AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 15
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Shutting down the search
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There you have it. Apparently satisfied with what he’s seeing from his current staff, Don Waddell made the recommendation to ownership to put the coaching search on pause for now. He’s keeping the job within the organziation at least through the end of the season and if they continue playing like they have, that would bode well for Brad McCrimmon since Don has made it clear that he doesn’t want to be an NHL coach forever.
The players are on board with this decision. As Niclas Havelid said, they don’t have the luxury or time to adjust to a new coach coming in. McCrimmon has mostly been running things during practice and Don running the show during the games. That won’t change for now, but don’t be surprised if Beast is handed the reins when Waddell’s general managing duties pile up.
It’s not surprising news, and it makes a lot of sense. If this team struggled under Waddell, then you’d need a new voice, but there’s no reason to, as Waddell said, “upset the applecart.”
So do you agree with the choice or were you hoping a fresh voice would come in and save the day? Let’s not forget that Waddell’s pool of candidates opens considerably come summertime. THere might be some firings, there might be assistants who have a window to negotiate with other teams. But that’s a long way away right now.
