Thrasherville will not soon forget what Atlanta Spirit did here
On October 5, 2007, opening night of the Thrashers 2007-8 season, Atlanta Spirit co-owner Rutherford Seydel stood by as the 2006-07 Southeast Division Championship banner was raised to the rafters of Philips Arena. He took control of the microphone as it was hoisted up and made a promise, a vow, to the 18,707 fans that had packed into the arena…and everyone else in the greater Thrasherville community. He assured us that night that he and the other co-owners would do everything in their power to bring a Stanley Cup championship to Atlanta.
I remember this event very well. My wife and I were sitting in section 319 along with our two sons. Just six months prior we were in 316 for the first playoff game in team history, feeling the upper deck shake when Eric Belanger scored the first ever post season goal for the Thrashers.
Rutherford Seydel stands by as the 2006-07 Southest Championship banner is raised to the rafters of Philips Arena. That night he promised the AS, LLC would do everything in their power to bring a winning team to Atlanta. It was a promise that went unfulfilled (AJC/Pouya Dianat)
Unfortunately, Seydel’s promise was not only to go unfulfilled but as we now painfully realize, icing a competitive NHL team was in fact never the intent of the Atlanta Spirit, LLC, (Lies, Lawsuits and Contempt). His pledge that night was nothing more than hollow words uttered by one-eighth of an ownership group that never planned to put forth any effort whatsoever to back them up.
Just a few days after that opening night, I posted my first “Ice Man” blog on this site. By then we had had already seen the team drop the first two games and were on their way to six straight defeats to start the season. But before game number seven was played they fired head coach Bob Hartley…the only coach ever to take them to the playoffs and the only one ever to lead them to beyond 83 points in a single season.
I wrote a blog that day saying “good-bye and thank you” to coach Hartley…a man I had gotten to know and respect while my oldest son attended a couple of his hockey camps. In that opine, I indicated that the only true measure to gauge whether or not the move was the correct one or not would me determined by how the team fared afterwards and by who he was replaced with.
Of course, the person that finished the season behind the bench was general manager Don Waddell, whom so many felt should have been the man departing Thrasherville instead of Hartley. The team finished that campaign with a record of 34-40-8 for 76 points. They followed that up with another 76 effort during John Anderson’s first year as head coach then 83 in his second and least season. Last year they posted 80 points with coach Craig Ramsay at the helm.
I’ll leave it to you to determine whether or not the move to replace Hartley was a success or not. I think you all know where I stand on that issue.
AS, LLC: The Roots That Caused The Tree To Rot
While I understood that there were serious issues facing this Thrashers organization the day Waddell announced Hartley’s departure, what I didn’t quite yet have a firm grip on back then…something every Thrashers fan should have now…was just how deep the roots of the true problem with this organization ran. It was easy to point a finger at the only GM the franchise had ever had…really easy… but the fact of the matter was that the tips of the root system that was rotting the Thrashers tree forked in eight other directions…one to each of the partners that made up the Atlanta Spirit, LLC.
Bob Hartley will be remembered as the only head coach to lead the Thrashers to a playoff berth. Thanks to the AS, LLC's lack of commitment to success, the team never came close to that level of play after he was released (AJC file photo)
From the day they took over the Thrashers, Hawks and Philips Arena, the AS, LCC members admitted they were not hockey people. But over the course of time we began to understand that they not only had no clue what they were doing as owners of an NHL franchise, they actually had a certain disdain for the them as well as their the fans. As such, they were treated as unwanted stepchildren.
The Spirit Boys took over at a time in the Thrashers history when the team was moving up in the hockey world. In the years leading up to that banner-raising night in the fall of ‘07, they had gone from 74 to 78 to 90 then to 97 points and a playoff spot. This team had no issues putting butts in seats on a regular basis back then…even to the point where there was talk on this blog about a “sellout jinx” as they had a habit of playing below par in front of a full Philips Arena.
It was a “jinx” the Spirit Clowns made certain we would not have to worry too much about in seasons to come.
