96 replies to this topic

[ahtikullervo]

Fred BRATHWAITE
Johan HEDBERG 850.000
35 Michael GARNETT 450.000

28 Niclas HÄVELID 2.500.000
25 Andy SUTTON 2.000.000
7 Greg DeVRIES 2.052.000
5 Steve McCARTHY 775.000
2 Garnet EXELBY 684.000
34 Shane HNIDY 600.000
39 Mark POPOVIC 500.000

18 Marian HOSSA 6.000.000
17 Ilya KOVALCHUK 5.000.000
16 Robert HOLIK 4.250.000
13 Vyacheslav KOZLOV 2.014.000
Steve RUCCHIN 1.850.000
19 Scott MELLANBY 1.000.000
23 Jim SLATER 900.600
Niko KAPANEN 800.000
Jonathan SIM 610.000
36 Eric BOULTON 500.000
29 Brad LARSEN 485.000
21 Derek MacKENZIE 475.000
Jason KROG

RFA:

Kari LEHTONEN

[DucksRule00]

atlanta ducks

[DropThePuck]

With the Thrashers' prospect team down by three goals in the third period on Monday, but still earning power plays, they kept doing the same thing: finding defenseman Chad Denny open for his powerful slapshot.

Twice Denny's thunderous shot beat Tampa Bay's 2006 first-round pick Riku Helenius and helped to rally the team to a 6-5 win.

<link>

[goavsgo]

No suspension for Kovalchuk

Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk has been fined but not suspended by the NHL for the match penalty he received in a preseason game against the Nashville Predators.

Link

[Dark Knight]

Mellanby expected to announce retirement

Atlanta Thrashers captain Scott Mellanby is expected to announce his retirement Tuesday.

The Thrashers have scheduled a telephone news conference for the 40-year-old Mellanby and general manager Don Waddell for Tuesday morning. A team spokesman said Mellanby's future with the team will be discussed.
...
''I want to take a couple of days to be sure, but I'm 99 per cent there,'' Mellanby said.

''I still feel like I can play the game. It's all the outside stuff, the training, the preparation. I don't think I'm prepared to go through that again.''

Read More >>

[Dark Knight]

Mellanby calls it quits

"I've been fortunate to live my dream for the past 21 years, and it's with a heavy heart that I'm retiring from the National Hockey League," the 40-year-old right-winger said. "I'd like to thank all of my great teammates, the fans who have supported me, and all the wonderful people I have met along the way."

Read More >>

[Dark Knight]

Bob Hartley's been fired (TSN)

[Loz]

I'm not surprised really after losing 6 games on the trot. I thought he did well last season.

[Barmy Army]

Well I reckon that this is a poor show by Atlanta, I like really like Bob and was surprised by this announcement. Losing 6 games in a row isn't good but it's an 82 game season and IMHO too early for chucking him just now. If they weren't too keen on him coaching then they should have gotten rid of him during the off season.

I say booo.

[Todrick]

not very surprising... it's not losing 6 in a row... it's the fact that they just look horrible and shouldn't be that bad... you have to blame someone. in addition a big change may motivate the players. if you lose 6 in a row you have to try something to make a change.

[forbesy]

Portland coach Kevin Dineen's name has come up a few times today in speculation as someone who Waddell would probably like to talk to about the opening.

[LightItUp4126]

For the first time in a long time, I'd be glad to see Dineen go. He's really not a great coach, and anyone could have coached the 05-06 team. I think it's time to shake things up behind the bench, no offense to Dino.

[Dutch Duck]

Atlanta at this point is the SouthEast division leader. They are third in the Eastern conference but only 20th in the NHL. Is this because the SouthEast division is this weak? That a team with nearly .500 can still be a division leader?

[Duckbill]

Yeah pretty much. Although they must not think that much about their chances of maaking a strong playoff run if they think they can afford to shop Marian Hossa around the league. 43 points but the guy is -12.

[ladiesandgentlemen]

And the heads just keep on rollin':

GM Don Waddell has been asked by the Atlanta Thrashers to give up his duties and accept another management position, ESPN.com has learned. Link

[ladiesandgentlemen]

Maybe not:

Here’s the latest. I spoke with Atlanta Spirit Co-Owner Michael Gearon this morning…

Gearon said via cell this morning, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Waddell has not been asked to step down from his post as general manager. He called any reports that say otherwise “completely false.” Link

[TroyLoney]

The Thrahsers have re-signed goalie Johan Hedberg to a two-year contract. <LINK> That's a good move for Atlanta who is now very deep in net with both Hedberg and Kari Lehtonen, not to mention their goalie prospect Ondrej Pavelec.

