Thrashers

By d

April 2, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this

It is hard to believe that Verus will interupt Professional Bull Riding so that we can watch hockey gm’s draw ping pong balls out of a hopper?

You gotta luv LaVallee’s chance of making the team next year.

By Geneen

April 2, 2008 4:43 PM | Link to this

I love the Thrashers, but yes, at this point I am hoping they lose, lose, lose. We could use a high draft pick (that just in from the Department of Obvious).

By Sam

April 2, 2008 4:47 PM | Link to this

And that thought, Craig, is why you will never play hockey. It goes against everything in a competitor to play to lose. Run that one by Moose and lose your ears. You didn’t really need those things anyway, did you?

Hell no, we don’t try to lose Saturday. Go BIG or stay the f*ck at home. This is hockey.

By GaVaHokie

April 2, 2008 4:51 PM | Link to this

Let’s hope the Falcons lottery luck rubs off on the Thrashers… if we land Stamkos, I think we can finally say we’ve recovered from the Heatley-Hossa train derailment.

All our low-salary players for next year would be young phenoms on entry level contracts… Stamkos, Christensen, Armstrong, Little, Valabik, Enstrom… maybe Sterling and Lavallee. Think of the money that could be spent on defense.

Surely getting Stamkos would turn some high-profile heads towards Atlanta… I would hope it could put us in the Campbell and Redden sweepstakes.

By polskidawg

April 2, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this

I can’t “root” for them to lose, but their pretty good at that on their own.

Whether it is #1 or #3 doesn’t really matter to me. Personally, trade down a few spots, get one of the NHL D-men, and draft 2-4 others early in total.

Of course, this assumes a new draft scouting/GMing team….

By J(Z)

April 2, 2008 4:57 PM | Link to this

Sam, there’s a HUGE difference between rooting for a team to lose and playing to lose. No way do players play to lose. But as fans…we can hope for whatever we want.

I’ve been Beleiving in Operation Tankland for about a month now. One game to go! Oh, and we gotta root for the ‘Ning to win either tonight or tomorrow (or both!!!)

By gmlane

April 2, 2008 4:57 PM | Link to this

Sam, he didn’t say that the team should tank, or not show up, of play less than they are capable of.

He said that if you are a FAN, you ROOT against the team.

Big difference.

By Nikita

April 2, 2008 5:05 PM | Link to this

1. LaVallee, yes. Kiwi, maybe.

2. I can’t root against the Thrash. Can’t do it.

By Russ

April 2, 2008 5:13 PM | Link to this

It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when an NHL’s team highlight for the year is usually the draft lottery. Gee, I wonder who we have to thank for that???

By BG33Brown

April 2, 2008 5:38 PM | Link to this

kovy-__-Thornburn Perrin-Christensen-Little Kozy-White-Armstrong Stuart-Slater-Lavallee

Boulton and Larsen as your scratches

Toby-Havlid __-Valabrik Klee-Popovic

I think that we have to overspend on two top players. A center and a dmen. I don’t think we will get 3 top players. We need to youngish UFA’s. Must be under 29.

And the only way we will even get 2 is to FIRE WADDELL

By ThrasherNY

April 2, 2008 6:01 PM | Link to this

Sam: Donkey comment as Craig is not a player and as a fan you have every right to root for what is best for the team.

GaVaHokie: The use of phenoms is a little gratuitous. But Stamkos plus Christensen, Armie, Enstrom and Valabik (if he develops) could be considered the basis for rebuilding the team. That being said by including Valabik on the roster you then have to cut Klee and Zhitnik (4.9MM cap hit) in order to make a drastic change on the defensive side. I guess my point is that the big money spent on defensive looks to be for players not playing if we truly plan to improve the blueline. Even if you keep Klee when you pile on the 3.5MM a year for Campbell we are looking at 14.1MM on the blueline. And I would argue replacing Zhitnik with Campbell is not going to drastically change the results as needed. So a big change require committing another 2.5MM to the problem and 16.5MM of the self imposed cap makes signing forward to replace Hossa’s production mighty tuff.

Russ: Great point. Gotta love Donny!

By LAC

April 2, 2008 6:04 PM | Link to this

Tough to do, but we need the first pick, this kid is akin to Crosby… Do we all know what that means ????

One loss is well worth the future of the team and right now the future of this team is NOT good and we ALL know why don’t we !!!

One loss is a small price to pay for a franchise player, so with all those centers… maybe Hossa might return !

By MB

April 2, 2008 6:15 PM | Link to this

At this point, it looks like the Kings will be 30th, which will give them about a 25% chance of winning the lottery.

Assuming the Blues can pull 2 pts. out of their remaining 3 games (Nash., 2x Columbus), then that leaves us and the Lightning for 28th (14%) and 29th (19%). The point is moot unless TB can pick up 2 pts. against the Caps or the Canes, which will be tough.

So for now, I’m expecting us to pick third unless we package picks to move up or a team behind us wins the lottery and bumps us back to four.

I’d say the odds look good for Lavallee to be on the roster next year, but Kiwi’s a bit of a long shot.

We already have Enstrom, Havelid, X, Klee, and Zhit-head signed through ‘09 (and X through ‘10). I figure Pops and Boris are penciled in, barring a terrible camp.

