AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > June
June 2008
‘Big part of our future’ now part of team’s past
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m new to covering an NHL team, and I’m learning. One lesson: Asking the right question and reporting the response accurately doesn’t always shed light on the subject.
On June 16, I asked Thrashers general manager Don Waddell about the team’s plans for Alexei Zhitnik. Specifically, would the Thrashers buy out the final year of his contract. Here’s what appeared in the June 17 Journal-Constitution:
“Waddell rejected speculation the team might buy out the final year of Zhitnik’s contract. ‘That’s never been talked about,’ Waddell said. ‘We think he’ll be a big part of our future. We expect him to come back and be part of our team.’”
Two weeks to the day after he said that to me, Waddell bought out the final year of Zhitnik’s contract.
I asked him about the apparent contradiction. “That was prior to the draft,” he said Monday. “If we don’t get that player [Zach Bogosian], he could still be a big part of our team.”
It was no secret the Tampa Bay Lightning would choose Steven Stamkos with the No. 1 pick and that one of two excellent defensemen, Bogosian or Drew Doughty, would be available when the Thrashers picked at No. 3.
I talked about some of this with my brother, Danny Knobler, who covers baseball for CBSSports.com. His advice: Don’t get caught up in worrying about when there’s a gap between what somebody says is going to happen and what happens. Hey, it happens. (This is a family blog.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep asking the questions, reporting the answers and hoping, more often than not, I might shed a little light more often than I add to the darkness.
A few updates from a Monday conversation with Thrashers coach John Anderson:
—If you know of anyone looking to buy a house in Chicago, point them Anderson’s way. Unfortunately, the house in in mid-renovation. “It’s a little tough to sell when there’s no roof on it,” he said.
—Don’t be in too big a hurry for Anderson to announce a staff. With free agency this week and the rookie camp the next week, it is likely to be the second half of July before the Thrashers make any announcement.
—Three of the seven players the Thrashers drafted are planning to play college hockey next season, but they are still expected to be in the rookie camp. It’s OK with the NCAA as long as the players pay their own expenses, including travel.
—Anderson has been busy. He said Sunday night was the first he had spent in Chicago since his hiring. He had a quick swing through Atlanta for TV and public appearances, including a night as honorary captain for the Braves, and he was in London, Ont., at the end of the week for a hockey camp aimed at players ages 15-17 about to choose between college and major junior hockey. He will be back in Atlanta on Saturday and stay through July 15, when he returns to Chicago to get his things in order.
A topic for discussion: Which player do you want to see the Thrashers get most in free agency, and why, and which player do you think might actually sign to come to Atlanta? Brian Campbell? John-Michael Liles? Mike Commodore? Brooks Orpik? Mark Streit? Michal Rozsival? A 2008 Cup winner, such as Brad Stuart or Andreas Lilja?
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Anderson hired, what of Cheveldayoff?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My apologies for not blogging since Sunday. I’m on vacation. But I did speak with Chicago Wolves general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff a couple of days ago. He was returning my call about John Anderson, the former Wolves coach who now coaches the Thrashers.
Anderson and Cheveldayoff worked together for 11 years in the Wolves organization. So, I asked, if the partnership is so successful, what are the chances of it continuing with some sort of role for Cheveldayoff in Atlanta? I got a very indirect answer that I won’t try to interpret for you here. Cheveldayoff did say, “It’s everybody’s aspiration to make it to the National Hockey League.” That could come soon. He was reportedly one of three candidates brought back for second interviews when the Phoenix Coyotes hired general manager Don Maloney last year.
Here are a few things Cheveldayoff had to say about Anderson:
“He’s done a really good job working with all different kinds of players. … It’s not one size fits all. Some guys you’ve got to give a little more of a nudge to get geoing. Others you’ve got to leave more on their own.”
“He coaches players the way he would like to be coached.”
He predicted a very strong relationship between Anderson and Kari Lehtonen.
More next week when I’m back on the clock, in time for the free agent push.
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Draft summary
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THRASHERS PICKS RoundNamePosition 1Zach BogosianD 1Daultan LaveilleC 3Danick PaquetteRW 4Vinny SaponariRW 5Nicklas LasuLW 6Christopher CarrozziG 7Zach RedmondD
I wrote in Saturday’s paper about Zach Bogosian, the defenseman from the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, and Daultan Laveille, the center who is moving from Junior B to Michigan State.
