|
|
Bloggers 
My HockeyBuzz
 Hockeybuzz on Versus
Cap Central
Fantasy
Forums
Store
Chat
RSS
|
Season Ticket Login Free Registration! |
Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 |
 |
|
Atlanta Thrashers Blogger •
Dallas, Texas…the home of the NHL Dallas Stars. Last season that team finished with a record of 36-35-11 for 83 points and failed to qualify for postseason play for the first time since 2002. In fact, it was only the third time since the franchise moved to Texas from Minnesota in 1993 that their fans had to observe the entire playoffs from the comfort of their home couches.
This outcome was so unacceptable…so egregious…that a change was made in the general manager’s office, former player and Conn Smythe winner Joe Nieuwendyk was brought in and Mr. Hull and Mr. Jackson were re-assigned to other duties within the organization.
“Only twelve playoff appearances in fifteen season”, team owner Tom Hicks must have thought to himself, “Why…this simply will not do”.
Meanwhile…in the fair city of Atlanta, Georgia…the Thrashers have made the playoffs but once in the nine seasons they have participated in since joining the league.
They also have exactly the same amount of playoff wins as I have probability of ever getting a date with Scarlett Johansson…ZERO.
After making the playoffs two seasons ago, fans in Thrasherville have sat through two consecutive 76-point seasons. Granted, last year’s campaign finished off on a much, much higher note than the previous one…but 76 points are 76 points no matter how you slice it.
And how does that sit with Thrashers’ ownership?
Well, apparently it sits just fine with them because the same person who general managed this team beginning with it’s initial draft in 1999…and didn’t Patrik Stefan work out just nicely?…is the same person who will be in that position when the 2009-10 season gets underway this fall.
We’re talking about two similar cities… both major metropolises…both are not necessarily considered “traditional” hockey markets …and both home to four major professional sports franchises. However, there seems to be a different level of expectations placed upon the men who run their respective NHL teams.
Dallas’ owner obviously looks upon the GM he hires to ice a team that can not only compete for a playoff spot on a regular basis, but compete for the Stanley Cup once there. Anything less…is unacceptable.
Atlanta’s ownership…the Great Octo-Cluster known as the Atlanta Spirit, LLC… looks upon the GM to simply ice a team at or slightly higher than the salary cap floor. Spending anything more…is unacceptable.
See…simple differences in expectations.
Back in Dallas…the family pictures had barely been unpacked and place up his desk before Nieuwendyk moved to shuffle things up as well. Out was coach Dave Tippett…in came Marc Crawford.
Now, Tippett’s not a bad coach…nope, not at all. But he’s been classified as “player friendly” whereas Crawford… who coached the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 1996… is a more “dominate” type of coach. So, Nieuwendyk and the Stars have opted to go the route of the hard-nosed, no-nonsense, disciplinarian behind the bench instead of someone comfortable with being the players’ friend.
Back in Atlanta, the Thrashers had that type of coach in Bob Hartley…who also won a Stanley Cup in Colorado. He was brought mid-season back in January of 2003 and took over an Atlanta team that had gotten off to an 8-20-4-1 start.
He coached them to a 19-14-5-1 finish.
Coach Hartley was considered by many as a disciplinarian…some would even say a hard-ass…but the results speak for themselves. Each year that he was allowed to finish coaching the Thrashers, the team performed better than they did the year before.
Recently on XM’s “In the Slot” with Mike Ross and Phil Esposito, former Thrashers centerman Marc Savard commented that playing for Hartley during his time in Atlanta made him a “more responsible player”. Last season, Savard was a +25…something a top-line center doesn’t achieve without being “responsible”, especially in the defensive zone.
But following a 0-6-0 start in 2007…which was preceded by being swept in the team’s one and only playoff appearance…Hartley was fired by Waddell and he left Atlanta with a record of 136-118-8-24 while here.
Many of us felt that the wrong man was fired that day.
Now, this is not to diminish my belief that John Anderson is a very fine coach and the fact that he is, in my opinion, going to be a great asset to the organization. It’s just that I do find it interesting that the two NHL franchises have opted to move in such differing paths recently.
Two cities…two different ownership situations…two different definitions for the GMs in regards to their job expectations.
