Updated: Another suitor for the Thrashers?
In response to a television report that once again named a filmmaker as an interested party in purchasing the Thrashers, team president Don Waddell issued the following statement on Friday afternoon. It indicates that another party this week expressed an interest in the Thrashers to keep the team in Atlanta.
Here is the statement:
“Along with all other groups who have expressed an interest in pursuing an ownership opportunity, which has happened as recently as earlier this week, we have said continuously that ‘until an agreement is signed and approved by the board of governors, it’s never too late but they will have to move very quickly and decisively. Ownership still is committed to selling at a greatly reduced price to anyone committed to Atlanta.’ ”
The potential suitor stepped forward Thursday and would be considered in the preliminary stages of interest. The introduction of the possible suitor to the Spirit may have come from a season-ticket holder. A great deal of work would need to be done, if proven a serious suitor, and time is an issue.
As I reported Friday, negotiations with True North to sell and relocate the Thrashers to Winnipeg continue, but a deal is not done. Should it be completed, it won’t be done before Tuesday following the Memorial Day weekend.
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384 comments Add your comment
Thrashers
May 28th, 2011
5:36 pm
@OHL Have you never been to Youtube?! they always give you the Youtu.be link when you click “share”
G52PIM228©
May 28th, 2011
5:38 pm
I’m sorry little snow monkey impostor, but the reason I made you feel stupid is because you are.. You are not even the smartest kid in your class, you really had no chance against me..
hotrod hockey
May 28th, 2011
5:39 pm
Well maybe it is cheaper and they want to keep it here, because of the basketball going on strike. If that happenes and no hockey ASG will not have tenants in the building and they will not be making any money at all. But then again they payed $100,000,000 for Joe Johnson. There is little hope but you never know.
G52PIM228© snow monkeys don't deserve the NHL..
May 28th, 2011
5:54 pm
This forum is pretty silly..
G52PIM228 © Thrashers Suck
May 28th, 2011
5:54 pm
The Real G52PIM228 Thrashers Suck
G52PIM228
May 28th, 2011
3:46 pm
Uh oh.. My little Bumb buddy monkey seems mad.. Is it something I said.. ASSLANTA is no more getting an NHL franchise than LooserGlensa AZ COYTOES. You idiots are so funking stupid it is hard to believe..
* Link
* Report this comment
G52PIM228
May 28th, 2011
3:47 pm
When the Thrashers leave, I bet it puts the insane stupidity about an NHL team staying in GlenFail AZ to rest..
TheAntiMe
May 28th, 2011
6:09 pm
I won’t believe that the Thrashers aren’t moving until I see the team skating around the ice down at Philips for the season home opener. That being said, how does the NHL figure that Winnipeg will ever be able to support an NHL franchise when the population there is well under a million?
It would seem that the NHL is setting Winnipeg up for certain failure – again – just so that the league can get it’s grubby paws on that $60 million relocation fee. Winnipeg has about as much chance for success in retaining a franchise as Lindsay Lohan has of becoming the Archbishop of Canterbury.
G52PIM228© Thrashers Suck
May 28th, 2011
6:09 pm
“I’m sorry little snow monkey impostor, but the reason I made you feel stupid is because I AM STUPID. I am not not even the smartest kid in my class, Because I am A DumbNutts you really had no chance against me and the Thrashers are leaving for good! ”. The Coyotes are leaving too! I need my meds now…
PoweRForgeD
May 28th, 2011
6:10 pm
LOL@ all the idiots in this forum.
BLUELANDbeliever
May 28th, 2011
6:18 pm
the trolls on here need to get a friggin life
G52PIM228 ©
May 28th, 2011
6:20 pm
Yes PowerForked..I am the leader of the idiots..join me on the coyotes board at AZ central…I may be an idiot but at least the coyotes are a better NHL team than the Thrash..
TheAntiMe..Well we have 200,000 in our tiny desert town of glendale AZ.but our taxpayers fund the team 25 million every year…Whats your point?
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/2011/05/27/20110527phoenix-coyotes-ilya-bryzgalov-budget-dominoes.html
pegcityguy
May 28th, 2011
6:20 pm
I feel sorry for the few hardcore thrashers fans,cause there moving to winnipeg.All they have done in atlanta is loose money,what buisness man would want to keep a team there,to loose 30 to 40 million a year
Thrashers
May 28th, 2011
6:32 pm
If you are a Winnipeg resident, winnipeg fan, etc why don’t you shw some class by leaving this website.
This website is for residents of Atlanta.
