Ramsay, coaches wait to hear their future
Craig Ramsay sits and waits.
The Thrashers head coach still doesn’t know if he will be joining his team when it relocates to Winnipeg next season. Other members of the organization have already been told not to pack their bags.
Ramsay finally spoke to a representative of the Winnipeg franchise Thursday evening – 10 days after the deal was announced that the Atlanta Spirit would sell the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment.
Ramsay spoke to new Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, whose hiring was announced Wednesday. Thrashers GM Rick Dudley was told Sunday he would not be retained before the sale is approved later this month and the team relocated to Manitoba.
“It’s very unnerving not knowing what the future holds,” Ramsay told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Friday.
Ramsay said he was told by Cheveldayoff that a decision has not been made about the coaching staff. The still unnamed Winnipeg organization would meet throughout the weekend before making a final decision, he was told. Associate coach John Torchetti, assistant coach Mike Stothers and video coach Tony Borgford also wait to hear their future.
Several members of the Thrashers support staff have already been told they will not have positions in Winnipeg – including the equipment managers, athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coach. None were considered for positions despite their tenure with the Thrashers. Head equipment manager Bobby Stewart spent all 12 years with the Thrashers and 26 years with the Flames organization in Atlanta and Calgary.
The Thrashers staff was informed of Winnipeg’s decision on Monday by Craig Heisinger, who was named senior vice president and assistant general manager. Heisinger was in Atlanta Monday, two days before being named to his new position, to inventory equipment and other physical assets of the sale.
“It’s awkward,” Ramsay said. “We are hockey people, but we are also people. There are other jobs. … I just asked him to [make a decision] expeditiously.”
Several open positions in hockey, both at the NHL and AHL level, have been filled since the sale and relocation of the Thrashers became imminent.
Ramsay became the fifth head coach in Thrashers history before last season. He concluded his first full season as an NHL head coach with the disappointment of missing the playoffs but was looking forward to continued work in the organization. He may not get that chance.
“I didn’t think it would end like this,” said Ramsay, a long-time assistant who left Boston after the three previous seasons. “I can’t look into the future. I saw what I thought was a good opportunity to work with someone I had known for years (in Dudley). I thought we could improve the team. I’m sorry we didn’t get there.”
Thrashers strength and conditioning coach Barry Brennan said he was told that his position at the NHL level would be filled by the coach who currently holds that position with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. According to the team’s website, Lee Stubbs is listed as Assistant Medical Trainer/Strength and Conditioning for the Moose, which is also owned by True North and play in Winnipeg’s MTS Centre.
“I’m disappointed I won’t be making the transition, but I respect the fact they are being loyal to their guy,” Brennan said.
Brennan has been in Atlanta the past week and has begun work with current players. He worked with Eric Boulton and Chris Thorburn Friday.
“They have to be prepared to play in Winnipeg and I’m happy to help them for as long as I’m here,” Brennan said.
Thrashers vice president and assistant general manager Larry Simmons has yet to be informed of his future. President Don Waddell said last week he will not be a part of the Winnipeg franchise.
On a personal note: In case you folks thought I fell off the face of the earth, I was on vacation the past week and a half. I’m back and will stay on top of any other developments including the Board of Govenors meeting on June 21.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
165 comments Add your comment
We were bamboozled.....
June 10th, 2011
6:30 pm
Considering that Atlanta Spirit still owns the team, is it a slight bit presumptuous on the part of True North to essentially fire people that are still employees of Atlanta Spirit until this deal is approved? Naming a GM for a team that does not technically exist (this isn’t like it is with an expansion team) until the deal closes is in some ways putting the cart before the horse. While the chances of this deal not being approved look to be slim, stranger things have happened. The BoG could still veto the relocation at least for one season so they can do a realignment of the conferences and divisions. If that were to occur, wouldn’t it make sense to use the folks already in place here in Atlanta instead of hiring your own group of folks that would have to relocate to Atlanta and then to Winnipeg the following season?
Not retaining Dudley is mistake #1 for True North. Not retaining Rammer and his staff would be mistake #2.
Ramsay, coaches still waiting to hear their fate | SweetLittleAss.com
June 10th, 2011
6:31 pm
[...] http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-thrashers-blog/2011/06/10/ramsay-coaches-still-waiting-to-hear-their-fa... [...]