Assuming even Don knows he needs to bring in a top 2 Dman, and there’s just no room.

By Sam

April 2, 2008 6:17 PM | Link to this

Y’all have got to be kidding. What kind of fan roots for a loss? In my mind, that’s the same mindset as one of your players tanking for a draft pick. OK, I accept that not everyone thinks that way, but as a hockey fan, I don’t see cheering for a loss as any kind of acceptable choice.

By Mike

April 2, 2008 6:27 PM | Link to this

I think we’ve got a lot of great young talent that could break out in the next couple of seasons, but what have we learned over the last few seasons. We have young prospects. What does the front office love to do with prospects for this team? If you answered: “Trade them for geriatric has-beens,” you win our prize (another shameful losing season.) But I hope that’s not the way things go for these young guys, because I think they’re great and have wonderful potential. As for throwing the game, no way. If you’re gonna go down, go down swinging. GO THRASHERS!

By Tony C.

April 2, 2008 7:24 PM | Link to this

I don’t want the guys to play to lose…..buuuuuut I’m not going to cry too hard if they do.

Stamkos is pretty damn good. I don’t know if he’s Crosby good, but he’s damn close.

I think even if Hossa wanted to come back, the way his representation played out the string (and his now-obvious 65% effort most of the year)-you shouldn’t. I mean look at how bad the whole saga demoralized the team. Think about it-when Le Thrash won against NJD, if they’d won any of the next three, you can bet that Hossa would still be in Thrasherblue. But the team responded with a gigantic egg-laying. Kind of tells you something-like theam was sick of the whole thing and you know what, “don’t let the door hit ya on the way out” seemed to be the sentiment.

I may be way off base, but I don’t think so. I’d love it if we got Stamkos or Pietrangelo. Not really sold on Doughty being the type of guy we need. Although I do admit I haven’t been able to find much video of Doughty-so anybody that has links….

But yeah, no tears if they lose. In fact, along with a rousing “Fi-re Don-ny” chant, I think I’d be pretty pleased.

Believe in Tankland

P.S. Told ya Lavallee was a keeper. True, it is way early to be making that assumption, but I have to say I really like what I saw from this guy. Add to his play the “clutch” factor (go and look at his playoff #’s) and I think it’s a pretty good chance he’s on the club to begin next season.

P.P.S. Sam-I feel on the never accept defeat tip, but honestly, at this point, it seems that a loss would be in our team’s best interest.

By Hunter 6

April 2, 2008 7:48 PM | Link to this

I can root for them to lose! Yeah, that’s right. It’s time for Atlanta fans that have supported this team through and through with the hopes of improvement, only to be let down by ownership and lousy play after big wins…to get something in return. An awesome chance at one of the next great players in hockey. Duh. If you are a real Thrash fan, you root for them to tank. Get over it folks. How good would a win feel compared to the benefit of a great young squad next year?

By B. Thenet

April 2, 2008 7:50 PM | Link to this

I can see Kwiatkowski as our 7th Dman next year, either him or Popovic.

Lavallee should be able to unseat Boulton or Larsen on the 4th line at the very least.

Considering we just sent down a guy who had a role in both goals we scored last game, I think I know what DW wants us to do in our last game.

Seriously though, as long as we are in the bottom 5 we have a shot. I don’t think we can avoid that win or lose. I won’t root for them to lose, but I certainly don’t expect anything magical to happen.

By BigBill

April 2, 2008 8:38 PM | Link to this

MB, Klee/Pop/Zit are part of an awful defense. Why would they need to return ?

Frankly I have seem more than enough of Ken Klee, Iam not much on Havilid either, just need to clean house on defense and why not ?

Giving up the most goals inthe entire NHL is more than reason enough to buyout trade or waive those guys, they did not work this season and who would even want to think about more of the same next season ?

White/Larsen/Slater all need to either bought out/traded or waived, they have absolutely no value to this team and the future, Tood White has been just the worst of the worst UFA signings ! He is bad…

No coming back for Holik/Recchi for sure we need young players no more old fading stars looking for one final big paycheck.

Time to trade up for the #1, this kid Stemekos is another Crosby from what I see and what would that do for hockey here and on the ice ?

Time for KL to go for scoring too, he just cannot seem to string long stretches togather with solid play.

By Sage of Bluesland

April 2, 2008 8:56 PM | Link to this

Wow, I blinked and almost missed the “fruits” of Don Waddell’s FIRST “Five-Year Plan”.

Now, we embark on yet another rebuilding effort—and whoever doesn’t want the consensus best prospect in the draft is delusional.

I’m upset we’re not going to have more ping-pong balls in the hopper, to be honest…We won some meaningless games down the stretch a number of years ago and had no chance for Ovechkin (I remember reading about him and thinking the team should tank to increase its odds of getting him—but what do I know)…

Meaningless wins can be the fine-line difference between the figurative sun setting or rising in the joke otherwise known as “Blueland”.

Some “fans”—willing and happy to cut off their nose to spite their sheep faces!

We need all the young, legitimate talent we can get our hands on—by hook, crook, or by any means necessary. But ol’ honest Donny seems to have other teams’ interests more at heart than the organization which has made him a rich man.

