Updated at 8:48 a.m., Wednesday, October 17, 2007
NHL: Atlanta fires coach after 0-6 start
Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Thrashers are the only NHL team without a victory, and coach Bob Hartley is on his way out.
Hartley was fired today following an 0-6 start, the first NHL coaching change this season.
"It was a shock," Thrashers defenseman Garnet Exelby told The Associated Press today. "I don't think anybody saw this coming. It's only six games."
"Sometimes changes need to be made," he added. "At the same time, it tells all of us it's a big wake-up call and we need to fix this."
General manager Don Waddell said he will take over as coach until a replacement is hired. He has no time table for a hiring.
"We felt after six games the direction we were going was not the direction we wanted to go," Waddell said at a news conference in announcing the first coaching change of the NHL season. "We couldn't let it go any further."
The Thrashers have been outscored 27-9, and their winless start comes after they won the Southeast Division last season and made the playoffs for the first time. Atlanta then lost four straight games to the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.
Hartley, who won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, is in his fifth season with Atlanta. It was clear after last night's 4-0 loss to Philadelphia that he was aware of building pressure.
"You know what? If anyone is not satisfied with the team effort, I don't agree," Hartley said. "I think those boys work hard. ... Let's keep working, let's get a couple of breaks going our way and we're going to turn this thing around."
"The last thing that those guys need right now is to be hard on them," he added. "It's hard enough right now. When people don't have great confidence you don't step on them. I'm part of this. We have to find solutions, we have lots of young players, we have lots of new faces, and to get in those guys face and to start yelling and throwing stuff, I think that we would go backward."
