AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 15
Thursday, November 15, 2007
HHoF, Carolina and Apple Carts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ron, Scott, Al and Mark
If you will allow me to step away from my regular Thrashers Blog gig for a moment, I would like to pay homage to the four NHL players who were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto earlier this week, (along with executive Jim Gregory). One could write pages upon pages on each one these great players but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum:
Ron Francis: He emulated class on the ice as much as anyone. Winner of two cups in Pittsburgh and captained a Carolina team to the finals in ’02. He finished with 1,249 assists, (2nd to Gretzky).
Scott Stevens: The player who defined “two way defender” more then anyone else. His 1,635 career games are the most ever by a defenseman. He lifted the cup 3 times and was an All Star 13 times in his 23-year stint in the NHL.
Al McInnis: The Nova Scotia native who played 23 years with St. Luis and Calgary. He won not only a championship with Calgary in ’89 but also the Conn Smythe Trophy that year as well. His slap shot was howitzer-esque. He trails only Ray Borque and Paul Coffey in scoring by defenders.
Mark Messier: Part of that unbelievable Edmonton team of the 1980s with Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr and Jari Kurri. He won 6 cups overall, appeared in 15 All Star games and finished with 1,887 regular-season points, (second only to The Great One).
Combined they won 12 Stanley Cup Championships and account for countless memories and stories by hockey fans too great in number to count. Though their playing styles differed and their paths divergent, they landed in the same spot on the same night, the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Those four would be a nice start to any all-time fantasy team, eh?
Going to Carolina
The Thrashers enter Friday night’s game in Carolina 9 points behind the Southeast Division leaders. Now I have looked at this from all angles and scenarios, crunched the numbers with a calculator, slide rule and #2 pencil. I have endless printouts of spreadsheets, researched the files and data banks of the NHL, scoured advanced math books ad nauseam and I have come to the following conclusion:
Winning and being 7 points out of first is much better then losing and being 11 points off the lead.
Where else are you going to get this type of in-depth analysis?
Furthermore, (oops, sorry…I used one of the un-good words), any points will guarantee that Atlanta gains a majority of the 16 points available during this 8 game stint against division foes. A win will mean that when we amass in Blueland on Monday the Thrashers will be able to pull to .500 on the season with a victory on that night. Not bad considering the start to the season. And a successful game against the Hurricanes will give the Thrashers a winning record in our division and the two points would continue our assent up the conference standings as well.
So, any way you slice it, dice it, chop, mince or puree` it, these are two big, fat hairy points out there.
Upset the Apple Cart - NOT!
As Craig Custance reported, Don Waddell has made it clear that a new coach will not come from outside of the organization. I don’t think this will come a shock to anyone seeing how the Thrashers have played 12 games since Bob Hartley was released a month ago, going 8-4.
Given the fact that the team has played well during that time and bringing in someone new, possibly with a new style and philosophy might “upset the apple cart”, the general manager has ended any speculation of it. He also indicated that his future is not behind the bench. So I would speculate that we should soon hear that Brad McCrimmon is being placed into the head coaching position, possibly this weekend is my opinion.
Another possible reason for this decision is that the team will still pay Bob Hartley’s contract for this season and next, if I understand it correctly. Promoting McCrimmon relieves the added cost of bringing in someone else.
When Coach Hartley was released I commented that I would opine as to if it was the right thing to do or not once we learned who would take his place. Given the way the team has played over the past month with McCrimmon leading the practices as well as serving in some capacities as the head coach, and the fact that there is no smoother coaching transition imaginable, I would welcome the news.
At least it makes logical sense.
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