Thrashers take on Coyotes as fans deal with ‘The Morning After’
The collective moaning and groaning heard throughout town this morning was the sound of Thrashers fans rolling out of bed still feeling the effects of being kicked in the gut yesterday. It’s the feeling you might experience after a long night of consuming hot wings and washing it all down with vast quantities of adult beverages…only without the benefit of actually enjoying the wings and drinks the night before.
Yes…it’s the morning after in Thrasherville.
In case you were away from your internet-fed computer or not tuned in to AM sports talk radio, here is the story in a nutshell:
Atlanta Spirit co-owner Michael Gearon let it be know via the AJC that there was a “sense of urgency” to find additional investor or an outright buyer for the Thrashers who would be willing to keep the team in Atlanta. He stated that they were faced with that as a serious alternative if no one steps forward and indicated that it would be tough to stomach any more $20 million losses.
Later in the afternoon, he then went on 680 AM The Fan with John Kincade and indicated his statement was simply meant to inform would-be local investors that they were open to offers. Gearon stated that he has no plans to dispose of HIS part of the franchise and that he loves both the Hawks and the Thrashers. He is only speaking out at this time, he insists, because he really and for-truly wants anyone in these parts looking to buy the Thrashers to have first crack at the deal.
He then went on about how the Belkin buyout took longer than expected because of their law firm…and then proceeded to discuss at length just how well he thought the Hawks were doing.
I guess the basketball team’s recent string of successful seasons is just a little more fun to talk about for Gearon than what he and his cohorts have allowed the Thrashers to become during their reign as owners.
…shrugs…
Why did Michael Gearon deliver this bit of information and not, say, Bruce Levenson? I dunno…maybe he was too busy working on his opening dialogue in preparation for an upcoming town hall meeting with season ticket holders.
Then again, maybe flaming monkeys will fly out of my…
…ahem…
Anyway…Unfortunately, this is just another cross we in Thrasherville will have to bear until any such person or persons actually step forward. So, you may continue to discuss it if you may, or move on to…
ACTUAL REAL LIFE HOCKEY TO DISCUSS!
Thank gawd that we actually have some honest and for-goodness Thrashers hockey to discuss today. While we are dealing with the aftereffects of the “M” bomb being dropped on Thrasherville by Mr. Gearon, the Thrashers find themselves in Arizona where they’ll do battle with the Phoenix Coyotes tonight.
And just like the “sense of urgency” Gearon commented on in regards to finding new partners or owners, there is also a deep sense of urgency to actually win some games if this team is to continue to make a run at the postseason. Doing so would actually go a long way in helping place some more butts in the blue seats of Philips Arena.
Just sayin’, Mr. Gearon…
The Yotes will provide a tough test for Atlanta as they currently sit atop the Pacific Division with a record of 30-19-9 and are coming off a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals Monday night. They’ve won five straight games and are 13-6-2 since New Years.
They are led in scoring by Keith Yandle with 9 goals and 38 assists for 47 points and Ray Whitney with 11 goals and 33 assists for 44 points. Lead Phoenix in goals scored is Scottie Upshall who has potted 16 to go with 11 helpers.
In goal for the Coyotes is Ilya Bryzgalov who has played to a record of 24-14-6 with a .918 SV% and 2.56 GAA. He has 5 shutouts so far this season. He’s currently on a personal five-game winning streak in which he’s allowed only six goals and dropped two goose eggs on the scoreboard. During the streak, he’s stopped 127 of 133 shots, (.955 SV%).
Last night we got some help from New Jersey and Philadelphia as they defeated Carolina and Florida respectively. The same is true as Toronto knocked off Buffalo in regulation as well. However, that brings win allowed the Leafs to leapfrog over the Panthers into eleventh place and pulled them to within four points of the Thrashers, who now reside in tenth.
Game is at 9:00 our time…I’ll have Trixie put on a few extra pots of coffee in the morning as it’ll be pushing midnight once the festivities in the desert are over. And I think I may sample a few wings and adult beverages while viewing it.
What the heck, the pain in my gut tomorrow morning won’t be any worse then the one I woke up with today.