Today, the Thrashers got five more young players. My story will focus on Vinny Saponari, the guy from Powder Springs. So here’s a little about the other guys, from a conversation I had with Don Waddell.
Danick Paquette: “He’s a tough, tough kid. He plays a very rugged style of hockey. He’s not going to be denied. He’s going to pay the price to play in the NHL, and he’ll play in the NHL for a long time.”
Nicklas Lasu: The two-way forward will come to the Thrashers’ development camp and return to Sweden to play one more year. The lack of a transfer agreement between the NHL and the international hockey governing body doesn’t make this a risky pick, Waddell said, because Lasu is Swedish. “If he’s ready to come and good enough to play, they all come over,” he said.
Christopher Carrozzi: He will play at least another year of major junior hockey and probably two. “You can never have too many young goalies. He just needs to play hockey,” Waddell said.
Zach Redmond: He was born in Traverse City and goes to school there at Ferris State. That gives him a connection to the Thrashers, who play in a prospects tournament there every year. But that’s not why Atlanta drafted him. “We know him as a college player,” Waddell said. “He has very, very good puck skills, reads the play well, good vision.” What stood out about Redmond were his stats as a freshman, six goals and 13 assists in 37 games for his CCHA team.
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Draft party ramblings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There was little doubt where Dan Schweickert stood Friday. On his head, he wore a Thrashers cap. His shirt celebrated the Chicago Wolves 2002 Calder Cup championship. And he came all the way from Cartersville to be at the Thrashers draft party at Philips Arena.
His wife, Juli, was there, too. Of course, she said. After all, she has missed only three home games in franchise history.
Needless to say, judging by his shirt, Dan approved of the hiring of Chicago Wolves coach John Anderson as coach of the Thrashers. “I like the way they play,” Dan said of the Wolves. “It’s going to be interesting to see if he can get these guys [at Philips] to play a north-south game.” The Thrashers, he said, have had a tendency to back up. “His guys don’t back up,” Dan said.
“I’m just glad we finally have a coach,” Juli said.
“Hopefully, he’ll turn things around,” said Barry Silsbee of Conyers. “He knows some of the younger players, and he knows how to work with young players.”
“I like his history. I like the fact he’s been a winner everywhere he’s been,” Chris Bennett of Atlanta said. “It’s going to do nothing but help our chances of being a winner.”
Bennett is going to do his part, too. Last season, he wore a mask of Halloween movies character Michael Myers to the games, and he had it on his head on Friday, too. But considering the Thrashers’ 2007-08 record, it’s time for a change.
“This season, it’s going to be a Mexican wrestling mask,” Bennett said.
The party is long over, but I’m still at Philips, watching the draft and waiting, waiting, waiting for pick No. 29. George Henry from the AP is sitting next to me.
Be on the lookout in Sunday’s paper (or Saturday evening online) for a story about John Anderson. I think it will be worth your while, because he’s an interesting guy. If the Thrashers ever make this No. 29 pick and I get some sleep tonight, the story ought to tell itself when I sit down at the keyboard tomorrow.
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It’s official
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m glad this one didn’t drag out any longer. John Anderson is officially the Thrashers’ new coach.
He’s meeting with the media by teleconference at 3 p.m. and in person in Ottawa at 5:30. I’m sure he’ll be doing a big appearance on Versus tonight during the draft coverage. I’ll let you know if the Thrashers tell me about any other plans relating to the draft party at Philips.
It’s a busy day for me, so I’ve got to run.
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Anderson hiring: Is it just a question of when?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sometime over the next few days, we might learn if the difference between TSN’s report the Thrashers have hired John Anderson and Don Waddell’s denial of that TSN report comes down to semantics or something more.
In other words, is this the equivalent of “Nobody’s hired until the general manager says he is,” or is this a situation that could still lead to someone other than Anderson behind the Thrashers’ bench in the 2008-09 season?
Waddell has used the phrase “due diligence” in speaking with reporters about what he has been doing lately in the coaching search, and one meaning of that phrase is looking into everything before going ahead with a planned deal. It’s dotting each i and crossing each t. You would think the Thrashers have all the background information they need on the man who coaches their top minor-league affiliate, but maybe there’s something unusual about the contract or something else that is taking more time than you’d expect.
