Dudley gives Thrashers needed jolt in short amount of time
Craig Ramsay coached Philadelphia to within one win of the Stanley Cup finals in 2000 but was fired early the following season.
(UPDATED AT 6 p.m.)
Two weeks ago, when I asked new Thrashers general manager Rick Dudley how close the team was to competing for a Stanley Cup, he remarked, “We’re as close as Chicago was two years ago.” Whether he was being realistic with that comment or was setting himself up for a fall has yet to be determined, but you had to admire the man’s confidence.
Now we know something else about Dudley. He’s proactive. In the last 24 hours, he has swung two trades involving nine players, three draft picks and “future considerations” — the major deal bringing forward Dustin Byfuglien from the Stanley Cup-champion Chicago Blackhawks – and finalizing the hiring of head coach Craig Ramsay.
This franchise needed a jolt, and Dudley didn’t take long to provide one.
Dudley said he has a mandate to “get better now.” You would like to think that would be written on the door of every general manager’s office. But maybe the sign was a little late arriving to the Thrashers’ headquarters.
No deals and certainly no coach hiring guarantee success. Through most of their 10 seasons — including three head coaches, an oft-maligned general manager (Don Waddell) and ownership that exuded mostly ignorance and little passion or sometimes even a pulse — the Thrashers have mostly proven how not to succeed.
Part of the problem in assuming success now is that the Atlanta Spirit is looking for new investors and may attempt to dump the franchise altogether. The last thing these guys are going to do is provide Dudley with a healthy payroll to work with.
But give Dudley credit. He is giving it a go. The Ramsay pick won’t have anybody screaming, “Inspired!” He is 59 and a relative lifer as an assistant coach. But he very well could be the right choice. (John Torchetti, thought to be the favorite, may still be brought in as assistant.) He was a terrific player for 14 seasons in Buffalo (where he was a former teammate and roommate of Dudley’s), a smart, 20-goal scorer who excelled defensively. He has long been one of the NHL’s most respected assistants.
Dustin Byfuglien likely will have a greater offensive role with the Thrashers than in Chicago.
Ramsay represents stability and discipline, not fire. But the Thrashers need stability and discipline at this juncture. They need a teacher. They certainly need defense because chances are they won’t score a ton of goals next season.
Oddly enough, Ramsay was thought to be a candidate for the Thrashers’ first head coaching job back in 1999 but he never received a call. “I thought I would have a chance to interview for the job, but I didn’t actually [pursue] one,” Ramsay said. “I might not have been as aggressive as I should have been.”
This is his first real chance. He coached 21 games (4-15-2) in Buffalo’s miserable 1986-87 season after Scotty Bowman resigned. In 1999-2000, he took over for the cancer-stricken Roger Neilson in Philadelphia and led the Flyers to the Eastern Conference finals, where they lost in seven games to New Jersey. The Flyers thanked Ramsay for this by firing him 28 games into the following season.
“I’ve been in some awkward situations,” he said in amusing understatement.
And later this, about his attitude with the Thrashers: “We’re not just trying to survive. We’re going in with the attitude where we expect to win.”
Dudley pulled off a nice deal with the Blackhawks. He knew their personnel well from his Chicago days and was aware the team needed to trim payroll. Byfuglien and defenseman Brent Sopel are solid players.
Picks and prospects are just that — picks and prospects. For the Thrashers, that’s so yesterday.
A nice jump-start by the new general manager.
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97 comments Add your comment
KLS1
June 24th, 2010
2:44 pm
Oh and by the way, there is no other way to develop this team with proven talent other than through trades. Since this team has been so bad for so long no top tier free agent will sign here.
Remember the Brian Campbell offer that was higher than Chicago’s? Where did he end up? Smart move on his part eh?
The Real Thrash
June 24th, 2010
3:00 pm
Will the team here in two years? That depends on whether the people who write on this blog will poney up and buy season tickets as opposed to moaning and lip service. The team can make money if we all do just that.
Hillbilly Deluxe
June 24th, 2010
3:01 pm
I see this as moving in the right direction. If they are going to stay in Atlanta and keep the fan base, they have to show that they are serious about trying to put a winner on the ice. They don’t have to win the Cup next year but they do need to show some progress. It’s obvious moves needed to be made after last season. Time will tell if they pan out but at least they’re trying to make a move.
Dudley Do Right
June 24th, 2010
3:45 pm
Gwinnett Fred – It’s re-signing, not resigning. The latter means quitting……Kovy had every intention of quitting this team.
