Could it be Thrashers are going nowhere soon?
According to this tweet by John Kincade, it would seem that there is possibly an ownership group interested in the Atlanta Thrashers…one that would be interested in not only taking the NHL team off the hands of the Atlanta Spirit, but keep them in Atlanta as well. Not only that, but this group is also interested in the Hawks and Philips Arena too.
I spoke with Kincade earlier this morning and he told me, “All I can say is I can confirm that there is legitimate interest in someone buying control of the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips”.
“Serious candidate”, the co-host of 680 AM The Fan’s Buck and Kincade Show went on to add. “Not like a guy like Rollins”.
When I pressed a little more for additional information, Kincade only said, “There are reasons of confidences shared as to why I am not naming names. I will let this scenario play out”.
OK John, you have our attention. Hopefully this story has some wings to it.
LeBRUN SAYS THE CLOCK IS TICKING
Also on the topic of the Thrashers and their current ownership crisis…last weekend, ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun indicated that the clock is ticking for new owners to be found for the Thrashers.
I did not listen to the “Hot Stove” segment on Hockey Night in Canada, but from what I’ve been told and have read, he indicated that the NHL league office is trying their best to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta, but that there must be new ownership found within the next 6-8 weeks.
Now, I don’t know if that means a deadline has been set to resolve this issue or the NHL will allow the team to be sold to anyone even if that means relocating them…or that the league will step in and take over the problem themselves. Maybe someone who did here the comments can shed some light.
What I do know is that the league is fully aware that the main problem down here is indeed the AS, LLC and they would like to be rid of them just about as much as we do.
NOW…ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
One thing we Thrashers fans have had to learn over the last several seasons is to govern our emotions. When the team is playing very well…as they were last fall…we have to keep reminding ourselves that they really aren’t that good. Eventually, things will moderate out.
The same is true when the team goes through rough patches, the kind every team experiences. Just like when things are going well, things will moderate out. 82 games is a long time and in the end, a team’s true talent level will emerge.
The Edmonton Oilers celebrate Taylor Hall's game winning goal Saturday afternoon. It was Hall's third goal of the period and first hat trick of the rookie's career (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Ulan)
However, when we witness a stretch like the Thrashers are going through for two months now…going 6-14-5 over 25 games, winning only three times in regulation since New Years and only once at all since the all Star game…you can’t help but wonder if what we are seeing is indeed the true measure of this squad. And it’s disheartening to say the least.
Saturday’s latest debacle only adds to the general sense of gloom and doom in Thrasherville. The schedule affords the team a matchup with the worst team in the league…points-wise at least…and did so at a time they really needed it. Those two points in northern Alberta were as close to “must have” as it gets for a team looking to turn their fortunes around and try to get back on the winning track.
But it’s not just that they lost to Edmonton in as much as how they did. It was once again a game where they played well enough to take a lead…2-0 and 3-1…but also found a way to allow just enough mistakes to cost then dearly.
SAME SONG DIFFERENT VERSE
That old familiar sinking feeling began as it normally does, in the latter stages of the second period. With Atlanta up 2-0, Chris Mason, (getting his first start since being injured in Dallas a month ago), failed to shut the five-hole in time to stop Magnus Paajarvi’s shot from the right side.
However, that sickening feeling in the pit of our collective stomachs was eased a bit early in the third when Evander Kane danced his way through the Oilers’ defense and deposited the puck into the net past Devan Dubnyk. And with a 3-1 in the third on the Oilers this season, most teams can pretty much fill out the deposit slips to take the two points to the Bank of NHL Standings.
Yes, most teams…but not these Thrashers.
Just 7 tics of the clock after Kane’s highlight real goal, Chris Thorburn then takes a tripping penalty in the offensive zone…and then the Taylor Hall power play show was underway. The unraveling commenced from there.
“We gave them life”, coach Craig Ramsay said of the third period collapse. “Everything was going in our favor and then we take three penalties and give them those power play chances and get behind”.
