It’s shameful to blame fans if Thrashers move to Winnipeg
The Atlanta Spirit pie chart never worked. The Thrashers' failures are not the fault of fans.
(Updated: 2 p.m.)
Like warped kismet, the Thrashers were scheduled to face the Phoenix Coyotes Thursday night, the same week one of the Atlanta Spirit’s captains of disaster declared a relative state of emergency.
There should have been viewing parties in Winnipeg for this, because there’s a very good chance one of these teams is ending up in Manitoba. These rumors have been circulating for months, and not just from the usual Canadian chamber-of-commerce-type knuckleheads who have a vested interest. The rumors are like dominoes, and they fall like this:
♦ 1) The NHL has assured Winnipeg it is getting a team back.
♦ 2) The Coyotes, who’ve had financial issues since moving from Winnipeg in 1996, went into bankruptcy and now are operated by the league, would move back to Winnipeg if current arena refinancing issues can’t be resolved.
♦ 3) Should Phoenix resolve its problems and not relocate, the Thrashers will move to Winnipeg.
I wish I had a dollar for every time somebody used the term “done deal” with me over the last two months.
Michael Gearon was right about one thing: There is a “sense of urgency.” He just misplaces the blame. For him to suddenly put the onus on the fan base – “The reality is we need fans showing up and we need investors or a primary investor” – for hockey’s lifeline in Atlanta is disingenuous and shameful.
Fans showed up when the product was new and fresh. Fans showed up when the Thrashers won and made the playoffs. But since 1999, the team mostly has been mismanaged and run on the cheap.
Atlanta gets knocked for being “a bad sports town.” Fact is, Atlanta sports fans are smart and discerning consumers because they mandate a reason to spend their money. After being dumped on for most of 11 years since 1999, are Thrashers fans supposed to run through walls for a few good months? Scars take longer to heal.
Gearon, Bruce Levenson, and the rest don’t care. In the past, ownership suggested the $10 million annual Philips Arena naming rights deal was tied to having two tenants. It was a fallback soundbite every time a rumored move came up. Now, Thrashers president Don Waddell claims that’s not the case. If the Thrashers leave, he said, the Spirit merely receives a reduced pro-rated amount. (The Spirit denies an earlier version of the blog that said the naming rights deal was renegotiated six months ago.)
Over a year ago, when the Thrashers sat down to attempt to negotiate a new contract with Ilya Kovalchuk, ownership was apoplectic that Kovalchuk and his agent addressed potential new ownership and the team’s uncertain future in negotiations. Some wanted to cast the failed negotiations as the pro sports cliché of an athlete just asking for too much money. The fact was that Kovalchuk didn’t want to wake up in two years and find out he was moving to . . . Winnipeg.
When he couldn’t get assurances the team would stay in Atlanta, he played his only bargaining chip: He asked for the moon.
This situation is tearing up the insides of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. He doesn’t want to be the guy who allowed Atlanta to lose an NHL franchise for the second time. But he knows it’s a horrible situation created by horrible ownership, which he has called on the carpet before. There is no incentive for an outsider to purchase only the hockey team and keep it in Atlanta. There also is no market right now for the Spirit to sell both teams and the arena rights, even though both have been on the market for at least two years.
The Spirit admits in a current complaint against their former attorneys that they’ve been seeking to sell the Thrashers almost since closing the deal to buy them. How can somebody claim to be putting out the best possible product and at the same time be looking to dump it?
There’s a word for that: fraud.
I’m not sure there’s a way out of this. Even if the Coyotes move back to Winnipeg, the Thrashers will be in the same situation, waiting for a financial archangel the way you and I wait for a winning lottery ticket. It wasn’t right in 1980 when Tom Cousins had to sell the Flame to support his real estate ventures, and it’s not right now.
Gearon said this is an urgent matter. Neglect will do that. But this was years in the making. Don’t throw that into the laps of fans.
By Jeff Schultz
♦
Earlier:
– NCAA investigating Auburn again (not Cam Newton this time)
– Dreaming of Albert Pujols as a Brave
– Roger Goodell should be negotiating, not Tweeting for clicks
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223 comments Add your comment
Casey
February 17th, 2011
11:32 am
First!
Casey
February 17th, 2011
11:32 am
It’s easy to be first on a hockey blog..
