Thrashers

By islehack

December 6, 2005 04:11 PM | Link to this

Garnet has played quite well of late, one of the few in the back who’s showed up of late, hitting, blocking shots, etc. It seemed every time de Vries and Modry were on the ice last night, something bad happened.

A win sure would be nice to come home with, especially with the lowly Jackets waiting on Friday. Time to build some momentum.

Hey John, is Kari really 10 days from rehab in Chicago? Is it unrealistic to expect him back by the end of the month? Thanks for the info.

By ThrasherED

December 6, 2005 04:17 PM | Link to this

Would the Thrashers go after some more offensive help. Boston put Shane McEachern on waivers why not pick him up for half the salary. And dump some of the dead weight on our 3rd and 4th lines?

By mw

December 6, 2005 04:26 PM | Link to this

ok guys, every night it is the same thing with this team. It is NOT just goaltending, In fact I think Garnett has done ok after his horrid start. But get real. This is the “new” new york rangers of hockey. I am following the Preds the rest of the way. This franchise lost its anchor in Heater and there is noone out there on that ice who gives a damn. The only thing these players care about in Atlanta is playing golf. we are a spa for good players who don’t have to care. I haven’t watched this team in weeks because I have seen this story over and over again.

By Bob

December 6, 2005 04:30 PM | Link to this

I think Exelby is better suited to take on Joe Thornton around the net, but I also hope this is more than just a one game thing. Ex deserves more minutes.

Modry is Slowdry. He’s just not well suited for the new no clutch and grab NHL.

But our pairings just don’t inspire much confidence. Sutton is the top stay at home guy paired with Havelid being the top offensive dman. Then, Ex 2nd stay at home with DeVries 2nd offensive dman. Leaving Nighty as 3rd stay at home paired with Slowdry as 3rd offensive. Will they still trot Slowdry out there on the PP. Anyone else notice this guy can never keep the point?

We need a real #1 dman, that’s another glaring need on this team after a goalie of course. Problem is you need to grow your #1 dman from within, especially the new Cap Era. And we see how Don’s done drafting dmen for 6 years now.

What a litany of defenseman draft picks, Exelby is the only guy that has stuck, look at this list, the first number is the overall draft position where Waddell picked him that year- 1999: 30 D Luke Sellars 217 D Garnet Exelby 246 D Ray DiLauro 2000: 31 D Ilja Nikulin 42 D Libor Ustrnul 178 D Jeff Dwyer 242 D Evan Nielsen 288 D Mark McRae 2001: 100 D Brian Sipotz 199 D Matt Suderman 262 D Mario Cartelli 2002: 124 D Lane Manson (he took Lehtonen #2 overall this year, highest a Euro goalie, mabye any goalie, ever went, leaving Boumeester on the board) 144 D Paul Flache 236 D Tyler Boldt 257 D Pauli Levokari 2003: 8 D Braydon Coburn (Dion Phaenuf still on the board at this spot!) 110 D Jim Sharrow 136 D Mike Vannelli 239 D Tobias Enstrom 2004: 10 D Boris Valabik 40 D Grant Lewis 76 D Scott Lehman 2005: 49 D Chad Denny 187 D Andrei Zubarev

Look at Don Waddell’s legacy there in his drafting. We’re screwed for years after we finally get Donny off the helm. Defensemen take forever to develop.

Let’s not even go down the list of veteran defensemen Waddell’s brought in here: Tremblay Tamer Buzek Shannon Frank Kaberle (he was decent, still playing for the Division leading Canes, Don lets him go for nothing!) Harlock Staios (he was good, still playing for Oil, Don lets him go for nothing!) McAlpine Dean Ndur Slegr Adam Burt Brian Pothier (he’s good, playing for league leading Ottawa, let him go for McEachern I think-McEachern out of league now, Pothier young and getting better!) Tjarnqvist Reirdon Smehlik Kirill Safronov Ivan Majesky and more bit players that had a few games here and there

Look at those lists of draftees and signees by Waddell. And today we sit with: Slowdry Havelid Sutton Exelby Hnidy Devries

And Coburn the only one we hope can come around, but Waddell said he’s be on the club for sure this year. Meanwhile, the dman on the board that Don passed over, Phaenuf, is tearing it up for the Flames, who made the Cup finals last time out.

Anyone that can’t see where the problem lies here just isn’t paying attention.

By Brendan

December 6, 2005 04:30 PM | Link to this

I have to think breaking up Modry and deVries is a good idea. I still trust Hartley to know what he’s doing. I love that Exelby will be getting more minutes. He’s been playing with heart and goading other teams into retaliatory penalties.

Thrashers are on OLN tonight, baby!