A packed Philips Arena was not much of a worry here the past four years because Levenson, Seydel and the rest of the Great Octocluster choked off funds needed to keep top-tier talent, the main cause of the organization’s Player Retention Deficit Disorder. First it was Marion Hossa departing Atlanta at the trade deadline of 2008 along with Pascal Dupuis…who also scored for the Thrashers in their first playoff game…for such superstars as Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong, Angelo Esposito and a draft pick. The revolving talent door continued to spin leading up to the departure of Ilya Kovalchuk two winters ago.
Ilya Kovalchuk departed Thrasherville in February of 2010. He was not alone in understanding the owners of the team he played for made playing here futile. It is they who should hang their heads in shame (AJC/Curtis Compton)
Hossa, Kovalchuk and others departed Thrasherville for pretty much the same reason…the owners lacked a commitment to do what was necessary to build a successful franchise here and so they decided to take their talents elsewhere.
All the while, the Octocluster remained distracted with their years-long legal battles amongst themselves.
As if this wasn’t enough to turn Atlanta area hockey fans sour to their product, co-owner Bruce Levenson…the person the rest of the Spiriteers deemed the most qualified to represent the hockey portion of their little investment…employed such PR skills as calling a season ticket holder a “smart ass” during a town hall meeting. Later in that gathering when he was asked by another paying customer about rising ticket prices at the same time the on-ice talent level was being lowered, Levenson said we would have to just “deal with it”.
Insulting the people who they expect to shell out major coin to enjoy their product…yup, Brucie boy, that’s an excellent way to endear yourself and your team to the local sports community.
The Atlanta Spirit ‘Disposes’ Of Its Unwanted Stepchild
But today, the most dysfunctional and pathetic ownership cluster flop ever to stain the fabric of professional sports delivered their final insult…final slap to the face…to those who supported and followed the Thrashers. After running the team straight into the ground…after running the team at bargain basement levels at or just over the league minimum…after lying to the fan base for six years about their desire to “dispose” of the team…after displaying a contemptuous demeanor towards you and I…the seven remaining co-owners collected their millions and spirited the Thrashers off to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Whether Don Waddell was coaching from the bench or performing GM duties, the team he was responsible for placing on the ice was often times simply too painful to watch...for the fans and the players (AJC/Curtis Compton)
They will say that they had no choice…that there was not enough fan support to attract buyers intending to keep the team here. They’ll once again point the same finger of blame that was wagged in our faces last winter when Michael Gearon, Jr announced their desperate attempts to unload the team. They’ll say and do all of this, that is, if and when they acquire the intestinal fortitude to publicly answer such questions.
But to the notion that the fans here are to blame for what the Atlanta Spirit did to hockey in Atlanta I have but two words:
Bravo Sierra.
The responsibility rest squarely on the shoulders of the giant steaming pile of EPIC FAIL known as the AS, LLC…and I will toss in their willing accomplice Don Waddell, who for seven years merely serviced this team at bare bone levels and met payroll.
Unfortunately, none of this does anything to heal the pain that is felt by Atlanta hockey fans…and sports fans in general. You know what happened here, although so many across the continent may not. Anger, frustration…these words do not do justice for what we feel towards the individuals who inflicted this upon us.
One day I’d like someone to ask them all if they felt any shame for the damage they inflicted here…damage that could not have been any worse if they deliberately intended to do so. But feeling shame is a quality reserved for souls that actually give a damn about anyone outside of their own personal spheres. So looking for such with this group would be a bit much to ask.
And Finally…A Vow To You, Atlanta Spirit Boys
And so on behalf of the good people of Thrasherville, I would like to address the following to those directly responsible for this disaster…Mr. Seydel, Mr. Levenson, Michael Gearon Sr., Michael Gearon Jr., Ed Peskowitz, Todd Foreman, Beau Turner and even Steve Belkin.
The beginning of the end of the Thrashers. The Atlanta Spirit, LLC take over as owners in 2004 (AJC Staff Photo)
In the spirit of that now-infamous “vow” from Rutherford Seydel to fans on October 5, 2007, I now make a solemn pledge to each and every one of you.
We will not forget you and we will not forget your names. But most importantly we will not forget what you collectively did to destroy NHL hockey in Atlanta, nor shall we forgive you for your actions.
It is a promise…a pledge…that I am quite certain will be kept far better than the one you made to us that night when the one-and-only Thrashers championship banner made it’s way up from the ice of Philips Arena.
