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The commitment by Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Waddell to build a contending team in Atlanta was highlighted by the Thrashers success during the 2005-06 season, in which the team posted a franchise-best 41-33-8 record for 90 points. During Waddell's eight years at the helm of the Thrashers, he has infused the club with proven veteran support for a young and offensively explosive line-up, which he continued this off-season.
Waddell has constructed the Thrashers to achieve perennial success by establishing the foundation for long-term prosperity through successful drafting, shrewd trades and key free agent signings. His transactions have loaded the Thrashers with emerging stars at each position and anchored the roster with two of the NHL's top superstars, Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk. He has laid the groundwork for long-term success in Atlanta by adding solid veterans, including off-season acquisitions Johan Hedberg, Niko Kapanen, Steve Rucchin, Jon Sim and Vitaly Vishnevski.
Waddell has become one of the most respected general managers in the NHL and serves on the league's nine-member competition committee, which acted as the primary body used to discuss and determine the successful rules changes that were enacted before last season. His vast accomplishments in more than 26 years in professional hockey as a player, coach and general manager were recently acknowledged by his 30th ranking in The Hockey News' sixth annual edition (Jan. 2006) of hockey's "Top 100 People of Power and Influence."
Prior to the start of the 2003-04 season, the team lost one of its players, Dan Snyder, as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. Waddell served as a key figure in leading the entire organization through the tragedy. Despite facing tremendous adversity and mounting injuries, the team narrowly missed the playoffs, and set franchise records for wins (33) and points (78), which have since been eclipsed.
The team's first step toward achieving this success and recognition came during the 2002-03 season when it made a very dramatic second-half turnaround, which was keyed by Waddell's decision to hire proven Stanley Cup-winner Bob Hartley. Prior to hiring Hartley, Waddell made his own successful NHL coaching debut with a win at Carolina on Dec. 27 (he served as interim head coach until Jan. 13). The team, which was in a 1-9-0-0 tailspin, responded with Waddell behind the bench by defeating three teams (Carolina, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia) for the first time in franchise history and capturing an improved 4-5-1 record in 10 games. The move changed the team's momentum and helped inspire a surge that yielded a 23-19-6-1 record over the final 49 games, just nine points shy of a playoff spot.
Waddell continues to build the core of the franchise through the NHL Entry Draft and by stockpiling impressive prospects. He made Kovalchuk the first Russian player selected first overall in the history of the Entry Draft in 2001. In the 2002 Entry Draft, Waddell made Kari Lehtonen the highest-selected European goaltender in NHL draft history. The bright future for prospects within the organization was never more evident than in the culmination of the Chicago Wolves 2002 Calder Cup Championship and the Orlando Solar Bears 2001 Turner Cup Championship.
Waddell has a long-standing relationship with USA Hockey as a player and in management, serving as general manager of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team. He worked as general manager for the U.S. squad at the 2005 World Championships, and as assistant general manager for the 2004 World Championship and World Cup squads. He also has served as the U.S. Men's National team's GM for the 2001 and 2002 World Championships, helping guide the 2001 team to a fourth-place finish, its best since capturing bronze in 1996. Waddell first emerged as an executive on the international hockey scene in 2000, when he served as assistant general manager following the 1999-2000 NHL season.
Waddell came to Atlanta in June 1998 after building two professional hockey franchises (the San Diego Gulls and Orlando Solar Bears of the now defunct International Hockey League) and serving as assistant general manager for the 1997-98 Stanley Cup-Champion Detroit Red Wings. Waddell was vice president of RDV Sports from 1995-97, where he served on the organization's executive committee, which oversaw operations of the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic, the IHL's Orlando Solar Bears, Magic Fanattics (retail) and Magic Carpet Aviation.
While at RDV Sports, Waddell was vice president and general manager of the Orlando Solar Bears from 1995-97. Prior to the Solar Bears, he held the same role at the IHL's San Diego Gulls from 1990-95. He also served as the club's head coach for the 1991-92 season, taking the team to the franchise's first playoff berth. He spent two seasons with the IHL's Flint Spirits, for which he served as head coach/general manager from 1988-89 and general manager from 1989-90. Waddell was twice named IHL Executive of the Year (1992-93 and 1995-96).
Waddell's playing experience includes being player/ coach for the Flint Spirits from 1986-88 and the Goaldiggers Hockey Club in Toledo, Ohio, for the 1985-86 season. He was drafted by the NHL's Los Angeles Kings in 1978 and spent three years with the organization from 1980-83. He played more than nine seasons of professional hockey, finishing with 372 points (95 goals, 277 assists) in 404 games, mostly in the IHL. His best season came in 1981-82, when he finished with 95 points (26 goals, 69 assists) for Saginaw and earned the Governor's Trophy as the IHL's top defenseman. In 1982 and 1986, Waddell was named a First Team IHL All-Star. He was also named a Second Team IHL All-Star in 1988.
During a successful amateur career, Waddell helped the U.S. National Team win the gold medal at the 1983 World Championships. Waddell played Division I hockey at Northern Michigan University from 1976-80, where he majored in business management. He was inducted into the Northern Michigan University Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and was named to the 1970s CCHA All-Decade Team. He finished with 172 points (52 goals, 120 assists) in 120 career games at Northern Michigan from 1976-80.
He and his wife, Cheryl, have a daughter, Chelsea, and reside in Duluth. |
