Where did Jeff go?
He’s moved to a new location. Check him out on the new blogging platform and let him know what you think.
Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > December > 26
Friday, December 26, 2008
Hope, cash dwindling for Thrashers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The worst thing for a sports fan is not a losing team. The worst thing is when there is no real chance for things getting any better. Bad decisions can be overcome by good ones. But a lack of commitment smothers all hope.
The Thrashers aren’t merely the 28th-ranked team in a 30-team league. They are a mediocre, even if hard-working, bunch put together with the primary objective of losing as little money as possible. The roster screams it. The payroll confirms it. Nobody denies it.
A franchise can’t possibly send a worse message to an already dwindling fan base.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where we sit in salaries in the league,” general manager Don Waddell said before Friday’s loss to Carolina — and it should be noted here that while he didn’t shirk responsibility for the way this team has devolved, it always helps to spread the blame.
The Thrashers held a 4-3 lead in the third period but lost 5-4 when Eric Staal scored two goals in a span of 1:16. They belabored another close loss. But bad teams lose close games because they have fewer gears than good teams.
Welcome to the discount table. Sad, isn’t it?
The Thrashers’ payroll is a bag of pucks north of the minimum. The NHL salary-cap ceiling is $56.7 million. The floor is $40.7 million. The Thrashers officially are at just over $44 million, but that includes about $2 million in potential bonuses for rookie Zach Bogosian, who won’t achieve any.
Fans want to know that their team can still win because help is on the way. They don’t want to know that ownership has other priorities.
Think of the Atlanta Spirit as an ATM right now. Because of automatic debits, the daily balance is bleeding. The account holders are headed for a court showdown (again) with alienated partner Steve Belkin in February. Nobody is in a buy mode. The withdrawal button just ain’t working.
Waddell would never come out and say that he’s handcuffed. He doesn’t have to.
When asked for 397th time if he was concerned about his job, he said enough between the lines to illustrate matters: “Every day is a new challenge. I’ll continue to do everything I can for the team and the Spirit. If you’re asking me if I’m worried about [my job], nothing has changed. We all have different expectations, not only from a team standpoint but from a financial standpoint.”
All of the problems obviously can’t be attributed to finances. Most of the problems can be traced back to year one. Waddell was here, the Spirit wasn’t. Even in budget-crunching times, a general manager can make things work to a degree if there’s a solid foundation. Waddell poured the foundation. It hasn’t been just about bad drafts or miscalculations in personnel. It’s mostly about never having a successful plan, a structure, an identity.
“I think we’re pretty solid when we’re playing an ugly, simple game,” said winger Colby Armstrong, and that probably sounded worse than he meant. “When we’re not physical, and we don’t win our battles, we’re dead in the water. We have to focus on being a tougher team to play against.”
They’re just not. Staal skated around Jason Williams and Nathan Oystrick for the winning goal.
The Thrashers won their season opener against Washington, then won one of the next 10. They won five in a row, then only two of the next 13. It’s not hard to figure out which is the aberration.
It wouldn’t be fair to blame coach John Anderson for this. He may or may not be an NHL-worthy coach, but there’s no way of knowing.
Anderson admitted the adjustment from winning in the AHL has been difficult. He joked that Washington coach Bruce Boudreau, his friend, threw off the curve last season when he won the Southeast Division after being elevated from the minors.
“It’s like following the animal act on Johnny Carson,” he said. “I want to put my head through the wall sometimes. We make mistakes we shouldn’t be making, but I’m a realist. I know where we are in the league.”
With little hope of getting better.
Permalink | Comments (49) | Post your comment | Categories: Thrashers/NHL