ASG
May 28th, 2011
6:40 pm
What a great thing for us. No chance we sell this team for a one penny less than we can get. If this “new suiter” drives the price up, we will be in 7th heaven. Suckers!
G52PIM228Dbag'sMom
May 28th, 2011
6:45 pm
Has anyone seen my little boy G52? He was supposed to be home in time for dinner and my nightly back-scrubbing.
NHL Guy
May 28th, 2011
6:47 pm
@Thrashers Good point buddy…but I hope you will give the same ADVICE to Phoniex fans who continually berate other cities like atlanta , winnipeg etc.. and gloat that the NHL has saved the coyotes… and Atlanta was sacrificed…thiers enough evidence of this already..So are you being Hypocritical? why not join the coyotes forum and voice your opinion thier as well?
TheAntiMe
May 28th, 2011
6:54 pm
So it’s to the point that the Winnipeg trolls are here on the Thrashers Blog flaming it out with the Arizona trolls. Damn, I think someone needs to find themselves a girlfriend. Then again, they would probably just inbreed more trolls. Later, trolls!
TheAntiMe
May 28th, 2011
7:06 pm
“I think someone needs to find themselves a girlfriend.”
I’m all for it but my Wife would likely object.
I somehow get the feeling that he probably wouldn’t mind. OK, now I’m really gone.
pegcityguy
May 28th, 2011
7:14 pm
Worst sports fans ever you couldn’t even sell out a braves playoff game.
boots
May 28th, 2011
7:19 pm
Dear Mr. Glavine, we are all sorry for the nasty things we said about you when you left town for the Mets. We still hate the Mets and NYC, but we love you and hope you give up millions to buy the Trashers. Please have Mr. Turner throw in a small fraction of what he spent on the U.N. and Jane Fonda, and the deal will get done. Thank you,
Boots
Winnipeg Petting Zoo is now closed
May 28th, 2011
7:27 pm
Sorry the Moose quit because his but was sore.
ATLfan
May 28th, 2011
7:32 pm
Hey SUITOR – I am gonna invest into your company, just buy thrashers and keep them in atlanta.
East Point Bob
May 28th, 2011
7:43 pm
New owner here, Firing Waddell, I will be a season ticket holder without question !
OHL
May 28th, 2011
7:58 pm
Thrashers,
Thanks! I never knew that. We are always told at work never to click on anything that doesn’t begin with “www”. I know there’s exceptions for file sharing and others things but our websites get garbage all the time. Since this is a forum/messageboard/blog I imagine people try to slip things past the security. I think your Foxsports get’s it the most for the US ones. I don’t use TSN or ESPN but they must get it too. That and I personally have had the citibank e-mails sent to me asking for passwords or stuff when I don’t even have a citibank account and there is always 1 letter or number off in the address.
Danny 1
May 28th, 2011
8:28 pm
In Response to G52PIM228 Re: Canada becoming less relevant to the N,H.L.
The six Canadian based teams make up 40% of all N.H.L. revenue. Without those teams, the N.H.L. would not exist in the U.S. There are more kids in the province of Newfoundland playing amateur hockey than all the kids in the U.S. combined. It’s most of the U.S. teams that are not relevant!
P. Bull Terrier
May 28th, 2011
8:43 pm
Sorry, guys. False alarm. It was just me who “stepped up on Thursday”.
You see, I have a friend who is a big Thrashers fan and a season ticket holder. When he told me that the ASG was willing to offer a big discount to a local buyer, I said “what the heck, I’ll buy them.” It should already be obvious, since my friend has Thrashers season tickets, that he’s not all that smart. He got a little too excited and made a few phone calls. Next thing you know, I’m on the phone with Levenson, Waddell, Bettman, and a few lawyers. It turns out that their idea of a “discount price” is more than $100 million over my budget.
I suppose this is how Tweet rumors get started.
Thrash Head
May 28th, 2011
9:16 pm
Still don’t understand why NHL doesn’t grant Winnipeg and expansion team for $250 million. Give $50 million to Thrashers owners and give them two years to sell the team. Bettman and his buddies pocket $200 million, instead of $60 million.
I know who
May 28th, 2011
9:59 pm
Must be Tyler Perry.
Ed Peskowitz
May 28th, 2011
10:09 pm
Anyone have $20 I can borrow? Or just a bottle of whiskey?
Drexel Gal
May 28th, 2011
10:11 pm
Atlanta couldn’t hang onto a winner (the Flames), and don’t want a loser (the Thrashers). The District of Columbia couldn’t hang onto two losers (the Senators, I and II), but they still got a THIRD shot (the Nats, albeit after 35 years). Does Atlanta really deserve a third chance at the NHL?