“They walked them out and stuffed them in the net”, Ramsay continued. “It was really disheartening to see that. We didn’t get it done killing penalties and we didn’t get it done on the power play”.
“Disheartening” indeed.
It’s this type of loss in this type of fashion to this type of team that can kill off any hopes of climbing back into the playoff race. No they haven’t been mathematically eliminated, so they technically are not “dead” yet…but losing a game like that must certainly put them on life support. As such, whatever hopes they had of living life in the postseason is slipping away fast.
And while we continue to look for someone to step forward to make sure this franchise does not go anywhere anytime soon, it’s seems clear that the team is certainly going nowhere fast…at least as far as the NHL standings are concerned.
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367 comments Add your comment
AG79
February 21st, 2011
7:39 pm
glovesave – thanks, let’s hope next season we can have a lively debate during a Winnipeg-Atlanta game.
Question: Does anyone know someone who works for the Thrashers marketing etc department? If you want to have a rally its good to get them involved. And I agree with some posters, Friday night before a game is not a great time, do it during the day is my suggestion, get kids out.
Flagstaff
February 21st, 2011
8:03 pm
Iron League 13: Kincade’s been dropping hints that the entity interested in acquiring the team(s) will be present at Philips this weekend, but nothing of substance yet.
Iron League 13
February 21st, 2011
8:08 pm
As in Friday? Hmmm….I really need to be at Le Bulb with some Anti-F.A.S., LLC signs.
Jason
February 21st, 2011
8:24 pm
AG79: The Thrashers marketing dept. takes after its ownership. They really don’t care about the sport at all, and it shows. Don’t forget, our marketing folks decided to have the mascot “arrested” and put in jail until more seats were sold. There’s also this season’s overall slogan: “A Brutally Good Time!” If you’ve watched the team play in the last month, you’d take out the -ly and the Good and be more accurate.
The disappointing thing is hockey has grown at the grass-roots level around Atlanta over the past 10 years. There are a lot of kids getting the opportunity to play the sport that would have never thought about it before. There are adult leagues popping up with people who have lived in the area almost all their life. Yet when it comes to trying to get people to get out to Philips for a game, it can be a real challenge when the team has been on a downward trend for nearly all of its existence. I was speaking with an acquaintance today who said that her father was a season ticket holder until the playoff sweep, then he dropped them because he could tell things were about to start going downhill fast. There’s been signs of life, but November and December’s flashes of brilliance have given way to what we’ve grown accustomed to over the past decade.
ZAvalanche
February 21st, 2011
8:36 pm
Brendan – Stewart scored 2 times for StL in his very first game as a Blues and consequently was the first star. I am still upset, as is all of Avalanche Nation, about that trade. I would have ditched Hejduk for Johnson though……
glovesave29
February 21st, 2011
8:36 pm
AG – the opportunities missed here would make you sick. Just 3 miles from Philips arena are Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Morehouse, Spelman and Clark Atlanta universities – fill the seats with college students and create a buzz in the arena as the base is built. Across the street is the CNN center and the Georgia World Congress Center – visitors galore. Olympic Park is a block away. The arena is in the middle of downtown. They refuse to hit the streets and develop the market a la Carolina. The Georgia Dome is a block away and shares a pavilllion with Philips for tailgating that is never used. They don’t have a team tourney for the local mens league / HS / College teams / kids leagues – ice or roller. They refuse to acknowledge hockey’s history here with the NHL Flames or IHL Knights. Even really reach for it and play on the (semi) local team with the greatest name in hockey history – the Macon Whoopee. It’s just frustrating. The marketing is left to the fans to bring the uninitiated. Once you are there, you’re hooked. They just refuse to do what it takes to bring in the crowds for that first trip to a game…
ZAvalanche
February 21st, 2011
8:51 pm
GLove – why not, to begin with, allow first come first serve free admittance to home preseason games? Really no skin off of their backs, free tickets, get ‘em hooked. Have you all seen those commercials about those kids doing meth for the first time – quite graphic really, scared me. Anyhow, so something along those lines in a commercial. Show some stogy, downtrodden accountant sitting in a cubical saying things like “I shouldn’t have gone, I should have stayed at the office” and other ominous and cryptic things. Then BANG! A clip of Buffy slowing home a slapper from the point the crowd going apesh!t and then a zoom in in the lame accountant having the best time of his life – cheering, jumping, decked out in his Thrashy regalia. Then close the commercial on him at his desk decked out in a leisure suit chatting up the ladies at the water cooler, then turns to the camera and says “I should have stayed at the office, no I’m addicted.” LOL! That would be epic.