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516 comments Add your comment
Schroeder
June 1st, 2011
11:27 am
Rawhide,Thank you for your straight shooting blogs and comments. I have been following these wretched events as they have unfolded. I just hoped that the ASG COULD HAVE HELD OUT FOR ONE MORE YEAR AND KEPT SEARCHING FOR A NEW OWNER. I feel that Phoenix next year would be available for the ‘peggers. I was a STH w/the Flames and I thought I would never get over that debacle,this may be a touch harder as I am a great deal older and live in Macon where there is no Hockey influence. I started playing because of the NHL being in ATL when I lived there. I am sad for the kids growing up in ATL that will never know the thrill of playing. I better stop as the tears are going to ruin the keyboard. Words cannot express that which I feel. The NHL has done more to kill the growth of this game in the south than they will ever know. Thank you Bill and AJC for giving us this forum to voice our views. Glovesave, you and I will always stop’em in our sleep.Good luck to all and thank you again for allowing me to express my sadness.
David
June 1st, 2011
11:35 am
The NHL is run by a group of rackateers with the clueless and classless Bettman at the helm. The NHL is the red headed step child of professional sports leagues because it continues to be run by these morons like Bettman. Unfortunately, the Thrashers were doomed with this ownership group. They never reached out to the community much less the hockey community including youth hockey were you build your fan base. Coming from Detroit it makes one value even more the integrity and committment of the RW ownership and the organization that is in place there. Yes, they are an original 6 club in a hockey city but they are still fully invested in youth hockey and their fans. If the Thrashers had ownership that coveted the team, understood the game and respected the fan base this would have been a viable hockey town. Sad, my son who I encouraged to adopt the Thrashers as his own team will no longer be able to enjoy the identification with a proud hockey franchise that I had growing up. I guess I can feel free to push him towards the Wings now. Will miss seeing all the other season ticket Thrashers fans at the games. Adios.
ranallo10 (in AT)
June 1st, 2011
11:41 am
Well, this shouldn’t really be a surprise to anybody … Waddell will not be going to Winnipeg:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=367495
stephen
June 1st, 2011
11:49 am
Last
I am amazed that people are still saying that Atlanta Fans should have just given money to the ASG even though the product was inferior and ASG had no love for hockey.
Good bye, Thrashers
May the sun shine on the moving trucks as you leave and drag Don Waddell on the bumper as you go.
ZAvalanche
June 1st, 2011
12:01 pm
Mr. Tiller – you sir are a gem and I saddened by the fact that you have lost a passion of yours, not only in the game but in writing. I hope you will blog about something in the future as I very much enjoy our lively discussions here.
Winnipegers – congrats. I know 99.9% of you are classy, and yes you deserve a team. Treat my Boys in Blue well.
Oh A$$G – you made a big mistake. Yeah there are only 350 + commentors here today, but there are a lot of people angry with you. Yup, I know the basketball crowd is different than the hockey crowd but you calling yourself businessmen is highly suspect. This is going to hurt you financially.
To all the regulars – I have enjoyed your discourse. I hope to keep in contact with you all in the future as you are all good people. Cheers.
EA
June 1st, 2011
12:01 pm
One more note to Jan-several former players and coaches have called out the ASG recently by stating that the ownership group is responsible for the inferior product on the ice as well as stating sentiments like the fans never had a chance. This blog is stating the same. That is hardly too harsh.
R. Stroz
June 1st, 2011
12:42 pm
EA – Don’t worry about Jan, she’s suffers from cranial rectal inversion disorder. It’s a prerequisite for ASG employment.
Phil Loechel
June 1st, 2011
1:07 pm
All Gearon had to do to “avoid this day” and dry his tears was treat the Thrashers like an NHL team instead of his red-headed step-child. I feel bad for myself and fellow Thrashers fans, but moving the team to Winnipeg is like taking a child away from a drunken, abusive parent and putting him/her in a loving foster home. I’m guessing that the new owners (who obviously don’t have any budget concerns) will spend the league max and have a Stanley Cup within 3-4 years.
I would suggest Gearon and his partners sell the Hawks immediately and move to Winnipeg. Then renounce their citizenship and run for Premier of Manitoba. They are the only reason that Winnipeg has a team and they should seek their rewards on earth. Lord knows that they are all headed to a very hot place when their time on earth is over, so they should cool off in Canada until then.