Brendan
May 28th, 2011
10:16 pm
Nick, I do feel your pain. It’s not the Leafs’ fault, or the fault of the fans of the Leafs, that Atlanta DRAINS the NHL of revenue-sharing dollars. But, I ask you to stay with me for a moment, for the following. Imagine that the NHL actually did its homework with this Spirit clowns, and said, “Fellas, it’s pretty clear you want an NBA franchise. It’s also clear that Mr. Belkin holds one-third (1/3) of the Capital Stock. Which means that it takes the other seven (7) of you owners to make up the remaining two-thirds (2/3). What if Belkan bolts on you? Can you make up his “cash calls?” What kind of commitment will you make to the NHL? Is this team going to wither on the vine, or are you going to spend money? And if so, if you do spend it and fail, are you going to FIRE GM’s and Coaches and Scouts? To replace them with better ones? Or will you simply keep the same idiots in charge, while the season ticket holders flee like mice from the nuclear facility, pending a meltdown?”
Well, we got our answers to the questions never asked. The owners spend the money on the basketball team, and focused their efforts on that. The owners wouldn’t make changes on the NHL front, while fans clamored for Waddell’s head. The STH’s called their reps to say, “If Waddell’s in the house, I’m staying in mine. You fire him. I’ll be back. Call me when he’s been fired.” There’s a causality there, Nick. If the owners fired Waddell, the fans would stay, believing that CHANGES are coming. Believing that accountability is real. Bygones. That never happened. Instead, they kept Waddell. Then renewed him for 3 more inexplicable YEARS! And that was it. The remaining season ticket holders said, “That’s the final straw. You guys are idiots. You don’t know what you’re doing. And you don’t care. You’re all about the Atlanta Hawks. And not the Thrashers.” Pretty simple, really.
But had the proper things been done, the fans wouldn’t have left. If the fans hadn’t left, the owners would have the money (gate revenue) to have robusts budgets. Running an NHL team on the cheap isn’t really a good idea, unless you’re in a rebuilding process. Then, it makes perfect sense. Spend the money when you’re in contention, not when you’re not.
So, that’s why you Torontonians have to prop up Atlanta, Nick. It’s because the Atlanta ownership doesn’t have a grasp on the dynamics of running an NHL franchise. They don’t understand cause and effect relationships, between fans and ticket sales. You just can’t keep Waddell in charge … and expect fans to show up. Not in Atlanta, anyway. And I suspect, not in Toronto, either, if honesty matters. Do you think that Don Waddell would be run out of town in Toronto?? For a 11 seasons?? With one playoff berth, and getting swept at that? With nine Top 10 draft picks?? With very little outside of the lottery draft to show for draft success?? C’mon, Nick. You know the answer. Eventually, even Toronto … the MECCA for hockey in North America, would say, “Nous en avons assez.” (We’ve had enough.) John Ferguson, Jr. was no pic-nic. But eventually, he was drummed out of town. It happens in Toronto. It doesn’t happen in Atlanta. The locals find something else to do, like watching the Gwinnett Gladiators, of the ECHL. “At least they try.” For most Atlantans who like hockey, the mindset is, “Call me when you guys get a clue, and feel like trying again.”
Is it so much to demand … an EFFORT? We’re only talking about TRYING. We’re not talking about winning the Stanley Cup. We’re talking about … the most rudimentary of aspects of running a team. Fire those who fail. Bring in someone else TO TRY. Honestly, all the posters on this blog are tied with Don Waddell for playoff victories. That’s a fact. And we all would have run the team for far less than whatever Waddell got paid, for the same results. At least in Columbus, they fired Doug MacLean, to give Scott Howson a chance. That shows the BlueJacket fans … that they’re TRYING. What did Atlanta get, after being swept? Four more years of Waddell, who then installed Dudley, effectively NAMING his very own successor. So, Waddell not only hired three Head Coaches, plus himself, TWICE to coach, he also named the current GM. Where ELSE does this happen??? Bizzaro world, where hamburgers eat people?
Qwerty
May 28th, 2011
10:19 pm
Great idea, but why stop at $250M? Charge TNSE $2 Billion so that the NHL can continue to prop up Atlanta, Phoenix, Columbus, Nashville, etc. I like it!
Guffman
May 28th, 2011
10:31 pm
“Still don’t understand why NHL doesn’t grant Winnipeg and expansion team for $250 million”
Maybe you do not u derstamd because you’re not very bright?
Acquiring a franchise team in Winnipeg, or anywhere outside of Southern Ontario, is not worth $250M, especially when many franchises are losing millions and will eventually cash out for much less.