By Dave

December 6, 2005 04:35 PM | Link to this

Why are the other fans so illiterate? “Nighty?” “Exebly?”

By Thrashy Thrashy

December 6, 2005 04:37 PM | Link to this

People can bring up “Heater” all they want, but I don’t believe that he would be anywhere near as productive in Atlanta as he is right now in Ottawa. His head wasn’t screwed on straight and he needed to move on and the team showed a lot of class by accommodating him. There’s never been a doubt in my mind that Heatley is a more valuable player than Marian Hossa, but Waddell’s assumption that Greg deVries would make up the difference (not just in salary for the deal to occur, but in the defensive stability he was supposed to provide) was false.

To answer the blog question, anything that gets Exelby more ice time right now is a good move.

By Bob

December 6, 2005 04:52 PM | Link to this

Dave,

Not illiterate, it’s call ALLITERATION.

Ya know, Nighty = Hnidy. They sound the same. Play on words? Never mind.

By Russ

December 6, 2005 04:54 PM | Link to this

I think Modry and DeVries should stay together…as healthy scratches. Bring up some young guys (like Coburn) for a look and give them quality minutes to see what they can do. Leave Havelid and Sutton as the #1 pairing, then split the rest of the minutes between Exelby/Hnidy and a young pairing. Or split up Exelby and Hnidy so there is one experienced player with each young guy who is getting a shot. Either way Exelby and Hnidy’s minutes will go up, you’ll get a good look to evaluate some young players and we won’t be forced to watch the dynamic duo of Modry and DeVries. The Thrashers have to consider it a moral victory right now any shift those two go without a goal against or a penalty.

By BarryJ

December 6, 2005 05:10 PM | Link to this

Do I think it will make a difference? Do I think it will make a difference???!!!

Yeah, John, about as much difference as throwing a deck chair off of the HMS Titanic…

By TonyC

December 6, 2005 09:43 PM | Link to this

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if anyone from atlanta spirit llc, reads this blog, PLEASE PLEASE Get Don Waddell the hell away from our NHL franchise! Hire a dedicated goalie trainer (who emphasies GROIN strentgh-conditioning)! Lower the prices on mid-level seats, penalize (fine) corporate season ticket holders whose seats are not filled more than 55% of the time! I don’t know….Don’t fire Hartley! DON’T! give him the talent he needs to bring us the Cup! oh and nice work with the Moe’s $70 game pack

By norm

December 7, 2005 09:05 AM | Link to this

Why is it the Thrasher’s can play well for three games and then play as if they have a hangover on the others? This road trip is a perfect example. They are professionals and they must understand you have to play 60 minutes each game, not 10 here or a period there. They can’t even beat the teams they are suppose to beat. The next two games are against Chicago and Columbus at home. If they do not at least get 3 out of 4 points here, season over. I say this because they have not proven that they can play complete games over a 8 to 10 game stretch. With the talent we have, there should be more consistency.

By Bob

December 7, 2005 09:14 AM | Link to this

Norm, i’d love to think that the season isn’t already over, but I’m afraid it is. And that’s why I’m so p** at Waddell for sticking us with this crap for 6 seasons now.

So what did you guys think of the new pairing of Exelby and DeVries. Exelby was trying, but he looked a little lost out there. Slowdry got demoted to the third pairing but sure enough, took that early penalty that put us behind the 8 ball again.

This is all just so frustrating.

Please Atlanta Spirit, please get us a new GM. Please?

By Brendan

December 7, 2005 12:17 PM | Link to this

Two excellent posts, Bob. Very thorough analysis on Waddell’s draft history for defensemen. It particularly “frosts me” when I see “jettisoned” players succeed elsewhere, even if their roles are not at the forefront with their new teams.

Frank Kaberle scored the OT winner for Carolina. Brian Pothier will probably have a great game vs. Atlanta on January 2, 2006, here at Philips Arena.

I bet when Pothier arrives at Philips, he’ll feel a personal sense of gratification about the trade that brought McEachern here. I think Shawn is not in the NHL right now, since Boston placed him on waivers.

I haven’t checked in on Steve Staios in quite some time, but when he left Atlanta, it was because he wanted a 10-percent raise that Don wouldn’t give him. He became the Oilers’ Captain that year.

And seeing Phaneuf, 9th overall, tearin’ it up in Calgary is rather frustrating, while Braydon Coburn, selected 8th overall in the same year, is in Chicago.

Ilya Nikulin never signed. He stayed in Russia. That was a pick “well-spent.” And Libor Ustrunul, or something like that. Where’s he? These are “wasted picks.”

I realize that drafting is not an exact science. It involves “calculated risk taking.” But d*mmit, second-round picks should be in the system, or make the roster.

