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
Baldheaded Thrasher Fan
June 1st, 2011
8:04 pm
Glad to hear that the Fulton County Commiaion voted for a bull hook ban for circus trainers, hopefully the circus will go to another arena and leave more empty dates at Philips.
Hard to believe with the NFL unrest and possible NBA lockout hockey would have just been competing with NCAA FB and BB, but ASG was never ever very bright!
WP
June 1st, 2011
8:07 pm
Jan…do you guys at the office talk about how great it was when RS wandered on stage looking somewhat intoxicated, at the Widespread Panic show and interrupted the show! What a great guy! Please encourage him and other ASG’ers to sell the Hawks too!
Sage of Bluesland
June 1st, 2011
8:09 pm
“…Too bad we supported such a group of incompetent liars….”
Speak for yourself, jimbo…Never let it be said someone didn’t warn you many, many years ago….
(that same someone who was attacked at every turn….Just where oh where is Sara? I think some are in dire need of one of her “illuminating” spweadsheets….)
Baldheaded Thrasher Fan
June 1st, 2011
8:44 pm
WP…somewhat intoxicated?????
You think he would have been smart enough to tell the band and security what he was going to do instead of making an A out of himself. Oh I forgot this is ASG!
Golmer and Barney would have been better!
Big Dave
June 1st, 2011
8:47 pm
Great article Bill! I will really miss the Thrashers. I am not certain I will follow NHL hockey anymore because of this betrayal by the Atlanta Spirit and the NHL. The Spirit have really embarrassed the City of Atlanta, as well as ripped the hearts out of loyal Thrasher fans for their own greed. The Spirit deserve whatever they get in the future, which I hope is very little.
EB
June 1st, 2011
9:08 pm
No shock here but very sad for the city to lose yet another team when it could have been so easily avoided with better owners! I’m still going to root for the team in Winnipeg and hope that the new owners simply do all the things the Spirit refused to do, starting with a solid draft and then adding some top talent to the roster to go with guys like Kane, Wheeler, Ladd, Burmi, Stuart, and Big Buff. Getting away from the Spirit will turn out to be the best thing for the team. Just bad for us Georgia fans who have been screaming for new owners for years now, so the team could start winning more consistently and making the playoffs, which we all know is a sure fire way to keep attendance up, and help make sure they stay down south much longer than just over a decade!
zombie steve
June 1st, 2011
9:33 pm
Lucic is such a little ho
KLS1
June 1st, 2011
9:39 pm
So long, farewell to all of you…its been fun.
I agree with EB…this team will do well with the change. Ownership and management kept them in the basement here. That won’t be the case in Winnipeg.
Our loss, their gain.
Now all I can think about is ways to cause further financial pain to all ASG members.
Atlanta Flames Fan
June 1st, 2011
9:45 pm
I started watching NHL hockey a few years before the Flames got here. I hardly ever missed one of their games at the Omni or a Thrash game at the Bulb. I have watched every Stanley Cup Finals game in the past 43 years. Even when it was on SportsChannel and not carried by my cable provider, I would head to the sports bars to catch the games. During Stanley Cup time, my wife became a Hockey Widow.
Tonight when I turned on the TV, Game 1 of the Finals was on. I immediatly turned it off and turned on the Braves.
FU Bettman. FU ASG.
Toronto Bob
June 1st, 2011
9:52 pm
Wish we could get a real team in Toronto.
You guys want the leafs? They’re yours.
Atlanta Flames Fan
June 1st, 2011
9:54 pm
Meanwhile, the ASG lapdog DW was on TV. He actually claimed that the fans were being too hard on ASG!!! YOU’VE GOT TO BE F’ING KIDDING!
PLEASE GET OUT OF TOWN AND NEVER SHOW YOUR FACE AGAIN. AND TAKE YOUR PATRICK STEFAN BLOW-UP DOLL WITH YOU.
Zombie Steve
June 1st, 2011
10:00 pm
I was a fan of hockey before the Thrashers and I’ll be a fan after them. (2 cents)
Ed Graham
June 1st, 2011
10:22 pm
Tonight, I packed up all of my Thrashers memorabilia and put it in the attic. My jersey, t-shirts, cap, mug, etc., all but my Thrashers teddy bear. Somehow, he looks as dispondent as I feel.
The last five years that Winterpeg (as most Canadians call that barren outpost), a city with metropolitan population 1/7 the size of Atlanta’s, sold an average of 5,000 tickets per game LESS than the Thrashers did in the last five years. Yet, someone with a lot of money thinks he’ll make a profit after spending $170M to buy the franchise. Sounds like a bankruptcy filing is in his future.