ZAvalanche
February 21st, 2011
8:52 pm
i ment slamming, not “slowing”
Alan R.
February 21st, 2011
9:02 pm
glovesave – We get new ownership, maybe they’ll put some of these ideas we’ve had for a LONG time in motion. An acknowledgement of Georgia’s hockey history, community involvement, hell… maybe we’ll finally establish a relationship with a team that will actually work with our prospects, rather than shun to the edge of the player’s bench while playing them for only six minutes a game.
World Be Free
February 21st, 2011
9:22 pm
I am disappointed that nobody picked up on my Animal House dialogue. Beats talking about sending any team to Winnipeg, which is in the same area code as the Northwest Territories. Can’t go any places where I know my beer will freeze as soon as I take it out of my jacket.
Totally off subject-great job by NFL Network on Full Color Football – History of the American Football League. I am in an old school mood tongiht.
Johnny Cash
February 21st, 2011
9:34 pm
Hey World Be Free…… keep watching the NFL Network buddy (Get used to it). As for area codes…… if you head was not stuck in your arse with the rising debt….. you’d notice Northwest Territories is about 36 hours away. LOL
With respect to the Wienerpeg comment……. obviously you were the winner in that Peach Tree event with your 70’s shorts…… Peachtree/ High School sports is on top of Thrasher news by the way……… what’s with that. From these blogs…… I see only 100 fans really care somewhat……….. maybe meet at Taco Time and have a Rally for the Thrashers so 80 people can save them. I’ll even buy the Tacos. How come nobody is commenting why the Thrashers owners were in the Peg at the Fairmont Hotel with Bettman/ entourage????? Because there is a hint of truth to it. Winnipeg Arena (Was the 3rd loudest arena in the NHL behind Chicago/ Boston that was demolished 6 years ago Batman…….. we have the MTS Centre which is a world class facility now that can be expanded to 17,000. Way to go Chochi
ZAvalanche
February 21st, 2011
9:41 pm
Umm, hey Johhny, they teach the ABCs and alphabetization up there? The SPORTS tab menu, like most other respectable newpapers, lists their sports teams and events in order. You know, A goes first, then B, then C etc. I hope you followed that, if not I will spend the time to spell it all out for you, eh.
Tom Lysiak
February 21st, 2011
9:51 pm
Johnny Cash, the lying wiener-peg troll is back here spreading lies again. I’m surprised you didn’t include that Fairmont Hotel fairy-tale in the Bettman press conference you doctored earlier on here. Liar, from wiener-peg.
Iron League 13
February 21st, 2011
9:54 pm
I swear a snotty prick from the Peg coming on here with Johnny Cash as his monicker and talking sheet burns my ass like you wouldn’t believe. That said…
Johnny the reason no one talks about you far fetched conspiratorial wet dream is BECAUSE IT NEVER EFFING HAPPENED!!! I’ve heard this, I’ve looked for proof all over the web and can’t find anything other than you chuckleheads in the Peg stroking each others fantasies with such crap.