ThrashDawg
June 24th, 2010
3:49 pm
The Thrashers get 3 NHL players coming off a Stanley Cup winning team and 1 prospect. Chicago gets 1 NHL player and 4 prospects. Sounds like one hell of a deal to me! Now, let’s go get us a 25-30 goals a year forward and a solid goalie, then this team will have the pieces to be a playoff team for a few years to come.
jerry
June 24th, 2010
4:04 pm
A Richt/Willie hire. Buddies.
WingsRule
June 24th, 2010
4:05 pm
Great move Dudley– tired of waiting around for young guys with “potential” can’t afford to do that anymore. Buff, Eager, Soppel–big, nasty, tough to play against. Bring Kubina back & you actually have a nice back end. I also think some are overstating worries about offense. You’ll have Bergfors, Kane healthy, Little HAS to rebound, Antropov. Bogosian/Enstrom should also have a little more room to work.
MaryJ67
June 24th, 2010
4:06 pm
Big Buff fan here, from Chicago. You folks are going to love this guy. Byfuglien is like family to us, please be good to him. Wait until you see Buff live – you’re not going to believe such a big guy can move so fast! We’re going to miss him very much, and it sounds like the Thrashers are going to have a really interesting season.
I’m always going to have a special place in my heart for him, Sopel and Eager. They’re good men, and excellent athletes, but no matter their uniforms they’re always going to be Hawks to me.
The Real Thrash
June 24th, 2010
4:51 pm
Notice I don’t see anyone saying there’re gettting or already have season tickets. Typical…
The team is leaving for a reason
Brendan
June 24th, 2010
5:12 pm
This is a wonderful blog from Jeff Schultz. Nothing negative in it, for those who love to jab Jeff Schultz. Dudley is being PROACTIVE, and pulled off deals that, frankly, Don Waddell couldn’t. I think this is good. If you remember NOTHING ELSE from this Jeff Schultz piece, take this nugget away. “Would Chicago have traded Byfuglien, if they didn’t have cap issues?” The answer is clearly, “no!”
What’d we give up? Stop. When people hear the words “1st round draft pick” and “2nd round draft pick,” they gasp in horror. It’s unfounded to do so. Instead of saying 1st and 2nd round draft pick, say pick # 24 (crapshoot) and # 54 (shot in the dark). What did we give up?? Just Jeremy Morin, that’s it. Okay, Marty Reasoner. Fine. But Marty’s on the back 9, and can easily be replaced in any given year. I’m just sorry we could move Todd White to Chicago. I didn’t want to especially give up Joey Crabb, but hey, that’s not the end of the universe, either. We’re getting three (3) NHL-ready players who can join our club this very season, and contribute! And, for once, we have a Coach who will preach about defensive responsibility. Craig Ramsay and Don Luce were key cogs in a “shutdown checking line” for Buffalo in the 1970’s that was among the best in the entirety of the National Hockey League. Ramsay knows what to do in the neutral zone, and how to break out of the defensive zone. He will impart this to the troops. Our Goals Against will be more like 240 from 270, if not better than that. When we tighten up, defensively, we’ll be a better club. And being a better club … means we’ll win more games. To me, the question mark is goaltending. I’m not too sure that sticking with Moose and Squirrel (Pavelec) will sit well with Boris (Valabik), as we watch Dudley Doo-Right’s Frostbite Falls Press Conference.
Brendan
June 24th, 2010
5:18 pm
Jeff Schultz, may I press you for a choice or options with respect to the Thrashers goaltending? Will they stick with Pavelec and Hedberg, or do you think that someone like a Biron, Quick, Roloson, Harding, or Ellis type might be coming? Cristobal Huet is a hefty price tag for Chicago, with years left on his deal. Tim Thomas is under contract for the next three years, hitting Boston’s cap, with a decreasing annual salary. Clearly, the Bruins are going with Tuukka Rask. Thomas is a pricey insurance policy. Do you like Erik Ersberg, from the L.A Kings? Do you think, maybe, that Dan Ellis could be an option? But he’ll cost money. Obviously, Nabokov is off the table. And I would think Jose Theodore is, too. Jeff, would you want to give Vesa Toskala a fresh, new start in Atlanta? There are lots of goaltender options out there. I just hope Dudley can find us the right fit. And that Waddell will authorize the money that it will take.
Sooner or later, the Atlanta Spirit will realize that spending payroll to reach the postseason does translate into 100% pure profits in a sport other than basketball.
