OffThePost.org

Yeah, it's time, even though this team still has a shot at the postseason, the post-Kovy era has officially begun.

The Thrashers SB Nation blog transcribed a town hall meeting with season ticket holders. Some surprising answers.

http://www.birdwatchersanonymous.com/20 ... #storyjump

In short, Waddell basically says Kovalchuk and his agent led him on and that he breached the subject as early as last season. Guess you should've listened to Jay Feaster, Don.

He and the owner in attendance admit they've fucked up bad in other areas, and the hiring of Rick Dudley was a big step toward fixing one of those areas. He pulls no punches with Kari Lehtonen and says he's definitely on the way out. Kubina will likely stay, but the news on Armstrong isn't terribly encouraging...and who knows about Afinogenov.

Sounds like Waddell will keep his job, and really, so long as he doesn't do any stupid panic moves like he did in the past and leaves talent evaluation/drafting to Dudley, maybe he should keep his job. I get the impression he was far too trusting of Kovalchuk and the guy really raked him over the coals as a result. I don't necessarily get the impression Waddell is exactly thrilled with John Anderson at present but will probably stick with him at least for another season.

Interesting in the comments how much the fans are envious of Nashville's model. It's very true that Nashville's model would have really worked in Atlanta... because I think the owners in Atlanta would probably follow up and raise the budget when neccessary.... they are a large enough market that a successful building of a team would draw more fans than a small market like Nashville.

Too bad no one asked about having Chicago as their AHL affiliate. I think they need a more development orientated affiliate... Chicago is too much of a "win now" AHL city which plays guys like Jason Krog rather than the top prospects. That being said, Vancouver and Washington have similar AHL affiliates and they're two of the top teams in the NHL, so I guess that proves it can still work to have independent programs.

Kane, Little, Bogosian, Enstrom, Hollywood. That's the nuke.

Bergfors, Cormier, Antro, Peverely, Oduya, Valabik are decent pieces under control.

The Thrashers have in the past, and remain even without Kovalchuk, a no. 1 centre away from being a good team. Use the cleared up money to bring in a Marleau/Plekanec type, and try to hit paydirt with another Peverely/Afinogenov dumpster dive.

Re-sign Kubina.

Figure out if Pavelec is the goalie for you.

That's as good enough a team as any in the 6-13 Eastern clusterfuck.

Donny W was on the Fan590 last night and was saying that with the departure of Kovalchuk, Antropov has stepped up huge and is providing fantastic leadership and great defensive play.

I can't tell if there's any sarcasm appended to this remark...

He was perfectly serious, and I'm just passing along what he said.

Gotcha, just checking--I know you're not exactly a fan of either of them.

All things considered, what else would Donny the Wad say?

• Honestly, I'm with everyone on this, I have no idea why this team isn't actually tanking...
• Who knew that Antropov would be this good? I mean, why couldn't he be this good before we traded Kovy?
• All of this is going to be in my tell-all book, tentatively entitled: Building the Atlanta Thashers for Dummies or How I Built a Stanley Cup Contender by giving away Kovalchuk, Heatley, and Hossa.
• Are you going to eat that bear claw?

I'm a bigger fan of Antropov than I am of Waddell, you can be assured of that. I didn't mind Antropov, I just liked to make fun of his footspeed and he was brittle as hell.

Nearly a point a game this year and +17. Impressive.