AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 07
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Back in the playoff mix
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hey, don’t look now, but the Thrashers are three points out of a playoff spot. Isn’t parity great?
There’s a lot going on right now in what was supposed to be a light day for me. Let’s start with Ilya Kovalchuk. If you’ve ever hurt your back before, it’s always pretty darn sore the next day, and that’s what happened with Kovy. Carroll Rogers is on top of things in that department. She got the update online about the MRI and as soon as we know Kovalchuk’s status for Friday, we’ll let you know.
I was supposed to sit down with Ilya for an extended interview this afternoon for a story I’m writing for Sunday. The back injury threw a loop in those plans, and I also was busy working on the story you’ll see in Thursday’s paper. A conversation with Scott Mellanby uncovered a couple interesting facts. One - he wanted to join the organization after he retired and was willing, in his words, to work for peanuts. But the offer never came.
Second, he credits Brad McCrimmon (along with Steve Weeks) for the success the Thrashers have had since Bob Hartley was fired. So Mellanby joins the growing ranks of people who feel like McCrimmon is the right choice to coach this team.
Said Waddell: “Lots of people have called me with their opinion. That’s part of the process right now.”
A talk with Bruce Levenson this afternoon gave some insight about the coaching search. There have been rumblings that money is an issue in this hire and that ownership might be hesitant to pay another coach considering the fact that Bob Hartley will be paid for this season and next. He reiterated his stance that ownership has never denied Waddell of any recommendations that he’s made and said that money isn’t an issue in this hire.
But despite all of that, I don’t think anybody is interested in changing too much right now. The team has emerged from its early hole and suddenly find themselves right back in the playoff hunt. I think Kovalchuk’s health is the main concern of this team, even moreso than who is behind the bench. Scotty Bowman assisted by Vince Lombardi wouldn’t be able to win much if Kovalchuk is out for any extended period of time. So, I’ll turn my focus back to my Kovalchuk feature which is coming along fine, thank you. Alex Ovechkin had some interesting things to say about Kovy and I look forward to hearing what Dany Heatley has to say about the emergence of his former teammate. That reminds me, if you see Dany, tell him to call me back.
Alright, it’s off to fight Atlanta traffic. Sorry about the late blog.
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