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
Iron League 13
February 23rd, 2011
9:44 am
Gotta admit, couldn’t be a worse opponent for a rally. Why couldn’t it be teams like NYR or NJ? The Panthers have got to be the worst draw for this team and many others.
JMT21
February 23rd, 2011
9:49 am
ZAvalanche…. having lived in Winnipeg all my life I can explain why NHL hockey will work here.
We have an arena that is bought and paid for by our ownership group. All revenue the arena receives goes directly to the ownership group which was not the case back in 1996. GB has visited our arena and deemed it more than adequate for a market of our size. The ownership has very deep pockets with one partner having a net worth of close to 20 billion.
The passion for hockey in Winnipeg is something that can’t be properly described unless you attended a game here. A common misconception you’ll hear is that Winnipeg doesn’t have the corporate and fan support do afford NHL prices. Completely untrue. I would be confident in saying that IF a team returns to Winnipeg that we would sell 10,000 season tickets within one week.
All of this being said….. the passion and knowledge for hockey on these boards and it’s evident to this Winnipeg resident that Atlanta deserves their team but the owners wish to focus all of their attention on the Hawks.
The comparison between Atlanta and Glendale is moot. They have a great team, cheap ticket prices, $1.00 beer nights and FREE parking for Coyotes games and still can’t come close to selling out any game.
Your fans DESERVE NHL hockey and I hope you guys get to keep it. Same can’t be said for Glendale.
james c.
February 23rd, 2011
10:04 am
Agree with JMT21 that Winnipeg would get 10,000 season ticket holders pretty fast…maybe not within one week but who knows?! Article in today’s Free Press indicates the NHL wants a quick resolution to the Atlanta situation…hope it works out for you Thrashers fans but remaining games have to be well attended and should be as your team attempts to make a playoff run.
Alan R.
February 23rd, 2011
10:08 am
They have a great team, cheap ticket prices, $1.00 beer nights and FREE parking for Coyotes games and still can’t come close to selling out any game.
Wait, WHAT? $1 beer and FREE parking? AND there’s a winning team, there?
So, I went and looked it up. Coyotes extended their win streak last night in Philadelphia to eight games. Five of those games were played at home. In order, here are those games, and the attendance (well… tickets sold, anyway) for them.
Coyotes vs:
Wild (5 Feb): 14,587 (83.4% full)
Avalanche (7 Feb): 9,508 (54.3% full)
Blackhawks (12 Feb): 17,283 (98.8% full)
Capitals (14 Feb): 13,856 (79.2% full)
Thrashers (17 Feb): 10,576 (60.4% full)
A little shocking, to say the least. Cheap beer and free parking here would certainly get more fans in the building. Especially if we’re not playing well. Those beers would sell super fast at a buck a pop.
Iron League 13
February 23rd, 2011
10:08 am
JMT – Thanks for your support. Phoenix has dollar beer nights and free parking? Wow, I didn’t know that. Those are some KILLER incentives. Sorta like a AA team in a no-name town, I know when the Rockford Ice Hogs were in the UHL they did dollar beer nights.
Anyways, amazing how a scandal and some years of basement level play annihilated that market.
ZAvalanche
February 23rd, 2011
10:11 am
Iron – I don’t think the team will move venues anytime soon for the various reasons posted previously. I think Philips is a nice arena and is just too new to jettisoned. Maybe make it into another convention center? I dunno what they would do with it.
Move up north inside of 285 would be nice. I like the Cobb Galleria location idea quit a bit, most of the stuff is new up there and is pulling in some #s. 400 and 285? I don’t think there is room to put a facility up there. North Side Hospital is on the east side there and office buildings on the west. Maybe a little further south along 400? Think of what an arena would do to Buckhead? There are still some nice places in Buckhead but if you walk down the streets most of the unique, original, shops are boarded up. Kind of sad really. The 5 years I was in Atl I lived in Alpharetta, which was nice in the fact that I was maybe 5 minutes drive from the Cooler for easy access to sport court and ice. Sucked balls though for getting into town every morning when I went to Tech or headed downtown for a game or just some fun. Just getting past Holcomb Bridge took forever then tack on another 25 mins to ride MARTA from North Springs to North Ave. Ugh. I have promised myself that when I move back it is either going to be Dunwoody or somewhere in town. I don’t even want to think about how much of my life has been wasted sitting in the car.
Anyhow, yes, I vote on the Cobb Galleria area. Doesn’t really matter where you put it traffic is going to blow anyway. However, if they do put it there it should come with the stipulation that MARTA gets extended at least up to 75-285, the Cobbians now rue the fact that they could have had it but voted it down.
JMT21
February 23rd, 2011
10:28 am
All of the incentives I mentioned at Coyotes games are 100% fact. It is also fairly common knowledge that in Glendale “announced” attendance is usually anywhere from 15 – 25% higher than actual bums in the seats.
For those that didn’t know…. the “deal” in Glendale will see the city begin to charge for parking at coyotes games. Costs to park a car will be anywhere from $10 – $20. A tough sell to lure fans who were use to parking for FREE.
