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Waddell: No coaching change this season

Not every decision Don Waddell has made has been a good one. He’s in a tough situation in Atlanta, but his inability to hold on to his top players has to be alarming. He certainly tried his best with Ilya Kovalchuk, and not every situation was his fault. His decision to not make a coaching change before the end of the season, despite the Thrashers most likely falling out out of the playoff hunt with a six-game losing streak, is one of his better ones.

Q. Will you make a coaching change between now and the end of the year?

A. No.

Q. Will that be something you would look at as part of the end-of-year evaluation?

A. I think everything has to be evaluated. Obviously, if we don’t get to where we want to be all positions need to be evaluated. It’s part of the business. We all want to win and have success and make the playoffs and if we don’t reach our goals that we feel were attainable you have to look at every avenue in the organization.

Too many times teams are quick to make coaching changes as they fight the quest to win as soon as possible. It works for some teams -- the Penguins come to mind -- but generally mid-season changes don’t so much for an immediate change.

John Anderson is a good coach who has had incredible success at the AHL level. He deserves to have the chance to not only continue to build the team with Waddell, and at least deserves a shot to finish the season. That is, of course, if Waddell and Anderson are still in Atlanta next season.