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275 comments Add your comment
Tom
February 17th, 2011
6:41 pm
2 calls back to back on Bettman’s radio show while I was in the car by Thrasher’s fans. Bettman and Esposito talked about the ASG and essentially said they were lost. Espo said, paraphrasing, it is hard for the Zamboni driver to do a good job with bad owners.
The next call got into a discussion on how Bettman has kept teams from moving but then he ominously brought up ownership groups that failed in Winnapeg and Quebec City and they were forced to move the team.
My feeling is the League office is as pissed at the ASG as we are and feel hamstrung.
I am so glad Turner sold the team to family and friends from the Piedmont Driving Club instead of a real owner… ugh…
SomaAtl95
February 17th, 2011
6:44 pm
Even though my XM was set to expire the other day I still have service. Listened to the commissioners show tonight. Bettman and Espo talking about how they hate the way “Non-Traditional Markets” are treated by Canada, of course the token Islanders fan calls to bitch and complain and then I was shocked – 2 calls in a row from Atlanta, asking what is going on. The answer was pure lip service from Bettman. Espo kept saying that “Success starts at the top and even the Zamboni drivers are happier with good ownership…” but otherwise it was the same “We don’t want the team to move but if we get backed into a corner it may happen, like in QC and the Peg”.
WTF is it about us Atlantans where nobody “in the know” has the balls to give us an honest answer?
Iron League 13
February 17th, 2011
6:45 pm
Geez, this Stephen Rollins thing is outta control. Glovesave says TSN and I know it’s on AP, and AJC, likely others….how is the professional media putting this out? Seriously I demand a page on AJC about Thrashers fan, Glovesave and his upcoming epic space voyage. Why not? I just told you I heard he was going all sorts of cosmonaut and that came straight from his mouth. I guess I shouldn’t believe much in the media anymore.
Frosty the snowman
February 17th, 2011
6:46 pm
Is anyone listening to Bettmans show on xm radio?
SomaAtl95
February 17th, 2011
6:48 pm
Frosty, I listened till I got too pissed to listen anymore…
Tom
February 17th, 2011
6:51 pm
Frosty, I listened on my way back from coaching my son’s team. Have to cook dinner otherwise I would be in my car right now listening to the rest.
Iron League 13
February 17th, 2011
6:54 pm
I wrote Reagan’s Berlin wall speech when I was in 5th grade (I think it was). Anyway, run that story.
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
7:20 pm
Rawhide, (pause) I’ve thought this over and, I honestly think that the Thrashers are NOT going to be relocated. Sure, it’s possible. When an owner says, “We might move the team,” then it’s more than just possible. But here’s why I don’t think the Thrashers are actually moving, so much as they will be sold.
When the NHL considers the location of a team, it’s a serious thing. Does Atlanta have a rink, that meets NHL specifications? Yes.
Does Atlanta have a facility that’s under contract? Yes, their LEED certified building is under contract until 2019.
Does Atlanta have any kind of track record of good attendance? Yes!! They do!! In 1999-2000, the fans of the Atlanta Thrashers established a new expansion team record for attendance by selling out Philips Arena 38 times out of 41 home games. That’s a fact, people. It’s not my opinion. Back in those days, however, no one knew that the ownership ‘wasn’t committed.’ They do, now, unfortunately.
Does the greater Metropolitan Atlanta area have the population necessary to sustain an NHL franchise? Yes. There’s 5 million people, but only a ‘fraction’ of them need be there to fill 18,545 seats.
Does the Atlanta TV market have a national ranking? Yes! It’s always between the Top 10 and Top 15 in the Country. Would a winning product bolster TV ratings? Yes. Hockey ratings are low, due to mismanagement. They would surely improve, with committed ownership.
Does Atlanta have passionate, intelligent hockey fans? Yes, they might mostly be northern transplants, with allegiances to their home town cities, but the hockey market is there.
In short, why move this team?? When all that is really ever, ever, ever needed was … ‘committed ownership.’ That’s all it takes, people. There’s no need for the NHL to approve a relocation. All the NHL needs to do … is approve a sale from the HeptaCluster (Copyright, poster Brendan, all rights reserved at U.S. Library of Congress, 2010-11) to some local interest, provided that the HeptaCluster agree to surrender 33% of the revenue from Philips Arena to the new owner.
