Don Waddell

Don Waddell
Date of birth	19th August 1958
place of birth	Detroit , Michigan , USA
size	178 cm
Weight	84 kg
position	center
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Amateur Draft	1978 , 7th round, 111th position Los Angeles Kings
Career stations
1976-1980	Northern Michigan University
1980	Houston Apollos
1980-1983	Saginaw Gears
1983-1984	Augsburg EV
1984	Flint Generals
1984-1986	Toledo Goaldiggers
1986-1988	Flint Spirits New Haven Nighthawks

Don Waddell (born August 19, 1958 in Detroit , Michigan ) is a retired American ice hockey defender and current official. During his playing career, he played a game with the Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League , but spent most of his career in minor leagues . Since May 2018 he has been General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes , of which he has been President since 2014. In the same position he worked for the Atlanta Thrashers for many years .

Career

As a player

Don Waddell began his career in 1976 when he played for Northern Michigan University . In his first year, he impressed with his attacking strength and was named the best player in the CCHA after his second season . The Los Angeles Kings then selected him in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft in the seventh round at position 111.

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

In the 1981/82 season Waddell scored for the Saginaw Gears 26 goals and gave 69 assists and moved with the team again in the final of the Turner Cup, where you lost this time. At the end of the season, Waddell was awarded the Governor's Trophy for the IHL 's best defender. Due to injuries, he only made 18 missions in the following season and moved to Germany in the summer of 1983 for Augsburg EV in 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 Goaldiggers during the 1984/85 season. In the summer of 1985, in addition to his playing activities, he also took on the post of assistant coach for the Goaldiggers and returned to his good performances in the course of the 1985/86 season. At the end of the season he had scored 69 points in 63 games and was elected to the IHL's First All-Star Team.

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

As a trainer and manager

After the end of his playing career, Waddell stayed in Flint and immediately took over the duties as coach and general manager of the Flint Spirits. After a weak first season, which finished the team in last place, he led the Spirits 1989/90 into the playoffs . However, the franchise was dissolved after the season and Waddell was given the post of general manager of the San Diego Gulls , which were before their first season in the IHL.

After the Gulls missed the playoffs in 1990/91, Waddell also took on the responsibility of coaching the team and was able to win 45 of the 82 season games. In 1992/93 he gave the coaching post to Rick Dudley , who led the team to 62 wins and the final of the IHL playoffs. The Gulls also reached the finals in the following two seasons, but the franchise stopped playing in the summer of 1995.

That same year, Don Waddell became vice president of RDV Sports , the operating company for all of Orlando’s major sports teams . At the same time he also became general manager of the IHL team Orlando Solar Bears , which were about to enter their debut season. The team reached the final of the Turner Cup in the very first season and advanced to the semifinals the following year.

In the summer of 1997, the Detroit Red Wings from the NHL took him under contract as assistant general manager for four years. At the same time, Waddell looked after the farm team, the Adirondack Red Wings from the AHL , as general manager. After just a year, which ended with the Stanley Cup victory for the Red Wings, Waddell was bought out of his four-year contract by the Atlanta Thrashers in order to prepare the franchise as general manager for the inaugural season 1999/2000 .

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

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

In the following season 2007/08 the Thrashers got off to a weak start and in November 2007 Waddell dismissed the coach Bob Hartley and took over the coaching position himself until further notice.

After he had filled the position of General Manager until April 2010, Rick Dudley took over the position of GM, at the same time Waddell was promoted to President of the Thrashers. After the franchise was relocated to Winnipeg in June 2011 , Waddell announced that he would not be joining the new team.

After a short time as a scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins , the American was introduced as the new President of the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2014/15 season . There he also took over the role of General Manager in May 2018 as part of the restructuring carried out by the new owner Tom Dundon , taking over from Ron Francis .

Achievements and Awards

As a player

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

As a manager

• Stanley Cup 1998 (as Assistant General Manager)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ sports.espn.go.com, Thrashers fire coach, name Dudley GM

Web links

• Don Waddell at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Don Waddell at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Don Waddell at hockeydraftcentral.com