John Cantcade
June 10th, 2011
6:47 pm
Alan R………..I offered to buy Mike Vick’s house for $10 million dollars. The problem was I didn’t have a down payment plus I couldn’t secure financing. Now do you understand?
ashtray
June 10th, 2011
7:09 pm
They have already refunded downpayments for 2011-12 season tix. It’s done, Gearon has already run to Asia to avoid any dealings with anyone. I’m betting he’ll be back on June 22.
Kelly
June 10th, 2011
7:30 pm
Gary Bettman knows which way the wind blows with the governors. If there was even the remotest possibility this sale would be turned down, he would not have granted TNSE permission to negotiate with ASG. Indeed, he would not have picked up the phone and ASKED TNSE to negotiate with Atlanta…
Nor would Bill Daly have spent the last couple of days in Winnipeg working through relocation details and NHL regulations with TNSE.
There would be NOTHING compelling ASG to resume operation of the Thrashers if the NHL said no to TNSE. My guess is they would throw the team into bankruptcy.
HotRod Hockey
June 10th, 2011
8:21 pm
Well great job by the Atlanta Spirit. Alot of people are lost jobs because of you guys “ASG”. They never cared about hockey and never will. Well I am laughing because when there is no basketball in the arena this year that won’t be making anything. What a great idea to get rid of the hockey team Doochbags. If you would have keep the team for one more year someone have stepped up and buy the team. I am not a basketball guy but I can’t wait for July 1 to come and the lockout starts in basketball.
Puck Like A Porn Star
June 10th, 2011
9:00 pm
I was looking forward to the Atlanta Dream season (at least they get to the Finals), but now I won’t be going to any of their game either, thanks to ASG. Collateral damage. Great job, Mr. Crocodile Tears.
Curly
June 10th, 2011
10:45 pm
“They have already refunded downpayments for 2011-12 season tix.” – WRONG!
Refunds will not be issued until after June 21st, when the deal is finally done.
It’s a done deal, but the ASG will not refund our money any sooner than they have to.
Tim
June 10th, 2011
10:51 pm
Hey Curly, actually ASG has began refunding down payments on season tickets, CONFIRMED information.
Tim
June 10th, 2011
10:54 pm
Also, True North is officially the owners of this team. Do you not understand what rubber stamp means? To formally approve something that has already been agreed/approved upon. Please let the Thrashers die in peace for god’s sake it has been over since May 31st. NHL allowing sanctioned press conferences, buyout of Rick Dudley, hiring of GM. It is completely official. The BOG meeting on the 21st is to welcome the new owners to the club to everybody. Do you honestly think the NHL would be allowing these press conferences if it wasn’t official?
R. Stroz
June 10th, 2011
11:15 pm
Sam Crenshaw with 11Alive just reported the same info in the USA article. Sam said that they had contacted USA Today to confirm the validity of the information.
We NEED some real digging into this situation and that doesn’t mean merely passing on info from the ASG.
Brendan
June 11th, 2011
12:38 am
In retrospect, I think the owners always intended for the Thrashers to be relocated, not just sold. Certainly, they could have put a package deal together, for all three entities. But no, they wanted to keep the NBA here, and ditch the NHL product. Well, who could possibly buy the Thrashers, without getting operating rights, or at least a percentage of them, to offset the operating losses? That’s right. No one can, or would. The Thrashers are a money pit, without venue revenues. And every year someone owns them, they’d just be getting deeper and deeper in debt.
Don Waddell, today, might not be known as the man who helped drive hockey out of Atlanta, if he’d just resigned after 2007. And who would have replaced him? Answer: The AHL affiliate GM, Kevin Chevaldayoff, of the Chicago Wolves. Ahh, the moves NOT made!!!!
