In NHL storm, Anderson stays focused

Throughout a very successful 11 years as coach of the Chicago Wolves, even in the occasional dark times you could always count on coach John Anderson to be quick with the quips.

Good to see he hasn't changed in his NHL rookie year behind the bench with the Atlanta Thrashers.

"A little bit older, a little bit fatter," Anderson replied when asked how he was doing.

With the way his Thrashers have struggled thus far this season (18-31-5 and at the bottom of the Southeast Division), the 51-year-old Anderson has had to dig deep to find reasons to smile.

"It would be a lot more fun if we were winning, but I absolutely love the city and hopefully we can turn this around," said Anderson, who won 506 games and 4 championships with the Wolves. "It's been very difficult personally, but sometimes things that are hard make you a better person, a better coach, and hopefully that will be the case."

After years of having his name bandied about for open slots in the NHL only to find no takers at crunchtime, Anderson finally got a gig in the NHL when the Thrashers, the Wolves' NHL affiliate, decided it was his time and named him their fourth coach in franchise history.

It sure didn't take long for the former first-round pick (11th overall) of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1977 to realize life in the bigs had changed quite a bit while he was away.

"It's a lot different," he said. "Guys are making a lot more money. I think it's more clinical, not as tight, not as personable. They've got their own gigs going.

"It's hard to bring a team together, especially when you have a bunch of new people and you're not winning. When you're winning, I can see a difference in our team in a practice after we win. When you're not winning, we still have to rally around each other and believe in each other."

With a new coach, a new system and some good young players - many of whom Anderson worked with in the minors - fans expected a little upswing for the perpetually struggling Atlanta franchise, but the results haven't been there this season.

"It's tough to pinpoint exactly," said forward Joey Crabb, who has split time between the Thrashers and the Wolves. "There's been some slow progress here and there, and then again some steps back.

"Just consistency. The last few games I was up, the first two periods of the last three games were just terrible, terrible, and then in the third period we dominated every team. You just have to be going every period, every shift. That's one of the biggest reasons for the struggles."

It hasn't all been gloom and doom for the Thrashers, who host the Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Anderson pointed out that forwards Vyacheslav Kozlov (45 points) and Todd White (45) have more points already than they had all of last year, and that 2006 first-round pick Bryan Little (21 goals) "is playing unbelievable."

It appears the players have adjusted to their new coach, whom, according to Crabb, gets mostly positive reviews.

"Yeah, as a guy and how he coaches, I think everyone respects him and likes him," Crabb said. "He's a real likable guy one-on-one. He still a player's coach, accessible, likes to have fun. He hasn't changed any of that. He's pretty much stayed the same guy."

But will those few positives be enough for Anderson to keep his job? In a results-oriented league like the NHL, patience is no longer a virtue. Just ask former Blackhawks coach Craig Hartsburg, who was fired last week by Ottawa midway through his first season.

Anderson, of course, hopes the higher-ups in Atlanta show more patience than their counterparts with the Senators did.

"I would hope, but you never know," he said. "If you're winning you don't have to worry about that crap. A lot of good organizations have kept their coaches around a long time. Like (current Hawks coach) Joel Quenneville in St. Louis, and certainly (Barry Trotz) in Nashville.

"I think I can make a change in this organization. It's not just about waving a magic wand and making it all happen. Again, you want it sooner rather than later, but there is a process. I want to stay here long enough to be part of that solution."

His players seem to feel the same way.

"He's a new coach; it takes time," Crabb said. "It's not like they were doing great before. I think they'll give him some time to prove himself. He's still trying to find his niche and figure things out, and once he does he'll be a lot better off.

"I don't think they're going to rush him off. They've already had a number of coaches in and out of there."

Leave it to Anderson to summarize these difficult days with a smile.

"The truth is at the end of the year, out of 30 teams, there's only one that's happy - and they're only happy for two months."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=270667">Anderson sees good things from Wolves, Blackhawks <span class="date"> [2/10/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>