The Real Thrash
June 24th, 2010
5:34 pm
ARE ANY OF YOU DUDES SEASON TICKET HOLDERS?
Jeff Schultz
June 24th, 2010
5:44 pm
Folks — Just to let you know, I rewrote this blog to reflect the Ramsay hiring after listening to the conference call. Chris will be posting plenty more later but here you go. http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2010/06/24/dudley-gives-thrashers-a-needed-jolt-with-trades/
Jeff Schultz
June 24th, 2010
5:45 pm
JSS — right after I cover the Braves-Tigers game Saturday.
Jeff Schultz
June 24th, 2010
5:46 pm
Gwinnett Fred — You hit the nail on the head about being concerned about “the future.” Anybody who has followed this team since 1999 has to be tired of hearing of the future.
Matt B.
June 24th, 2010
5:47 pm
Schultz…thanks for the info; as a lukewarm Thrasher fan I’m excited about some proactive moves as well and I appreciate your fire for hockey in Atlanta. Secondly, do you edit and or check your stuff for punctuation/typos at all? I mean I understand it’s a blog, but tighten it up just a bit. Thanks.
Jeff Schultz
June 24th, 2010
5:47 pm
For what it’s worth everybody, if Torchetti really was a done deal, I would think it would’ve been announced by now. So something clearly is holding things up.
JSS
June 24th, 2010
5:48 pm
@ RT…
No, but I live in L.A. 60% of most years… However, I attended 16 Thrashers games last year and 1 in Anaheim..
Jeff Schultz
June 24th, 2010
5:50 pm
Brendan — My sense — and this is ONLY my sense — is that Dudley wants a stronger, starting-level goaltender to pair with Pavelec. Moose may be the odd guy out.
JSS
June 24th, 2010
5:50 pm
@ Jeff Schultz…
Check your FB email, I sent you a parting gift…
Jeff Schultz
June 24th, 2010
5:51 pm
Matt — in the cleaning process.
Smoothie
June 24th, 2010
5:57 pm
Rumor has it Jeff they are hung up on money. Figures ASG would be too tight-cheeked to pony up the necc $ to get a great assistant! Ugggh!
Stockdog
June 24th, 2010
5:58 pm
Oh, crap! there’s a hockey team in Atlanta.
eugene
June 24th, 2010
6:40 pm
I’m a season ticket holder and I have to say I really like this deal a lot. I’ve said in previous threads that Atlanta needed a big guy up front to screen the goalie and cause havoc at the net, and they got that with Buff but it still won’t be enough to get far in the playoffs. They need a first line center, a shutdown defenseman, a powerplay quarterback, and an average goalie if they’re going to win the cup.
Hockey Steve
June 24th, 2010
6:47 pm
stockdog: we’ve heard that one a million times, you unoriginal baboon. Go read your Dale Jr. magazine.
Hockey Steve
June 24th, 2010
6:49 pm
VERY impressed with Duds moves so far – can’t wait to see what happens next. Just the fact that we will be checking the bejesus out of other teams next season has me seriously thinking about season tickets now….
Delbert D.
June 24th, 2010
7:02 pm
Byfuglien is sure to become a household name in Atlanta.
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The Real Thrash
June 24th, 2010
7:17 pm
WHAT A BUNCH OF POSERS.
Tweets that mention http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2010/06/24/dudley-gives-thrashers-a-needed-jolt-with-trades/?cxntfid=blogs_jeff_schultz_blog%3Futm_source%3Dpingback -- Topsy.com
June 24th, 2010
7:49 pm
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Telfo
June 24th, 2010
10:07 pm
if we get the 20 goal scorer that Dudley is supposedly going after… consider me a new season ticket holder.
That will be one tough team to play against and will have enough firepower up front to make things happen.
IF Kubina re-signs and Bogosian improves like he should we could easily be a top 5 defense next year
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rob
June 25th, 2010
9:09 am
TRT,
Really? Nice attitude. STH aren’t the only fans BY FAR. Get over yourself. Not everyone has the income to be STH……does that mean they aren’t fans? Not everyone can go to 41 home games and so doesn’t become a sth……does that mean they aren’t fans? STH are not the be all end all of hockey fans. As a fan of hockey my whole life I have NEVER had sth “status”. I go to as many games as I can attend, cheer a HELL OF A LOT LOUDER THAN SOME OF THE STH around me, have a great time, and even explain the game to some of the sth who don’t understand it all (and there are quite a few here that don’t). Octotards and DumbWad have taken a lot of the fan base and shredded it with pisspoor leadership and accounability…..who’s fault is that? I go to the games to enjoy the sport, which is FAR AND AWAY the best live sport EVER, so to have some moron say that you aren’t a fan unless you are a STH without further knowledge of other things is just…assinine. Most of us on here are fans I believe…..there are obvious ones who aren’t but oh well. So as a FAN I will see as many games as I can again next year, and cheer on the boys in blue…..maybe even where my FIRE WADDELL/ASG sucks shirt over my jersey, or may change the ASG part to ASG = OCTOTARDS if the season isn’t going well. I am sure as a STH though, you will snort your disgust at someone doing something like that! LMAO STH is NOT neccesarily the mark of a FAN.
