the ice 2 out of every 3 games? I can see them sitting in the locker room pre-game…”What’s the point of me making that effort if they didn’t even sign Savard…” How about: You are a professional…start acting like one! 60 friggin’ minutes of effort…maybe 10-22 minutes per player in 45 second shifts and you can’t maintain a level of tenacity for that time. Is that the coaches job? Most will say so to some extent, but I still put it on the players. We’ve seen them play games where they look like they can beat anyone. Why don’t they play like that every night? You are not going to win them all, but you should still be competing at that level. The first ten minutes tonight will tell the tale.
Badger Bob
March 16th, 2010
11:36 am
Smoothie, I’m right with you. You can get more than Army for $2.4M on the UFA market. Kubes is a tougher choice, especially since he’ll want more years than I’d want to give him. I want to keep him, but I don’t see us having a $3M Dman in our third pairing in the long term, so I expect he’ll be gone.
Free agency this year will be interesting. Assuming we get Bergie, Little, the General and Pavs tied up for less than $10M/yr, we should have more than $12M left to shop for two or three forwards and a goalie. But it is less exciting, knowing we’ve got to overspend… I’d put Finny as a priority, but his departure may already be certain.
Smoothie
March 16th, 2010
12:02 pm
Badger Bob – I agree pretty much on all counts. I’d love to have Kubina back but only for 2 years at $4.5 M (max) per year. He’ll probably be looking for 3 years or more. The Hainsey contract is a tough pill to swallow cuz we’re paying so much for a 2nd pairing D-man. Assuming Bogosian shakes off this mediocre season and comes back with a vengeance, then it may make more sense to try to lure a guy like Dennis Seidenberg for 3 years and $3 M per season. If our PP were clicking because of Kubina, then I could see making him top priority, but it’s a mess and it’s time to go in a different direction.
I’m assuming Finny and Army are probably gone to FA, and I’m okay with that because as exciting as Finny can be, he’s too inconsistent and his freelancing can get you into too much trouble on the def end. But in a different system, Finny might be fine. I’m really starting to hate the positioning of our D-men in Anderson’s system. I understand the idea of rotating a forward and such, but there is too much speed and precision passing in the NHL to exploit one lazy out of position player.
I’d like to see a new system (or a revamped one by JA) with a more conservative defensive approach since we will likely be inexperienced at goalie with Pavelec getting the nod in all likelihood (shudders). But there are enough pieces at forward to make this work if, like you said, we can use the $10 M that used to go to Kovy and Kozlov for 2 quality forwards — one 25 goal scorer and a 3rd line replacement for Army — and a goalie like Dan Ellis or Chris Mason.