R. Stroz
June 1st, 2011
1:16 pm
Has Dan Marr been fired yet?
Sage of Bluesland
June 1st, 2011
1:34 pm
“….but moving the team to Winnipeg is like taking a child away from a drunken, abusive parent and putting him/her in a loving foster home….”
This is well-said and very true. This organization was an abomination from the very beginning, with no real direction, no accountability, no goals….and, thus, abominable results.
This would make for an interesting book, once the truth and the details come out.
I, for one, wish our former team well and am sure they will be loved more in Winnipeg–by ownership. The NHL’s ownership-vetting process is in need of rehaul based on this fiasco of ownership from day-one, with multiple clusters of nameless, faceless, careless conglomerations.
You know what that title of the upcoming book could be? I just thought of one. How about, “How Joe Johnson Killed a Thrasher.” Follow the quick logic here: Hawks GM Billy Knight wants to give the moon and stars for restricted free agent Joe Johnson. As a result, the owner with the deepest pockets, Steve Belkin, who is also the ASG’s NBA “governor”, disagrees and does not endorse the transaction. The other owners combine to overrule Belkin–and then proceed to force him out of the ASG. While the legal process takes its slow turn through the system, Belkin (the owner with, by far, the deepest individual pockets) does NOT have to share in the losses which are being sustained. In the end, Belkin is finally and legally severed from the group–but the group is a shadow, financially, of its former self….thus, the losses continue to mount and are unsustainable.
Thus, in the end, Billy Knight (through Joe Johnson) started a chain-reaction of events which ultimately led to the departure of the Atlanta Thrashers from Atlanta. Unbelievable. I hope a good writer–not a Manasso; his book on Snyder/Heatley was the most boring and superficial I have ever read–pens a story on this one from beginning to end. There is an interesting story to be told……Interviews with former Flames on their dealings with the idiot Don Waddell; interviews with fans; interviews with media personnel; etc.
There is a very interesting story here, folks—one full of deception; buffoonery; miscalculations; tragedy; greed; propaganda; etc. I think the story would also contain redemption for the people of Atlanta…as who could possibly continue to subsidize this utter incompetence…
Oh well, I hope someone does think about writing it….I would buy it….
ZAvalanche
June 1st, 2011
1:36 pm
Sage – the title of the book should be “How to F yourself and Lose Money at the Same Time”.
Wintir
June 1st, 2011
1:39 pm
Gee…..Not even a few words from Bettman for the Atlanta fans for the support that we DID show for this team even under the OctoCluster ownership group. Not sure why I was on NHL.com but the words of welcome to the ex-Thrashers from various Van. Canuck players.as they head to Winnipeg is enough to make me puke. The worst of the bunch was that they players will be treated like gods in a town where there is passion for the sport of hockey. I’ve been a hockey fan from when the Flames were in town, and there’s one thing about Atlanta fans is that PASSION is not missing towards our teams.
Told my wife that I’m boxing up my NHL brand stuff and it’s going away for a LONG time till the bad taste leaves my mouth concerning the NHL and it’s priorities.
Rawhide
June 1st, 2011
2:01 pm
Jan – While I find it very commendable for you to show such support for someone you work for, I assure you that what I wrote about he and his partners was hardley harsh. In fact, it was throttled back from what I really wanted to say and what most others would say as well.
He willingly entered into a partership with these guys…he made the promise that night…he and the AS, LLC not only failed/neglected to live up to the promise…and the proof of their failings is there for the hockey world to see.
It is what it is.
stephen
June 1st, 2011
2:26 pm
Last
I will miss the Thrashers but I will not miss the abuse that ASG has inflicted on the loyal fans. Can we press charges for assault?
Joe Friday
June 1st, 2011
2:40 pm
Jan, Rutherford Seydel, along with Levenson, Gearon, and co. are despicable men. They have sacrificed their personal integrity, their honor, and broken their word through what they’ve done. NO dollar amount can be placed on those things, there’s only one thing you have in this life that is given to you at no cost, but can given away at great cost, and that’s your integrity. These guys have none, they have to live with that, and I pity their children and families for having to be associated with these poor souls.
