AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 15
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Waddell Needs To Rethink Coaching Search
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last month, Don Waddell indicated that the Atlanta Thrashers would no longer be searching for a new head coach outside of the organization. At the time, most people figured that it was actually a very sound decision. The team had seemingly reversed its fortunes after a miserable 0-6-0 start to the season and had actually poked its head above the .500 mark. So the consensus was, “Shoot, why not let Don stay behind the bench and direct things”. Besides, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Well, it might not be broke just yet but there are some signs of stress fractures and the time has come for the General Manager and Coach to drop the latter from his title.
If your looking for exhibit “A” as to why, look no further then Saturday night’s 7-3 embarrassing loss in Ottawa where the Thrashers once again let up an early goal on their way to being out-shot 44-25. In fact, the Senators second period shot total of 21 was four shy of Atlanta’s total for the game. That is absolutely un-good and unacceptable.
Exhibit “B”? With Washington’s win over Tampa Bay, the Thrashers are now one point ahead of the Capitals for last place in the conference. This is not a position that a serious contender should be in mid-way through December.
Rest assured, this is not intended as “Waddell bashing”. Since stepping behind the bench Atlanta is 14-11-1 and, for a while, the team was playing inspired hockey. The offense was clicking behind Ilya Kovalchuk, the defense had stabilized and the starting goalie Kari Lehtonen was coming back from a month-long injury absence. Many people, myself included, began to think that Don’s presence bench-side was the correct elixir for an ailing team. For a certain time, yes it was.
But the last couple of weeks watching the Thrashers play have made it crystal clear that certain things must to be done in order to have a legitimate chance at a playoff push this season. Things like addressing the fact that we still need a true 1st line center. Todd White has played better of late, but he’s a #2 guy at best. Also, there has to be something done to get another top-flight defender in here. Zhitnik and McCarthy are not getting it done, (combined they are -36), and Klee has been spotty at best. A deal must be made, sooner rather than later.
These are things Don Waddell needs to be concentrating his efforts on from the comfy confines of his office. Ten short months ago he orchestrated just such a series of deals and they were instrumental in landing the Thrashers in the playoffs for the first time ever. And, lest we forget, Waddell said himself that his future was not to be found behind the bench.
It will be pointed out below, I am sure, that the big question would then be…WHO? Yes, that’s true. Anderson? McCrimmon? Burns? Someone else? Yes, there can be much discussion and debate as to what the correct choice is. But until Don Waddell and the ownership round-table opens again the discussion and search phase of the process, the right call has no possibility to be made at all.
The team needed a new direction in October and Don Waddell made a coaching move to give it just that. It has done a good job of putting the poor start behind and flash signs of what it can ultimately be. But we are now at a new juncture in the season. One that will see many wanna-be contenders drop out of the ranks of the hopeful. If the Thrashers are to keep themselves from being one of these teams, a new direction is needed.
Another reason I feel Waddell needs a change of heart in regards to the coaching search is that this team has gone flat. This team needs a new energy, a fresh voice, a different perspective brought to the ice and locker room. Needed is a coach that can inject new life into a squad that, of late, is simply going through the motions with seemingly no focus or purpose.
Also, the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team needs a character…a persona…a definition of who and what they are. Going into the season it was thought that it would be a high scoring, offensive-minded one with solid, if not outstanding, goalkeeping. A fast team, built to out skate and out hustle the opposition. However, it has been shut out a league high 6 times, has been in the lower third of the NHL in goals per game on a regular basis, dead last in goals against per game, has a weak power play, consistently gets beat to the puck, is out-sized and gets out-shot to the tune of 32-25 each game. Worse yet, the team’s -26 goal differential is the worst in the NHL.
Lastly, (as was pointed out by the gentleman who I had the fortune of sitting next to Friday night…a man who has close ties to the team and players), this is not a team that others fear playing against in their home building, Philips Arena. They are 6-8-0 at home and have been shut out twice on home ice. Too many times we are seen as a soft road game. Again, this is indicative of a team with no identity and that needs to be changed if the Thrashers are to be taken seriously as contenders.