At least we’ve got the Gladiators. You can sit on the glass for $30, there’s no charge for parking, and no panhandlers and scalpers working within earshot of the APD. Best of all, the players really try as they want to move up to the NHL. I can take that until someone or a group of someones whose word is worth more than the paper its written on bring a team back to Atlanta.
As for Gary Bettman and ASG, I’d like them to do something with their hockey sticks. It would require a lot of lubricant and a proctologist.
Alan R.
June 1st, 2011
10:43 pm
Bouchard had some interesting things to say yesterday.
http://podcast.tsn.ca/tsnradio/bouchard_053111.mp3
R. Stroz
June 1st, 2011
10:46 pm
In general, Waddell was paid to “tank it” and did so.
Sage – This interview with Bouchard is actually more “damning” than the first one.
Sage of Bluesland
June 1st, 2011
11:13 pm
It was an interesting interview (with Bouchard). I’m not surprised by any of it–and I believe him, too.
Waddell was a fraud and in so far over his head it wasn’t even funny.
It’s sadder still of how many sheep kept making excuse after excuse for him and his empty bluster. The shame should go around–but some are remarkably absent.
(I don’t blame them; I would have a hard time showing my face, too….spweadsheet anyone?)
Big Wally
June 1st, 2011
11:20 pm
I’m repeating myself, but Sherman treated Atlanta better than ASG did. They (and Joe) should be treated like lepers for the rest of their lives.
Sage of Bluesland
June 1st, 2011
11:29 pm
I just had the misfortune of seeing Gearon and his crocodile-tear-laced “interview”. I’m stunned.
Note his demeanor changed immediately when the Hawks were mentioned.
Fraud.
I’m telling you, folks, there is a GREAT book to be written chronicalling the events which have transpired since day-one. I think it would cast a completely different light on many, many things–including the city and fans of Atlanta.
Alan R.
June 1st, 2011
11:38 pm
For once, Sage, I agree with you.
Gearon’s tears are more full of crocodiles than a Louisiana bayou.
Wayne stuck in AL
June 1st, 2011
11:38 pm
Let’s hope NBC gets XFL ratings for the Stanley Cup.
Big Wally
June 1st, 2011
11:41 pm
Just heard the interview with Bouchard. Pretty much sums of eleven years of incompetence in the 12 minute interview. Waddell did to hockey in Atlanta, what Bin Laden did to the twin towers.
Cornbread
June 1st, 2011
11:49 pm
Seriously, was there a hockey game tonight? First time in my life I can ever remember not giving a damn about the stanley cup playoffs.
thrasherdawg
June 1st, 2011
11:56 pm
WOW! Only 1800 tickets tickets sold today in Winnipeg. I thought it would be closer to 7000. It all sounds good until you have to put your name on the dotted line for $58,000.00 ( 2 tickets for 5 years).
So I would assume that the average number of tickets bought per person would be 2.5 per. If that is true, then only 720 people showed up to buy tickets today.
It would be true justice if they only sold about 6000 season tickets.
R. Stroz
June 2nd, 2011
12:16 am
thrasherdawg – That would make Bettman “crap in his pants.”
Guess those 16 year old, pimple faced, circle jerk trolls don’t have much discretionary income.
Chris16
June 2nd, 2011
12:59 am
I wanted to watch america’s got talent but there this game on with guys skating on ice playing for a cup whats up with that.
ben
June 2nd, 2011
1:43 am
hockey shall return, this i know. but even the die hards and bitter enders will look at it with jaded eyes. people, this team was flat out horrible and seldom worth the attention we lavished on it. wish not the hawks ill. they, traditionally were a horrible draw. there is no accounting for taste. people like what they like. we can all talk at length on that i have spent some time on the winnipeg paper tonight. man, they are happy. that team will be supported, if only for a while, better than it ever could have been here.
I wish my team success, all the success Mr. Thompson can lavish on them. I shall watch from afar. But I vow to be done with my post mortems and problematizations of this team and exploits in the future. I’m a very busy man and watching hockey is something i do to relax from days and days of describing vast and complex interactions of people and their enviroments. of the many things i have been charged with figuring out running a hockey team in my hometown just isn’t one of them. Thank Gawd!
We are some of the most devoted fans around. We stuck around a team which looked up to being bad. There was no past glory for us to revel in, only a sub-par here-and-now. I went a game against Vancouver late in the year and made the very adult decision that I would not fiscally support this wretched team until it got new owners, and I stick by that choice. What I will misws the most about the team is this blog.