I agree with “TonyC” who said, “Don’t fire Hartley.” Hartley is NOT the problem. I cannot understand why the poll question today is “Do you think Hartley will be fired?”

Fire Hartley??? Fire Hartley?? A guy who took Colorado to four Western Conference Finals and won a Stanley Cup. Yeah, that’s the guy the Thrashers should “discard??”

I’m exasperated when I hear talk like that.

If someone must be fired, it’s Waddell. The blog site is filled with historical evidence to support his impeachment.

In the interest of “fairness,” some of these things weren’t his fault. Groin injuries got Rhodes, Dafoe, Hnilicka, Lehtonen, Shields, and Dunham. Don’s fault? Probably not. Was Don driving the Ferrari? Not hardly. He did an exemplary job of handling the accident, funeral, and aftermath, up to the point where he decided to acquisce to Heatley’s trade request with Ottawa.

Trade him if you must, Don. But do pick a non-Conference opponent. Even draft picks from St. Louis would have been okay. It frees up “cap room” to pursue other players until the picks materialize into bodies who actually play on our roster.

I can’t remember it was Russ, Bob, LAC or BarryJ who said that the ownership group itself might be the “biggest obstacle.”

I think I agree with that. How do you mean?

If they’ve swallowed the “Waddell kool-aid,” then Hartley will take the fall. If this ownership group truly believes Don is an “excellent judge of talent,” he’ll be here, a la Pete Babcock, for what will feel like a “century.”

Don will continue to make our draft picks. Overpay the wrong players. Get hoodwinked in trades. And bring in perpetually-injured players like Uwe Krupp, Damian Rhodes, and Jani Hurme.

Even I am getting sick of listening to myself rant on Don Waddell. He’s not the worst GM in the league. But neither is he the kind of GM who is leading us towards a Stanley Cup. He builds a house, then furnishes it, without a roof on top. He does things in “reverse order.” He nickel and dimes “Superstars” and overpays for yesteryear’s all-stars, who are now too slow to keep up with the new rules. And he does so, all while sitting on the “Rules Committee.” He signs Holik first, and Kovalchuk LAST. Does this make sense? Does this seem like good judgement?

Letting Audette go, Brunette go, getting bamboozled on the 2002 Draft, (no Nash, no Bouwmeester, no 2003 1st round pick for agreeing not to select either in favor of Lehtonen,) picking up Dafoe, Krupp, Hurme, Modry, trading Heatley to a conference opponent, and trading down to #16, from #8, to get Alex Bourret? So we could stockpile 2nd round picks? In seven years of drafting we haven’t landed a 2nd-rounder in the starting lineup, without it being a “call up” situation from the minors.

Not signing Kovy on July 22, long-term, for substantially less money. (Hey owners, that’s at least something that you cannot ignore. It impacts the “bottom line.”) Overpaying for Hossa, deVries, Holik, and others.

It’s not as if Don hasn’t made any good decisions. He has. But the “ever-mounting” evidence of poor or weak decisions is dwarfing the good ones.

If you must “overpay” someone, let it be Marc Savard! At least you can point to some form of justification for it. He’s putting up good numbers.

I like to be optimistic. Savard was a perfect example of a player who “merely fell out of favor in his camp.” Perhaps, there are more “Savards” out there and we can land them, at a discount, in the offseason or trade dealine.

Whattaya think?

By Bob

December 7, 2005 12:34 PM | Link to this

I think we should start a campaign of letter and email writing to Atlanta Spirit to save our hockey team and get rid of Waddell. His 5 year plan is sitting in front of us, and it stinks. Goodbye Don.

But I really don’t think the letter writing campaign will be necessary. Waddell has dug his own grave and the owners will be watching where their max Salary Cap team of $39m payroll got them, and they did that based on Waddell’s advice. One of the owners, Levenson I think, was already asked by the AJC about Waddell and Levenson said something to the effect that if we’re still in the same spot by Christmas, Don knows he has to pay. Well, anyone think this thing is going to be turned around in the next 2 1/2 weeks.

All I want for Christmas is a new GM.

By JB

December 7, 2005 01:59 PM | Link to this

One thing about the new NHL or any sport with a hard salary cap. You can turn things around in a hurry. Next year Ottawa will have to face getting Chara and Redden signed…..Every team will be challenged by the cap in some way or another.

Here is where having a GM that can judge talent and make good hard decisions comes into play more than it ever has.

I used to think that Ken Holland at Detroit had it made. The salary cap was the sky in Detroit…..He could get the best and with Scotty Bowman at the helm, he could just jump on and ride….Well jump ahead to 2005. He has lost so many pieces to that team and still sits at the top of the Western Conference. He is good at what he does and Detroit obviously has great scouting.

