NHL shuts down again: Does Atlanta notice, care?
The Thashers moved to Winnipeg.
Hockey fans in 30 cities are about to get a taste of what Atlanta has gone through in the last 16 months — no hockey.
Unable to reach agreement on a new labor deal, the National Hockey League locked out its players this weekend. The lockout came one season after the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the Jets. Atlanta also lost an NHL team in 1980 when the Flames moved to Calgary.
The Flames moved to Calgary.
The lockout is the fourth shutdown for the NHL since 1992. As usual in pro sports, the issue is splitting money, in this case $3.3 billion in revenue. The owners want to decrease the amount that goes to players, while the union wants a guarantee that players get at least the $1.8 billion in salaries paid out last season.
The sides are so far apart that they didn’t even meet Sunday on the first day of the lockout. Here’s the latest news.
Do you still follow and miss hockey? Or are you bitter about Atlanta losing another team and fine if the NHL never plays another game — here or anywhere else?
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147 comments Add your comment
Disgusted
September 17th, 2012
10:33 am
I do not care about the ASG or Donny W but I did care about the team and the game.
I never believed these clowns lost as much $$$$$$$$ as they said they did.
In the end, this thing was set up for failure and the ASG fot what they wanted — the rights to control the arena and the Hawks. They never wanted the hockey team.
I would laugh if the Hawks went back to 50+ lossesand attendance went back down to 12 K a game — I am rooting aganst them till we get new owners.
David
September 17th, 2012
10:37 am
It is sad that any major sports league goes on strike. Look how much it effects the NFL with these new officials calling the game. One official almost called offensive holding on the defensive in yesterday NFL game. As for the NHL, I like the NHL team to still be here because Atlanta is a major league city which has major media presents and an international airport that can transfer people almost everywhere. As for the fans and people of Atlanta, Atlanta has enough people to support hockey if the right group or corporation owns that team and knows how to make money on the team. The facilities are in place here. As for a strike in any sport, it is sad for players and the true fans of that sport.
Disgusted
September 17th, 2012
10:38 am
Oldtimer — No one ever talks hockey on the sports talk shows anyway — and that was when the Thrashers were here
I don’t even listen to the sports talk shows cause all they care about is college football and recruitin which I think recruitin is a waste of time. And I do not want to hear about anybody’s charity golf tournaments. Golf is not a sport.
Its not like they even talk much sports anyway—they are a bunch of schtick clowns in this city, especially 790.
And the Fan 680 hardly takes calls anymore so there is nothing to discuss with those defacto experts.
dandylions
September 17th, 2012
10:41 am
Remember when he KOed Matt Cooke on one punch — that was beautiful.
My best hockey memory!!!!!
lanier
September 17th, 2012
10:45 am
was season ticket holder for Thrashers first 3 years and hope never to see a hockey game again
Greg
September 17th, 2012
10:55 am
Hockey is an ice sport. I tried to like it, but without the childhood experiences as I had playing football here in Georgia, it just didn’t hold my interest – no emotion. It would be like having a water-skiing team in Finland or Iceland-just a curiosity. I was puzzled that hockey came to Atlanta, not that it left.
kbb
September 17th, 2012
11:02 am
the problem is that most people that are most vocal about sports dont even live in Atlanta. They live in Dacula and Dawsonville. Basically redneck outposts and all they care about is friggin college football 24/7. There are other sports. The CITY of atlanta will never be a real metro city that can respect and support 4 sports because of the influence and whims of the yokels that live 1 hour or more outside of the city. Actual cities like NY, Chicago, LA, etc have most of their residents that live within city limits not an hour and a half away. Most of those people are small minded beer bellied white people that wear jean shorts and have zero ability to think for themselves.
Puck Like A Porn Star
September 17th, 2012
11:03 am
I saw Kane clock Cooke, but my favorite Thrashers memories were the “Headless Moose,” and Eric Belanger knotching Atlanta’s first ever playoff power play goal vs. The Blue Skirts in 2007. I was sitting in row G and that building has never been that loud, even when the Hawks got to their first playoffs in 10 years the following season.
Still the most amazing gameday experience in Atlanta, and I loved watching it on TV too. Anyone still bashing hockey on this blog probably never comes downtown to see live sports anyway.
With all the people moving closer to downtown, competent marketing could have led to a sizable walk-up hockey crowd. I became a fan overnight because I gave it a shot the first game after the last lockout, and I was hooked the first time (8-1 Thrashers over the Crapitals). I wonder how many fans the NHL will lose this time?
What a shame
September 17th, 2012
11:24 am
I too am a Thrashers fan. I went to many games and enjoyed the sport with my children. But, as any scorned fan would say, I wish the NHL would go completly bankrupt and all of the owners and Bettman would lose everything thing they own over this. Bettman is a very dirty person and used Atlanta as his scapegoat for bad league management!