And as sad as that is, I think that’s the truth for us all. We were never destined to root for a champion, be adults and face it.
Cornbread
June 2nd, 2011
1:47 am
Bouchard’s comments reflect much of what has been said on this blog and Atlanta hockey circles for years. TSN was shocked because they too didn’t have a clue what was going on down here. All they reported on was their “Jets Meter”.
I know a well connected Pegger who told me a little more than a month ago that he feared something was up with ATL and that they were the team to be moving and not PHX. I refuted it all (with logic and reason of course but this is the ASG we are talking about). He said that he hoped it wasn’t Atlanta but the situation does not look good for the team. It all sounded far too conspiratorial to me. Bouchard reaffirms that the jig was up long ago and erected by the Snakes ASG, the Weasel Bettman, and the Vultures TNSE.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you it was the fans and city that caused this, especially from the media. This injustice came from the top down.
Rob S
June 2nd, 2011
3:13 am
It sucks to lose a team. But please realize that 80% of the ownerships in pro sports are terrible.
In the end, the Thrashers could not meet fixed costs with their season ticket base. It really is that simple. Phoenix can’t either but the city they play in is willing to eat the fixed expenses – ATL residents should be very happy that their city isn’t doing such a thing.
Note that even at their worst, Chicago and the Islanders still had/have a large enough season ticket base (10K+) that they can cover fixed expenses in the lean times and can survive. Also note that the NHL insists on getting over 100 million for a franchise sale – local ATL owners would gladly step up to buy the Thrashers but not at that price.
I love hockey, I’m not so enamored with the NHL though. Great players, but a third-rate league business operation. There really isn’t any pride in having a second-rate team in a third-rate league, heck in some ways the AHL is run better. Believe it or not, I think ATL will get another chance in the NHL, but I wouldn’t want it unless the league is healthier and run with more care for the fans.
In a way I think the NHL exploits the Canadian fans – the fans come out no matter how bad the teams are and the league just craps on them year after year. The NHL can’t survive with those business practices in cities with more choices. I don’t mean to denigrate Manitobans, I think the NHL really is undeserving of the support the Canadians give them. With clowns like Bill Wirtz gone and idiots like Bettman soon to follow, maybe the NHL will become a world class pro league. Until that happens, no one should be ashamed to lose a team in that league.
LAC
June 2nd, 2011
3:21 am
Well “jan” I will take on that LYING PIECE OF $HIT any day any place any time for his LIES.
Not only that, in the 11alive interview he showed what kind of FOOL he is, in the interview he acted more like a CLOWN than anything else.
All atlanta STUPID group are LIARS, CHEATS AND FRAUDS. Just let me know where he will meet a mad fan for a honest fight, But COWARDS & Liars don’t stnd up for themselves anyhow.
I hope and PREY his soul goes to HELL in the end, He deserves it the LIAR !
The Balkan
June 2nd, 2011
6:47 am
When will you fools come to grips the reason for the move is ATLANTA DID NOT SUPPORT THE TEAM.
Hotrod
June 2nd, 2011
7:47 am
Balkan – What an incredible original thought. Now I understand. NOT!
The ASG had an incredible opportunity and they blew it. The
crash they created affected hard core fans of all kinds of
levels.When you compare other expansion teams track records
with the Thrashers, ASG made every mistake in the book and are
now the standard in what not to do when opening an expansion
team.
Stan Drulia
June 2nd, 2011
7:53 am
I don’t blame Sara for dissappearing so long ago from this blog – Sage has mentioned her name in every single post he has made for months and months. Sage – you are a joke. And your constant attacks on Sara are just plain creepy. I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that at some point you tried to become friendly with her and she attacked one of your points and made you look a little dumb – and then you just went full-force at her. Too bad, but at least you and LAC found each other! True love found on a hockey message board… just warms the heart.
Red Light
June 2nd, 2011
8:02 am
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Winnipeg/2011/06/02/18226526.html
It was Phoenix up until the City of Glendale ponied up the money. Well, at least that’s what Chipman says in this article.
Red Light
June 2nd, 2011
8:09 am
“But the more you look at what the NHL has become, it becomes clearer that the league truly gets what it deserves.”
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Winnipeg/2011/05/31/18219941.html
DWTOO
June 2nd, 2011
8:10 am
Bouchard sure nailed it – his Waddell voice was hilarious.
Tom Lysiak
June 2nd, 2011
8:16 am
Cornbread – Right there with you on the game last night .In fact, I quit watching the entire playoffs when it became obvious what was going to happen here.
