Hartley Thrashed!
The Atlanta Thrashers fired their head coach Bob Hartley this afternoon, after the club dropped it's 6th straight loss (actually 10th if you include last years playoff sweep to the Rangers) to the Philadelphia Flyers last night 4-0.
The Thrashers have yet to register this season, and GM Don Waddell acted after the shutout loss last night. Waddell will assume the responsibilities behind the bench until an interim (or new) head coach can be found.
Atlanta boasts two of the NHL's most explosive forwards in Ilya Kovalchuk, and Marian Hossa, but beyond that are rather shallow offensively, and defensively..... especially defensively. Hossa will be an unrestricted free agent following this season, and will undoubtedly test the market, given recent circumstances. Look for the Thrashers to be mired in trade rumors up until the deadline, especially for Hossa as they will most likely turn towards rebuilding.
Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh
Comments
This may make me look like an idiot a month from now but....am I the only one who thinks the Thrashers perhaps were a little impatient with Hartley? Six games in? That's all it takes these days to get fired? Sheesh. I think Waddell had already made up his mind that Hartley was gone and this just gave him the excuse he needed to axe him. Saw some comment where he alluded to wanting the players to have "fun" again, implying that Hartley was more of a drill instructor type coach. It makes sense, but still. Six games? That's pretty harsh.
Posted by: Stache | October 18, 2007 11:00 AM
Stache I agree and disagree. I think Waddell is watching out for his own ass. If he doesn't make this move, the owners fire him. This definitely smells of desperation, but if you go back to last year, this team had lost 10 in a row.
Posted by: Cap | October 18, 2007 10:39 PM
Stache I agree and disagree. I think Waddell is watching out for his own ass. If he doesn't make this move, the owners fire him. This definitely smells of desperation, but if you go back to last year, this team had lost 10 in a row.
Posted by: Cap | October 18, 2007 10:44 PM