A new head coach is what is needed to deal with the issues listed above breathing new life into the team if this season is to be successful.
Don Waddell faced a crucial point in the season two months ago and stepping behind the bench was the right call to make at THAT time. Stepping out from behind it now and placing a true head coach in that position is the right call to make at THIS time.
(Sniff, sniff)…What Is That Smell?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday morning as I prepared myself for work, standing in the walk-in closet just off the master bath, the lovely Mrs. R walked in and stopped dead in her tracks. She sniffed the air and then gave “that” look. You know the one…that soured looked that is usually reserved for when she opens up one of the boys rooms and beholds multiple dirty sock strewn about the floor, and bed, and desk…maybe a ceiling fan blade. Yes, that look.
“(Sniff, sniff)…what is that smell”, she asked as she looked directly at my lucky Thrashers jersey hanging prominently in the front of the closet…unwashed since the Nashville loss on October 25th.
Now, I might have fallen off the turnip truck…but it wasn’t yesterday. I knew what she was getting at. I told her she was over-dramatizing it and a washing was not in order. Bad hockey karma to do so, you know. When she reminded me that it was washed earlier in the season and that it seemed to work just fine as the Thrashers then got on a roll, I stressed to her that these are very tricky things and you can’t just go washing the jersey after a couple of losses. She then asked just how many losses in a row equated to tossing the thing into the washing machine… I simply waived her off citing that this was not a scientific, cut and dry process.
I was firm, I was resolute, I was…lucky she was late for work and she dropped the subject.
Tonight, when I got home from the debacle at Blueland…she stood waiting for me in the foyer. She knew that loss made it three straight for the Thrashers, being outscored 15-6 doing so. She knew the night’s loss was the league leading sixth time Atlanta had been shut out. She stood there, with her protective rubber gloves on, looking for me to hand it over. But I, being the man of the house…being firm and resolute, I stood my ground and told her that in no way, shape, matter or form would this hockey jersey be washed tonight…and that was that!
So, I’m sitting here typing this blog as it goes through the rinse cycle…and quite frankly just don’t know where to begin with this. I mean, for a team that was supposed to be built for speed, it sure gets beat to the puck a lot. And the Thrasher’s offense was supposed to be their strong point yet it can go though periods where team scoring disappears faster then a pizza at a Weight Watchers meeting. Case in point, the Calgary Flames have scored 13 goals in their past two games. The Thrashers haven’t scored 13 goals in their past 6.
Then there is Kari Lehtonen…tsk, tsk, tsk. In his latest Billy Graham moment, (where he gets 18,000 people to scream the Lord’s name all at once), he meandered out to play a puck in the corner and tried to flip it around the back of the net. Unfortunately, it came off his stick with the speed of a snail and Boyd Devereaux was able to swing around, scoop it up and tuck in a short-handed, unassisted, wrap-around goal to give Toronto a 1-0 lead in the middle period. That was really all the Leafs would need on the night as Toronto held the Thrashers scoreless on 24 shots. Mats Sundin scored 3 and a half minutes later and Alexei Ponikarovsky tallied a couple of late goals to rub it in. Nik Antropov finished the night with three assists.
The schedule isn’t kind to Atlanta as they make their way northward to Ottawa to play the conference leading Senators. They will be looking to end a three game losing skid as well as win for the first time this season on the tail end of a back-to-backer. Canada’s capital is not the easiest place to perform such a task, as the Sens are 20-7-3 scoring 102 goals in 30 games. They have beaten the Thrashers both times we have played them, 3-1 and 6-4…Ilya Kovalchuk scoring 4 of the 5 Thrasher goals.
So, now that I’ve gotten the smell off my jersey, time for the Blueland Boys to get the stench off their game and find a way to sniff out some goals and nose their way to some wins, and soon. Otherwise, the jersey won’t be alone in being hung up to dry.