So, who’s the new Sheriff in Manitoba? Kevin Chevaldayoff. Brilliant. It’s painful to know … that we had that guy, all along, right in our system. And he was choc-blocked by Waddell, whom the organization needed as its public patsy. I have no doubt, none whatsoever, that Waddell REALLY believed that he was going to get the Thrashers into the playoffs, each and every year. William Hung thinks he’s a great singer. It’s up to the producers of American Idol to decide if William Hung will bring in the viewership, or if his offkey caterwauling will drive them all away. Do you see it? Do you see how USEFUL Don Waddell was to them? When it came time for performance review, every offseason, it was an exercise in patheticness. Waddell would waddle in with his laundry list of excuses, and how “close, real close” the team is to making the playoffs. And the owners, like disingenuous carnies at the $1 ‘ring toss’ event, smiled and provided encouragement, “Ooooh, you were so close that time. A $1 buys three more tries, Don! Give it a whirl! You’re sure to get in THIISSS time.” The worst of it, truly, is the utter, utter disregard of the season ticket holder, who begged and pleaded with the franchise to fire Waddell. STH’s are the lifeblood of a franchise. They were utterly disregarded by this ownership. There was only so many times that an STH can be spat upon, before he waits for his same seat to be discounted by 50-percent in November. We call that “learned behavior.” And, in the end, the fan just stops coming.
In Canada, in losing seasons, the arena is soldout, but THERE ARE CHANGES MADE the next season. They don’t have to endure a decade’s worth of Don Waddell. But, I’d kinda like to watch Canada endure a decade of Don Waddell, and to watch the arena empty out, just as EXPECTED. I’d be the first to say, “This isn’t about losses or record. This is about owner apathy. That team’s ownership just isn’t trying anymore. You can’t blame fans for staying home.”
Brendan
June 11th, 2011
1:04 am
By the way, Craig Ramsay on John Torchetti deserve a chance in Winnipeg, since they certainly didn’t get a fair shake here.
So, let’s start the countdown to Don Waddell unemployment. Isn’t that a silver lining, of sorts? Actually, I wouldn’t put it past the AS, LLC to retain him, in some capacity. Team accountant??
Les Habitants
June 11th, 2011
1:12 am
If one still thinks that the NHL BoG may possibly deny the sale of the team from ASG to TNSE, one is possibly naive or gullible. After the “Drive to 13000″ event, there is no way the BoG thinks that Atlanta has better hockey business than Winnipeg. Look, the new Winnipeg team is GUARANTEED to be profitable for at least 3 years while the Thrashers are PROVEN to be not profitable.
And so, looking at the business angle, what may possibly compel any member of the BoG to vote no?
Responsible Journalist
June 11th, 2011
3:59 am
Like I said the BOG is a formality, otherwise..why would Winnipeg be making personnel moves before this is even approved? Seems fraudulent if you ask me. Bettman, the NHL, ASG and TNSE all bent the rules and nothing can be done about it.
Puck Like A Porn Star
June 11th, 2011
6:56 am
I’ve already gotten my season ticket deposit refunded as well. We, along with the Thrashers sales reps are still waiting for news on June 21, but many refunds have already been received.
Of course, if the impossible happens, I’ll be back on the phone with my ticket rep, but clearly the fix is in, right, Mr. Crocodile Tears?
hockeymom92
June 11th, 2011
8:26 am
I believe the fix was in as early as February with the only hold up being what would happen with Phoenix.I heard too much from people closely related to the situation to think differently. Because no one connected with this charade understands the meaning of the words transparency and honesty we, the fans and most likely all the team itself, will never know the truth. I am not one who normally thinks cover up every time something odd happens, but this deal surely does not pass the stink test.
hucha
June 11th, 2011
8:54 am
Ramsay’s cancerous presence is not welcome in Winnipeg. Dont want him or need him. From the GM to the equipment manager, from the coach to the stick boy STAY IN ATLANTA!!!! as you all have said-its warmer there and its a bigger market -oh, and there’s no poverty either. There’s also no NHL team.
GatorFan
June 11th, 2011
9:11 am
Read This.
Daly was on Winnipeg radio and it was in the newspaper too.
ON THE AGENDA: The league sent out a report on the Winnipeg franchise to its governors this week, preparing them for the June 21 meeting at which they’ll vote on the Thrashers sale and relocation.
Daly predicts a slam dunk.
“I have no reason to believe it won’t be unanimous,” he said. “All the factors would indicate this is something that’s in the best interest of the league to approve this relocation and approve the transfer of ownership.”