NEWSFLASH YOU TROLLING SCHMUCK: IT’S 2011 IF YOU CAN’T FIND A REAL ANSWER ON GOOGLE AFTER ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES OF SEARCHING IT’S PROBABLY BULL(bleep)!!!
joedaiceman
February 21st, 2011
9:59 pm
The Thrashers have a mediocre team at best, the fans will not support a winner and the owners are looking for a way out. It is hope against hope that a new owner will commit to Atlanta on the basis of losing 20M/year. The fans will support a winner, the owners, the president, the GM and the coach do not know how to build one and they will not commit the money to do it. Dudley was a genius in Chicago because they spent the dough, he is lost without the cash barrell to dip in to in Atlanta. Hope a miracle occurs, but not betting on it.
Iron League 13
February 21st, 2011
10:09 pm
Weiner-peg, tehe. (giggle giggle)
Tom Lysiak
February 21st, 2011
10:10 pm
You hear it over and over. During the Penguin-Caps game on Versus right now, they were talking about Zbynek Michalek signing with the Pens in the offseason. He wanted to stay with Phoenix and they were talking a 4-year deal. But, they could only assure him one year in Glendale and the announcer said “and maybe the next three years in Winnipeg. He took the offer from the Pens. ” Nobody wants to go to the land of the trolls, wiener-peg. That’s gotta sting ole Johnny Cash, huh??
atlantafanatic
February 21st, 2011
10:12 pm
As for a sign:
F ind
U s
A
S avior
G ary Bettman
To be read vertically and horizontally
Tony C
February 21st, 2011
10:14 pm
Here’s what one of The ‘Peg’s own residents has to say about it NSFW title and intense music here… This guy makes some of the sickest music, but let’s just realize that these noises come from the brain of a VERY bright percussionist/composer/producer/DJ who endured (was forced to?) growing up in the ‘peg…funny interview with him here.
He rarely tours down here, but he’s waaaaaaaaay worth the ticket price…
Tom Lysiak
February 21st, 2011
10:20 pm
atlantafanatic – Awesome!! Hope to see several of those Friday night.
Curly
February 21st, 2011
10:28 pm
One thing NOT to do Friday night or Sunday… is to yell KNIGHTS during the National Anthem!
Let’s all be Thrasher fans this weekend!
Jason
February 21st, 2011
10:33 pm
Strange, Curly, the loudest I ever heard the Knights yell was during the playoff games. Guess the 18,545 in the building those two games weren’t Thrashers fans?
Iron League 13
February 21st, 2011
10:35 pm
Jason – I was at the Turner Cup Final game, twas deafening.
Twisted Wrister
February 21st, 2011
10:38 pm
Johnny Cash just finished draining his monkey.
That’s all teenage boys have to do in Winnipeg.
Iron League 13
February 21st, 2011
10:40 pm
Nevermind, I got all kindsa dyslexic, woops.
Twisted Wrister
February 21st, 2011
10:42 pm
The more they troll, the more they motivate Thrasher fans to rally.
Keep going Winnitrolls.
Those poor monkey drainers in Winnipeg are getting nervous all of a sudden, the tide has turned against them….AGAIN
Alan R.
February 21st, 2011
10:46 pm
Good song, Tony C! I kinda dig the noise.
Iron League 13
February 21st, 2011
10:48 pm
No offense Curly, but I gotta disagree with you on the Knights bit even though I’ve never done it myself. It’s part of Atlanta hockey culture. In my opinion (I think it’s pretty good on this matter) people don’t want the Knights more than the Thrashers, but they loved the Knights and that team was FUN!!! Not the most skilled hockey, but seriously hard nosed hockey, again FUN!!! That was my favorite era of hockey that I experienced in this town, mind you the Flames left when I was a baby, but whatever. Don’t worry the new prospective buyers will get the memo on that if they don’t know already. If anything it tells them WE LOVE OUR TEAMS.