I can barely get through watching the ASG losers whine on TV, then I get to see Waddell last night saying the criticism of the ownership is “not deserved”. They all deserve every bit of this reaction, and more.
Good luck on those season tickets True North. Hope Bettman is sleeping well these days. Sucker!
JT from Columbus
June 2nd, 2011
8:27 am
Really enjoyed the time reading this blog on an everyday basis. You guys and gals have filled my days with much joy for these last few years. Rawhide thanks for taking your time to put this blog together. We will see you folks down the road.
litz
June 2nd, 2011
8:53 am
So what happens when they only sell 6k season tickets (at those unbelievably high prices)?
Does Bettman bail out his new franchise before the puck ever gets dropped?
Howard
June 2nd, 2011
9:18 am
I have to disagree with the blog in that it implies the Atlanta Spirit mistreated the Thrashers. The Spirit is incompetent. All the excuses they made about fans, investors etc are just that excuses. They should not have been allowed to buy these sports franchises. they ended up in a dispute in court for years between the owners largely over language in their agreement that showed how incompetent they are. Now they are suing their lawyers. The disagreement began with their signing Joe Johnson. then they went and gave him the largest contract in the NBA. No wonder they have a large payroll for the Hawks. Now they are stuck. I have been a Hawks fan almost since they moved to Atlanta and a Thrashers fan for the last 5 years. But I will not buy any more tickets to the Hawks because of what the Spirit has done and I hope others do the same. Lets force the Spirit to sell the run the owners out of town. They are an embarrassment and have made Atlanta look bad. Take your sports dollars and spend them on the Falcons and Braves. I am not fond of the cheap Braves owners but the management is solid and deserves fan support.
SouthernFriedHockey
June 2nd, 2011
9:58 am
Just listened to the 2nd Bouchard interview. Like another poster said, more damning than the first. Just kills me that nothing can be done. This also has me thinking, why were none of these guys contacted by our media here? Also, we all knew something was up with the franchise long ago, I wrote to the league on many occassions, as I am sure alot of others did, no response.
I guess the league had set us up as the backup in case Phoenix stepped up. We all know this whole siutation reeks. Wish someone in the sports media with some clout would get the whole story out there. It wont save our team but it may help in getting another if enough pressure is applied. Just a thought.
ZAvalanche
June 2nd, 2011
10:01 am
@ Howard – are you flipping kidding me? “I have to disagree with the blog in that it implies the Atlanta Spirit mistreated the Thrashers”. Yes, they did. they funneled money from Thrashy ticket sales to the Hawks. Ask RL or WBF, and they will tell you it is true. Since ASG is private they don’t have to open their books unless the IRS has a problem with them. They put the Thrashers payroll in the basement and increased the Hawks by a lot. How is that not being mistreated? The did little to market them, kept a GM who sucks and fired the only coach to take them to the playoffs (who, BTW, had won a cup) – also failed to keep around great players. They have mistreated and beat their “red headed step-child” to the point of destruction.
Anyhow, as for the game last night, it happened just like I thought it would. Battle of tenders. Can’t fault Thomas as that was some sick work by Kesler to get that puck and stay on-side. MVP = yes if they win. It is a true testament to the goalies that both teams went 0-6 on the PP, especially Thomas as the ‘Nucks have the best PP in the league. Sorry Boston, the swan song is ramping up.
Thrasher T
June 2nd, 2011
10:04 am
It is said that those who refuse to heed the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. To give credence to this axiom, we need look no further than the short and tragic life of the Atlanta Thrashers.
First, the history lesson. In mid-to-late 1862, just a little better than a year into the Civil War, a number of Republicans in Congress, some weary and others downright disheartened by the lack of prosecution of the war on the part of George B. McClellan, the then commander of the Union’s Army of the Potomoc, paid a visit to President Abraham Lincoln at the White House. Lincoln, normally a most affable and jovial man, listened patiently for a while to the litany of complaints brought forth by his congressional visitors against General McClellan, but after a while, Lincoln’s temper flared. To help bring the long, late night conversation, which was going nowhere, to an end, Lincoln asked one of the assembled lawmakers, “who would you have me replace him with?” “Anybody”, was the response. Without missing a beat, Lincoln retorted, “Anybody will do for you…I must have somebody.”
And it is precisely there, in Lincoln’s measured response, that we reach the heart of the matter as to why the Atlanta Thrashers are no more. In its zeal to bring the National Hockey League back to the Empire City of the South, the league, and its commissioner, Gary Bettman, settled for anybody. Without performing its due diligence as to exactly who and what the Atlanta Spirit Group was, the league handed over a franchise to a foul smelling potpourri that clearly had no plan, no model, no clue as to what commitment to hockey in the south would require. All the NHL could see was an opportunity to return to the social and media center of the Southeast, and in its shortsightedness either failed to see, or chose to ignore, warning signs that were evident from the start.