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/06/09/true-north-wouldnt-own-jets-team-history
Doesn’t look good in Atlanta.
Kelly
June 11th, 2011
9:24 am
What rules did anyone bend? Please, point me to a clause and verse.
Your owners hung a for sale sign on the team, which is the right of ANY business owner in the U.S.
Nobody from Atlanta stepped up. (And don’t give me this crap about more time, more time. If someone in Atlanta wanted to own the Thrashers, they could have kicked the tires the second the suit with Belkin was resolved.)
All of your clamouring for an investigation forget one thing: even if there was skullduggery, it’s entirely IRRELEVANT! ASG was within its rights to sell to whomever it damn well pleased. There is no law against private negotiations! There’s no law against backroom dealing between private enterprises! Do you think Coca-Cola conducted its negotiations for Minute Maid or Fuze in public? Did Delta Airlines consult with all its customers and share every detail of negotiations to buy Northwest?
ASG screwed Altanta, first by not committing to the Thrashers and secondly by refusing to heed Gary Bettman’s advice about becoming profitable. But sadly for fans, none of that invalidates ASG’s right to sell its business.
R. Stroz
June 11th, 2011
10:58 am
Kelly – Read some by-laws:
http://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2011/5/26/2190276/atlanta-thrashers-sale-nhl-bylaws-news
Thrashered/Relocationist
June 11th, 2011
12:24 pm
Winnipeg’s reaction to receiving the Thrashers confirms the fact that it really is a place that offers very few reasons for someone to want to live there. Atlanta’s overall apathetic reaction to losing the Thrashers shows that we have so much going on as far as entertainment and sports are concerned that losing this habitually incompetent organization and team isn’t even a blip on our radar screen. If anyone ever wants to build an arena on the north side of ATL with an NHL team and competent management, I’ll be there. In the meantime, ho hum. At least the people of Winnipeg will have something to do other than pushing a snowblower from October through May.
letsnotgetexcited71
June 11th, 2011
1:10 pm
R. Stroz sb Nation missed one point as per Gary Bettman in Winnipeg by Goveners Decree if they believe the francise can not sustain itself in the market and no serious buyer makes a serious offer then they can put to effect a automatic relocation of a franchise between seasons. As for Thrasher/relocationist use your head this is why the world hates Americans, stupid off the wall commits about things and places that they don’t understand or have never been. If it is not the way it is where you live then it is wrong, sort of like healthcare. Say hey wish I was in DIXIE then I would know what it is like to live in perfection. Atlanta is a great city go there for my work all the time, but please don’t make fun of other places to make your place better. They are both great cities.
Joe
June 11th, 2011
1:15 pm
Dear Thrashered/Relocationist
You are a brain dead imbecile with your head stuck up your ass
Hazard
June 11th, 2011
1:59 pm
As a season ticket holder, I received an email from the Thrashers saying I would not get a refund until *after* the June 21 vote. So as far as I can tell, no refunds yet. I am not sure how some folks on here are able to report there have been refunds. If someone actually got a refund (and not second hand information), please explain how you got your refund since the ASG told me no refund until after 06/21.
Uncle Milty
June 11th, 2011
3:19 pm
@Thrashered/Relocationist
Quote: “At least the people of Winnipeg will have something to do other than pushing a snowblower from October through May.”
I feel a need to correct your perception of the city now housing your former team. Many, many people in Winnipeg spend the winter months playing hockey, actually. Both indoor and outdoor. That could be one reason why your team was relocated there; it is referred to as marketing to the base. Enjoy your myriad of other sports options though; we in Canada mainly just care solely about hockey by and large.
Acerman
June 11th, 2011
4:12 pm
Call the new team Winnipeg/ Manitoba Broom Sticks. It’s a fitting name for the actions of TNSE, so far. Oh, I expect that Ramsay will become another victim of the Broom Sticks.
Thrashered/Relocationist
June 11th, 2011
4:27 pm
Yes, the free agents are already lining up to sign with a Winnipeg based team. Give it five years, a weakened Canadian dollar and the team will again be poached by an American businessman. A lot of us have been to Winnipeg. That’s why we find it so amusing that a free agent would want to play there. Winnipeg has all of the appeal of, what’s that town on ‘Deadliest Catch’? Oh, yes Dutch Harbor, Alaska. That’s it, Dutch Harbor with a NHL franchise. If all it takes is a rich owner to get a NHL team for a backwater town, I’m surprised the Walton family didn’t get one for Bentonville, Arkansas.