Brendan
February 21st, 2011
10:49 pm
ZAvalanche, give that trade 3 years, and see how you still feel about it. It’s as if Colorado held the 1st overall pick in the 2006 draft, for they possess the player who was selected at that spot. You’ll find another 3rd line Center, at some point. Shattenkirk will probably turn into a fine player. But never forgot, you get a 1st rounder off the Blues this summer. Look where the Blues are? I’d want that pick!! Want to replace Chris Stewart, immediately? Take the 1st rounder you acquired from St. Louis for your Stewart replacement. Though, I wouldn’t do that. I don’t expect to find a 3rd line center with a Top 10 overall pick. You’ve got hope for better than that. Erik Johnson will turn into a very decent blueliner. His career took a setback due to an injury, that cost him a full season. As a general rule, defensemen take 4 years to develop. So, really, he hasn’t been the league but three years. Colorado will properly develop Johnson. If it turns out … that Johnson was the best player exchanged between St. Louis and Colorado, then Colorado won the trade. Give it some time. It’s not trade that can be evaluated and analyzed, with a conclusive winner declared in 2-3 weeks. If Johnson, who still needs another year or two of seasoning, turns into a Tier I defender, logging 25 minutes a game, will you still be lamenting the loss of Chris Stewart and/or Shattenkirk? NHL Central Scouting had Johnson as their concensus # 1 pick in his draft year. Were they ALL wrong???
Tony C
February 21st, 2011
10:53 pm
I would like to see a Jets/Thrashers game. That’d be dope.
Alan R.
February 21st, 2011
10:53 pm
Cool your jets people, especially you Mr. Cash, and read this.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/columnists/ted_wyman/2010/03/04/13119856.html
Iron League 13
February 21st, 2011
10:53 pm
Atlantafanatic – I like it, do it.
Iron League 13
February 21st, 2011
10:55 pm
Atlantafanatic- the bottom of the poster should have this…
_nlm Winnipeg mln_
Ben
February 21st, 2011
11:14 pm
As a lifelong Atlanta sports fan, I truly believe it’s in the best interest of Atlanta fans that the Thrashers and Hawks remain a package deal. I don’t think either team is nearly as financially viable on their own as they are as p
Mike
February 21st, 2011
11:16 pm
Alan, that Winnipeg Sun article is from a year ago…
Alan R.
February 21st, 2011
11:18 pm
Well, %^&$. You’re right. It is. I didn’t even notice the date. fine print and all.
Winner is not me.
Alan R.
February 21st, 2011
11:20 pm
I guess it’s still interesting to note a lot of things cited in the article still haven’t occurred…
ATLREP
February 21st, 2011
11:22 pm
ALL THRASHER FANS! MAKE THIS YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE PICTURE!
http://i.imgur.com/VOtbn.jpg
Ben
February 21st, 2011
11:25 pm
As a lifelong Atlanta sports fan, I truly believe it’s in the best interest of Atlanta fans that the Thrashers and Hawks remain a package deal. I don’t think either team is nearly as financially viable on their own as they are as pair. The two teams share operations and overhead costs. They’re essentially roommates. If either team lost their roommate they’d have to start paying those overhead costs on their own. Even though the Hawks are a playoff caliber team, they’re still largely irrelevant in the NBA. They’d be even less relevant if the Thrashers were sold off and moved. Also, don’t believe for one second that the Hawks are financially stable. There is no way in hell that the Thrashers are losing $20 million per year but the Hawks are making money! Gary Bettman was even quoted as saying that both teams are struggling, not just the Thrashers. So let’s hope that any potential owner comes in and takes over both teams, because if they just come in and take over one then the other is in trouble. Anybody that comes in and just buys the Thrashers is going to move them.
Personally, I think Michael Gearon is a liar who has been blowing smoke up our you know whats for 5 years, but if he wants to keep his 17% stake of the team and let somebody else own the majority of both teams then I’m all for that. I hope that’s exactly what happens. My hunch is that they’re cooking the books to make the Hawks look as good as possible and making the Thrashers look worse since they’re the expendable franchise anyway.
Alan R.
February 21st, 2011
11:38 pm
Ben – Those are all books they’d have to turn over to the NHL in the event a filing to move the team takes place. If King and Spalding doesn’t pursue those books, the NHL will. It will be then that the NHL sees exactly how things have been worked over here by the Spirit clowns.