Dman
September 17th, 2012
11:26 am
The NHL Owners are so greedy its disheartening. I was a Thrashers fan but was openly welcome by the Nashville Predators fans. A lockout is purely disgusting. Guess it’s time to check out the Gwinnett Gladiators.
Elroy
September 17th, 2012
11:28 am
If you care about hockey…then go back north where the huskies roam and eat some yellow snow
Don Waddell
September 17th, 2012
11:38 am
Great news! I have a 5-year plan to get Atlanta another hockey club. See you in Blueland, suckers, I mean Thrashers fans!
follow the money
September 17th, 2012
11:50 am
kbb’s comments are petty and childish. I love that you cite L.A. in all of that, as if they didn’t lose 2 NFL franchises.
I am southern born and was a casual hockey fan. I did enjoy going to the games and looked forward to attending a few games every year. I went to the first ever playoff game and it was incredible. I will never forget that game. I had never been to a professional sporting event with so much energy outside of the Braves 1991 run to the playoffs. I was very impressed. Unfortunately, the Thrashers never won anything. If they would have had just a little success, the fanbase would have grown. No one likes supporting a loser.
gone baby gone
September 17th, 2012
11:51 am
I was done with hockey after the Thrashers left. I don’t miss it and I’m glad I gave up following it. I follow plenty of other sports.
Mike
September 17th, 2012
11:53 am
Doesn’t effect me or Atlanta …
Whatever
September 17th, 2012
12:09 pm
I care . LETS GO PENS! Hockey is great. Atlanta got a raw deal and hockey will never be back. I blame it all on WADDELL.
Sports Facts » NHL lockout: In hockey fight, players are right – Chicago Sun-Times
September 17th, 2012
12:52 pm
[...] lockout in seven yearsThe ProvinceNHL Lockout: Your daily hockey fix for Day 2CBS sports.com (blog)Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) -KTUL (blog) -Chicago Daily Heraldall 1,548 news [...]
clark kent
September 17th, 2012
1:02 pm
Real fans, and there are/were plenty here to support a team, don’t stop caring about a sport even it its stolen away from them by some second rate carney barkers. Make no mistake, the Thrashers were intentionally driven into the ground with the intent of flipping them for a buck by an ownership group so incompetant they had to sue themselves to try and pull their heads out of their collective asses. The only problem is the fans saw through their transparent shell game.
As for the league, which is run by spineless owners and even more inept executive management, it will get exactly what’s coming to it…and the sooner this Titanic sinks the better.
Miss The NHL - Big Time
September 17th, 2012
1:08 pm
I miss the NHL. I do not miss the MISMANAGED Thrashers. You have to put a winning team on the ice, or at least a competitive team. Flames/Thrashers NEVER WON a single playoff series. See Thrashers/Flames History Here:
http://www.keepthethrashers.com/
Atlanta Sports Fan
September 17th, 2012
1:13 pm
Absolutely I miss it. Atlanta deserves a better-run team. We are as good a place for hockey as anywhere else.
Blueland
September 17th, 2012
1:17 pm
I miss hockey so much. It was great to live in a city with an NHL team, an NFL team, a MLB team, a NBA team, a WNBA team, a professional women’s soccer team, and high caliber college sports too. Atlanta got a bad rap for not supporting hockey, when really it was terrible ownership and an inept NHL that lost hockey in Atlanta. When we were winning, we outdrew many NHL cities, including Boston! Ultimately, ATL fans got mocked for not acting like Leafs fans, and Leafs fans get mocked for not acting like Thrashers fans.
Brian
September 17th, 2012
1:17 pm
Miss it so much!! Would go 5-7 times a year with friends and/or family. I really miss my Thrashers in Blueland. We really had a good team and was fun cheering them on and going downtown Atlanta.
Matt
September 17th, 2012
1:18 pm
Yeah, what KBB said… word.
when the Thrash were here, I cared about hockey from October until the playoffs. However, now that the team’s gone, I usually just watch the playoffs.
To all the people that are happy hockey’s gone… I hope that thing that you love, but I don’t happen to care, about gets taken away from you. What kind of attitude is that? You don’t like hockey? Good for you. Watch something else, there are plenty of options. However, what kind of d-bag is happy that something that made someone else happy (but didn’t affect you in any way) is gone now?
Brian
September 17th, 2012
1:19 pm
Miss my Thrashers so much!! would go 5-7times a season! Really had fun cheering them on and going downtown Atlanta.