Wayne stuck in AL
February 17th, 2011
7:43 pm
Henry Rollins has a better chance of buying this team than Stephen Rollins…(If Henry Rollins did buy this team, would the team’s name change to the Black Flags?)
glovesave29
February 17th, 2011
7:48 pm
Wayne – we’d have huge, hulking players, replete with full tattoos and BY FAR the best rendition of the Star Spangled Banner in all of pro sports!
ZAvalanche
February 17th, 2011
8:00 pm
Henry Rollins would make a fantastic power forward. Kind of looks like Lindross…..
PhiK
February 17th, 2011
8:01 pm
I am not sure if anyone has gotten their season ticket renewal but check out Ts &Cs #8: “NONOCCURRENCE OF EVENTS. …. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, You will not be entitled to any reductions, credit, or refund resulting from the cancellation or postponement of any Game or any other event to which you have purchased tickets, regardless of the cause. “ Then they only address a “work stoppage or labor dispute” not a sale.
Does anyone else see an issue with that??? I am not an attorney, but it sounds like if the ASG sells the team before the next season and the team moves, then they keep the $$$. Am I missing something here?
DWTOO
February 17th, 2011
8:15 pm
Also heard Bettman abd Esposito and didn’t think it was bad as descirbed above. Face it, he’s not going to go on radio and call these sleazebags names. Am more interested intereseted in what was said at the break. At least he said the right things and has the track record to back it up. Until we have more information we’ll have to play along.
Daniel
February 17th, 2011
8:17 pm
As a season ticket holder, I have to say they are offering very little for us to renew our tickets. Last year they gave us a ticket bank of $400 and this year we are offering $200. We went from winning games during 2010 and now that we are in 2011, we have only won a handful of games. The guys stand on the ice, like they forgot how to play the game. It’s very disconcerting that the people who own the team are a bunch a D-bags. What part of owning a team doesn’t click in your mind as spending money on? And when you offer such shitty food options at your arena, you can only imagine why you are total S**t heads!
Iron League 13
February 17th, 2011
8:31 pm
Wayne – if Henry Rollins bought this team then we’d annihilate…annihilate….all week long. Lame, I know sorry, I love most things Rollins and I’m a dweeb.
Iron League 13
February 17th, 2011
8:36 pm
Hockey, Black Flag, Henry Rollins….this joint’s got good company
New FaceBook KEEP the Thrashers ATLANTA
February 17th, 2011
9:00 pm
From Slap Shot: “We Reeeeeeaaalllllly Need To Win This One!” Bring home two points from the the Phoenix desert (it’s a dry heat). This facebook page is growing fast:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/KeepTheThrashers/188894621145432
GO THRASHERS! KEEP THE THRASHERS in ATLANTA!!!
R. Stroz
February 17th, 2011
9:05 pm
The idiots on Sports South must be related to the Spirit owners.
Hoof Arted
February 17th, 2011
9:17 pm
Eric Belanger with a shorty. Sure wish we had a players like Belanger on this team.
Wait? What?
ZAvalanche
February 17th, 2011
9:18 pm
A bit lucky on that one.
Puckhead
February 17th, 2011
9:26 pm
I remember in the preseason Coach Ramsey saying we would see a lot of short handed goals this year. Didn’t realize he meant against us.
The Dumpster
February 17th, 2011
9:30 pm
ITS OFFICIAL: Thrashers suck!!
Pack them to Canada or get new owners they’re done for the season.
Enjoy the offseason and your $26 mil Buff-lin
The Dumpster
February 17th, 2011
9:37 pm
Looks like the Yotes’ wanna stay in Phoenix more than the Thrashers wanna stay in Atlanta.
Oh well, it was nice going to Thrashers games once in a while..
R. Stroz
February 17th, 2011
9:48 pm
Some Sign Ideas for the February 25th game.