If something like that is the case, the Thrashers may have decided they want to hire Anderson but, technically at least, haven’t yet done so. If Bill Clinton can parse the meaning of “is,” there’s certainly room to argue about the meaning of “hired.”
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Here’s the draft day plan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thrashers general manager Don Waddell sounded like a happy man today, and he appears to have good reason. After all, he’s about to add a big-time defenseman to his team.
Draft days always bring surprises, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Friday will end without Zach Bogosian or Drew Doughty as a Thrashers draft pick. There’s a good chance whichever Atlanta gets will play at Philips Arena this fall.
(Yes, I hear some of you already saying you shouldn’t be happy when you’re picking this high, and you don’t have a coach, and so on. Consider putting that aside for a day or two. The draft is a time of hope, right?)
“There’s four real top-notch defensemen we’re looking at,” Waddell said early in his teleconference with reporters, but when one of them asked directly he confirmed that Bogosian and Doughty, not necessarily in that order, are top of the list. He also confirmed that the Thrashers are looking at defense; the gamble of drafting Russian left wing Nikita Filatov, in this era of no transfer agreement, will fall to some other NHL team.
Waddell is known for draft-day trades, one of which, he pointed out, brought Slava Kozlov. The No. 29 pick in the first round could be trade bait this year.
“We’ve had a lot of talk with teams,” Waddell said, but he added that a trade isn’t likely until deep enough into the first round that teams know who will be available for that pick. The way he breaks down the draft, there’s a strong top seven and a middle tier of four or five more players. “From 12 to 13 to the end of the first round, there’s a solid group of players there,” he said, suggesting that the No. 13-rated player on some team’s draft board could still be available at No. 29.
The Thrashers’ preparation for draft day got serious with a mid-winter meeting in January where the scouts and personnel people met with Waddell and generated a list of the top 60 players. A lot more work took place during seven days of meetings in May, where each player’s pluses and minuses were discussed.
The amateur player scouts aren’t the only ones who have to prepare for the draft. The pro scouts have to be ready with evaluations on almost any player in the league, or in the minors.
“All the homework is done,” Waddell said. “You never know who’s going to get thrown at you at the last minute. We’ve never been thrown any surprises. I’m prepared if a name comes up at the table.”
Don’t read too much into what positions the Thrashers’ Day Two draft picks play. Waddell said those guys are so far from playing in the NHL that “position-wise isn’t as important as trying to get the best player.”
When will he hire a coach? Soon, but almost certainly not by the opening night of the draft. He laughed at the notion and started to dismiss it before deciding to leave himself an out.
“Never’s a bad word to say in this business,” Waddell said. “You never know how things are going to work out.”
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Meeting Kari Lehtonen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, I’ve been covering college athletes for most of my 23 years as a full-time sportswriter, and Kari Lehtonen, 24, is only a year older than a lot of college seniors. But watching Lehtonen work with 7- to 16-year-old goalies at the Thrashers Hockey Camp on Wednesday reminded me of watching Calvin Johnson and others work with kids the week of the 2007 NFL draft. Like those football players, Lehtonen started out a little shy but really got into it.
I was thinking a guy making $2.2 million a year might go through the motions or look bored during two hours on the ice with a bunch of kids. He didn’t. Whether he was bending down to talk to a player whose helmet barely reached Lehtonen’s belly button or discussing technique with high schoolers, Lehtonen kept a smile on his face and stayed fully engaged. Later, he told me it reminded him of the camps he used to go to not that long ago, and he remembered how he felt when in the presence of the top Finnish players back then.
Two pointers, for you goalies out there, overheard from Kari:
—Keep your stick on the ice.
—If you’ve dropped to the ice on one side of the net and you need to get to the other, pick up your outside leg first, then drive off it. Don’t get passive and slide, either. Push, and then come to a stop. Oh, and when you drive off your outside leg, twist your body, because your legs will follow.
By the way, if you were expecting a coaching search update here, my apologies. There was no news out at the Thrashers practice facility. Lehtonen had no inside info to share, and nor did camp director Darren Eliot. (Eliot did, though, say he might at some stage be interested in an NHL front office job in a role such as player development. He passed on an opportunity years ago to become an assistant coach with the Penguins … not on the current, Stanley Cup finalist staff.)