Acerman
June 11th, 2011
4:50 pm
What’s the appeal of Detroit? Somehow FA don’t have a problem to sign with the Wings.
SouthernFriedHockey
June 11th, 2011
4:56 pm
The jig was up when Phoenix paid the NHL’s extortion fee. Didnt matter if there was a group willing to purchase all three or not. ASG didnt want to sell Hawks or Philips rights. NHL promised a team to Winnepeg and they got a team. We just all thought it would be Phoenix, not the Thrash.
This is yet another step in the decline of Atlanta. Maybe the copper thieves and the drug cartels could have combined resources and bought them.
Rich Lapin
June 11th, 2011
5:48 pm
Saw Chris’s article in today’s AJC about Craig Ramsay being in limbo about whether he’ll be asked to go to Winnipeg to resume his role there. Short bit of advice: don’t pack for Winnipeg. Instead update your resume and start circulating it.
Your GM was not asked to join the team and you can take your cue from that. By the way, your record this year was basically as non-competitive as John Anderson’s was. He got fired. Your clueless owners did not make your job easy but you didn’t make a case for yourself either.
If I’m wrong, you’ll be the luckiest coach in the NHL for at least part of the 2011-12 season. Rest assured, Winnipegers will cut you only so much slack before they start asking for results.
Get The Puck Out
June 11th, 2011
6:25 pm
Us Thrashers fans have been asking for results from slackness for many, many years and it fell on deaf ears. Hope you have better results.
Get The Puck Out
June 11th, 2011
6:25 pm
By the way, what is a relocation fee?
Brendan
June 11th, 2011
6:51 pm
At least, in Winnipeg, when you ask for results, you might actually get them. In fact, you’ll probably get them. Atlanta STH’s were spat upon, and lectured about ‘how well respected Don Waddell is in NHL circles.’ We sat back, STUNNED, declaring, “The Emperor isn’t wearing any clothes. Do you NOT see that?”
In the end, the STH’s concluded that the owners were either uncaring or incompetent. They withdrew their financial support of this team because of that. And clearly, as Kelly states, the owners have the right to ditch their asset. But it’s a litle bit disingenuous for them to say ‘they exhausted all sales opportunities’ to keep the team here, when the fact is … they didn’t want the “new, local” Atlanta owner to use their facility, called Philips Arena, for hockey games. I suspect they wanted to book concert events or conventions, instead. If they ‘truly were concerned’ about keeping the Thrashers in Atlanta, they would have offered up all THREE ENTITIES for sale: The Hawks, the Thrashers, and the operating rights to the venue. Clearly, they SEPARATED those assets, making it IMPOSSIBLE to find an ownership willing to lose $30 million, annually, on the Thrashers, with no venue proceeds to OFFSET those losses.
Let me make this clearer. Trying to sell the Thrashers, to keep them locally, without including proceeds from the venue … is like trying to sell swampland in Jersey. You’re just … not … going … to find … a buyer. So any ‘claims’ of TRYING to keep them local …. were LIES. The AS, LLC has the right to LIE to anyone who’ll listen. Just ask Kelly. It’s their business to sell. They can sell it … however they jolly well want. But it’s very clear that Jeff Schultz’ article was correct: Atlanta was NEVER given a chance. Lying owners, in concert with weasel Commissioner, and a ‘paper thin’ commitment to a covenant with fans. That’s the whole story. Not much else to tell, really.
Sincerely, I hope this never happens to a franchise up in Canada. As far as I can tell, all the Canadian franchises are owned by an entity that cares ENOUGH to make changes at the GM position, after a few seasons of failure. Even the Leafs! Is John Ferguson, Jr. still running the Leafs? Nope. They made changes. In Atlanta, changes never got made. Again. And again. And again. And again. It was “Waddell FOREVER!!”
Sage of Bluesland
June 11th, 2011
7:40 pm
Atlanta hockey-fans have had to endure the unendurable with Don Waddell at the helm for the entire existence of the team. That is truly remarkable and almost unbelievable. The lisping, blustering, little fraud of a GM managed to keep his job only because he met the budget and never contradicted ownership publicly.