Casey
February 17th, 2011
11:32 am
Third…
Keep The Thrashers Fan Website
February 17th, 2011
11:33 am
Jeff: 100% on the money – fans are not to blame – we need to rally the troops and find some NEW OWNERS to keep the team in Atlanta. We are migrating to a “Keep The Thrashers” campaign and away from Arthur Blank. We should have the new domain http://www.keepthethrashers.com set up soon. Please help fight the good fight:
http://www.arthurblankbuythethrashers.com/
Najeh Davenpoop
February 17th, 2011
11:36 am
ASG is at the centre of this. And Im first and its aboot time.
juvenal
February 17th, 2011
11:38 am
only Mark cares if you are 1st……
Cp8
February 17th, 2011
11:38 am
The team was doomed when ted turner picked that awful name….. They could have done so much better…
Pete
February 17th, 2011
11:39 am
You can’t blame the fans, but you can blame the city. The Thrashers have their fans, but just not enough of them to make it a viable franchise. The games that I’ve been to have been incredible, but the stands are not even half full. It’s a shame really, but Gwinnett’s Gladiators get a better attendance as a minor league team than the Thrashers do as an NHL franchise.
Dawglasville
February 17th, 2011
11:42 am
Having your teams owned by these ownership groups blows. I told people when the Falcons were at their lowest, during the Petrino / Vick fiasco, that the Falcons would win a championship before any of the Atlanta sports teams because of Arthur Blank. Where is Ted when we need him? These people are only in it to harvest our money.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
11:43 am
Keep The Thrashers Website — Thanks. Good luck with your site.
Ryno
February 17th, 2011
11:44 am
Give us a crappy product for much of the Thrashers history and you can’t expect us to show. I go because I do love this team in spite of how p*** poorly it’s been managed.
If you want more people to show up, have promotional nights where everyone in attendance gets to take a swing at a member of these rocket surgeons in the ASG. Seems fair for the slap in the face they’ve given us for 10+ years.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
11:45 am
Cp8 — Honestly, I was never thrilled with name either. But the name doesn’t amount to much in the end. The “Mighty Ducks” won a Stanley Cup.
vince
February 17th, 2011
11:45 am
Thanks Jeff for putting out the truth. Yesterday’s “news story” was an entended plug for Gearon, pere et fils, who have been mismanaging teams and sucking Atlanta fans dry for generations.
PMC
February 17th, 2011
11:47 am
Well, if they leave, another team will come along shortly and we can hope for better management once again. There is no reason whatsoever that this would not be a 4 team town in regards to pro sports.
What’s unfortunate is that after so much time they are finally putting a good solid team together. They are finally fixing some of the big issues.
I don’t feel it’s a lost cause just yet.
The fan bases of teams from this city have supported every team exceptionally well when it was warranted.
We’ve seen enough losing to know when teams can’t compete with the best in the league. We are knowledgeable and we can see glaring inadequacies even if some of us myself included bought in to a Falcons team way too soon…over looking clear issues because our hearts were in it.
If they leave… they leave, but it will not be because Atlanta failed…. it will be because the management of the Thrashers failed to field a competitive team despite being given everything they needed to succeed.
Jason
February 17th, 2011
11:49 am
Where have you gone Ted Turner, a fanbase turns its lonely eyes to you….
Oh well, maybe Tyler Perry has some money he’s willing to invest. Plus, the Thrashers do have the highest percentage of minority players in the league, if I’m not mistaken….
Bill
February 17th, 2011
11:51 am
The games I’ve seen have been lame. Fake fights on the ice are no better than fake wrestling. When the refs don’t even bother you know it’s fake, oh yeah the advertising drops down to let you know there’s nothing really to watch on the ice. How about real skating and actual excitement then maybe the fans would be there.
Chaz
February 17th, 2011
11:53 am
Lower ticket prices. Who would consider paying $40 for an upper level seat? Are they insane? Clearly somebody needs to do a ticket revenue breakeven analysis to maximize the profits. A 1/3rd full stadium doesn’t help anything.
Mo Money
February 17th, 2011
11:53 am
Arthur Blank s the new owner wouldn’t exactly make me want to go out and buy season tickets, personally he just doesn’t look like a hockey man. But even if Blank isn’t a hockey kind of guy, I’d atleast figure he care about the team enough to keep them in Atlanta and not try and screw people over every way imaginable like ASG has done for the last 11 years.
Matt
February 17th, 2011
11:56 am
The Atlanta Thrashers had a team with Marc Savard, Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk…
They let Savard walk for nothing.