ZAvalanche
February 21st, 2011
11:38 pm
Brendan, I understand your points and they are all valid. But you gotta realize, and I know you do, that Stewy was pretty much our only scoring threat that could actually take a body at the same time. So tenacious! He was a real fan favorite here and nobody likes losing a favorite player, but I know the way the league works and accept it, just don’t like it:)
Shatty will be a very solid D-man in the next few I think, he has made HUGE strides so far. In all, as far as hockey sense goes, the trade is probably a wash but addressed needs on both sides. And yeah, I know Johnson was #1 overall but that by no means guarantees he is going to tear the league apart. I hope you are right though. I liked McClements play the other night, solid on the face off better hands that I thought he would have. I wish Stewy and Shatt the absolute best of luck in StL and I know they will play hard for you.
On another note – I LOVE it when the trolls come on here! They add so much……….fire to the discussion and I gotta tell you, I love reading what stupid f**ks write. It seriously makes me laugh to no end. Kudos to the Winnipeg non-troll-like trolls for actually being courteous and bringing a real point to a discussion – classy – and I am being serious. Those are the type of ppl I could sit down, watch a game with and have a beer and talk intelligently about hockey. And I guess in a way I am a troll as I don’t live there anymore and Thrashy isn’t my #1 (very close though) but I post quite a bit anyway.
BTW, and this is embarrassing to my Avs bloggers and writers; this blog, and the good ppl who comment on it, BLOWS AWAY anything similar in CO and we are a pretty die hard hockey group out here. I think our most populous blog averages around 25 posts – pathetic. Our attendance is also low right now, after selling out something like 475 straight home games. Kroenke (owner) also owns the Nuggets and his books seem to be in pretty good order. Fantastic owner but it just goes to show you, put a under performing product out and the casual fan will just watch on TV or not at all. Big difference between the Avs and Thrashy? Well organized ownership, though I am not a huge fan of the coach. I would like to see what Sacco (coach) can do next year and I hope Foote retires and becomes the D coach and we get rid of “Sylvia” Lefebvre. He sucked as defenseman when he played and quite obviously sucks as a D coach.
Anyhow, bring it Trolls. I love to hear it. But face the facts – the hockey gods have smote your city for another year, though I truly do wish you get a team, your fans (minus that choad Johnny) deserve it. Best of luck.
One more thought. Though I cannot make the game on Friday, I am starting to feel the excitement! THRASHY!
Brendan
February 21st, 2011
11:41 pm
AG79, welcome to our blog. And you won’t find me bad-mouthing Winnipeg or the good folks of Manitoba. I felt very bad for the Jets leaving Winnipeg, bound for the middle of the desert. At the time, I thought … is the emerging “hotbed” of hockey interest … Phoenix, Arizona??? If not, then why is the team being relocated there? Truthfully, I am something close to wholly ignorant about how and why the Jets were forced out of Manitoba. I can tell you this much, their fans are knowledgeable and passionate about hockey. Even after it was announced that the Jets were in their final season, they still took the heeavily favored Red Wings to six games, before bowing out in 1996. I remember the good fans of Winnipeg staying, standing, and clapping after they’d been eliminated. In that moment, I felt very PROUD for Winnipeg and their fans, for the classy way then sent their team off to Phoenix. If you’ll recall, in the previous game in Winnipeg, the Jets were shelled, 6-1. That could have been their swan song, right there. The last memory that endured. Instead, the Jets went into HockeyTown, trailing 3-1 in the series, and forced the series back to Manitoba with a win. And in Game Six, despite the final score being 4-1, it was a competitive game, where the Jets exhausted all their energy to try to avoid elimination.
