OK, this is a little delayed. Some times other things simply have to take precedence. However, I didn't want this significant event in Thrashers' history to pass by without a least a brief mention.
I'm completely in support of the decision to let Hartley go; much like I was in support of hiring him in the first place. If it had been my decision, I would have let him go around early February of last year when the Thrashers suffered through a 10 game losing streak. I don't think management had the guts to make the move at that time.
My biggest gripe with Hartley was that he could never get consistent play out of the team. For every extended winning streak, there was always a losing streak. I guess it took another 10 game losing streak, 4 in the playoffs against the Rangers and 6 to open this season for Waddell and company to think the same thing.
Hartley was a great improvement over the Thrashers previous coach, Kurt Frasier and I have no doubt Hartley will land yet another job before too long. He does have a decent record of creating improvement but his methods seem to wear thin after awhile. He can certainly be credited with getting the Thrashers into their first playoff appearance but in reality that wasn't much of an accomplishment. With 16 of 30 teams making it to the playoffs each year even a coachless team could probably do it eventually. I think Hartley was able to get most of the players to buy into his system but his system simply wasn't going to work with the players in the organization. This became even clearer this season when the Thrashers were forced to go younger and smaller.
Hartley certainly isn't the only problem. The Thrashers have a roster that simply is going to have trouble competing night in and night out in the NHL. But getting rid of Hartley is another piece of the puzzle towards rebuilding the team as a whole.
Before all is said and done, there will probably be more changes with the Thrashers. Waddell's job is almost certainly tied to the current roster and whoever he picks to be the next coach. Things have to change if the Thrashers are determined to compete for a cup. Its going to be a long and tough road ahead but I'll be there through it all.