[Dark Knight]

Atlanta hires John Anderson as head coach -- TSN

[ladiesandgentlemen]

I ran across another :

The Atlanta Thrashers have launched the team’s 2008-09 marketing and advertising campaign, which calls for fans to "Become One in Blueland".

NHL.com

[DropThePuck]

The Atlanta Thrashers have claimed forward Rich Peverley off waivers from the Nashville Predators, according to Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Waddell.

<link>

[DropThePuck]

The Atlanta Thrashers have named forward Ilya Kovalchuk as the team captain, according to Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Waddell.

<link>

[sugarmama]

<link>

As much as I'm not a fan of his, he does deserve it. I haven't been following them much but can someone explain to me why it took them 40 games to figure it out?

[DropThePuck]

The linked article has the history ...

The organization elected to go without a captain for the first half of the season, utilizing five alternate captains (Kovalchuk, Colby Armstrong, Niclas Havelid, Slava Kozlov and Mathieu Schneider).

“Ilya has earned the opportunity to take a larger leadership role on this team and has grown into this position over his six-plus seasons as a member of the Thrashers,” said Waddell. “We’re very pleased, and excited for Ilya, that his fellow alternate captains approached us and felt he should be given the responsibility at this time. We’re confident that he’ll embrace it and represent the organization and his teammates appropriately.”

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution article has the rest ...

In the past, he resisted the idea of responsibility to do more than be the best player he could be. Over the past several weeks, though, he has been more active in one of the captain’s duties, as a team spokesman. But he still plans to pick his spots when exercising his authority or setting himself apart.

“I want to be an example on the ice,” he said. “I’m not going to be one of those guys who’s going to scream and yell in the locker room. When I have to say something, I will for sure. But the most important thing, we have to be 22 captains if we want to make the playoffs.”

<link>

[sugarmama]

THat was more sarcasm/rhetorical than a real question. I've never been a fan not starting the season with a clear C (unless you revolve it like Minnie does).

[DropThePuck]

Oh. Sorry.

They did split the duties between their five designated alternates.

[ladiesandgentlemen]

Hockey in Atlanta on thin ice

Worried about the future of hockey in Atlanta?

“The way things are going, yeah, it’s worrisome,” said the 60-year-old die-hard fan from Marietta, while awaiting a faceoff at a recent Thrashers game.

In 1980, Atlanta lost one NHL team — those old Flames — to the Canadian wilderness.

“It was like a divorce,” Fischer remembered. And Calgary got the kids.

... And now, another set of uncertainties swirl around the Thrashers, who brought hockey back to Atlanta in 1999, playing on all those old hockey insecurities.

Welcome to Blah-land — formerly Blueland — where the ownership is fighting itself, the team is in the cellar and angst grows over the very future of hockey in Atlanta.

A Feb. 3 story in the Toronto Sun listed the Thrashers among six NHL teams most vulnerable to either being moved or being shuttered.

“This could be a blueprint of how not to operate an expansion franchise,” the newspaper warned, referring to the Thrashers.

There is no consolation to be found in the local paper, either.

This week, the three-year-long dispute among the eight-man Atlanta Spirit group — which owns the Thrashers, Hawks and Philips Arena operating rights — goes to trial again...

LINK

Here's to the Ducks not helping to improve Atlanta's standing.

Not that I want to see any city lose it's NHL franchise, but I think it would be more healthy for the league to have a couple more of the existing teams in Canada.

[safir8100]

A Finnish newspaper reports that based on Russian sources, the Thrashers are re-signing Ilya Kovalchuk to a contract worth $11.36/year, the maximum salary allowed under CBA (20% of the cap). Not sure how many years though...

http://www.iltalehti.fi/jaakiekko/200907249976835_jk.shtml

[Dark Knight]

A Finnish newspaper reports that based on Russian sources, the Thrashers are re-signing Ilya Kovalchuk to a contract worth $11.36/year, the maximum salary allowed under CBA (20% of the cap). Not sure how many years though...

http://www.iltalehti.fi/jaakiekko/200907249976835_jk.shtml

I guess Kovalchuk isn't interested in winning a Stanley Cup or anything sometime soon...

[safir8100]

I guess Kovalchuk isn't interested in winning a Stanley Cup or anything sometime soon...

We don't know the number of years yet, maybe it's just for like 5 years .

Wonder what happens if the economic recession keeps going on and the cap would drop to $40M with Ilya earning over $11M ...ouch

[ladiesandgentlemen]

I guess Kovalchuk isn't interested in winning a Stanley Cup or anything sometime soon...

That much queso would be hard to pass up, depending on how many years.

We don't know the number of years yet, maybe it's just for like 5 years .

Wonder what happens if the economic recession keeps going on and the cap would drop to $40M with Ilya earning over $11M ...ouch

I was thinking of that, too.

Huge gamble.