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Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Waddell: 'We haven't won anything yet'
By Rob Parent
Special to ESPN.com
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To Don Waddell, a definitive moment in the growth of his Atlanta project came amid a customary blowout.
The Thrashers trailed Ottawa 6-1 that November night. Not even grinning general manager Waddell could have predicted that his Thrashers would wind up in a 6-6 tie with the powerhouse Senators.
Maybe the moon was in the seventh house or Jupiter was aligned with Mars.
Or perhaps Atlanta's fortunes had suddenly taken a decidedly northern turn.
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Same time last year
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'00-'01
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'99-'00
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Record
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15-17-18-1
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10-24-4-3
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Points
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39 (19th)
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27 (27th)
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Home
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7-9-2-1
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7-9-1-2
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Road
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8-8-6-0
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3-15-3-1
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Goals for
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118
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87
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Goals against
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136
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142
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Power play
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13.9% (21st)
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11.3% (25th)
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Penalty kill
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81.4% (23rd)
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79.0 % (24th)
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Statistics through 41 games.
NHL rank in parenthesis.
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"Last year, there would have been no chance for us to do that," said Waddell, who might be a buttoned-down hockey executive in Greater Turnerville, but seems more the VH-1 type than CNN. "That game would have ended up 8-1. But since then, there have been very few games we've been out of. Our goaltenders have done a good job of keeping us in games and we have the ability to score goals now.
"We have a lot more depth all through our lineup, and that's really showing up. I can see the attitude of the guys, thinking they can win, no matter who they play."
Night after night the Thrashers have done more than just show up in just their second season of existence.
They have unveiled a team with an exciting top line of Donald Audette, Andrew Brunette and ageless broadcaster Ray Ferraro. They have a solid goaltending tandem in Damian Rhodes and Milan Hnilicka. They also have a thin defense that's been further ravaged by injuries, forcing Atlanta to take on the look of their minor-league affiliate, the Orlando Solar Bears, these days.
But hey, they are an expansion team, after all.
"I think it's hard for our players to look at (injuries) as an excuse," Thrashers coach Curt Fraser said after a 2-2 tie in Philadelphia on Saturday. "We still have to go out there and play and compete. We think it gives us an opportunity for some of our younger players, and gives us a chance to get a look at them for the future and see what they can bring to the table."
The roster might be populated with too many defensemen who should be working near Disney World, but Waddell and Fraser won't lament that misfortune any more than any other NHL management team.
Nor has their team given them reason to.
As the Thrashers were preparing to host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night, they were 15-17-8-1. That puts them slightly ahead of the pace that third-year team Nashville is on (though in a tougher Western Conference), and the Predators have had several games this season which have provided evidence of their steady, solid growth.
But the Thrashers? A solid third in the Southeast Division where the postseason rarely features a No. 2 representative. Still, at the midpoint of the season, the Thrashers are flirting with the conference's playoff cutoff line.
Who could have predicted that? Not even the always upbeat GM.
"I think our guys expect to make the playoffs at this point," said Waddell. "We had a real slow start – (Atlanta didn't win until its seventh game of the season) – and I think we're first or second in man-games lost with injuries this season. But we've had the kind of success that at the (halfway) point, they believe they can win now."
If you loosened him up and asked this 42-year-old Detroit native that, come on, just as a personal aside, if he's stunned his club is treading .500 halfway through its second season, the familiar curled grin might form.
Other than that, you would think Waddell wasn't surprised at all.
"What I would like to see is for us to keep competing, and come April 1 still see us competing for a playoff spot," Waddell said. "And the difference with us this year … well, what I don't see happening is us going through any long losing streaks, seven or eight in a row. I don't see that happening to us anymore because we have too much going for us. If we can avoid any more than two-game losing streaks, we'll be fine."
A first year to learn … and forget
|  | | With 15 goals, Ray Ferraro is on pace to score 31 this season – the most since he scored 40 in 1991-92. |
How quickly the memory tends to fade from a season, which began with a bang in a beautiful new building attached to the CNN Center. Record-setting attendances complementing impressive corporate promotion schemes. A mouthy play-by-play guy from New York coloring his microphone blue. Even an occasional Ted sighting.