ZAvalanche
February 23rd, 2011
10:30 am
JMT —– WHAT!? $1 beers????? Damn. A $4 beer would be a steal in my mind. One thing that hurts Thrashy is that they don’t own any parking space. I can’t speak for other teams but the Avs own a huge amount of their parking space and make a killing on it. 4,534 spots at an average of $25 a spot. If fills every game so there is an extra $113 k per game! Then you add in the Nuggets, same thing and the Rapids (lacrosse) for probably 3/4 of that. Not a bad move by big Stan Kroenke to require that he owns the lot. Just that in and of itself, over the course of the season, just for the Avs that is over $4.6 million right there (and of course add in the Nuggets and Rapids). I don’t know what the game day operating cost of the facility is (looked but couldn’t find it) but I bet that takes a big chunk out of it and they are operating in the black even with the Avs disgusting attendance.
So yeah if a new owner decided they want to chunk out the money for a new arena better move it closer to your demographic have full ownership of the entire facility and parking.
ZAvalanche
February 23rd, 2011
10:54 am
Brendan, don’t know if you were a Blues fan when Peter Stastny player for them, but here is a bit on what he thinks of the Avs-Blues trade, http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2011/02/22/peter-stastny-bombshell-avs-blues-trade-destroyed-the-team/6586/ . I think he is a bit off his rocker.
Don’t know if you saw the game but your boy Johnson scored, but so did your new boy Stewart – twice.
ZAvalanche
February 23rd, 2011
10:57 am
An in case any of the rest of you read that, I think Adrian Dater could learn a thing or two from Rawhide about passionate writing…….and he gets paid by the Denver Post!
Alan R.
February 23rd, 2011
11:07 am
ZAvs – He could also learn to not be such a douche. He wrote an article for Versus that pissed me right the f- off, in regards particularly to southern market teams.
Rawhide
February 23rd, 2011
11:09 am
JMT21 – Given the many colleges that are in and around the Atlanta area, $1 beer nights just might sell out Philips Arena alone.
And may I add that I’ve appreciated most of the comments coming from hockey fans in your part of the world. It really comes as little surprise to me that that most fans can enter into debate here and engage in some very enlightning conversation.
To you and the handful of others who chosen to join the conversation here in a rational and thoughtful manner, thanks for representing your city well.
Iron League 13 – Having the Thrashers play near the Cobb Energy Center/Galleria area would work fine for me given that’s just around the corner from my office
OK everyone, here’s a new blog for you all to chew on while we discuss to night’s game. The Thrashers shuffle off to Buffalo in desperate need of a win.
ZAvalanche
February 23rd, 2011
11:11 am
Alan, could you send me that article? I don’t care for any of the Denver Post writers – Krieger, Dater, Kiszla. I do kind of like Woody Paige though, cracks me up.
Alan R.
February 23rd, 2011
11:15 am
ZAvs – I’ll go poking around for it when I have some extra time. All I remember about it, is it was written in November, and it called for the Thrashers to be contracted or moved, along with a couple others.
Brendan
February 23rd, 2011
11:58 pm
ZAvalanche, Colorado won, 4-3. Again, Mr. Stastny is entitled in to his comments. If/When Erik Johnson is a permanent fixture on the Avs’ blueline, logging 25 minutes a game, will anyone interview him to ask what he thinks of the trade?
I know. Edmonton 5, Colorado 1.
Give the trade 3 years.
scottbravesfan
February 24th, 2011
4:33 am
It would be cool if the Thrashers just won some games. I have been a fan since 2001 and I’m tired of watching this team lose year after year.
And someone already mentioned it but there are only two places that will sell out for a loser and that’s Toronto and the NY Rangers. The Rangers will sell out because of the arena they play in and Toronto because it’s the hockey capital of the world. If the NHL was really serious about adding a 7th team to the NHL they would not worry about Winnepeg and the other towns that want a team they would put a second team in Toronto. That’s the logical step for another team in Canada but I guess the Maple Leafs would freak out if they did.
Also 8,000 households is what the Thrashers deserve. They have never won so they have never had a chance to add fans via bandwagon jumping. Every franchise has a core of bandwagon fans and the Thrashers have never had that. We all saw what happen in 2007 when the team finally made the playoffs, Philips was packed. In Atlanta if you want to draw fans you better win. Only UGA and the Braves will draw well if the team is bad. The Thrashers, Hawks, and Falcons better win or they will have a ton of empty seats.
Winniphlegm
February 25th, 2011
7:51 am
Morning Everybody. For Atlanta’s sake, I hope this White Knight does arrive to buy the team. I’ve heard out of Winnipeg this morning that there is a well known hockey commentator by the name of Scott Oake who is widely recognized in Canada and says he has spoken to the highest sources in the NHL that have virtually confirmed that unless new owners step in in the next 2-3 weeks (at least attempting to buy the team) that the Thrashers will be moved to Winnipeg. It’s all over the morning show on CJOB.com this morning. Their sports report is on at 25 after the hour in case someone wants to hear. Good luck guys…I’m rooting for you