It’s got to be frustrating for fans of the Jets and Coyotes alike. The franchise is 2-17 in 19 series. But, it’s not as if they are constantly SWEPT out of the playoffs. In 1990 and 1992, respectively, the Jets held a 3-1 series lead on Edmonton and Vancouver, but they just couldn’t close it out. The Jets/Coyotes franchise has suffered some just heartbreaking losses in OT that could have shifted a series. In 1993, the Jets lost Game Six of their series with Vancouver in overtime, to be eliminated. The last time the Jets won a series occured in 1987, when they took Game Six, 6-1, over the Calgary Flames.
Phoenix has not won a playoff series since coming down from Canada. They had their chances, though. In 1997, down 2-0 in the series, Phoenix rallied for three wins versus the Mighty Ducks. They took Game Six into overtime, but lost at home. Then they were shutout in California, in Game Seven, by Anaheim. In ‘98, they once again gave the Red Wings a hard fought six game series. In 1999, the Phoenix Coyotes were eliminated by the Saint Louis Blues, 1-0, in overtime of Game Seven, in Phoenix. What can you say, but ‘heartbreaking?’ The Coyotes held a 3-1 series edge in 1999. The Coyotes lost Game Five, ALSO IN OVERTIME, versus the Blues. I can’t properly begin to tell you how agonizing that must have been for them. Two chances, in overtime, to close out the Blues, for their 1st series win in Arizona. Did … not … get … it done. The next year, they were ushered out in five, by Colorado. Hey, that’s the way it goes. Prior to last year’s brilliant season by the Coyotes, where many franchise bests were established, including most wins, most points, and fewest losses, they last made the playoffs in 2002, where they were quickly disposed of by San Jose, 4-1. Last year, they lost to Detroit in seven games. And had the Coyotes dropped games to either or both Nashville and Los Angeles down the stretch, they could have pushed Detroit back to 6th spot, making the Red Wings face Vancouver (# 3) in the opening round. And we know how that series went, SJ won! Phoenix, with a 1st round win, would have probably dead ended against Chicago in the CSF. (The Blackhawks did win the Stanley Cup.)
ZAvalanche
February 21st, 2011
11:44 pm
I agree Ben, it has to be a package deal. If not, some sort of contract delineating shared “operating costs” for use of Philips. I don’t know a damn think about that type of thing or if it is even possible. Package deal would provide the most stability and chance of success.
Ken Smartz
February 21st, 2011
11:49 pm
Like I said in earlier posts on other blog entries, I really regret the tone of some Winnipeg hockey fans on these blogs, especially Johnny Cash. They are sentimentalists, pawns of Canadian and local media that want nothing more than to sell papers and online readership based primarily on speculation, rumors and misinformation. So-called journalists have essentially become hacks.
Much of Winnipeg’s sense of entitlement to an NHL team comes from the belief that it is still an important city in Canada; once, it was the third largest. But times have changed, economies have grown and it is essentially the largest urban area between Toronto and Calgary. Winnipeg had an NHL team for a long time but they lost it because of greedy owners, dumb politicians and the fact that they were a lousy hockey team. I had season tickets the year the Jets officially became the worst team in NHL history (I think it was seven wins).
Today, you’ll hear stories about an ownership base in Winnipeg that has the 20th (or so) richest man in the world. His fortune was inherited and none of it was made from professional sports. True North Sports might own an arena and the Winnipeg Moose; that’s been a solid investment. But I haven’t seen or read anything but media speculation that they want an NHL franchise. It’s a much larger and complex kettle of fish, one that poses serious risk and negative financial exposure for a group that has moved cautiously and within the limits of what the Winnipeg marketplace can accommodate.
There are some in Winnipeg who want an NHL franchise and I’d suggest that if the league chooses to expand then that’s an entirely different and acceptable set of circumstances. But spending months and months taunting Glendale fans with lies, slurs and insults got rabid Winnipeg fans nowhere. Now they’re migrating here and for that, I am truly sorry/
ZAvalanche
February 21st, 2011
11:51 pm
Ben, and somebody correct me if I am wrong, I believe the there were two main problems with the Jets franchise: players and coaches were paid in US Dollars and the Canadian was worth somewhere between 60 and 70% of the US Dollar but the tickets, of course were paid for in Canadian $$. Huge capitol loss. Secondly, and I read this off a blog so don’t know if it is fact or not, their contract with the arena didn’t include a cut of the concessions sold to the spectators. HUGE hit in the wallet. Mind you this was all before the profit sharing agreement so it was basically ‘live on your own, die on your own’.
