Message From the Atlanta Thrashers Organization

The 2009-10 season had many high points and some thrilling games, but ultimately we fell short of our playoff objective. As we begin the next steps towards achieving our ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup championship, we have elected to restructure our hockey operations staff, including the promotion of Don Waddell to President and Rick Dudley to General Manager. Collectively, we decided that we would not retain Head Coach John Anderson and Assistant Coaches Randy Cunneyworth, Todd Nelson and Steve Weeks, all of whom we thank for their dedication and contributions to the organization.

After a year of contributing to the hockey operations staff, and assessing the team and organization, we are excited to have Rick assume control of hockey-related activities. We are extremely confident that he will do an outstanding job of guiding us to the next level. Don has been an important part of this organization since its inception and in shifting his focus to concentrate primarily on all business aspects of the organization, will continue to play a vital role for our franchise.

Rick Dudley has been pivotal in building highly successful hockey teams, including most recently the Chicago Blackhawks. He has nearly 40 years of experience and is very well-respected in the hockey community for his expertise in evaluating and developing talent. He will immediately begin the search for a new head coach and will oversee all preparations for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. Although we all are disappointed at not participating in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, we are excited about our future and will continue to build on the team’s strong core of young players with the goal of creating a competitive and successful squad that will make our fans proud.

On behalf of the entire organization, I’d like to thank you for your continued support as we enter a new era of Thrashers hockey.



Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon


---

My opinion:

I'm not sure about this. It will all depend on who they get to be the new head coach. Someone that knows how to get a team to pass stick-to-stick. Someone who knows not to dump the puck every single time its gets pass the center line. Someone who will plant someone in the slot. Someone who will require a higher shots on goal total. Someone who will help obtain a starting goaltender and not a pair of backups. I love ya Moose, but I want a starter too.

Anyway, let's see how it goes. I don't like changing the team like a rotating door, but I'm okay with this change in the office.

Take a page out of the Hawks playbook. When the Atlanta Spirit took over, the Hawks were about the worst team in the NBA. They got a good group of prospects and kept them season after season. And they gradually improved. Now, they area one of the best teams in the NBA. Playoff bound for quite a while. And poised to make it at least to the conference game. Maybe. The Celtics in Boston and the Orlando Magic are the only teams to worry about. The Braves did the same thing and they have the record for most division wins in a row in any sport at 14.

Thrashers: Quit aquiring new talent until you've given the current batch time to meld as a unit. Then, look a the overall weaknesses and fill in the holes.

TTFN