Then again, to give anything to Don Waddell is just to throw it away—well, anything beyond a consensus pick (which even he stated he wanted DiPietro as opposed to Heatley back in 2000; some insight by our bumbling GM—it should frighten you, but that would require actual independent thought and intelligent analysis)

Wake up and stop subsidizing this incompetence!

By MB

April 2, 2008 9:42 PM | Link to this

Bill, there’s no doubt that the defense has been terrible this year, but I don’t think it’s realistic to expect any owner, much less the ones we have, to buy out half the team, then spend top dollar to bring in big name FAs. It just doesn’t make sense.

Same with multiple waivers…you’re just paying out too much for no return. As for trading, maybe you can put a couple of those names as sweeteners on a draft pick deal, but other than that I don’t think there’s a big market for guys who couldn’t even make a mark playing for the 28th worst team in the league.

I do think it’s realistic to expect them to target a d-man, maybe two, and one forward, either a center or, more likely, a RW. And I wouldn’t expect the big names…more likely a promising young player who’s stuck behind others on a team with cap issues.

A lot depends on the most important decision of the off-season, who we hire as a coach, and who we select in the draft.

By Mike

April 2, 2008 9:53 PM | Link to this

If you go to NHL.com it shows all the results from the last 10 or so drafts. You will see that many times the 3rd place team (28th) wound up with the first pick. While sometimes the order has gone by the odds, there is still the chance at 3rd.

By moo

April 2, 2008 10:20 PM | Link to this

I’m having nightmares that we win the lottery and Dumb Donald trades down saying that we are knee deep in centers.

Ughhh, the shivers!!!

By LAC

April 3, 2008 1:10 AM | Link to this

Here’s hoping someone else will be calling the shots at the draft…

If not I can just see waddell trading down for a better position !!! Just wonderful , Just Wonderful… Yet another Disaster in the making !

By Bob

April 3, 2008 8:50 AM | Link to this

Lavallee, yes for the club next year. Like Tony, I’ve liked this kid and the way he plays the game.

Kiwi? No way. Waddell has us handcuffed on D next year, no room for him. Best hope for our D next year is to somehow convince Campbell or Redden to come here as our true #1 and play Enstrom with him. Havelid-Klee as our 2nd pair, and Valabik-S** as our 3rd. See if Exelby still has some trade value mabye? Or he’s our 7th.

You’re a little late to the party on the losing, Craig. Operation Tankland has been in full effect for weeks now. Today, it’s moot in my eyes. Kings have the bottom slot locked up. Tampa plays at the Caps tonight, no way the Caps lose that game, so that locks Tampa into the 2nd slot. That leaves us and the Blues who are one pt. up on us and play 3 games still, 2 against Columbus, so St. Louis will pick up a couple more pts. I think we’re already locked into the 3rd slot so let’s beat those dirty Boltz Saturday night.

So we’ll be in the 3 slot for the ping pong balls and we’ll need all the good mojo we can muster on Monday, which is all the more important that the Spirit has a press conference that morning relieving Waddell of his duties. Of course, one could also say that they should keep him until Tuesday so the hockey gods look down on us and take pity that we’re still stuck with Waddell and reward us with Stamkos. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

By Andy S

April 3, 2008 9:33 AM | Link to this

I think Kiwi is past his chance at actually making the NHL. The Thrash don’t need a 32 year old career AHLer on the blue-line. Levallee, Little, and hopefully Sterling all look set to be NHL forwards next year. Army and Crusher look to be 2nd or 3rd line regulars as well. Add in Kovy, Kozzy, Perrin, and Thorburn, and that’s three decent forward lines. We still need a top centerman though. After that, with Enstrom, Havelid, and Valabik returning to anchor the blue-line, and maybe Klee and Ex as last pair, we need to acquire a solid pair of D-men.

To sum up, we need a top centerman, one or two top/middle pairing D-men, and to piece together a 4th line from the scraps left over.

By Russian

April 3, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this

I will say that we need Top D- men. We have centers and we do not need them anymore. GM has to spend all his free money on D-men and bring REAL DEAL.

By Brendan

April 3, 2008 10:24 AM | Link to this

Will Waddell be fired before or after the lottery draft is televised?

By CJB

April 3, 2008 10:30 AM | Link to this

There is no such thing as “Instant” contenders! 18 year old players do not help teams win. The best players coming into the league in recent history have been Crosby at 18 and Ovechkin at 20. They were 100 point scorers in their first season yet they ahd no effect on the team winning. Ditto Mario Lemieux when he began in 1984. That does not take away from the potential of the players but maturity can’t be sped up.

By Alan

April 3, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this

a. I don’t see Kiwi landing a spot next season. Valabik and Lavallee will have spots though. They’ve convinced me that they’re serious, anyway. Especially Valabik stepping up to protect the team. Just imagine if it were him who went after Ruutu instead of McCarthy when Kovalchuk got his knee messed up? Talk about facial reconstruction surgery.

b. I couldn’t see myself rooting against the Thrashers at all. There’s only two teams in the NHL that I love, and I could not root against either one. Except the one time every few years they play each other. Then, I root for whichever one is doing worse in the standings.