Which is why failing to make the playoffs for only the third time in a decade and a half prompts a shakeup in Dallas, while at the same time not making them eight times of nine seasons in Atlanta prompts… the status quo.
And because of that, I suspect the hockey fans in Dallas will soon be experiencing “the best of times” once again…far sooner than the fans in Atlanta will be.
This outcome was so unacceptable…so egregious…that a change was made in the general manager’s office, former player and Conn Smythe winner Joe Nieuwendyk was brought in and Mr. Hull and Mr. Jackson were re-assigned to other duties within the organization.
“Only twelve playoff appearances in fifteen season”, team owner Tom Hicks must have thought to himself, “Why…this simply will not do”.
Meanwhile…in the fair city of Atlanta, Georgia…the Thrashers have made the playoffs but once in the nine seasons they have participated in since joining the league.
They also have exactly the same amount of playoff wins as I have probability of ever getting a date with Scarlett Johansson…ZERO.
After making the playoffs two seasons ago, fans in Thrasherville have sat through two consecutive 76-point seasons. Granted, last year’s campaign finished off on a much, much higher note than the previous one…but 76 points are 76 points no matter how you slice it.
And how does that sit with Thrashers’ ownership?
Well, apparently it sits just fine with them because the same person who general managed this team beginning with it’s initial draft in 1999…and didn’t Patrik Stefan work out just nicely?…is the same person who will be in that position when the 2009-10 season gets underway this fall.
We’re talking about two similar cities… both major metropolises…both are not necessarily considered “traditional” hockey markets …and both home to four major professional sports franchises. However, there seems to be a different level of expectations placed upon the men who run their respective NHL teams.
Dallas’ owner obviously looks upon the GM he hires to ice a team that can not only compete for a playoff spot on a regular basis, but compete for the Stanley Cup once there. Anything less…is unacceptable.
Atlanta’s ownership…the Great Octo-Cluster known as the Atlanta Spirit, LLC… looks upon the GM to simply ice a team at or slightly higher than the salary cap floor. Spending anything more…is unacceptable.
See…simple differences in expectations.
Back in Dallas…the family pictures had barely been unpacked and place up his desk before Nieuwendyk moved to shuffle things up as well. Out was coach Dave Tippett…in came Marc Crawford.
Now, Tippett’s not a bad coach…nope, not at all. But he’s been classified as “player friendly” whereas Crawford… who coached the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 1996… is a more “dominate” type of coach. So, Nieuwendyk and the Stars have opted to go the route of the hard-nosed, no-nonsense, disciplinarian behind the bench instead of someone comfortable with being the players’ friend.
Back in Atlanta, the Thrashers had that type of coach in Bob Hartley…who also won a Stanley Cup in Colorado. He was brought mid-season back in January of 2003 and took over an Atlanta team that had gotten off to an 8-20-4-1 start.
He coached them to a 19-14-5-1 finish.
Coach Hartley was considered by many as a disciplinarian…some would even say a hard-ass…but the results speak for themselves. Each year that he was allowed to finish coaching the Thrashers, the team performed better than they did the year before.
Recently on XM’s “In the Slot” with Mike Ross and Phil Esposito, former Thrashers centerman Marc Savard commented that playing for Hartley during his time in Atlanta made him a “more responsible player”. Last season, Savard was a +25…something a top-line center doesn’t achieve without being “responsible”, especially in the defensive zone.
But following a 0-6-0 start in 2007…which was preceded by being swept in the team’s one and only playoff appearance…Hartley was fired by Waddell and he left Atlanta with a record of 136-118-8-24 while here.
Many of us felt that the wrong man was fired that day.
Now, this is not to diminish my belief that John Anderson is a very fine coach and the fact that he is, in my opinion, going to be a great asset to the organization. It’s just that I do find it interesting that the two NHL franchises have opted to move in such differing paths recently.
Two cities…two different ownership situations…two different definitions for the GMs in regards to their job expectations.
Which is why failing to make the playoffs for only the third time in a decade and a half prompts a shakeup in Dallas, while at the same time not making them eight times of nine seasons in Atlanta prompts… the status quo.
And because of that, I suspect the hockey fans in Dallas will soon be experiencing “the best of times” once again…far sooner than the fans in Atlanta will be.
Join the Discussion:  |
 |