The next year proved that Kovalchuk desperately needed a center for his line…
ASG’s solution? Steve Rucchin.
da' boomer
February 17th, 2011
11:56 am
where’s david mcdavid when you need him? probably still counting the $$$$ he won from that drunken buffoon ted turner. anyone else curious that he chose to sell it to the asg group that just happened to include dim-witted son-in-law rutherford?
Ryno
February 17th, 2011
11:57 am
Could we just take the $150 million Bon Jovi wants to spend on the Falcons and get him to buy the Thrashers instead? Or could Mr. Blank reinvest the $150M when he gets it into buying a lightly used professional hockey team here in town? Could I still take a swing at the jerks in the ASG?
Alan R.
February 17th, 2011
11:57 am
Our owners have proven they’re shameless, so this doesn’t really bother them much.
Right now, I’d settle for anyone to own the team. Blank would be nice, because we know he wouldn’t screw around. He’d be able to attract additional investors, as opposed to the Seven Clowns running this show.
It’s not the market, people, it’s the morons running this team into the ground.
Gordon
February 17th, 2011
11:59 am
Keep the Thrashers in Atlanta. Winnipeg hockey fans want the Coyotes, because it would poetic justice to have that team return to it’s city of origin. It doesn’t appear that will happen, but there is a sense of morbid glee in watching the Phoenix Coyotes/City of Glendale/Matt Hulsizer situation sink to rock bottom. My hope is that if the Coyotes never return to Winnipeg, that they continue to languish in the desert and eventually the NHL will have to disband the franchise. That would prove what a genius Gary Bettman is.
GD
February 17th, 2011
11:59 am
I think we should enlist Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger…it worked for the 1989 Cleveland Indians!
Yard
February 17th, 2011
12:01 pm
Pete, I respectfully disagree with you. The blame does not lie with city or the fans. There are more than enough fans to support this team, both native converts and transplants from traditional hockey markets. Jeff rightly places the blame squarely on ownership. They have systematically alienated scores of season ticket holders over the last few years. Who in their right mind would want to be business partners with the ASG? Their plea for investors will likely fail and selling the team will be the only alternative. Hopefully, the NHL can help, but it looks like their efforts in Phoenix have exhausted all resources.
Tosh.No
February 17th, 2011
12:04 pm
Yeah, when Heatley was sent out of town, I was still behind the team, but then when they got rid of Kovey, I was done watching that crap. My brother had tickets to a game this year that went un-used, because I refused to go watch them play and spend any money at the stadium, even if I had free tickets. Who do we have now? No one thats going to get us to the play offs. So there is no reason for me to go watch that crap. At least in the 80s when the braves were always finishing in last place, people grew up loving that sport so it was still fun to go to, but I grew up in GA and I have never once had to opportunity to play hockey, so I could care even less about it.
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Smoove Criminal
February 17th, 2011
12:06 pm
Where have you gone Ted Turner, a fanbase turns its lonely eyes to you….
Oh well, maybe Tyler Perry has some money he’s willing to invest. Plus, the Thrashers do have the highest percentage of minority players in the league, if I’m not mistaken….
——————————————————-
I actually heard at a Thrashers game ironically enough this season that they are 2nd behind the Chicago Blackhawks in terms of minority players.
That aside, I kinda in agreement with Ryno. Try and sway Jon Bon Jovi’s interest to the Thrashers or even get Blank as the owner.
Theron Sapp
February 17th, 2011
12:06 pm
“Disingenuous and shameful” is a pretty good summation of these guys’ tenure with the Thrashers.
I think PMC is wrong, though’ once the Thrashers are gone, another team isn’t going to “come along shortly.” I doubt we’ll see another NHL team for decades, if ever. Articles like Jeff’s, explaining the inept ownership, will be forgotten, and we’ll just hear “Atlanta never supported hockey.”
BLUELANDbeliever
February 17th, 2011
12:07 pm
A: Bill, ur a troll. GTFO!
B: Ryno, its not about the product, its about being a fan. If you love the team you will show reguardless of the product. Why do you think the Leafs still are a team even though they cant make the playoffs to save their lives? Because people care and ill be damned if my team gets packed up and shipped off to a city that doesnt deserve a team.
Matt from MN
February 17th, 2011
12:13 pm
Has there EVER been a NHL fan base that’s been lied to more, or screwed over more, than Thrasher fans?
Winnipeg fans- be careful what you wish for, because if this team moves with the same ownership group to your City, it will be more of the same.