By Russian

April 3, 2008 10:36 AM | Link to this

to Brendan Good Questions. Do you think that he will be fired??? I do not think so. I real hope that happens last year, but he is still here.

By Craig Custance

April 3, 2008 10:49 AM | Link to this

Sam: That’s why I’ll never play hockey? Wow, thanks, I thought it was because my slapshot doesn’t break a wet paper bag.

Bob: Operation Tankland? I like it, sorry I’m late to notice.

LAC: I don’t think Stamkos is Crosby, but he’s probably the only player who can immediately help the team in a big way. If they get Stamkos, he and Christensen are your top two centers, you put Little on the wall and let Jim Slater center your checking line. Then you put a ton of money into the D and one more scoring winger.

By LAC

April 3, 2008 11:15 AM | Link to this

Craig, could be right, but this kid is a guy who will be a star…

I asked earlier and will again, know it’s tough to ask a question like this, but is waddell deaf to not hear what people are saying about him ? He cannot be that out of touch with the fans pulse can he ?

I would just like him to explain what he thinks about calls for his firing or resigning… Would like to hear what HE has to say to the Fans of Atlanta…

By NASCAR Dave

April 3, 2008 11:34 AM | Link to this

WELL, WELL, WELL….

THE BRAVES WIN 10-2, THE HAWKS WIN IN OVERTIME, AND INCOMPETENT DON WADDELL AND HIS INCOMPETENT GUTLESS LOSER TRASHERS STILL SUCK A$$!!! AND THEY’RE STILL THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE NTIRE LEAGUE!!!

AND NOW WADDELL GETS TO MAKE OUR LOTTERY PICK? HELL NO!!!

WHY HAS IDIOT DON WADDELL NOT BEEN FIRED YET???

WE HAVE 4 DAYS TO LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD!!!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! END THE INCOMPETENCE!

WADDELL IS A LAME DUCK GM.

NUFF SAID.

By GaVaHokie

April 3, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this

LAC… I would expect him to say something along the lines of “The fan reaction is expected when we’ve had the season we’ve had. I don’t blame them”. And he’d follow it up with “we’re heading in the right direction. We’re still young and we have a few areas to address this summer.”

Is it really necessary to ask him?

By Nikita

April 3, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this

I think our problem is actually a lot less complicated than folks are making it.

1. We need 2 top D-Men. Period. This is essential. That leaves us with Enstrom, Havelid, Klee, Ex, plus two people who know how it’s done and a couple of serviceable fill-ins.

2. We need to train up or acquire top forwards. I’m not convinced we have to buy them — we have a number of forwards who are maturing into their prime, and are already quite good. Buying one would assure the top spot, though.

3. We need to get the team coached by someone who will concentrate on fundamentals (primarily holistic defensive play, as the D isn’t solely to blame for the humiliations we’ve suffered), morale, and conditioning. These small things are ultimately the reason why the Thrash haven’t been competitive — they don’t forecheck/backcheck with any consistency, they huffed and puffed all over the ice for much of the season, and they mailed it in — and all of that’s got to stop.

We’re lucky to play in a weak conference — relatively small things will get us into the top of our conference and into the playoffs. #3 is completely within our control…if we can manage just that we’ll have a much better year next year, and if we can manage #1 and #2, then we should do very well.

By GaVaHokie

April 3, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

Well, assuming all goes wrong and we don’t get Stamkos… check out Nikita Filatov. I’m getting warry of European players, and he’s pretty small, but he looks strong on the puck, great hands and has a Kovy-esque celebration.

By Sasquach

April 3, 2008 11:50 AM | Link to this

If Zhitnik dresses then you’ll know they’re trying to lose.

I was there when JoJo got his points. He’ll be on the team next year. Kiwi? I don’t know. If we pick up some UFA help on defense, maybe not.

Every time I see Boris play, he gets better. Little should have been up all year; he’s outstanding.

Better late than never, Slava seems to have picked up his game. Do we want to keep any of our UFA vets like Holik and Recchi? I like them both, but…maybe we keep Recchi.

I think what we really need is a coach. I like the idea of having your minor league team mirror the NHL team in terms of style of play, so maybe we hire Anderson from Chicago and they move up Nelson without changing the system. Or something like that.

I really think the missing pieces are on defense and coaching.

By David

April 3, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this

What’s the point of ALWAYS posting derogatory posts? I’m sure most people simple skip over them once they see who it is by or the fact that it’s in caps.

Yes, the Braves and the Hawks won. What’s your point? The Braves started 0-2. The Hawks have been bad for years. There’s absolutely no reason to bring either of those two teams up in comparison to the Thrashers.

Anyways. As much as i’d like to see the Thrashers get that draft pick, there are plenty of other guys besides Stamkos that are great. Doughty is quite talented as well. I’m hoping ATL goes out with a win, if nothing else just for the moral win we’d get out of it. Ending on a loss always hurts, not matter what.

I’ve been thinking about DW lately, and I don’t think this season has ENTIRELY been his fault. When players simple don’t show up for an entire year…If kozlov, hossa, and others had similar numbers to last year, where would this team be? Just food for thought.