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11:16 am
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eugene
June 25th, 2010
2:45 pm
The Thrashers were giving away lower level seats for $15 when they were in the playoff race and the stadium was still almost empty which goes to show, that although there are some dedicated fans out there, the majority are not fans of the sport and would rather see the Thrashers pack up their bags and leave town. If there was anytime to buy season tickets, it would be now while the tickets are at its lowest price. When the Thrashers become a half decent team, those ticket prices will go up. You can bank on that.
Hockey Steve
June 25th, 2010
4:33 pm
I’m buying season tickets this year. Who’s with me?
TOM COTNER
June 25th, 2010
5:06 pm
Big time, old timer BLACKHAWK fan here from the west coast on the OREGON/CALIFORNIA border, next to the salty pond, where it is a balmy 58 degrees and overcast with a constant on shore breeze, THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!! No stifling 90 degrees with 90% ATLANTA humidity for us anymore, like we had in CHICAGO for 30 years. WHEW !!! Now down to bizz. CONGRATS to the THRASHER fans for sniping one of our fan favorites in DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN, not to mention a fairly good defenseman in BRENT SOPEL, and a decent fighter as well in BEN EAGER. As far as AKIM ALIU goes, I can advise that he has had a problem with his on ice/off ice behavior in LONDON, ONTARIO, as a member of his Canadian Hockey League junior team, the KNIGHTS. At least for the next little while, there will be a ton of BLACKHAWK fans who are thinking that WE GOTZ ROBBED !!! I have NEVER been a MARTY REASONER fan, but it appears from many of the other posters, that he was POPULAR with the THRASHER fans, so I guess we will see what occurs, once he takes over our 4th offensive line. As far as MR. MORIN goes, his future with the HAWKS will be judged in the same manner as another youngster we picked up during the season, NICK LEDDY, is being judged. LEDDY was the top draft pick of the MINNESOTA WILD a couple of years ago that we acquired along with KIM JOHNSSON, for CAM BARKER, who is very highly reguarded !!! Back to DUSTIN BYFUFLIEN…………it will be interesting to see if HAWK assistant coach JOHN TORCHETTI can put a bug in the ear, when BIG BUFF DADDY decides it is no longer neccessary to screen the goalie on a full time basis during the regular season, something I said that our coaching staff should have instilled a long time ago, which was only enforced a short time before the playoffs began. Finally, I am sure that the TV RATINGS in ATLANTA will skyrocket with the 000’s OF HAWK fans who will be tuning in to every THRASHER game to see how BIG BUFF does. Once again THRASHER fans, congrats on sniping our top goal producer in the post season; and since some of you posters are talking about acquiring a new goalie, DUZ YA THINK YA MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN CHRYSTOBAL HUET ??? HEH HEH HEH; ONLY KIDDING !!! Anyone who is interested in sending me some thoughts or comments, feel free to do so at katlovers08@verizon.net
Gelatin Fan
June 25th, 2010
8:00 pm
Jeff, thanks for the reply. You may be right. And we’ll find out soon what happens in the Thrasher nets. What are your thoughts on tonight’s draft? The Thrashers pick in mere moments.
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Refman
June 27th, 2010
3:45 pm
I like Buyflugen…hes got grit, size and is totally committed to winning. he had secondary scoring role on his line with Towes, here in the ATL hes gonna be turned loose. We need a big brawler who mixes it up in front. Eager is a scrappy guy…I like what Dudley is doing..putting knuckles on this former:” fragile’ ” roster ( not my words but a certain GM and coach ahem…..drop the gloves shoot the puck and take no prisoners ! GET BETTER NOW! Stick that on every mirror in the locker room this year.
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Brendan
August 2nd, 2010
6:29 pm
Todd White has been traded. Dudley found a GM willing to take him. Amazing.
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