No reason why the NHL should subidize Atlanta anyways. That’s up to your government to do.
G52PlM228
May 28th, 2011
10:45 pm
Will the real G52 stand up? It worked you jerk offs in Atlanta. You are lame to stalk me. Restraining order is being filed.
aromatictenant8
May 28th, 2011
10:57 pm
I paid $32.67 for a XBOX 360 and my mom got a 17 inch Toshiba laptop for $94.83 being delivered to our house tomorrow by FedEX. I will never again pay expensive retail prices at stores. I even sold a 46 inch HDTV to my boss for $650 and it only cost me $52.78 to get. Here is the website we using to get all this stuff, http://GoGetBids.com
Artie Blank
May 28th, 2011
11:25 pm
Pee in my shower will ya!
Madea goes ice skating
May 28th, 2011
11:25 pm
It’s me.
G52PIM228© snow monkeys don't deserve the NHL..
May 28th, 2011
11:38 pm
watch tv channel 8 – no way Wiiped Jerks get one. A thrasher will die so a yote will eat.
Wayne stuck in AL
May 28th, 2011
11:54 pm
Some site said Stephen Rollins is yet again the “interested party”…Stephen Rollins, Ed Rollins, Jimmy Rollins, Henry Rollins, it doesn’t matter; this team is toast.
All the other prospective buyers (Anson Carter, J. B. Smith, etc.) made the mistake of going after all 3 properties instead of going after just the Thrashers, and using whatever money they would have left from the sale to absorb all the inevitable losses.
I cut the cheese Uh Huh Uh Huh
May 28th, 2011
11:56 pm
Just now
well
May 29th, 2011
12:02 am
Crossing fingers………..
Wayne stuck in AL
May 29th, 2011
12:03 am
If any good comes of the Thrashers moving, it’s that John Kincade is permanently discredited with his “Balkan” B.S.
TheAntiMe
May 29th, 2011
12:09 am
I paid $32.67 for a XBOX 360 and my mom got a 17 inch Toshiba laptop for $94.83 being delivered to our house tomorrow by FedEX.
Just FYI, aromatictenant8, as long as your mom agrees to bend over and crack a smile there’s no telling how much good stuff you will continue to get on the cheap.
Tim
May 29th, 2011
12:24 am
Yall are idiots. The deal is done. I promise you all. Team is moving to Winnipeg. This is all PR.
DEAL IS DONE. JUST WATCH.
Mark in mid-town
May 29th, 2011
1:14 am
I think it would be very bad for the city of Atlanta if we lost the Thrashers. As for potential local buyers, where are members of the Cox family in all of this? Aren’t they the wealthiest Atlantans by a wide margin and aren’t they civic minded types? I’d like to think that they could step up to the plate and help keep the team in Atlanta.
farleybear
May 29th, 2011
1:29 am
I propose a moratorium on reporting anything Thrasher/Jet related until something is concrete one way or the other. No more blogs, news articles, TV news reports, twitter updates, new facebook pages…. water-cooler talk. It’s filling us all with false hopes or fears. Half my hair has turned grey over the last couple of month’s from the worry!
Alex
May 29th, 2011
1:30 am
I like atlanta thrashers because my uncle lives there in atlanta but he could care less he likes the red wings and so do i so i say move atlanta out and bring back winnepeg.
farleybear
May 29th, 2011
1:39 am
shhhh
kovy
May 29th, 2011
1:56 am
the asg is bizzaro world. whatever dandy d-wad says, the opposite is true.
NEW OWNERS
May 29th, 2011
3:40 am
This interested suitor in purchasing the Thrashers, i assume are smart and just realize that the crappy team loses millions every year and just back down.
Unfortunately for you Thrasher fans…we (Winnipeg) will own ur CRAP team, True North will dissect it, split them up, get rid of most of those panzys one by one with their outright release and replace them with better players and personnel that Billionaire David Thomson and True North can afford.
Maybe even bring ur Thrashers banners u have hanging on ur rafters HERE, burn them and piss on the ashes. LoL… WAIT, Thrashers prolly dont even have any banners. u guys never achieved enough. my bad
Plus, we wouldnt call the team the Thrashers, thats such a lame name. The only thing that was THRASHED was your attendance records and fan base with the 6 fans you have.
Anywho… Talk you guys when we take over. See ya
TheAntiMe
May 29th, 2011
4:14 am
Plus, we wouldnt call the team the Thrashers, thats such a lame name.
No, it has already been decided that if they move up to your small-time armpit of a town they will be named the Winnipeg Moose Douches, in honor of the people of Winnipeg like yourself. Go Douches!!!