By GaVaHokie

April 3, 2008 11:55 AM | Link to this

If we go defense, i can’t seem to find footage on Drew Doughty, but I like what I see of Zach Bogosian. He’s on the Petersborough Pete’s with Arturs Kulda (Thrashers property) and he has the highest point totals for the team this year as a defenseman.

By GaVaHokie

April 3, 2008 11:59 AM | Link to this

David… these folks don’t rationalize, don’t bother… it’s all face-value with them.

By NASCAR Dave

April 3, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this

(http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/replacewaddell/)

By NASCAR Dave

April 3, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this

these folks don’t rationalize, don’t bother…

HOKIE - You are the one NOT RATIONALIZING, because YOU are the one that thinks WE ARE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!!!

Moron.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/replacewaddell/

NUFF SAID.

By GaVaHokie

April 3, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

Nascar… you don’t even understand hockey enough to make a rational point. Who’s listening to you?

By ASG

April 3, 2008 12:30 PM | Link to this

LAST CHANCE THIS YEAR……….to see how AHL players perform at the NHL level. Hurry down and get your tickets for Saturdays show. Don’t miss out!!

Sincerely, ASG

By Is it really enough?

April 3, 2008 12:31 PM | Link to this

NASCAR Dave, if it’s really “nuff said,” why do you keep saying it?

By ASG

April 3, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this

NASCAR….We are moving in the right direction. Our payroll is one of the lowest in the league and are ticket prices are rising. Please stop the negative posts. You are making it difficult for us to sell expensive tickets to see low level players.

Sincerely, ASG

By Bob

April 3, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this

I’ve been thinking about DW lately, and I don’t think this season has ENTIRELY been his fault. When players simple don’t show up for an entire year…If kozlov, hossa, and others had similar numbers to last year, where would this team be? Just food for thought

Of course it’s the players that didn’t perform. That’s the point. The ultimate reason why is the guy who hired those players thinking they were good. Waddell. That’s why he has to go. I’ve posted on here before the litany of dmen that Waddell has signed over the years. He’s drafted 27 of them as well. It’s unreal, he cannot be left to try to fix it again this year the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results

Uwe Krupp, Adam Burt, Richard Smehlik, Chris Tamer, Yannick Tremblay, Todd Reardon, Yaroslav Modry, Ken Klee…and on and on and on, enough already. These are all guys Waddell brings in each year to “improve” our d. The guy can’t build an NHL team, he has to go.

By Brendan

April 3, 2008 12:44 PM | Link to this

Russian, if the plan is to flip the team(s) for a profit, then no, Waddell will not be fired. Waddell is perfect for making a team attractive for a sale. He keeps payroll low, he assembles a team that is, generally-speaking, not mathematically eliminated for a playoff berth at the February trade deadline. (Wow, there’s a GOAL to strive for!) The hope is, in such a scenario, that you can convince the fan base that the roster only needs a “tweak” here and there to be a playoff team.

The goal ought to be … to put together a team that scares people right from “Opening Night.” But I digress.

Now, if the goal is to make a better hockey club, then yes … Waddell will be fired. I’m not as concerned about a “lottery” draft pick made by Waddell (pretty hard to screw that up, unless he goes off the board, or something,) as I am by all the latter round selections. Those second and third round picks, #33 and #63 overall, let’s just say, are important to the future of this club. There’s probably a better chance of Waddell landing some obscure 8th round pick than nailing these down. (Blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut.)

People will argue that drafts are nothing but a “crapshoot” beyond the 10th overall selection. And yet, certain GM’s and teams ALWAYS seem to do well. Perhaps, scouting and “team philosophy” has something to do with it? I couldn’t rightly tell you WHAT the philosophy of the Atlanta Thrashers is. It just might be, “shoot the puck in the general direction of the net, while executing ‘whack-a-mole’ (TM, Poster Sara, all rights reserved) as a defensive strategy. It’s worked so well, so far. Why change it?

By ASG

April 3, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this

GaVaHokie………….Nascar… you don’t even understand hockey enough to make a rational point. Who’s listening to you?
You are listening to him. You would have to listen to him to respond to him. Now stop listening to him! Come down to Blueland and buy some tickets. Bring a friend. You should buy more season tickets. Where else can you see if AHL players can make it in the NHL. How exciting is that! Do not listen to NASCAR he is negative about everything. Do you have a jersey? Home and away? You can never have enough jerseys. Buy one for a friend!

Thank YOU GaVaHokie Thank you so much! Sincerely, ASG

By ASG

April 3, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this

BRENDAN/BOB Your analyzing things too much. We had a talk with Don and he believes we are just one or two players away from being a contender. Buy the tickests and watch us build a contender!

Sincerely, ASG

By MB

April 3, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this

Ah, Brendan, you nailed it with the scouting/team philosophy connection.

How is it that Detroit continually finds those “diamonds in the rough,” and the end up being stars? Is it just an uncanny knack for judging talent, far and above just about every other organization? Or is it all about the system and players willingness to buy into it?

Truth is, it’s a little bit of both, but the system is the main component.

Consider the local baseball team during its recent string of divisional titles. Key contributing players included Jeff Blauser, Mark Lemke, Jeff Treadway, Rafael Belliard, Adam LaRoche, and Marcus Giles.