You, however, have a choice where to work. Choose wisely . . . we as consumers have a choice where to spend our money in the future, and these jokers can rest assured, we have long memories and we will choose wisely . . .
Dear Gary...
June 1st, 2011
2:47 pm
You sir, are a fraud,
After extorting $50M from the city of Glendale, you were able to extract another $60M from the citizens of Manitoba. Oh, directly or indirectly they will pay for it. Your league approved the sale of the Thrashers to this abomination of an ownership group. You watched as they let their GM coach for a year – to SAVE money. You watched their payroll decline year after year as they starved the hockey operations to pay for lawsuits and NBA assets. Did you really do all you could to find a new owner? The lease terms being offered by the idiots in Atlantic Spirit were a joke. And the financials were surely cooked. How much of their losses were the result of arena vs Hockey operations accounting? How much of their losses were from lawsuits with each other and their own lawyers? How much of their losses were to cover the cost of keeping the Coyotes operational? Speaking of which, how is it that a team in bankruptcy, being run by the league was able to have a payroll $9-10M higher then the Thrashers the past two years. Seriously? And for you to stand smugly in Manitoba and tell the people there the only way this works is if they sell out every night. You can’t take their $60M, put a club in the smallest NHL market with an unsustainable business model and then just wish the people good luck. You sir, are accountable as well. Just like you are here in Atlanta. You know, for years after poor on ice performances we heard the head coach of the moment tell us the Thrashers just didn’t play with accountability. That accountability started in the locker room. Turns out, it should have started in your office and the offices of the Atlantic Spirit. Because it didn’t, we lost our hockey team today. Shame on all of you.
Joe
June 1st, 2011
2:52 pm
imagine – typical whiner you are. Tickets started at 10 dollars and the stadium was half full. You people love to complain when things change, yet you did nothing to support the team. For a city with a few million people to not show up for 40 games is a complete joke. I grew up in Detroit and Red Wings games are always sold out, heck, even the Lions are sold out most of the time. Atlanta is a terrible sports town with fair weather fans. Glad to see Winnipeg get a team back, at least they will support the team and that is with a population of 700,000 people.
War Eagle
June 1st, 2011
2:58 pm
Excellent summary Rawhide. I’ll miss the Thrashers, your blog, and the road trips to Raleigh and Nashville. I won’t miss the ASG though.
PensFan
June 1st, 2011
3:03 pm
I don’t think the actual sale was underhanded. I mean, when an out of town buyer is willing to buy the club where even the 60M relocation fee is accounted for , that is saying none of the local offers were probably within 70M or so of the final offer. Winnipeg overpaid for it and now their season ticket holders are saddled with an average of 82 bucks a ticket. Let’s see how htey will do after a few years.
What is pathetic is the ownership during the tenure of the Thrashers itself. As a Pirates fan, I can empathise with my fellow Atlanta residents as to how bad ownership can suck the life of the franchise. Now, if the Thrashers are losing 20M a year, how much are the Panthers losing because their ratings are worse and their attendance isnt’ much better. I believe their parking is either free or damn cheap. So their revenue is not coming from that aspect.
Bettman is to blame for taking the Phoenix situation too personally where it makes no business sense what happened there over the last few years. Sure, Glendale stupidly ponied up 25M, but that is strictly a one year fix. Bettman had SOLVENT owners who were willing to take the Coyotes off his hands and relocate it to Canada and he screwed it up.
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT REALLY SUCKS???? If you looked at the local news, this news was depicted as no more of a “missing cat” story on some channels. WSB was terrible last night. They had a couple of minor segments. In fact, the sports segment did not even lead off with the Thrashers news.
Batcork
June 1st, 2011
3:04 pm
Bill, thank you for all the time you’ve spent on this blog. Great job. It’s been a therapeutic place to come and commiserate with other loyal and heartbroken Thrashers fans through this grim saga in recent weeks.
refman
June 1st, 2011
3:07 pm
Indeed the local press, TV and radio did very little to promote Thrasher Hockey. Even 680 The Fan spent all their time talking about UGA, Auburn GT football. Buck & Kincaid did precious little to energize interest in the team even though the games were on their station…shameful! They were as clueless as ASG when it came to hockey.
