Since Waddell took the team out of the frying pan and into the fire, and is doing his damndest to impersonate Doug MacLean (we think everyone knows how that experiment went), the fast and furious speculation is on who the new coach will be.
Before we touch on the options we've heard, here's a question for everyone to ponder: Did the Thrashers play to get Hartley fired? (See: Washington Capitals, 2003-04)
Here's what we've heard bandied about regarding possible new coaches:
- John Anderson (Chicago Wolves)
- Randy Cunneyworth (Rochester Amerks)
- Pat Quinn (Currently unemployed?)
Sorry for the multiple posts today. Besides Deadline Day, Coach-Firing-Day is one of the most blog-worthy during the season.
One last comment. Look, it's no secret Lehtonen and Hartley have butted heads, mostly over his conditioning, since Day 1. So we're fairly confident in saying this departure will be good for Lehtonen. We particularly liked this blurb from CBSportsline, when listing reasons for Hartley's sacking:
But whatever inroads the Thrashers might have made in their marketplace were dashed immediately because they were embarrassingly swept in the first round by the New York Rangers. Atlanta looked completely unprepared, and worse, Hartley did a number on the team's star young goalie, Kari Lehtonen, by pulling him twice in the series and letting backup Johan Hedberg start the fourth and final game. It's the kind of thing that doesn't do much for a kid's confidence, and it has been apparent in the way Lehtonen has played this season.They forgot to mention how Hartley played the headgames with Kari during pre-season as well. All in all, we think this will be good for the club, even if Waddell did it to save his own ass. Now let's just hope a competent and quality replacement is found.
4 comments:
I really don't know Atlanta that well however. Personally, I like Cunneyworth and what he's done with the Amerks.
Hey thanks for the comment! Funny that this is going both ways - you're not too familiar with the Thrash, and we're not too familiar with Cunneyworth. However, we've read a lot of reports on him, and just what he's done to help the development of Roy, Pominville, O'Connell, Kotalik, Pyatt, Gaustad... the list goes on and on. Viewing his influence on those players, combined with his record of 234-168-54 lifetime... He could make an amazing fit with the Thrash.
Right. Sorry. And Millz. Who could forget Millz? Apparently we could! Whoops. Mea culpa.
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