All enjoyed success with the Braves, and most then parlayed that success to big contracts elsewhere. Then guess what happened…that’s right, their individual performance dropped, while the Braves continued to win. Anyone care to guess as to the reason?

That’s right, it was the system. A strong core system with a few truly superior players bolstered by capable players in support. It’s what made the Braves, and it’s what makes the Red Wings.

Show of hands…who thinks that Filpula, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Cleary, and Samuellson would be among the league leaders in +/- here in ATL, or in all but a few premier teams?

By NASCAR Dave

April 3, 2008 1:08 PM | Link to this

ASG - You can kiss my a$$! I already told you LOSERS once before, if you FIRE WADDELL, I WILL buy Season Tickets next year…. the most expensive ones too!

I asked DWAD to meet me in the woodshed for a good old fashioned southern a$$-whooping…. nothing yet. LAC volunteered to take on LEVENSON…. nothing yet.

We are STILL waiting….

Put up or SHUT UP, ASG!

NUFF SAID.

By LAC

April 3, 2008 1:22 PM | Link to this

If Washington beats Tampa tonight and St.Louis wins one of two left, what happens Saturday night is meaningless in terms of draft positioning, meaning LA/TB/Atl in reverse order.

If… LA somehow wins their last two they would move ahead of us if we lose saturday.

As bad as we have been, what about Tampa, from Cup winners a few years ago to worse than us !!!???

Hard to believe, but as with us defense has been the main downfall for them.

Do they can their GM/Coach ? Doubtful, as they DO have a track record of winning recently, something we can only say once…

But look at Carolina, terrible last season, now first, it can be done, I simply feel we need a new person calling the shots, waddell has had his day in the sun and it has set on him… I hope !

Let’s hope for a lot of luck monday at the league office !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Sam

April 3, 2008 1:30 PM | Link to this

Craig, I didn’t want to hurt your feelings by mentioning your slapshot.

The Gladiators may be looking for a penalty killer with a low center of gravity.

By MB

April 3, 2008 1:38 PM | Link to this

Unless they start giving 3 pts. for a win, there’s no way LA passes us. They currently have 69 pts. with 2 games left. We have 74 pts.

I’m a big St. Louis fan this week, and feel pretty good about them collecting 3 pts. between now and Sunday. Fingers crossed.

I expect the Caps to take care of TB tonight, relieving all Thrashers fans of the anxiety from secretly (or not so secretly) hoping for a loss to secure better lottery position.

By T-Bone

April 3, 2008 1:48 PM | Link to this

Since this franchise has never gotten a real break in its short life why should they get one now? The dark cloud that follows the Thrasher organization will be around on lottery night. Not only will they not get the No. 1 pick, they will fall below their well-earned No. 3 spot, leaving DW to strategize what wizardry he’ll pull off with a 4th or 5th pick. Oh, the humanity!

By A$G

April 3, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this

Waddell will remain GM until his contract is up! To replace him would cost us money. We don’t want to spend money. We want you to spend money.

DON’T FORGET TO BUY TICKETS AND GIVE US YOUR MONEY!

Thanks for the $

Sincerely, A$G

By chickenhawk

April 3, 2008 2:03 PM | Link to this

shoulda grabbed samsonov…

By Nikita

April 3, 2008 3:10 PM | Link to this

The goal ought to be … to put together a team that scares people right from “Opening Night.” But I digress.

If we merely had a team that was properly conditioned and playing solid hockey from opening night, we’d get into the playoffs.

Listen, I hear all of you guys heaping derision on the individual players, many of whom are old, inexperienced, or otherwise not prime material. But no team has solely prime material. Every team has veterans on it, and every team has players who lack durability or simply make stupid mistakes. (Hell, Pittsburgh has Pascal Dupuis, and he’s not playing any differently there.) And we’ve beaten every one of them at some point, in many cases by a very small margin.

Our problem is not, holistically, talent — it is how that talent is deployed, what pieces are lacking that would allow that talent to thrive, and the consistency that ensures that talent is not the determiner of achievement. We lose because we don’t work hard enough, and we’re not set up properly…talent is secondary.

The current “system,” by the way, is “zone defense”…but with most of the team held to no standard for failing to hold their zone, that doesn’t work.

By ToF

April 3, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this

Chickenhawk Samsonov is a left winger. We have lots of left wingers. We also already had 2 unmotivated Soviets, what good would a third have done? Aside from that, he would have done nothing but hurt us. Best case scenario: He plays exactly like he has in Carolina and we (somehow) squeak into the playoffs (Hossa would still have been traded). We then become first round fodder. Missing out on a chance to greatly improve our roster, dooming us to more mediocrity. Worst case scenario: He plays like he had the prior 1.5 years and sits in the press box for the rest of the year, eating salary a roster space. Do either of those really sound like a nice alternative to our current situation?

On a completely different note, who are you guys looking at for the Pitt pick? I like what I hear about David Gardener. This is what HOckey’s future had to say “Best player on the ice. Every time he touches the ice he creates plays. He can’t be left alone or he’ll take over the game. Has a jump in his stride that makes him hard to grab onto or tough to play 1 on 1. Still believe he’ll go first round, high. Dynamic player. Good showing for a half dozen NHL scouts.” He is currently ranked the #30 prospect on ISS’s list. I like Mitch Wahl, but have a feeling L.A. will snap them up (he’s from near there).