Puckhead
June 1st, 2011
3:20 pm
Joe – Detroit a better pro town than Atlanta, since you brought up the Falcons let’s look at the Lions attendance %
2010 87%
2009 76%
2008 84%
2007 94%
2006 93%
The Falcons were higher in each case – source: http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance/_/year/2010/sort/homePct
Puckhead
June 1st, 2011
3:23 pm
Intersting comment from 11Alive about Thrashers relationship with Gladiators – DULUTH, Ga. — Officials with the Gwinnett Gladiators want to reassure hockey fans that the team’s staying put, despite the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers.
The Minor League Gladiators have a different owners group, and the team ended its development affiliation with the Thrashers about a month ago.
The team recently signed a new three-year lease with the Gwinnett Arena and have no plans to move.
In fact, season tickets are now on sale. The home-opener is scheduled for October 21.
JPVJ
June 1st, 2011
3:59 pm
Mr. Rawhide and all,
I am very disappointed with this outcome. Many questions are replayed over and over in my mind. Through out this drama, this tragedy, the tin-foil cup guy has remained silent as if a permanent mask had eclipsed his icy shame. But why ???? This I do not understand. Do any of my brothers or sisters know this answer ?? If you hear my words I plead for you to speak to us all!! In our time of need his silence had spoken more than words could say but we could not hear. The tin-foiled Stanley cup did not protect us like ice melting on a summer day. Was not the cup but a bad dream of an arena of weak willed, ignorant, amateurish fans which could not sustain and support the emptiness of thousands and thousands of vacant seats ? Or was the cup the unseen, silver wind of our destiny that was the foundation of the Thrasher’s wings waiting for the chance to rise above a seventh game storm ?
I wonder about this as I try to make sense of this new world of thinning ice from my loneliness of my failing resolve. Will the tin-foil cup now be pulled apart for the barbecue and smoke of our twice faded and disappearing history ??? I despair from the echoes of the world’s laughter which helps along the thawing of my heart. With all my humility and strength I can only whisper: Vive la feuille d’étain !!!!
Joe
June 1st, 2011
4:07 pm
puckhead,
considering the Lions record, I would say those are pretty good attendance numbers. What would the Falcons attendance be if they had a 0-16 season? Wouldn’t even be 50% full just like the Thrashers. The NHL should have learned their lesson from 1980 and never allowed a hockey team back in Atlanta. You guys are deserving of a team like the Gwinet Gladiators, not an NHL team, let the big dawgs play in a real city.
Cornbread
June 1st, 2011
4:30 pm
Rawhide, Serious questrion, where has C Viv been throughout this final chapter?
R. Stroz
June 1st, 2011
4:31 pm
Joe – Go play with your Charmin and drink some Bud.
KBOSATL
June 1st, 2011
4:33 pm
This story perfectly sums up what happened here.
It was a crime.
Now we, who are left here, pay the price.
PensFan
June 1st, 2011
4:44 pm
I still wonder why AJC doesnt have the resources to do a comparison of the Thrashers revenue and expenses compared to the PAnthers and Coyotes. As others have mentioned, some of the 20M loss is due to creative accounting as the Spriit owns both Phillips Arena and the tenants.
Rawhide
June 1st, 2011
4:45 pm
Cornbread – C-Viv is out of the country on a previoulsy planned and scheduled family trip.
Joe
June 1st, 2011
4:46 pm
it was a crime alright. The fans never supported the team, don’t think you can coral the whole city up now can you? The fans blew it, feel bad for the owners and players who were disrespected and cheated by the city.
Get The Puck Out
June 1st, 2011
4:53 pm
Hey ASG….God forgives………Atlanta Thrashers fans don’t.
Get The Puck Out
June 1st, 2011
4:58 pm
Hey Joe…. If you want to support a team that plays for 11 seasons and never wins a playoff game, knock yourself out.
Hey Trolls!
June 1st, 2011
4:59 pm
Hey Trolls! The more you come here and pour salt in our collective wounds the more you prove just how small your manhood really is. Either be grown up enough to be respectful of the Atlanta fans in mourning or STFU and get off of the computer in your moms basement… and for god sake if you are going to use all of your moms kleenex, tweezers and lotion while screaming “Go Jets Go!” use some of your allowance money to buy her replacement tissue!
