Don Waddell

Don Waddell ( born August 19, 1958 in Detroit, Michigan ) is a retired American professional ice hockey defender and last President of the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League.

  • 2.1 As a player
  • 2.2 The Manager

Career

As a player

Don Waddell began his career in 1976 when he played for the Northern Michigan University. He convinced in his first year primarily for his offensive strength and was awarded after his second season as the best player in the CCHA. The Los Angeles Kings selected him out in the NHL Amateur Draft 1978 in the seventh round at position 111.

Waddell played two years at Northern Michigan University, before 1980 the Saginaw Gears, the IHL farm team of the Los Angeles Kings, and joined with them in the first year won the Turner Cup. Also in the 1980/81 season Waddell completed his only NHL game for the Los Angeles Kings.

In the season 1981/82 Waddell scored for Saginaw Gears 26 goals and had 69 assists and moved with the team again in the final of the Turner Cup, where one time but lost. At the end of the season Waddell was awarded the Governor's Trophy as the best defender of the IHL. Because of injuries, he came in the following season only to 18 inserts and changed in the summer of 1983 to Germany to Augsburg EV to the 2nd Bundesliga.

In 1984 he returned to North America and played for the Flint Generals in the IHL before moving within the league to the Toledo Goal Diggers during the 1984/85 season. In the summer of 1985, he assumed alongside his players specialize in the post as assistant coach of the Goal Diggers and returned during the 1985/86 season to his good performances back. At the end of the season he scored 69 points in 63 games and was elected to the First All -Star team of the IHL.

For the 1986/87 season he moved within the IHL to the Flint Spirits and was active there as a player and assistant coach. After Waddell 1986/87 due to injuries were rarely used, he ran into the following season again to its former shape, scored 17 goals and prepared 58 before, before he ended his active career in the summer of 1988.

As a coach and manager

After the end of his playing career Waddell remained in Flint and immediately assumed the duties as coach and general manager of the Flint Spirits. After a weak first season, the team finished in last place, he led the Spirits 1989/90 in the playoffs. However, the franchise was disbanded after the season and Waddell got the job as general manager of the San Diego Gulls who were in front of their first season in the IHL.

Once the Gulls 1990/91 missed the playoffs, Waddell took over the responsibility as the coach of the team and won 45 of the 82 season games. 1992/93 he gave up the coaching job at Rick Dudley, who led the team to 62 wins and the final of the IHL playoffs. In the following two seasons, the Gulls reached the finals, but placed the franchise in the summer of 1995, the operation of gambling one.

In the same year was Don Waddell Vice President of RDV Sports, the operating company of all the major sports teams in Orlando. At the same time he was also General Manager of the IHL Orlando Solar Bears team that stood before its premiere season. In the very first season, the team reached the final of the Turner Cup and moved a year later to the semifinals one.

In the summer of 1997, the Detroit Red Wings took him from the NHL as an assistant general manager for four years under contract. Parallel Waddell supervised the farm team, the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL, as General Manager. After only one year, stood at the end of the Stanley Cup victory of the Red Wings, Waddell was bought out by the Atlanta Thrashers from his four- year contract to prepare the franchise as general manager for the premiere of season 1999 /2000.

After a weak first season with only 14 wins from 82 games, Waddell was with Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk undertake in the NHL Entry Drafts of the years 2000 and 2001, two young players who should be the focus of the team. Moreover, it was in 2002 an experienced striker to be brought to Atlanta with Vyacheslav Kozlov.

During the 2002/ 03 season Waddell took over after coach temporarily dismissal as coach at the Thrashers before he could undertake Bob Hartley for this position. In the following years, Waddell formed with players like Ilya Kovalchuk, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Bobby Holik, Kari Lehtonen, Scott Mellanby and Marián Hossa, who had come for Dany Heatley to Atlanta, a competitive team that finally for the first time in the season 2006 /07 Playoffs reached. However, they failed to reach there in the first round without a victory.

In the following season 2007/ 08 the Thrashers started weak and in November 2007 dismissed the Waddell coach Bob Hartley and took over until further notice as coach itself

After he held the position of General Manager filled up in April 2010, Rick Dudley took over the position of GM, at the same time Waddell was promoted to president of the Thrashers. After the relocation of the franchise to Winnipeg in June 2011 announced Waddell that he accepts no function in the new team.

Awards and achievements

As a player

  • Turner Cup 1981
  • Governor's Trophy 1982
  • IHL First All -Star Team in 1982 and 1986
  • IHL Second All-Star Team in 1988

As a manager

  • Stanley Cup 1998 ( as Assistant General Manager)
1978 NHL Amateur Draft Houston Apollos Saginaw Gears (IHL) Flint Generals (1969–85) Toledo Goaldiggers New Haven Nighthawks International Hockey League (1945–2001) Farmteam 1980–81 NHL season Augsburger Panther Sports franchising San Diego Gulls (1990–95) Orlando (Florida) Orlando Solar Bears (IHL) 1999–2000 NHL season 2000 NHL Entry Draft 2001 NHL Entry Draft 2002–03 NHL season 2006–07 NHL season 2007–08 NHL season John Anderson (ice hockey)
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