What an accomplishment. A “Yes”-man for all ages.
I hope some of you sheep are happy to have filled his pockets for so long, despite the obvious staring you in the face…despite the pleadings of numerous to stop the subsidization of the incompetence…
Ugh
June 11th, 2011
8:06 pm
@Thrasher/Relocationist,your snice remarks about Winnipeg show your ignorance and makes you look dumb from where i sit. You know nothing of Wpg and your perception as mentioned is based on your uneducated ignorance. For you information, every Thrasher to a man has stated to being very happy to come to Wpg. We had Ladd here the last few days and he was blown away by our city and fans. You can read all bout it in our newspaper online. Byfuglien likes it here, dirtto Mason. As well, when we had the Jets, we had no issues in attracting and keeping players. I happen to know a lot of americans who have visited our city and like it here so until you know what the F you are talking about please shut up. Thank you, moron
Thrashered/Relocationist
June 11th, 2011
8:22 pm
So, what are the Thrasher (Jet) players going tp say ? I hate all of those world class golf courses where we can play year round? I couldn’t stand all of those beautiful southern women? It was so terrible not to have to shovel my driveway in May? I miss all that a city of 750,000 farmers has to offer and would welcome a transfer to Manitoba? Remember, Jet fans. You are the only city that wanted this team. There were no other offers on the table, or even near the table, for this franchise and your genius ownership group paid Bentley prices for a Kia. Thanks for sending $110,000,000 back to Georgia. Now, could we interest you in a WNBA team? Then Winnipeg could really consider itself validated as a major metropolis.
letsnotgetexcited71
June 11th, 2011
8:40 pm
God bless America, land that I love. Thrashered/Relocationist, keep throwing those insults baby but I would bet you my Passport is worth more than yours in the world you redneck. Last time I checked our women were damn fine and as for the players missing the all year round world class golf courses, baby they get payed to play hockey, and they will be treated like gods here. As for there families let me tell you they won’t know what to do with themselves because in our country we can leave our doors open and our kids can walk outside without fear knowing that some redneck nutjob isn’t going to shoot them. TRUE, NORTH, STRONG, AND FREE
Brendan
June 11th, 2011
8:43 pm
I hope the moderator will take that remark about Craig Ramsay having cancer and edit it. That was truly tasteless. Per that poster, nobody better suffer that affliction in perfectly healthy Winnipeg, where people suchly afflicted are not welcome.
letsnotgetexcited71
June 11th, 2011
8:44 pm
to the fine people of Atlanta I apoligize for the last comment I know that Southerners are good people but that kind of verbal garbage pisses off Canadians, I know that kind of stuff would piss you off to. I feel for thrasher fans and promise we will take good care of them.
Brendan
June 11th, 2011
8:47 pm
Any Thrasher player who has arrived in Winnipeg, to express disdain for playing there … ought to expect to be traded. That’s not a proper thing to do, anymore than criticizing the ownership, the Head Coach, or GM. It simply isn’t done. A player expresses himself on unrestricted free agent day, by signing elsewhere. That’s the proper thing to do.
letsnotgetexcited71
June 11th, 2011
8:48 pm
Brendan I agree with you, nobody in Winnipeg would think or say that about Ramsey that is truely tasteless. I for one hope that Ramsey is the coach he deserves to finish what he started.
Brendan
June 11th, 2011
8:54 pm
Exactly. And if Ramsay fails, well … then … he had his chance. Giving the man an opportunity is all he can ask. The thing that surprised me during his brief time here in Atlanta … was not emparting the things that made him a Selke Trophy winner. When we heard Ramsay would be Coaching, we all got giddy, thinking that the Thrashers would, at long last, learn how to play defense. And that solid ‘two-way’ play would now be required of just about everyone, under Ramsay’s tutoring. Not so. The Thrashers gave up plenty of goals and were weak defensively. Under Waddell, the goal was to fill the opponent’s net with goals, and not worry about the defensive aspects of the game. Gee, that strategy worked well! Zero playoff wins. One playoff berth.
Not that Atlanta needed to make changes at the GM position.
