ATLANTA — Bob Hartley was fired Wednesday as coach of the Atlanta Thrashers, the only NHL team without a victory. General manager Don Waddell will coach the team until a replacement is found.
Waddell said the Thrashers were playing as if they have not recovered from losing four straight games to the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs last season.
“The emotions were so high last year going into the playoffs and we went out quickly, and to be honest I don’t know if we’ve recovered from that yet,” Waddell said. “If you look, we’ve lost 10 games in a row now, including the last four last year. That’s where I believe a change has to be made.”
Waddell said he has no timetable for a hiring and indicated he might look for a coach who is less intense than Hartley. Waddell wouldn’t rule out the possibility he could coach for the rest of the season.
“Maybe we’ve got to back off a little bit and let the players have some fun in the game,” Waddell said. “Certainly Bob has been here a long time. … We weren’t getting the most, particularly out of our veteran players, and that was a concern.”
Hartley didn’t attend the news conference, but the team released a statement on his behalf later in the day.
“I was excited to enter the season and face the challenge of building on the success of last year, but things just didn’t come together as we anticipated,” Hartley said. “I dedicated myself to helping this team reach its potential, and I understand the decision following our disappointing start.”
Hartley, who won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001, was 136-123-32 with Atlanta.
Stars activate goalie Smith. The Stars activated Mike Smith (arm) from injured reserve and assigned fellow goalie Tobias Stephan to Iowa of the American Hockey League.
Modin scratched. Left wing Fredrik Modin (groin) was scratched for Columbus’ game against Dallas and could miss Friday’s game at Buffalo.