By Brendan

April 3, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this

T-Bone, I feel your pain. I love this team, too. But we have had “some breaks” along the way. In 2001, Atlanta finished ahead of Tampa Bay and won the draft lottery. We selected Kovalchuk. In 2000, Atlanta owned the #2 pick, but didn’t figure on being able to land the top prospect, Dany Heatley, until the NY Islanders announced they were taking the goalie, Rick DiPietro. That was HUUUUGE break.

At this point, someone will remind me about a narrow, windy road near Lennox, then ask, “Was Heatley such a blessing? Was he, RRRREALLLY?”

Folks, Dany Heatley is a major star in the National Hockey League. He’s very fortunate to (1) be alive and (2) still have a fantastic hockey career. Both easily could have been lost in 2003. Heatley, on the ice, is a winner. He’s won at every conceivable level. And he’s even had a sniff at a Stanley Cup (2007). I won’t bet against Heatley winning a Cup before he ends his career.

I wish things could have happened differently for him in Atlanta. Truly, I do. Heatley was the foundation, and Kovalchuk the roof, of the “House of Thrashers.” As it stands now, both may be gone by 2010. It’s best not to think about it.

By ROBO

April 3, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this

HEY BRUCE……… THE HAWKS HAVE WON 5 IN A ROW NOW…….. THEY’RE “MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION”……….. WHY AREN’T THE THRASHERS?????…….. IS THAT HARTLEY’S FAULT?????……. OR SOMEONE ELSE’S FAULT?????……… YOU TELL ME, SMART GUY………..LMAO……

By Waffleboy

April 3, 2008 4:25 PM | Link to this

Brandon-If Kovy leaves in 2010, this team will have been so horrible they need to move to Hartford. I can still root for the Bruins.

By GaVaHokie

April 3, 2008 4:34 PM | Link to this

Tof… it’d be nice if by some miracle Boychuk was available with our 2nd pick, but I highly doubt it.

By GaVaHokie

April 3, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this

Oh, for all the naysayers back in February… The Penguins are in 1st place and just now clinched their division with only 2 games left… if Ottawa loses tonight, they could end up missing the playoffs!

It’s not over til it’s over.

By chiwolf

April 3, 2008 4:51 PM | Link to this

You need new coach. Better Defense. Wingers must play defense. Cut your older high price over the hill stars,bring up sterling, stuart, LaValle, and Bois.Joel too old to last another year at NHL pace. Backup goale will be pavlic great abilities.moose will not be a loss.

By Brendan

April 3, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this

Craig, sooner or later, we’ll have to talk about it, Notre Dame 3, Michigan State 1, but the Spartans will not repeat as Men’s Division I National Ice Hockey Champions this year.

Instead, Notre Dame will face the top seed, Michigan, in the Frozen Four. In the other bracket, it’s North Dakota, #3 seed, versus Boston College. BC upset my Redhawks, 4-3, in overtime. And yes, Miami blew a 2-goal lead to allow that to happen. Bygones. BC owns us. That’s all there is to it. Every year, it seems, BC finds a way to choke the National Championship away. Let’s see if it happens again. The Eagles did beat Michigan fairly recently for their 1st National title in 42 years or so. An overtime thriller, at that!

At this point, I don’t know what to root for. Notre Dame vs. Boston College would certainly bring out a certain demographic. Michigan vs. BC happens too much of the time!

I have the feeling the Finals will be #3 North Dakota vs. #1 Michigan. That’d be a great Championship game. The venue is Denver, Colorado, on April 12. Hope this doesn’t interfere with the Avalanche’s playoff games. The “Frozen Four” resumes on April 10th, on ESPN2. Make a note of it. Tomorrow’s NHL players will play in these games.

By Brendan

April 3, 2008 5:15 PM | Link to this

Waffleboy, we’re not quite there yet. A LOT can change by 2010. Such as? Well, what if they did indeed fire Waddell and find a suitable replacement? What if the lawsuit with Belkin is finally resolved? What if the team is sold to someone local, with a vested-interest in hockey, who will commit to empowering the next GM with the financial resources to do his job?

If all these things happened, wouldn’t it be a better environment for Kovalchuk in 2010? And if we wound up with Stampkos in the the upcoming draft, this guy could play on Kovalchuk’s line for the better part of Ilya’s career. Are any of us betting on Stampkos being a “bust?”

That’s a lot of iffs, however.

By MB

April 3, 2008 6:15 PM | Link to this

CC, or anyone else, is the team still on for practice tomorrow from 10-noon?

By Thrasher Ryan

April 3, 2008 6:16 PM | Link to this

Brendan—You gotta root for North Dakota man! Thrasher prospects Andrew Kozek and Michael Forney are on that team. Kozek got the Game Winner last Saturday night. That’s who I’m pulling for.