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Waiting for Mr. Right
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thrashers general manager Don Waddell interviewed Thrashers associate coach Brad McCrimmon and Chicago Wolves coach John Anderson last week. If one of those guys — or Tampa Bay assistant Mike Sullivan — were Waddell’s top choice to become the Thrashers’ next coach, there’s a good chance the search would be over by now.
In the end, of course, the hire will be judged by how the team does on the ice in the seasons to come, not on how long it took to fill the position. But could the timeframe offer a hint at the top candidate’s identity? For example, might John Tortorella, recently fired by Tampa Bay, be choosing between the Los Angeles Kings and the Thrashers? Or might Waddell’s move depend on what the Kings do?
If that’s the case, Anderson and McCrimmon both appear to give Waddell respectable backup plans, and either would command a lower salary than a guy who has won a Stanley Cup. Remember, the Thrashers already are paying the tab for one Stanley Cup winning coach.
I had the privilege of speaking this morning with Washington Capitals coach and Jack Adams Trophy winner Bruce Boudreau, who not surprisingly spoke very highly of his close friend Anderson. One of the best points Boudreau made to me is that Anderson’s success with the Wolves can’t be attributed solely to the talented players he has had the opportunity to coach. This is kind of like the Phil Jackson argument, and it’s no more valid in hockey than in basketball. “It’s difficult to control great players,” Boudreau pointed out, and, “They’ve always had pretty good teams [talent-wise], but they haven’t always had great teams. John is always there [succeeding in the playoffs].”
By the way, what about Marc Crawford? Darren Eliot writes that Crawford lost his job with the Kings because LA decided he wasn’t the right fit for a young roster. The Thrashers have a young roster that, if anything, is about to get younger.
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Moose returns
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In what looks like a deal that’s good for everyone, Thrashers general manager Don Waddell has re-signed goalie Johan Hedberg to a two-year contract.
Hedberg is a solid veteran goalie and not a budget-buster. For about $1.15 million a year, the Thrashers get a guy who:
—Can serve another season as Kari Lehtonen’s backup if the Thrashers decide Ondrej Pavelec could use another season in Chicago.
—Can serve as Pavelec’s backup if the Thrashers decide he’s ready and they want to trade Lehtonen.
—Can be midseason trade bait himself if the Thrashers decide Pavelec is ready for the NHL and they want to hold onto Lehtonen.
Hedberg says he and his family like the city and the team. That affection has been mutual.
What do you guys think of this?
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Sullivan enters picture
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Boston Bruins coach Mike Sullivan is set to speak with Thrashers general manager Don Waddell about the Thrashers coaching job. The St. Petersburg Times spoke with Sullivan, who had not yet met with Waddell.
It could be a late change in plans by Waddell. He didn’t ask until Thursday for permission to speak with Sullivan, according to the report.
Sullivan’s work with the U.S. Olympic team and the U.S. team for the world championships gives him ties to Waddell, and his NHL head coaching experience is a plus that other candidates for the job, John Anderson and Brad McCrimmon, don’t have.
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An apparently imminent departure, and a future arrival
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No news on the coaching search at the moment, but a little bit of news about another leadership position. Bobby Holik says he hasn’t heard anything from the Thrashers about a contract for next year and that he expects to become a free agent July 1. He says he remains open to returning to the Thrashers but doubts that will happen. There’s a story I expect to have posted tonight.
Here’s a link to an interesting story about a guy who could be on his way to Atlanta in the not too distant future.
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It’s not McLellan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“He’s not going there,” Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told me this evening when he returned a message I’d left asking to speak with him about his assistant, Todd McLellan, a candidate for the Thrashers coaching job.
McLellan is going to San Jose.
(So much for my conversation with Kris Draper, whom I talked to on Tuesday so that I would be prepared to write about McLellan. For the record, Draper said good things about McLellan, especially his ability to spot weaknesses in opponents’ penalty killing units on video AND translate those observations into strategies the Red Wings could put into practice. Also, if you’re wondering about a coach who can work well with young players, Draper pointed out that some of the Red Wings’ young players were on the power play much more than five-on-five.)
Back to the Thrashers, whose remaining candidates include associate coach Brad McCrimmon, Chicago Wolves coach John Anderson, plus one or two others, possibly a former NHL head coach or two.
