FanHouse DonWaddell

The Atlanta Thrashers, currently occupying their familiar spot at the bottom of the NHL's standings, are headed for their ninth non-playoff season in their 10-year existence. The team's best player -- and captain -- Ilya Kovalchuk is an unrestricted free agent following next season, while starting netminder Kari Lehtonen is eligible for restricted free agency. Pretty bleak picture.

That said, Thrashers co-owner Bruce Levenson took part in a Q & A session with beat writer Mike Knobler of the Atlanta Journal Constitution this week, and acknowledges the team has made some big mistakes in the past, but is committed to turning this thing around.

The New Jersey Devils added to their blue line on Monday afternoon, acquiring defenseman Niclas Havelid from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for 24-year-old defenseman Anssi Salmela, as reported by TSN. And with that, the madness leading up to Wednesday's trade deadline has begun.

Havelid, 35, is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent following the season, and has recorded two goals and 13 assists in 63 games for Atlanta.

The Clash once posed the question: Should I stay or should I go now? We take a look at the big names surrounding the NHL trade deadline and whether they'll be staying in place or going to finish the season in another city.

When the Atlanta Thrashers named Ilya Kovalchuk team captain a few weeks back, was it a sign? Did that mean the team was prepared to do what they had to do to keep Kovalchuk long-term?

The Atlanta Thrashers currently occupy the No. 14 spot in the Eastern Conference, 17 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the final playoff spot. Needless to say, it appears as if the Thrashers are destined to miss the postseason for the eighth time in their nine-year existence.

When you combine yet another dismal season with the fact star forward Ilya Kovalchuk is an unrestricted free agent following the 2009-10 season, it's only natural to piece together trade rumors. Rumors the Thrashers have no interest in.

Perhaps the best news coming from the Penguins on Thursday isn't the fact they pulled off a somewhat improbable come-from-behind win on Wednesday night, but the news that Sergei Gonchar may be closer to returning to the lineup than originally believed.

On Monday, Gonchar was cleared to take part in contact drills in practice, and according to Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, his workout went quite well. So well, in fact, he described his return as being possibly "sooner than we expected."

As I was watching the Caps and the Predators in Washington last night, I couldn't help but keep an eye on the Flyers and Thrashers as they played in Atlanta. Of all the teams in the NHL, it seems as if the Thrashers have had nothing but hard luck in recent memory. It's hard to believe it's only been about 18 months since they qualified for their first playoff appearance -- one that ended in a four-game sweep to the New York Rangers.

The parade kept going downhill last season as the team dropped six straight out of the gate and head coach Bob Hartley was shown the door. GM Don Waddell stepped behind the bench, but he couldn't stop the bleeding as the misery culminated in the trade of Marian Hossa to the Penguins and the Thrashers limped to the finish.

Following up the franchise's first ever playoff appearance with such a disastrous performance couldn't help but have an impact at the box office, but even I was shocked when I started to see how much bleeding there was in Atlanta. Like a lot of other folks, I first noticed something was amiss when the Devils came to visit on October 16 (pictured above).

Named in honor of Rick Tocchet, who admitted he was involved in an illegal gambling operation while working as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes, The Tocchet Line is an occasional feature on NHL FanHouse in which we even out the odds for the likelihood of various hockey-related happenings. (By the way, when is the NHL going to get around to either punishing or reinstating Mr. Tocchet?)

The good fans of Atlanta have more important things on their minds these days -- like their state being about two months away from descending into a chaotic FutureWorld where water is the greatest commodity -- but the search for the Thrashers' next head coach continues. After a glimmer of hope against the NY Rangers in general manager Don Waddell's first game behind the bench, the Thrash have settled back into being "teh suck" (as the kids call it) with a blow-out loss to the Lightning, 6-2.

Can anyone salvage this season? The Tocchet Line handicaps the field for the Atlanta Thrashers' next head coach:

John Anderson (3:1) - A fantastic choice, as I consider "The Gates of Delirium" to be a progressive rock milestone ... oh, wait: John Anderson, coach of the AHL Chicago Wolves, and not the guy from Yes? Got it. The former Maple Leafs star has a winning record in every season since 1997 with the Thrashers' minor league affiliate, winning two Turner Cups and one Calder Cup. He's on record as wanting the gig, and used to be a player/coach for Waddell in San Diego of the IHL. He's the favorite out of the gate.

Randy Cunneyworth (5:1) - Head coach of the AHL Rochester Americans, he nearly left for an assistant coaching gig in Florida during the off-season according to Swords and Pucks. He's considered to be one of the top developers of talent in the AHL, which should come in handy if he takes over a team currently playing like it has AHL talent.

I covered the Bob Hartley/Don Waddell Death Watch in this morning's edition of The Ice Sheet. The score as of around noon EST: Hartley = "dead," Waddell = "new interim head coach." Ben Wright over on the Blueland Blog has some details and immediate fan reaction from the Thrashers faithful, who have seen what was a playoff team last season go oh-for-six with zero points this season. TSN's Bob McKenzie helps fill in the blanks on Hartley's dismissal. Reaction from Thrashers fans on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports site is pouring in.

Waddell, the Thrashers' executive vice president and general manager, coached nine games for the Thrashers (3-5-1) in the 2002-03 season after he fired Curt Fraser 33 games into the season and before he hired Hartley as his replacement. Previously, he coached from 1987-92 in the IHL, making the playoffs three times.

Waddell is scheduled to meet the media this afternoon, so I hope one of the Atlanta hockey writers asks him the obvious question: If the Thrashers turn this thing around while he's behind the bench, is Waddell prepared to pull a Lou Lamoriello and remain head coach/general manager/ruler of all he surveys for the rest of the campaign? It's not like the Thrashers don't have talent on this roster; it's just that Hartley couldn't figure out how to get an Atlanta team that's all offensive flourish to play Tkachuk hockey.

Previously on FanHouse:
NHL Coach's Hot Seat
Thrashers: Waddell and Hartley Won't be Fired

The good news for Braves fans is that Chris Woodward is a dangerous man with a bat in his hands. The bad news is that he poses more of a threat to his teammates than to opposing pitchers with said bat.

Just when Matt Diaz's bat finally heated up, he took a bat to the face and looked like a snaggled-toothed hockey player. "I don't even like hockey," the Braves left fielder said Monday after teammate Chris Woodward accidentally hit him in the face during batting practice before a 6-4 win over Houston at Osceola County Stadium. Fortunately for Diaz, a chipped front tooth was the worst damage. He was scratched from the lineup so the Florida resident could visit his family dentist in nearby Lakeland. "Woody, that's the hardest hit you've had all spring," cracked Craig Wilson to Woodward, who was loosening up with a bat when Diaz bent over to pick up a weighted bat sleeve.

Don Waddell probably could have used this kind of nasty edge on his Thrashers before he traded Glen Metropolit and all those draft picks to get Keith Tkachuk.

Woodward, by the way, is hitting .214 for the spring. Craig Wilson, who made the wisecrack, isn't faring much better with a .231 average.