By kovy17

April 3, 2008 7:11 PM | Link to this

If we do get first overall i really think we should take stamkos cause its like drafting a crosby/kovalchuk player….better than kane a towes. And other free agents will look at the talent we have and may include the thrashers on their list of teams they would want to negotiate with. As much as are defence is strugling if we get first pick we cannot pass stamkos. Anything after first pick we take a defensemen

By LAC

April 3, 2008 9:20 PM | Link to this

NASCAR… You called it right… Where is Mr.Potty Mouth ???

Why won’t he put his A$$ on the line, to have so much and be so stupid is just a mystery we will never understand !!!!!

levenson is a Potty Tramp for sure !

By HairyHeckler

April 3, 2008 10:29 PM | Link to this

If you aren’t concerned that Waddell could possibly flub a lottery pick, I only have one thing to say - Patsy.

By LAC

April 3, 2008 10:32 PM | Link to this

Well it is OVER…

Washington beat Tampa meaning Tampa will finish last regardless of Saturday game.

So in terms of First pick…

OR Last place finish…

L.A. - Tampa - Atl - St.L.

All St.L needs is to hold on and win in Nashville and they finish better than us.

So we are third from the bottom in the entire league, allow the most goals in the NHL this season and we are first in a number of other BAD stats we do not want to talk about.

So this means we are moving in the right direction ?

My question is why did waddell tear the team apart from a winner last season to this disaster ?

todd white our BIG UFA signing ????? The guy needs to be traded or waived, he is and has been a complete BUST in Atlanta, also klee, just a worn out retread like zit and larsen. Why any of them return, if we had the season we just endured, why in the HELL would you want to bring back the same dead weight that did not work this season ???

slater/white/klee/havilid/larsen/zit among others never need to come back except in the visitors colors, NOT Atlanta’s.

Again this goes back to the Master of Disaster waddell, how can we trust him to do anything positive ?

By Tony C.

April 4, 2008 12:32 AM | Link to this

Ugh

Stefan.

I really think that if he’d been given a year or two in Juniors and/or AHL he wouldn’t have been as big a “bust” dude has wheels from hell, great hands….and was a shiny rock in a sea of poo for his first 5-6 seasons of pro North American hockey….who knows? maybe not. Maybe he still would’ve wound up being the player he has become.

I do think you have to fire Waddell, as there is no one else left that could reasonably be held accountable for the debacle of this season. Unfortunately, Hartley could be fired once. I don’t think everything that went wrong this year is on DW, but too much of past mistakes and missteps are. Granted, who knew we’d start five different netminders in under 5 weeks two seasons ago? Nobody could’ve seen that coming. But to have every goalie in team history go down with the same injury every season? That speaks to poor conditioning by the athletes as well as poor preparation by the organization…the people that set the conditioning expectation for said athletes.

Also, you cannot help but notice DW’s penchant for band-aid type solutions-best evidence is last year’s deadline deals (don’t even try and tell me you thought we got KT for a fair price)-but even before then, the decision to bring in Ray Ferraro (which turned out better than I’d hoped), Uwe Krupp (which is/was so bad I wanted DW fired THEN), Jiri Slegr, etc. etc.

Best moves DW’s made: Hiring Hartley, The Heatley trade, and finding Enstrom.

Anyway, I think that unless we get a good coach it won’t matter who DW drafts or gets UFA. As this season has proven though, DW behind the bench it ain’t.

By ranallo10

April 4, 2008 2:54 AM | Link to this

Trading for Savard for a nobody was pretty deft too.

Kozlov’s acquisition wasn’t too bad either, but doesn’t outshine the others you mentioned.

But, it’s a short list of accomplishments and a longer list of failures.

By MB

April 4, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this

Kings win against the Sharks to pull even with Tampa Bay for last place on points, though LA has one more win. Lecavalier leaves game with shoulder injury. Looks like TB has the inside track to 30th.

Thrashers, meanwhile, have to hope the Blues can pull off two in a row against the Jackets.

Ahhhh, the excitement of the bottom-feeders race!

By A$G

April 4, 2008 9:35 AM | Link to this

With all the money we free up thi$ $ummer and the ticket price increa$e we will make more money next year. $o come on down and buy the ticket$. If you do the math we can lo$e up to 5,000 in attendance each game and $till make more money. Buy the ticket$

Thank$ for your $upport!

$incerely, A$G

By Dave

April 4, 2008 11:03 AM | Link to this

Probably not. The issue of who’s supposed to own the NBA’s Hawks and NHL’s Thrashers [they come as a package deal] is still being fought out in court, with claims and counter-claims being swapped. It’s safe to say that nothing will be settled for at least another 18 months [the current fight has gone for about 4 years now, 18 months is probably optimistic], and predicting what’s going to happen when all is said and done is anyone’s guess.

Suffice it to say, nothing regarding a sale will happen any time soon.

By GaVaHokie

April 4, 2008 11:05 AM | Link to this

Two moves that Waddell can make that would stack our forwards for several years… trade our 2nd first round pick to Philly for the rights to Jeff Carter (RFA)… Philly can’t keep him with their current salary situation.

The next move, sign Michael Ryder.

Kovy Carter Ryder

Perrin Christensen Little

Kozy White Army

Lavallee Slater Stuart

Larsen/Thorburn

By NASCAR Dave

April 4, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/replacewaddell/

You still have time to make your voices heard before Waddell is let go.