Sign Number 1
The Atlanta Spirit
Brutally Bad Owners
Sign Number 2
Exorcise The Evil Spirit
From The Thrashers
Puckhead
February 17th, 2011
9:59 pm
Last year at this time we were 60 games into the season and 2 points out of 8th. The coach is replaced, new players and GM are brought in to right the ship. Here we are 58 games in (losing #59 at this moment) and still 2 points out of 8th. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
We have "de-Blanked" the Website
February 17th, 2011
10:03 pm
Phase I was “Arthur Blank” to get media attention – it worked – it helped to get the story out – Phase II is “Keep The Thrashers” – please forward the new domain to your hockey friends (and non-hockey friends). This link below takes you to the page with the email and contact form for the Mayor and the Governor – please tell them to SAVE OUR ECONOMIC and COMMUNITY ASSET – we very much appreciate all the great feedback, calls, and emails – Facebook is gaining big momentum (new de-Blanked page started today – link on the page below)
http://www.keepthethrashers.com/fans.html
Keep the Thrashers In Atlanta! Next home game is Friday, Feb 25th. We need to pack the place.
ZAvalanche
February 17th, 2011
10:18 pm
Some of you guys judge too quickly. Unless they are getting their A$$’s whooped it isn’t over till it is over: see – Pevs goal just now. 3-2 Thrashy. Buck up campers.
Rawhide
February 17th, 2011
10:30 pm
What an effing joke! That was clearly played with the stick above the crossbar.
Gawd-Almighty!
Iron League 13
February 17th, 2011
10:42 pm
Up and down kinda game here….lookin down. We’ll see.
The Dumpster – Not trying to sound bad, but I can pretty much guarantee that A.) players don’t care where they play NHL hockey or B.) Don’t wanna be in either PHX or ATL kinda towns, just sayin’. I dunno if you noticed tht the league is about 60% Cannuckian and they tend not to dig refrigerated ice down here for some odd reason apparently that’s more of a Great White North kinda thing.
The Dumpster
February 17th, 2011
10:42 pm
3-4 Thrashers suck. Im surprised Pavelec isn’t calling out some of these guys.
Poor if not contested shots/goals AT ALL. If they lose, rightfully so. If you can’t
Effing block shots or contest them then go to Canada! The score should actually
be 3-2 or 3-1 thrashers but 2-3 poor uncontested goals gives the yotes’ a 4-3 lead
Pathetic thrashers will you guys ever learn?
The Dumpster
February 17th, 2011
10:47 pm
Iron League- hahaha i hear ya man. If I were an NHL player id pick a city with rich hockey tradition
like the red wings, bruins, blackhawks etc…
Its like: “You’ve just go traded to the Atlanta Thrashers”
Player: oh snap how much do i get paid.
GM/Owner: Oh less than $850 K (we are the cheap a$$ donkeys known as Atlanta spirit)
sigh… i wish i played for a better team.
ZAvalanche
February 17th, 2011
10:51 pm
THAT WAS SO A HIGH STICK! WTF. Common refs.
The Dumpster
February 17th, 2011
10:53 pm
Canada ONCE again is controlling us. Common Toronto get the Call right!
That call was really poor and just comes to show how biased the NHL is against
teams struggling to coast through ownership, finances etc…
If the Maple Leafs played against the Yotes’ that would be a NO GOAL.
Badger Bob
February 17th, 2011
10:55 pm
++stendec++, is that you posing as a Dumpster?
ZAvalanche
February 17th, 2011
10:57 pm
TRU Dumpster! I will say though that making a high stick call in real time is difficult to do correctly. No excuse though.
Badger Bob
February 17th, 2011
10:59 pm
Poor camera work was as to blame for that as anything. The ice level camera was way behind the play. I smell a conspiracy…
Badger Bob
February 17th, 2011
11:07 pm
Dumpster, I can’t totally agree with your player’s desirable location thoughts. More than one has said playing somewhere that you can golf in February on an off day is a plus. Okay, maybe those aren’t the most dedicated players, but some prefer not to be under the microscope and/or in the COLD weather.
Puckhead
February 17th, 2011
11:12 pm
Am I seeing the stats correctly – Peverley has 3 points and is a -1?