Brendan
February 21st, 2011
11:54 pm
Ben, all I ask … is that the next Thrashers owners … CARE about hockey and the fate of the franchise, especially by keeping it here. I don’t want some corporation looking for an “offset asset” for a tax writeoff.
Someone should CARE about this franchise. That’s the top priority. And hopefully, Gary Bettman has gotten better about properly vetting an ownership group. He’s sure taken his time with this situation in Phoenix.
ZAvalanche
February 21st, 2011
11:59 pm
Classy and well said Ken. I have nothing against Canadians (actually looking for jobs in Canada as well as the US) and growing up in Montana the first NHL game I ever saw was in Calgary during a trip to Banff (if any of you Atlantans haven’t visited the Canadian Rockies……GO!). I was instantly hooked on hockey after that experience.
It always seems to come down to ownership. Can’t make a quality product without quality tools and if the Boss doesn’t give them to you you are doomed from the outset. Holds true for every industry I have ever seen.
To quote Ron Burgundy (kind of) “Stay classy Winnipeg”, you will get yours here at some point!
Brendan
February 22nd, 2011
12:00 am
ZAvalanche, what about Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny? They can’t score and take the body? Granted, I have not been watching Altitude all year long, on Center Ice. I defer to your judgement, as a fan of the Colorado Avalanche.
Brendan
February 22nd, 2011
12:10 am
ZAvalance, exactly right. It always, always, always starts with ownership. Ideally, ‘committed ownership.’ Teams that have it should jump up and down. For me, I don’t fixate on results. I fixate on the ATTEMPT at getting good results. Had the Thrashers come into this season, sayyyy $3 million shy of the cap, and wound up here, at .500 after 60 games. I’d be disappointed, but I could honestly say … that the ownership was TRYYYYING.
When a team fails, what is required is analysis of the problem(s). Was it coaching? Was it the quality of the roster? IF so, that’s a GM responsibility. If the farm system is barren, are the scouts being held accountable? Was it lazyness on the part of the players? If so, identify the culprits and ship them out of town. I don’t get furious at an ownership that’s trying, but not getting the results, so long as they take corrective action … by firing those responsible. If their GRAND RESPONSE … is INACTION, or renewing the contracts of those responsible for the failure, then that’s when the season ticket holders say, “No, I don’t think so. I’ll be back … when you start TRYING again. If you don’t care, why should I?”
ZAvalanche
February 22nd, 2011
12:12 am
Duchene has now missed 20 games this season. Yes he is good, very young and makes young mistakes. He is also not so big and can get brushed off easily. Stastny is committing highway robbery this season at $6.6 mill a year. He hasn’t kept up with expectations at all, which brings me to my next point – well, two points. Biggest issue – we were killing it the first half of the season, like Thrashy was, then injury after injury after injury. Flash, Mueller, Duchen (for 20), Anderson for a lot, Stewart (broken hand), Foote (for being old), the list goes on. We are on pace for about 350 man-games lost. That is huge. So it forced Sacco’s hand (not really, but he will say so), and he developed ZERO line consistency. Game after game we probably rolled every single line combination mathematically possible. They players really get tuned into and comfortable with the guys they play with consistently. He has destroyed that completely. We have no flow, no confidence, zip. Yeah, I can understand when maybe a player is dragging a$$ and a small change needs to happen. I can recall at least 4 games where he benched, either for the whole game or parts of it, some of our star players – the player who HAVE to get the ice time to give us a chance – because of one turnover or missed assignment. The result is that the players are playing cautious, which is not their style, so they don’t get the bench which is humiliating to a player who is looked at as a leader. = bad coaching.