Jameson
September 17th, 2012
1:21 pm
I miss the Thrasher’s all the time, and will probably miss out on seeing a few NHL games this year. The lockout doesn’t impact me nearly as much as it would have, though. I’ll still be at Gladiators games all the time.
gategirl
September 17th, 2012
1:24 pm
I really do miss hockey here
I think the city could support an AHL team, granted with new owners, I hope no one in there right mind would allow the ASG idiots to have another team
ijustwanttowatchhockey
September 17th, 2012
1:25 pm
it’s a shame…because no matter what team you root for, we all just want to watch hockey. also I miss the Thrashers. and I care.
cpsman_atlanta
September 17th, 2012
1:27 pm
ASG is the reason why Bettman and the NHL gave up on Atlanta, not the fans, and not the future. Every individual in Canada claims it is because it can’t work here, but even most Canadian writers say it never had a chance with Atlanta $pirit Group.
I’ll come to see the Braves, I might come to see the Falcons, I’ll go to GT games, but I won’t step one foot into Philips Arena until that ownership group is gone.
As far as the strike goes, who cares? We’ve got our Gladiators here for our hockey fix, as well as UGA and GT hockey. Why isn’t the AJC showcasing those teams more?
Your Name Here
September 17th, 2012
1:32 pm
I miss the Thrashers and Blueland. Unfortunately, they never had a chance since their owners were the ASG clown car, who never wanted them from the beginning and who conspired with Waddell to run the team into the ground. Add to that Bettman’s need to get the NHL owners off his neck about the situation in Phoenix and you have what used to be our team as the Winnipeg Jets 2.0. Ever since the Thrashers left town, I have gotten my hockey fix by watching college hockey. As far as the lockout is concerned, I don’t care if the NHL never plays another game.
MTB
September 17th, 2012
1:34 pm
I still keep up with hockey through the Gwinnett Gladiators, who I’ve come to respect as a great organization with a lot to offer local sports fans. I also went to a handful of games in the SECHC (sechchockey.com), and saw lots of college kids playing hard to grow collegiate hockey here in the South. Just because the Thrashers left town, that doesn’t mean the hockey community went with them. We’re still here.
That being said, I am still quite sad that the team left. The Thrashers were my first in-road to discovering hockey and I’ll always be grateful for the games I saw at Phillips that taught me how awesome this game is. If the NHL sees fit to grant us a team again, I’ll give it a shot. But, despite the pain of losing the Thrashers, I’ve learned that hockey life can continue on.
richard
September 17th, 2012
1:44 pm
sigh.. yes i miss it, football makes it better though
Dawg Haus
September 17th, 2012
2:02 pm
This Thrasher fan says “oh well.” Hope the league folds.
Tom
September 17th, 2012
2:03 pm
I miss hockey so much I left Atlanta…
WeStillHaveHadTheGladiators
September 17th, 2012
2:06 pm
Yes many hockey fans in Atlanta still miss the Thrashers. I hope the NHL comes back to Atlanta one day and I do believe it will happen at some point.
A note to the author and others: we still have pro hockey in the Atlanta area in the Gwinnett Gladiators. Go check it out! Free parking!
AtlantaNative62
September 17th, 2012
2:08 pm
NHL – National wHocares League
Wil
September 17th, 2012
2:16 pm
I was a hockey fan before the Thrashers, was a seven year season ticket holder, and remain a hockey fan after the Thrashers left. I want to see a full season because the fact remains I have been a hockey fan for my whole life. The ASG was a joke and we did get the screw job, but I love hockey too much to be the type of fan to say oh the Thrashers left so screw hockey. Those were Thrashers fans, not hockey fans. I am a hockey fan.
Sarah
September 17th, 2012
2:16 pm
I, for one, am extremely upset by the current lockout. Not only did Gary Bettman steal the Thrashers, he’s now taken the entire league away. Words cannot describe my loathing for that man. Hockey is my life, and he seems hellbent on ruining it. F him. He should be removed as soon as possible. He is killing the game.
Still miss the Thrashers
September 17th, 2012
2:20 pm
I miss the team very much. There might not have been a large mass of hockey fans in Atlanta, but those of us who were are very passionate about the sport and the team. I feel personally betrayed to this day by the actions of Bettman and the ASG. I also have not attended a Hawks game since then. I support the Hawks, but the ASG can rot.I find the people who claim that no one is this city cares to be ludicrous. Did you know that at their lowest attendance peak the Thrashers averaged more fans in the building per home game than the Jets ever have?
Don Rickles
September 17th, 2012
2:25 pm
Send Levenson, Gearon Jr., and Bettman to the Middle East to negotiate with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Gwinnett Fred
September 17th, 2012
2:29 pm
Do I miss it – of course, you can’t just flip a switch to not caring because your ownership & the NHL brass are d-bags & you lose your team.
That said, let’s just say I am enjoying this lockout MUCH more than the last one!
Zavs
September 17th, 2012
2:32 pm
I am intensely disgusted with the whole situation. The players should have taken the 49% Hockey Related Revenue offer when they had it because if history is an indicator, future offers won’t meet that figure. On the other side, owners should let them report to camp while working on the deal – which the p
layers said they would do. Nobody, seriously NOBODY, wins in this situation. The lights are out in the arena, no beers, popcorn, soda, hot dogs etc. being sold and as much as 40% of our players move to Europe to dominate their leagues just so they can play.