Arryn79
February 17th, 2011
11:13 pm
I normally hate it when out of town people post their insights on another city’s paper so feel free to let loose on me but I wanted to say that I feel your pain. As a Winnipegger born and raised I was about 16 when the Jets left for Phoenix and it was a brutal experience I wouldn’t want to wish on anyone. As stupid as this may seem to people, sitting in the living room with my father (with whom I went to Jets game since I was 10, he went since the 70s) and listening to the press conference announcing they were leaving (after over a year of rallies and kids emptying their piggybanks and ups and downs) was actually one of the few times I’ve ever seen him with tears in his eyes. Maybe it was him seeing me cry that pushed him over, who knows (I am a girl so crying so ok!).
We loved that team and continued to go to games that last year KNOWING it was the last year and it felt like a season long funeral. So I feel your pain of the unknown and the rumours and the rollarcoaster. I’m sure you get a lot of Winnipegger being jerks on here and other sites, sometimes because well they are just jerks but mostly because the bitterness of Gary Bettman seemingly doing nothing while our team left has endured all this time. It was like a knife to the heart to take our team and plunk it in the desert no less, where the fans had to be given hockey rules lessons, killer
. And now seeing them go above and beyond to save the struggling southern teams kind of brings out the old bitterness. So I apologize for those Winnipeggers that run their mouths off, it doesn’t help anything, but that bitterness can run deep.
So would I love a team again, absolutely. To what extend I want that? I’m torn between wanting a team so badly but not wanting to take it from somewhere else. But in the end its out of all of our hands. If the NHL and Winnipeg/Atlanta has already gotten this worked out since Winnipeg got Glendale to sell the farm to keep their team, then that’s what it will be. For the sake of Atlanta fans I hope you guys get your miracle and an owner that knows what they’re doing. I don’t know much about your situation but from what I saw here, it hasn’t been good. So good luck and hopefully we’ll get our team another way!
SomaAtl95
February 17th, 2011
11:16 pm
Arryn79 – We lost the flames… Imagine getting your Jets back then lose them AGAIN. Thas what we face. You far and away are my favorite poster ever from Canada. Thank you for your candor.
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
11:25 pm
Time is getting short, and we’re killing a penalty with 4:10 left in regulation, down 4-3.
ZAvalanche
February 17th, 2011
11:25 pm
Seriously, too many men. That is inexcusable. I put that penalty on the coach.
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
11:28 pm
Arryn79 did a good job, that’s for sure, SomaAtl95.
Pavelec just made a great ‘high-slot’ deflection save. The Penalty has been killed. 2:53 left in regulation time. C’mon Thrashers. We’ve all stayed up late. How ’bout a pity-point comin’ our way??
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
11:30 pm
ZAvalanche, any time you have a ‘bench minor,’ at the NHL-level, it’s an embarrassment. Usually, on the coach. In the postgame presser, I’m sure Ramsay will take responsibility for that.
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
11:32 pm
PP!!! Enstrom upended. Drew the call, on an EXCELLENT keep, at the blueline. Inexcuseable for Phoenix not to clear the zone, there. Then Doan takes the plenalty. 1:35 left, all of it on PP time. Pull Pavelec, right here, for the 2-Man Advantage???
ZAvalanche
February 17th, 2011
11:34 pm
Should have been called the first time! And yes Brendan, bench minors are an embarrassment, player cycling from the bench is the job of the coach.
ZAvalanche
February 17th, 2011
11:35 pm
Gimme a 6 on 4!
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
11:35 pm
One of the Coyotes lost his stick, so it was 6-on-3 there, for a while. The shots got blocked, is all. Frustrating. Bryan Little was camped out on the door step, got a sniff at it, with a rolling puck. Couldn’t bury it. Wasn’t a “gimmie,” though. That would have been a pretty impressive goal, had he pulled it off.
ZAvalanche
February 17th, 2011
11:37 pm
Sh!t.
Badger Bob
February 17th, 2011
11:38 pm
Bogo shoots wide with 10 seconds left… deja vu all over again! Great finish, though – worth the late night.