Not if but WHEN the new Winnipeg team fails I hope its just as heartbreaking for you guys when immature children decide to stomp on your emotions. This franchise is cursed and will be out of Winnipeg by the end of the decade.
ThrashDawg
June 1st, 2011
5:02 pm
Thank you so much Rawhide for this blog! I have been a casual hockey fan for several years, but with you and the Thrashers it became me and my son’s passion and it will be sorely missed…. It is a sad day but just more of the same when it comes to the sports world. Sports used to be a place we could escape from our world and live the dream of a professional athelete/team. In these days, with lock outs, strikes, scandals, owners who don’t appreciate the fans, players that care only about money, leagues that will pull a franchise from one town to the next without care, etc…etc… I have officially given up on hockey, and nearly all sports, and care not if I ever watch another game! Good night and God Bless you all!
Nikita
June 1st, 2011
5:14 pm
I am a dedicated Thrashers fan who moved to non-Thrashers territory, and yet supported the team from afar via CentreIce, seeing them against other teams (including last year’s first post-Kovalchuk Devils matchup), and making a few giant trips down to Atlanta to catch them there. I am very disappointed in this decision, but I can’t say I didn’t see it coming.
Mistakes ASG made along the way:
1. Insider trading. Technically it went to the previous owner, but it certainly took the ASG’s energy.
2. Suspicious bookkeeping, which resulted in a second costly lawsuit.
3. Poor management of delicate flowers and primadonnas. Among these I will count Don Waddell, who was allowed to not perform well for years. Ilya Kovalchuk, who is now the Devils’ problem. And Dany Heatley, who should have been thrown to the legal wolves instead of showered with support, love and affection which did not in any result in his loyalty.
4. A promotional scheme which gave up about midway through the franchise’s existence. Did you guys know that ASG laid off about 2/3rds of its promotional staff about 3-4 years ago? For the last five years those fans of us outside the perimeter have had to beg and plead to get any attention whatsoever.
5. Most importantly, most of the members of the ASG didn’t understand hockey or the startup phase of such an endeavor, and they also didn’t have the assets to sustain it.
Snowcap
June 1st, 2011
5:34 pm
A heartfelt message of consolation to the good fans of Atlanta who appear to have been roundly screwed by the type of corporate malfeasance that blights so much of modern life. I lived in Calgary when the Flames made their northern relocation eight years before winning the Stanley Cup. As a Canadian hockey fan and now a resident of Vancouver about to enjoy the Stanley Cup playoffs again, I humbly commiserate with you fine folks in your unfortunate situation. I was hoping you might have had a thing or two to say about Gary Bettman and the NHL too but you told the story well enough. It has been a fond wish on my bucket list to make a winter tour featuring attendance at games in the southernmost NHL cities but, sadly, Atlanta will no longer be included. I’ll enjoy the peaches but was really looking forward to a Thrashers game. You’re welcome to join us in cheering for the Canucks and look for me in the crowd – I may be wearing the only Thrashers jersey. Screw the Atlanta Spirit LLC and long live the true spirit of hockey and international friendship.
Bettman the Moron
June 1st, 2011
5:36 pm
It won’t take five years for Bettman the Moron to be shopping this team for another more lucrative location. No way they last that long in a town with one traffic light and igloos.
Bettman the Moron
June 1st, 2011
5:41 pm
BTW, despite being a huge NHL fan (or at least former NHL fan) I have been glued to the NHL playoffs….not anymore. I will not be watching a single minute of the finals…nor will I tune into any future NHL games. This pathetic league, and their moronic commisioner, have lost me as a fan for good. And P.S., I am one who dumped significant money into your league through the years.
Bettman the Moron
June 1st, 2011
5:54 pm
Wow…check out this article at ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=burnside_scott&id=6611534
ThrasherFan
June 1st, 2011
5:55 pm
Thank you Bill.
Cornbread
June 1st, 2011
6:03 pm
Thanks Rawhide it just seemed very strange to not have the Thrashers’ beat writer covering this major story. I don’t know if I should laugh, cry or be happy at his timing.
Our WINnipeg Falcons
June 1st, 2011
6:08 pm
True North wants to name the new team the Winnipeg Falcons.
