So.. you decide. New coach or no?

The original report from TSN:

Thrashers hire Anderson as head coach

TSN.ca Staff
6/19/08 11:33:37

The Atlanta Thrashers hired John Anderson as their new head coach on Thursday, promoting him from their American Hockey League affiliate in Chicago.

Anderson has won four minor-league titles as a head coach, including the 2008 Calder Cup with the Wolves earlier this month.

Anderson, 51, also guided the Wolves to the Calder Cup in 2002 and the International Hockey League's Turner Cup in 1998 and 2000.

And the AJC article that followed:

Waddell denies report that Thrashers have hired a coach

By MIKE KNOBLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/19/08

Thrashers general manager Don Waddell denied a Canadian report Thursday night that the team has hired John Anderson as coach.

Sports television network TSN reported, without attribution, on its Web site that the Thrashers had hired Anderson, coach of their top minor-league affiliate, to succeed Bob Hartley, who was fired last October. Waddell coached the rest of the season on an interim basis.

Waddell, through a team spokesman, denied the report. He said earlier Thursday evening in a teleconference with reporters that he was continuing to do "due diligence" in the coach search and that no announcement was likely before tonight's NHL draft.

Anderson, 51, coached the Chicago Wolves to the Calder Cup last month. The American Hockey League championship was his fourth minor-league championship in 13 seasons as a coach. Anderson played 12 seasons in the NHL.

Anderson did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone

Now listen... I'm not gonna say OMG YES IT'S TRUE or NO WAI! But I got a txt msg at 10:55 last night saying John's the new coach. Source, you know who you are, so feel free to out yourself if you want. Where the source got the 411, I dunno. But why the hell not? Look at the success of Bruce Boudreau. Anderson's on top of the world right now, and he can do a lot for our boys, especially since it's a very similar situation to Boudreau's, where a lot of the guys playing for him, and who will play here next year (Little, Haydar, Sterling) won the Cup with him this year. Frankly, I think it would be a bush league move to not offer the man the job.

So what say you?

Coach for ATL? Arbitration for Fleury, Malone walking?

Thrashers interested in Sullivan

Lightning assistant coach Mike Sullivan said Friday that the Thrashers have asked to speak to him regarding their head coaching position, and he will pursue that opportunity. Sullivan said Atlanta GM Don Waddell on Thursday requested permission to speak to him from Tampa Bay general manager Jay Feaster.

"I have not spoken with Don in person," Sullivan said. "We have exchanged voice mails."

Sullivan, 40, has been with the Lightning one season and got high marks from players for his communication and technical skills. He worked with the defense and the penalty kill. Sullivan said he took the Tampa Bay job with the understanding that he eventually wanted a head coaching job. He previously coached the Bruins from 2003-06.

That the Lightning fired coach John Tortorella, and apparently is close to naming Barry Melrose the new coach (but not until after the draft), obviously made Sullivan's situation tenuous. He has one year left on his Tampa Bay contract.

"A great experience to have worked with Torts," Sullivan said. "It was an invaluable learning experience."

"I want to be a head coach," Sullivan added. "In the absence of that opportunity, there's not another guy I would want to work for than Torts. I'm certainly grateful to him."

---

Pens file for arbitration with Fleury

PITTSBURGH - The Penguins made certain goalie Marc-Andre Fleury won't become a restricted free agent July 1, choosing to offer salary arbitration to one of the key players of their Stanley Cup playoff run.

The filing on Friday allows the Penguins to retain Fleury's rights to negotiate a multi-year contract in advance of arbitration hearings, which are scheduled from July 20 until Aug. 4. A hearing won't be held if a contract is worked out before then.

If Fleury had become a restricted free agent, an opposing club potentially could have offered the former No. 1 draft pick such a lucrative contract the Penguins might not have been able to match it because of salary-cap restrictions.

"By filing for salary arbitration, it gives us extra time to continue to negotiate a contract with Marc-Andre," general manager Ray Shero said. "As a result of the filing, Penguins fans are assured that Marc-Andre will be under contract to our club for next season. Marc-Andre has done a tremendous job for us. We remain committed to negotiating a contract with him in the near future."

The 23-year-old Fleury helped lead the Penguins to the 2008 Eastern Conference championship and a berth in the Stanley Cup final against Detroit.

"We understand that Pittsburgh filed for arbitration today with regard to Marc-Andre, which is their right under the CBA," said Fleury's agent, Allan Walsh. "We remain committed towards negotiating a long-term contract with Pittsburgh and will continue working with Penguins management towards that goal."

Fleury was 14-6 with a 1.97 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage and three shutouts during the playoffs.

Ryan Malone to Columbus?

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Ryan Malone is not going to sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins, unless the Penguins significantly up their offer. It's looking more and more like the Penguins will get Evgeni Malkin signed to a contract extension and be able to keep right winger Marian Hossa. That will show Malone to the door.

An NHL source said that Malone has been low-balled twice by the Penguins and is ready to leave July 1 as an unrestricted free agent. Malone's rights could be traded before that day, of course, and the Blue Jackets are a likely destination.

The source said the Penguins have already made the Blue Jackets an offer for Malone's rights. Not sure what the offer was, or if the Blue Jackets are still contemplating it. But this could go down pretty quick, folks.

Malone would definitely be happy to play for the Blue Jackets, a source said.

Update on the coach situation, from THN

Just in case you don't subscribe to The Hockey News (do it! Best! Magazine! Evar!), this week's team report is looks at coaching changes and options.

Atlanta
Coach-GM Don Waddell, who fired Bob Hartley and stepped behind the bench after Atlanta started 0-6-0 this season, has already waited this long to bring in a new coach, so there's no sense of rush.

That associate coach Brad McCrimmon turned down the job shortly after the All-Star break doesn't mean he has been ruled out. But Waddell is flushing out the list of candidates, and names such as Kitchener's Peter DeBoer, Tampa assistant Mike Sullivan, Providence coach Scott Gordon, and Chicago's John Anderson have all been rumored to be in the mnix.

Waddell said he plans on making the hire before the draft June 20, in which the team has two first rounders, including the No. 3 overall pick.

-- Craig Custance

Gunning for the spot

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?)

We're highest on Anderson, but wouldn't turn our noses up at Cunneyworth either. As for Quinn? Please God, no.

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.