One thing that I am really starting to believe is that our scouting is atrocious. Do ya think????

After the no brainers of Kovy and Heatley, who stands out?….If we do find one we trade him away.

Ive always heard an expansion team can never deal from strength its first five years.....That means you need to keep a large core of your younger players together. San Jose struggled just like us their first 5-6 years....They had bad scouting and no direction....Dean Lombardi changed that in96 when he took over in their 6th year…..Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

By Bob

December 7, 2005 02:54 PM | Link to this

JB,

You are absolutely correct. In the Salary Cap Era now, the GM must be able to judge talent and make good decisions and as we’ve documented very well, Waddell has failed miserably for 6 years now. Time’s up, get us someone in here to turn it around.

What do you think of the probability that Waddell fires Hartley in an attempt to stave off the inevitable heat that going to come down on him from the owners?

By Mark

December 7, 2005 03:20 PM | Link to this

If they fire Hartley, my season ticket seats will remain empty for the rest of the year. Not only will they be empty, but your precious concessions, parking and gift store won’t be making any money either.

The salary cap has caused problems for other teams, but they had the luxury of jettisoning their bottom tier players to those with money to spend — and here we sit! We could have two goalies some nights and our defense would still give up goals. And the penalties from their lack of speed and quickness puts us behind a wall every night.

No, Hartley isn’t the problem. He’s the solution if we had a GM that could give him NHL caliber players that still have their skills. “Former” all-stars aren’t the answer.

By Mark

December 7, 2005 03:25 PM | Link to this

Forgot to address Bob’s question — I don’t think the Spirit will let Waddell fire Hartley for this mess. He’s not the constant in this equation.

And, as for the goalies’ conditioning — don’t forget these guys were on strike for a year and were not allowed to have any contact with Thrashers management or training staff. They were on their own to stay in shape and they didn’t do it. Shields was a late add and you can’t avoid the knee injury he had. He was just unlucky. But it’s sad that a goalie that wasn’t under contract with anyone came into the season in better shape than our two contract goalies!

By caillou

December 7, 2005 03:50 PM | Link to this

Don’t think I don’t agree that the staff of the Thrashers is not on the hook for this debacle of a season. The fact is the owner’s need to make someone pay for it.

But…. Dean Lombardi is not the answer and neither is Cliff Fletcher. First, Cliff has a better job, second, do you want Bob Pulford’s son-in-law as your new GM (Lombardi). Third Lombardi has already been mentioned as a possible replacement for Doug MacLean in Columbus if he doesn’t right the ship. Fourth here is the draft history for Lombardi: 1996 2 D Andrei Zyuzin 21 C Marco Sturm 55 G Terry Friesen 102 R Matt Bradley 137 G Michel Larocque 164 D Jake Deadmarsh 191 C Cory Cyrenne 217 L David Thibeault

1997 2 C Patrick Marleau 23 D Scott Hannan 82 R Adam Colagiacomo 107 R Adam Nittel 163 R Joe Dusbabek 192 C Cam Severson 219 C Mark Smith 1998 3 D Brad Stuart 29 R Jonathan Cheechoo 65 L Eric Laplante 98 D Rob Davison 104 R Miroslav Zalesak 127 L Brandon Coalter 145 R Mikael Samuelsson 185 D Robert Mulick 212 D Jim Fahey 1999 14 D Jeff Jillson 82 F Mark Concannon 111 W Willie Levesque 155 W Niko Dimitrakos 229 C Eric Betournay 241 D Doug Murray 257 R Hannes Hyvonen

2000 41 D Tero Maatta 104 R Jon DiSalvatore 142 C Michal Pinc 166 G Nolan Schaefer 183 R Michal Macho 246 R Chad Wiseman 256 D Pasi Saarinen 2001 20 C Marcel Goc 106 D Christian Ehrhoff 107 G Dmitri Patzold 140 L Tomas Plihal 175 W Ryan Clowe 182 C Tom Cavanagh 2002 27 Mike Morris 52 D Dan Spang 86 R Jonas Fiedler 139 W Kris Newbury 163 D Tom Walsh 217 D Tim Conboy 288 Michael Hutchins

They have only 4 late round picks that have panned into NHL players, 2 remain with San Jose. Alot of the second picks are actually late first round picks as there were 26 teams then by 2000 there were 30. There were only 12 guys that he picked that have played any time in the NHL. Not much better than Waddell and none of the picks have been a Kovalchuk, or Heatley. Not to say Stuart or Marleau are bad, just not the same calibre.

We are currently faced with alot of tough decisions because we left no room for deals and spent the cap before Christmas. This is the major fault I see in the Thrashers situation.