I don’t think most players are too worried about not getting paid, they seem to be more fiscally conservative compared to some of the other major American sports athletes and don’t routinely “make it rain”, as far as I know (speculation).
I just find it incredulous that everybody is deciding to go the route of “Everyone Loses”.
That being said, hell yeah people in Atl (former Atlantan and friends with many hockey enthusiasts in the area) care. Atl is unique in that we have people from all over the place and many of them like hockey. Arguing about if the NHL should be there is a moot point now, they left and if they had ownership support and League support you might be watching Thrashy this year AND last year. The whole system is confounded and this time around I side with the players’ association. We finally got a foothold on being credible in the U.S. again as a sport and they are doing this again. I am disgusted.
ATL Observer
September 17th, 2012
2:41 pm
Here’s the thing, if you do what MLB did and stop a season midway through, you p#*! me off to no end.
Just not have a season to begin with, I’ll just find something else to do. You can hope that I can come back. And the more the NHL does that, the more it plays Russian Roulette with its fanbase.
The league is probably going to expand to Quebec and Seattle in five years or less. Watch.
Daniel
September 17th, 2012
2:48 pm
I love hockey but it’s so hard to watch with Bettman at the helm. He is the worst businessman alive. A station nobody has heard of and few have offered them the most money though they could eventually make more with more well-known stations, and he picks the small station. When the contract is up, it’s the same situation with the same result.
DonWaddellKilledHockeyAndDoesntLikePuppies
September 17th, 2012
2:55 pm
Yes, we care. Was a season ticket holder since Day 1. Have not set foot in Phillips Arena, and will not, until the ASG is gone. I tell everyone I know of who is planning to go to a concert or event there to not go and if they do, not to spend any money for those lying thieves.
Gary Bettman is doing the owner’s bidding, he doesn’t care about the sport, and the owners don’t either. They know what is true, and that is hockey is a niche sport with die hard fans that will come back whenever they are good and ready to put a product on the ice again. They had a great opportunity to make this a big time sport coming out of the last lockout with a faster game and HD TV exposure, but made the mind numbingly dumb decision to stick it on OLN instead of paying ESPN to show the games and promote the heck out of the sport.
Hockey’s death knell in Atlanta was hiring and retaining Don Waddell as the GM. Nice guy, but completely inept at building an NHL team. The fans who supported him during the whole mess are just as culpable, if a bigger outcry was made to rid ourselves of him, they could have built a winner and a following that would have made economic sense to keep the team here. Atlanta is a front runner town and a town full of northern transplants who gladly would have left behind their Ranger/RedWing/Pens/ etc. sweaters at home and jumped on our bandwagon. But instead of a bandwagon all we got was Don Waddell in a van down by the river . . .
Fletcher Keel
September 17th, 2012
2:59 pm
Just when I had picked a new favorite team, too!
Actually, last season I did fantasy hockey with a friend who lives in Montreal, and it was the most fun hockey season I’ve ever been alive for. The Thrashers leaving sucked, but it really is the people of Atlanta’s fault for not going to games. Yes, they were bad, but so were the Falcons, so were the Braves, so were the Hawks. I miss hockey dearly, but what do I know, I’m only a 19 year old college sophomore. (And, did anyone catch the WKU/UK game? GO TOPS)
Zlatan
September 17th, 2012
3:01 pm
I loved the Thrashers and still have not gotten over the painful loss of the team. I still hold venom towards Bettman and ASG and wish them everything but well. I feel for the employees of the NHL who are now looking for other ways to provide for
their families because the greedy players and billionaire owners along with the idiot commisioner ‘cannot’ come to an agreement.
Edward
September 17th, 2012
3:03 pm
we are not LOsing hockey…..we are LOSING the NHL, and its a GOOD thing, now maybe prices on everything will come down. i plan on watching a lot of AHL and ECHL and Wish Atlanta would get a team in one of those Leagues………..Augusta has a team and they are not as big as Atlanta
CSP
September 17th, 2012
3:03 pm
Love it, miss it and plan on being in Nashville on Thanksgiving for a Preds game, if Bettman can unscrew his head from his rectum….
Jamie
September 17th, 2012
3:15 pm
I think it’s time for a new league to be formed. I could easily come up with cities off the top of my head that have potential owners waiting to own a pro hockey team. The best part of this is the Stanley cup could technically be won by a non NHL team if we end up with no season due to a court ruling back in 2006.
Don Rickles
September 17th, 2012
3:16 pm
I’d like to share a nice, warm, recycled beer with Don Waddell, Bruce Levenson, Michael Gearon Jr., and Gary Bettman, by pouring a bottle of it over their heads.