That newfound Atlanta faithful was in a fever pitch on the night of Jan. 14, when the Thrashers knocked Eric Lindros out of a game with a concussion he still hasn't fully recovered from, and went on to gain a 1-0 victory. But if that was a high moment in Atlanta's first season, the second half represented a fast fall.
On the heels of that victory over the Flyers, the Thrashers went the next 16 games without a win. Their slide of 0-14-2 would finally end with a 4-3 win in (of all places) Colorado, but by then the die was cast.
Atlanta would win just 14 games in its inaugural season. A startup franchise hadn't been that bad since Ottawa, seven long years before.
But Waddell wouldn't be discouraged. He had laid out a five-year plan to his corporate overseers. Though his team would naturally be compared to the one in Nashville, which began a year earlier and fared much better in the standings, the Thrashers were going to stay on course.
Of course, they had better win more than 14 games.
"Sure, there was concern when we had that slow start again this season," said Waddell. "As I said last year, let's make sure we don't get too high with the wins when they come because we can't get too low with the losses. Last year, we had some tough, tough stretches. But if you get too low at those points, you're in trouble. If I walk around that locker room and I'm down, everybody else is going to get down, too. Coaches, players everyone. I couldn't do that."
Waddell wheels and deals
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Until you can build around the star player, it just doesn't make any sense to go get that star. … Players that are in that kind of market, they want to go someplace where they have a chance to win a Stanley Cup. And obviously we're not that close yet. ” |
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— Don Waddell, Thrashers GM |
Instead, Waddell dealt with it and dealt some more. There would be no talk of placing blame on intelligent young coach Curt Fraser. But there would be plenty of personnel changes – only five players selected in the expasion draft 19 months ago still remain.
There have been 13 players brought in via trades, including Audette. When he arrived in March (former captain Kelly Buchberger went to Los Angeles as part of the package) there wasn't much to herald the deal. Audette seemed far removed from the one-time 30-goal scorer that never reached his promise in Buffalo.
Now, he's on pace for a 40-goal season. But in Atlanta, he won't be a star.
"You need guys who know how to play together as a team," said Waddell. "Not any stars where one guy's going to carry a team. You need to have a very balanced attack. We've been very fortunate because we've had one line go very well for us, but I do feel we have three very solid lines that can score for us at any time."
It can be registered as a measurable step of success in Atlanta that the Thrashers on equal footing with Nashville – and a year ahead of time. The Predators, in their third season, had as many wins as the Predators (15) entering Wednesday's games.
The Thrashers, however, have corporate money behind them to expedite growth – funding sources that Nashville can only wish it had, but also a quick-fix method that Waddell says won't be misused.
"I've also said all along that we can't get caught up in all of this now," said Waddell. "Our players have got to keep going the way they're going, but we can't change the philosophy we've had of building this franchise. We're not going to mortgage the future to win today.
"We have players who will be unrestricted free agents at the end of this year, and if we have the opportunity to move one of those players in order to pick up assets, as we did last year, we have to continue to look at that. But our success this year doesn't forward our progress or make it go backwards at all. We're going to stay right on the plan here."
And as for all those big-money free agents that might be available over the summer? Waddell uncurls his mouth into a broad chuckle.
"Doesn't make any sense for us at all," he said. "Until you can build around the star player, it just doesn't make any sense to go get that star. If we were to go out this summer and try to get a star player that's (worth), say, $8 million a year, we might have to pay $10 million. Players that are in that kind of market, they want to go someplace where they have a chance to win a Stanley Cup. And obviously we're not that close yet.
"You can say things are really going well now for us," Waddell said, "but we haven't won anything yet.
"Yes, our goal is to make the playoffs. But at the same time we have to make sure we still do what's best for this franchise; to make it the best it can be in years 3, 4 and 5. I think we're doing that. In that way, we haven't changed our direction at all."
Rob Parent covers the NHL for the Delaware County (Pa.) Times. His NHL East column appears every week on ESPN.com.
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