Bye bye Bob Hartley!! I'd like to say I'll miss him, but I won't! I always hated that smug look on his face after he sent his goons out to rough up an opponent at the end of a game that was out of hand. In case you missed it, the news of the day is that Atlanta coach Bob Hartley was fired. He'll be replaced on the bench by General Manager Don Waddell during the search for a new coach. Good luck Waddell, you'll need it! Rumor has it that he'll be next in line if the Thrashers don't improve. The good news for him is that since the team has yet to win a single game, there's only one way to go. I predicted that this team would finish in last place and this implosion is no surprise to me. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't shock me to see Waddell gone as well by New Year's. I just don't see the Thrashers improving a whole heck of a lot anytime soon.
Speaking of fired coaches, can Toronto's Paul Maurice be far behind? I know this kind of speculation is borderline ludicrous because it is so early in the season, but we are talking about the Maple Leafs here and there is unrest in the center of the hockey universe! The man that should be on the hotseat is Leaf's GM John Ferguson Jr. Fergy has made one bad signing after another, but somehow manages to keep his job although he is under heavy scrutiny at the moment. But that is exactly what makes coach Mo's situation so tenuous. Ferguson is likely to have an itchy trigger finger with Maurice in order to save his own skin and take the focus off of himself. You can bet that Mo is feeling the heat up on the cool shores of Lake Ontario!
In my last post, "A Pirate Looks at 40", we talked about Cam Ward's new mask. John Forslund just posted more information about it on his Canes Blog along with the pic of the backplate. I don't know if the timing was coincidence or not, but either way, thanks John!
The Ramones