HookyBob
June 11th, 2011
8:58 pm
Am I right that Rawhide’s blog is history? If so, I guess this is where we gather to chat / vent ,etc.
It would be my one of my fondest hopes that Brendan is also posting on the Winnipeg Free Press hockey blogs (and national Canadian hockey sites as well). His post on Rawhide’s final blog that listed many of the mgmt/ownership screw-ups and blamed them on fictional characters ought to be mandatory reading for anyone who wonders why the fans gave up on the franchise.
Perhaps it is too late,…but I would like to nominate that post as “blog of the year”,…and perhaps “all-time blog of the Atlanta Thrashers” (at least on Rawhide’s blog).
Brendan’s post here that references John Ferguson jr is another classic.
It would also be good to get Bouchard’s interview (or link to it)in one of the WFP’s blogs.
Back to blog topic: I doubt Ramsay will be the coach of the new Winnipeg _______ NHL team. Duds gave us more size and Rammer didn’t use it to any physical advantage. Western Canada loves rough and tough hockey. Will be interesting to see who the new coach is. I might also be a bit chagrinned to see the relocated team do much better this coming year. There is soooo much potential with this team. Two or three key players (not to mention committed ownership) and they could go deep into the play-offs. Methinks Winnipeg got a really good deal.
R. Stroz (and others),…if we had a bumper sticker that read something like “ASG = Dirtbags” would you put on your vehicle? The message as to why this team no longer calls Atlanta home needs to be out there and visible everyday. How about one that reads “How do you know when the ASG partners are lying?” Answer: Their lips are moving.
letsnotgetexcited71
June 11th, 2011
9:03 pm
Playing in the NHL is a privelage not a right and as a player you play where you get payed. I get the value of playing in places like Atlanta and Tampa, Los angelas and such, year round weather, quality of life a little easier. As a hockey player it is a choice, play in a Hockey climate where hockey is 24/7 always on the bubble and demands are high, or play in a southern market where hockey might be 6th or 7th on the depth chart maybe lower and no pressure is put on you from the outside. Both sides are valid but at the end of the day both sides are attractive if you have one thing. strong ownership and leadership. Unfortunatly Atlanta has ASG they were idiots, TNSE are staight up and will make this an attractive place to play. I know it was only the AHL but every hockey player in the Minors wanted to play in the Peg because you were treated with respect and professionalism just like in the NHL.
Thrashered/Relocationist
June 11th, 2011
9:24 pm
Yep. I was in the Atlanta airport (busiest in the world) and the 20 non- stop flights per day to Winnipeg were all full. People are flocking to the Peg. 750,000 today, 752,000 within the next decade. If the Braves aren’t playing, or the Falcons, or the Hawks, or the Bulldogs, or the Yellow Jackets, or if a big PGA tour event isn’t in town, or we don’t have to rearrange our sock drawer, then we’ll miss the Thrasher organization and the NHL. Winnipeg….’Gateway to Saskatoon’.
letsnotgetexcited71
June 11th, 2011
9:36 pm
Thrashered/Relocationist you should really get that anger of yours checked. Tell you what sit down have a Bud relax and enjoy all that great stuff you got going on there and we will enjoy the little piece of Dixie that you gave us. Great chatting with you, buy the way did you pull Saskatoon out of an Atlas or was straight from Google earth, oh well say hi to both Bo and Luke Duke for us.
Brian powdertown
June 11th, 2011
10:38 pm
would love to see headline asg members bus rolls off a cliff
Kelly
June 12th, 2011
12:24 am
R.Stroz: OK, I read your link. I don’t see anything in there that puts the NHL, TNSE or ASG offside. Each clause has outs. The last rule, with the many subsections, says that the NHL will consider the different subsections. It doesn’t say that any one MUST be followed. As for the Jan. 1 deadline, it also has an out that says “unless approved by a majority of clubs” (or words to that effect).
In other words, the NHL’s bylaws have been followed.
Andrew Ladd visits Winnipeg in preparation for free agency | ProHockeyTalk
June 12th, 2011
12:24 am
[...] are a ton of items on the docket for True North and new Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. From possibly putting together a new staff to finally coming up with a name for the team, everyone involved will undoubtedly have their hands [...]