Don Waddell
Don Waddell
Donald Douglas Waddellis the former, and last President of the Atlanta Thrashers and a former professional ice hockey defenseman. He is currently President of Gale Force Sports & Entertainment, parent company of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League...
defense depth good hot lead short speed
Not only do we feel we have a lot of speed and the grit, but enough scoring. We think our depth on defense is as good as it's ever been. And when you get in these short tournaments, a hot goaltender can lead you a long ways.
game goal learn lose move positive
I'm disappointed, for sure. But you learn from it, and you find a way to move forward. ... You lose every game by one goal ... we're going to take the positive from that, that we were in every game.
elite excitement fans franchise pivotal players role seasons share
Ilya is an important part of our franchise and we share in our fans excitement that he is back with us for many seasons to come. He is one of the league's elite players and will play a pivotal role in our success.
anytime knee talking
Anytime you're talking about the knee and you have surgery, it's not good.
depth nice team
The nice thing about our team is that our depth is so much better. And our goaltending will be strong.
change system
The new system doesn't change much for the top-end players, because they are still going to get paid.
chance franchise gives next pieces position step
We've put a lot pieces in place this summer. The franchise is in position to take the next big step. Ilya gives us a better chance to take that step to go even further.
coming good guys players positives talk transition
We all talk about how we've been in a transition period. ... We have a lot of good young players and a lot of guys coming in, and we can take the positives out of that.
believe bench coaching ends game impact lift regardless staff whether
Emotionally, you have to believe that it's going to be a lift for everybody. Regardless of what the contribution ends up being from Dany, I think it's going to be a lift just to have him back on the bench and see him on the ice. So whether he has an impact on the game or not is yet to be seen, but I think emotionally it's been a big lift for the team, the coaching staff and me personally.
assess camp candidates continue evaluation however makeup olympic opportunity potential process staff step team terrific together
The orientation camp will be a terrific opportunity for our staff to come together with the candidates for our Olympic team to assess the potential makeup of our squad. It will not be a tryout camp as the evaluation process will continue through the first part of the NHL season, however it will be an important first step in the process.
blow certainly game positive start tournament
We're going to try to take the positive that we were in every game. We're out of the tournament but certainly it's not like it's something we have to blow up and start over, because every game we were right in there.
brought exactly final games guys happened hockey knowing piece score watching
We're very excited, you know, and Ilya is the final piece we had to get done. I've said all along, 'We're going to score some goals.' Watching some of what's happened with the guys we've brought in here and not knowing exactly how they would do, I think we're going to win a lot of hockey games this season.
chris terrific tremendous
We feel that Chris is not only a tremendous player, but also a terrific leader. For us to have success, Chris is going to have to be a big part of it.
step
This is an important first step to the process.