History will now mark Atlanta as the first city to lose two NHL franchises and largely the impression of the world is that the fans failed in their support of first the Flames and now the Thrashers. While it is undeniable that attendance at Philips Arena wasn’t what it could have been, it is only fair , fitting and proper to say in defense that ownership consistently pieced together an on-ice product whose only true goal was to spend as little as possible. In fact, the ASG wanted to drop the team’s payroll in its last two years even further but were prevented from doing so by the NHL which requires a basement on payroll; failing that mandate by the league, ASG would have found a way to sink even lower. In going that route, it was as if the ASG treated the Thrasher franchise as if it was a bad low budget movie; ownership expected you, the fan, to pay to see their droll film 41 times a season, year after year, whose ending was never going to change.
In the end, it is both the National Hockey League and the Atlanta Spirit Group that has failed. The loss of the Thrashers to Winnipeg cannot and should not be laid at the feet of the fans. The city of Atlanta and its goodly base of hardcore Thrasher fans were given by the league the aforementioned anybody. It deserved somebody. Now we hockey fans in and around Atlanta have nobody. History has repeated
kreedham
June 2nd, 2011
10:04 am
Thrasherdawg…the sale for season tickets is only for Manitoba Moose Season ticket holders which goes through Friday. All others get their shot starting Saturday. What happens if they don’t make their goal…do they have to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta as the new owners or is the deal off!
Red Light
June 2nd, 2011
10:19 am
Regardless of the number of season tickets sold in Winnipeg, the eventual sale is up to the NHL’s Board of Governors. IF they don’t sell close to the number of 13,000 that they hope for, and in my opinion 13,000 was a lofty goal, it only really matters to their ownership group as to whether or not they are willing to take it on the chin. But, I also expect a mixed vote from the Board of Governors as some owners likely understand that history is the best forecast of the future. If Atlanta is 0-for-2, Winnipeg is destined for the same eventuality.
Red Light
June 2nd, 2011
10:24 am
Also, facts being what they are, IF Atlanta was granted a stay of execution, does anyone think WE could sell 13,000 season tickets with True North operating the team in Atlanta with new management?
That would be a great subject for Rawhide’s next blog…Average ticket price $82 per game, $3,362 per seat per season, parking $410 per season. Who’s in? Bill?
Atlanta Flames Fan
June 2nd, 2011
10:27 am
Damn; I didn’t win the Powerball last night.
I already had my press conference laid out, with me wearing my Thrashers Jersey.
Red Light
June 2nd, 2011
10:27 am
And while I am at, I dug this up this morning!
Of the seven teams that have relocated since 1980, the Flames and Thrashers are/would become the only two that won more than 40 percent of their total number of games played during the last five seasons prior to relocation (including ties, OT and SO losses).
Flames
179-157-64
Five playoff appearances
Percentage of games won versus games played: .447
Thrashers
181-179-50
One playoff appearance
Percentage of games won versus games played: .441
Jets
149-185-44
Three playoff appearances
Percentage of games won versus games played: .394
North Stars
158-196-50
Four playoff appearances and one Finals appearance
Percentage of games won versus games played: .391
Nordiques
147-180-49
Two playoff appearances
Percentage of games won versus games played: .391
Whalers
138-202-40
No playoff appearances
Percentage of games won versus games played: .363
Rockies
93-235-72
One playoff appearance
Percentage of games won versus games played: .232
Sage of Bluesland
June 2nd, 2011
10:30 am
Thrasher T–that was an excellent read. Thank you.
The NHL’s failure in this concerning ownership-vetting is not to be understated.
Red Light
June 2nd, 2011
10:39 am
If True North Builds It, Would You Come?
Joe Friday
June 2nd, 2011
10:44 am
“IF Atlanta was granted a stay of execution, does anyone think WE could sell 13,000 season tickets with True North operating the team in Atlanta with new management?”
Yep, without a doubt. All the people that KNEW the Spirit Squad and Waddell were to blame, would come flocking back with real owners.
“Average ticket price $82 per game, $3,362 per seat per season, parking $410 per season. Who’s in”
I’m in, ain’t gonna happen though, this horse is gone. Bettman promised the billionaire and team and a team he got him, and the guy wants the team up there in his homeland, helping him sell papers, etc.