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One man’s draft analysis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don Waddell gets a little advice, whether he wants it or not, from Edmonton hockey writer Jim Matheson. Don’t make a trade. Draft a defenseman with that third pick, instead.
“The Thrashers can get a defenceman in [Drew] Doughty (Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League), who can run the power play. There’s [Zach] Bogosian (Peterborough Petes, OHL) who’s tough, mobile and could easily be ready to play in the NHL next year at No. 3. Then there’s Luke Schenn (Kelowna Rockets, Western Hockey League) the best shutdown defenceman in the draft, a young version of Adam Foote. Doughty can really move the puck. Bogosian, an American, is more physical than Doughty. Schenn can step into the NHL right now, according to most scouts. Atlanta will not trade their pick.”
Here’s the full text.
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One down, five to go
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s announcement that Ron Wilson will coach the Toronto Maple Leafs means the musical chairs game has begun. It’s a two-sided game: Some coaches will be left without jobs, and some franchises will be left without a coach they might have wanted.
There are still five NHL teams with openings (Thrashers, Panthers, Sharks, Lightning, Senators), and to some extent they’re competing over the same candidates and the candidates are competing for more than one potential job. But the teams are different, and they’re looking for different things, and they have different rosters and different amounts of money they’re willing to pay. They also have different GMs.
I asked Thrashers general manager Don Waddell about that last part. How will his situation affect whom he can hire? “It doesn’t affect it at all,” he said. Despite what you might have read or heard elsewhere, Waddell said, he isn’t going to be kicked upstairs. He’s not “giving up the general manager title or responsibilities.”
“I’m free to hire whoever I want to hire,” he said, and “the term of the contract is wide open.” The length will be whatever is appropriate for the coach being hired and won’t be limited because of any upcoming changes in the GM position, he said.
Back to Ron Wilson for a second. Wilson and Waddell have strong ties, but I think it’s a leap to extrapolate from that the idea the Thrashers could have hired Wilson. I don’t know all the financial numbers, but Toronto ranked fifth in the league in attendance, and the Thrashers ranked 22nd. Toronto is the NHL’s wealthiest team by ticket revenue, according to a story in The Star, which also says the Thrashers are among the poorest. And Wilson was born in Windsor, not Marietta.
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AJC chooses me; who should Thrashers choose?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Succeeding Craig Custance on the Thrashers beat must be a little bit like succeeding Scotty Bowman behind the bench for the Canadiens, with at least one slight difference: I have scored 393 fewer NHL goals than the late Boom Boom Geoffrion did. Craig has set the bar high; I will be stretching just to touch it with my fingertips.
I’ve been at the AJC for six years, two as deputy sports editor, four covering Georgia Tech football. I didn’t grow up near Hockeytown, as Craig did, but I’m no hockey neophyte. I’ve covered the game in the ECAC and the ECHL and the AWHL, with bylines from Hamilton and Ithaca and Troy, N.Y., to Jackson and Biloxi and Tupelo, Miss. I’ve worn my old Atlanta Knights “Knightmare on Peachtree Street” T-shirt so much it’s no longer fit for public display.
So I am thrilled at the opportunity to cover the Thrashers. I hope to be able to answer your questions about the team, in my stories and in this blog. Please be patient with me at first; I’m jumping in and trying to get up to speed as quickly as I can.
The news isn’t waiting for me to get comfortable on the beat. Don Waddell will begin interviewing three or four coaching candidates later this week. Two of those candidates are Chicago Wolves coach John Anderson and Thrashers associate coach Brad McCrimmon. Waddell also plans to speak with Detroit Red Wings assistant Todd McLellan. A story in Tuesday’s paper gives a bit of background on them and some other possible candidates.
There are far more good names than I could list, and some, like Don Lever and Mike Sullivan, were on my list at one time. Waddell shared this: He was recently speaking to another GM, one who doesn’t have an opening, and that GM said the field of available candidates was as strong as he could remember it being at this time of year.
Given that some of the best training for being a head coach in the NHL is having been a head coach in the NHL, something the three known candidates haven’t done, Waddell might round out his list of candidates with one of the coaches who worked in the league last season. John Tortorella, for example, appears to have many of the same qualities that Waddell found in his last hire, Bob Hartley. Paul Maurice, who didn’t do great things in Toronto, took Carolina to the Stanley Cup finals. Joel Quenneville’s teams have won a lot more than they’ve lost.
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