Talk about rubbing it in!
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-thrashers/waddells-job-thrashers-name-964455.html
UGASlobberknocker
June 1st, 2011
6:33 pm
Lucky Winnepeg that Waddell , the loser, is not going to Canada. Maybe they can turn it around with a decent GM.
but how about an original name . Winnepeg? ..I heard the new name will be either the Jets or the Falcons..uh. those are taken..how about something original like the Ice Cubes or the Fighting Glaciers? Maybe the Winnepeg Hosers.
Bettman Sucks
June 1st, 2011
6:38 pm
I feel for all you Thrashers fans. We went through the same awful experience in 1996 in Winnipeg. Although we’re happy to have an NHL team again, it shouldn’t come at the expense of fans in another city. That being said, if there’s any team that should’ve been relocated, it’s the Coyotes!
Bettman Sucks
June 1st, 2011
6:46 pm
UGA – I know you’re mad, and rightfully so, but there’s no need to be nasty…..Ice Cubes? Fighting Glaciers? “Winnepeg Hosers”? At the very least have enough respect to spell the city’s name properly. It’s Winnipeg!
ZAvalanche
June 1st, 2011
6:52 pm
@ Snowcap – nicely worded and a fine eulogy to fans who dearly love the game Canada brought us and that we embraced with open arms. As you know, the US has always been heavy into sport and hell, even soccer is working here. Though I am primarily an Avs fan, it saddens me to no end to see the Thrashers leave. Yup, I wept, call me a wussy if you like but we are sports fans and I am sure there is a large contingent of burly men in the ‘Peg that wept when the Jets left. Same can be said for the Whalers and the Nordiques.
I have shared pints with some of the bloggers here and I guarantee you we are hockey fans – true and blue. Yes, it is sad and I lament the eventual loss of the fantastic discourse by C-Viv and Mr. Tiller. And yes, I will even miss Sage’s and LAC’s comments. Us fans in Atl know what we are talking about, even though we haven’t played in Canadian Juniors or the AHL. I love this game, will watch it till I die (hopefully not soon) and I am going for your Canucks.
I have never been to the ‘Peg, but growing up in Montana I have visited Canada many, many, times. Love the people, culture and the land and I have no problem with you all and in fact, i find most Canadians to be some of the best people I have ever met (and I am well traveled – the South Africans have you beat in hospitality though, not by much
.
Congrats to the good folks from the ‘Peg, and the rest of MB. I hope you do well, kick A$$G and take names – just don’t do it to my Avs.
I hold no malice towards the fans of Winnipeg, you had no say in the outcome, for the most part. In fact, I believe everybody deserves some good NHL action. Go ‘Nucks and please Canadians, we love the sport as much as you. It just takes time to build a fan base. We dig you (well, most of you) and just respect our pain.
Good luck, best wishes, no hurt feelings (accept for the A$$G) and PEACE my Northern Bruthas!
ex-STH
June 1st, 2011
6:54 pm
“There is no doubt if we had more success, maybe we would have had a better turnout at the gate,” Waddell said. “That’s something we always look back at: If … we could have duplicated the year [2007] we won our division and went to the playoffs, we were set up to try to continue to build the momentum in the marketplace. But that didn’t happen.”
I can’t believe D-Wads actually said this! How can you possibly even come close to duplicating the 2007 playoff season when you “knee-jerk” react and fire the best, by far, coach the franchise ever had after the 6th game! This just shows Waddell’s ignorance! He disgusts me as much as ASG!
It's Knighttime again, Atlanta!
June 1st, 2011
7:10 pm
Bring back the Atlanta Knights!
I’ve been to many Flames games, Thrasher games, and Gladiator games though the years.
I have to say the five years the Knights were here were the most fun I’ve had going to hockey games in this fine city.
jimbo
June 1st, 2011
7:40 pm
Bill- well said. Thanks for hosting such an interesting blog. Too bad we supported such a group of incompetent liars. And, Bettman was no help at all. He let hockey slip from a major US city to a small, prairie town that will not draw fan or TV interest to the NHL. I for one will never buy a ticket to anything owned by the Atlanta Spirit Scum and I hope that all hockey fans boycot their offerings.