Keep The Thrashers Fan Website
February 17th, 2011
12:14 pm
@ Jeff Schultz – Appreciate the encouragement – we will continue to fight the good fight. I hope fans realize odds are very good the ASG will be out even if the Thrashers stay in Atlanta – which means, as fans, our focus should be on Atlanta’s NHL franchise, not the current ownership group. If we give the NHL a reason to give Atlanta some time, they may do just that. However, if the remaining home games are poorly attended and Atlanta leaders do not step up and protect our economic asset, the team will move, jobs will be lost, and many fans will be heartbroken. We need to look at the long-term, and big picture, which is saving hockey in Atlanta. We just bought the new domain name (see above) – we should have it live sometime today.
Buckeye
February 17th, 2011
12:19 pm
Hey Schultz,
Unbelievable your guy just sweep the Vandy loss under the rug. Hype for days then the headline today gets pushed down to the curb.
DawgFan
February 17th, 2011
12:19 pm
It does all boil down to the ASG. For years they told the fans “Here’s a pile of crap, give us your money.” They’ve not tried to make a decent product, they’ve not tried to bring in the best players, and they care more about naming rights than fielding a winning team. Even as a fan of this team, there is only so much you can take. If you want to call that a fair weather fan, then go ahead. The ASG has abused their customers. If you keep doing that, then eventually your customers will leave.
R. Stroz
February 17th, 2011
12:22 pm
The ASG is CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP.
Gearon used a specious point in his interview with Kincade yesterday, a single season example, to show the ASG isn’t cheap, so here’s the whole truth, something an ASG owner wouldn’t understand. Gearon stated that the Hawks payroll THIS SEASON is one of the highest in the NBA. We’ll assume this a true statement being that they re-signed Joe Johnson, Al Horford, and Mike Bibby. HOWEVER, ONCE AGAIN, AN ASG OWNER FAILED TO TELL THE WHOLE TRUTH.
Over the last few NBA seasons, not including the present one, the Atlanta Hawks have been at or near the bottom of the NBA in payroll since the Spirit Clowns purchased the Hawks, Thrashers, and Philips Arena.
Notice in the list below that the Hawks payroll NEVER exceeds the 50th percentile of the 30 NBA teams. Only in the 2008-2009 season, when the Hawks brought in Mike Bibby at the trade deadline, did the Hawks payroll exceed the 30th percentile.
2005-06 $36,632,449 28th (29 teams)
2006-07 $47,812,036 25th (29 teams)
2007-08 $58,531,493 22nd (29 teams)
2008-09 $68,607,953 17th (30 teams)
2009-10 $70,198,210 23rd (30 teams)
So since the ASG took over the Hawks, the team payroll ranked 28th, 25th, 22nd, 17th, and 23rd relative to the other 30 NBA teams.
LOOKS CHEAP TO ME. LOOKS LIKE THE ASG CAN’T PLAY AT THE BIG BOYS TABLE.
NOTE TO MICHAEL GEARON, YOU SHOULD STUDY THE TERM SAMPLING ERROR. YOU CAN FIND THIS TERM IN ANY STATISTICS BOOK.
The Thrashers, other than 2005-2006 season, have had a team payroll that has ranked in the bottom 20th percentile every season. The Thrashers payroll, since the 2005-2006 season, has ranked 24th, 26th, 29th, 28th, and currently 29th relative to the other 30 NHL teams.
LOOKS CHEAP TO ME. LOOKS LIKE THE ASG CAN’T PLAY AT THE BIG BOYS TABLE.
Mr. Gearon, those are the real facts, all of them, not just a specious anomaly.
So, what is the problem all of a sudden? Gearon told you: the Hawks now have a real payroll THIS SEASON. Yes, the ASG boys blew all their money on their Johnson, or the Hawks, whichever you prefer. Now, they don’t have enough dough for the Thrashers.
Once again, Gearon stated the problem today, alluding to the difficulty of MAINTAINING A PAYROLL FOR TWO TEAMS. And once again we reach the real conclusion, the ASG NEVER WANTED TWO TEAMS JUST ONE.
The ASG doesn’t have enough dough to run two franchises, something they should have thought of when they bought them, something that’s obvious with a little payroll analysis: BIG OOPS!
So instead of the ASG being merely CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP…we should add POOR, POOR, POOR.
The only way the Thrashers remain in Atlanta is simple:
1) A local buyer purchases the team.
2) The new buyer rents Philips Arena from the Spirit Clowns for a couple of years until
3) A NEW ARENA is built on the north side of town, which Ted Turner stopped from happening back in the 1990s.
4) Because no one can deal with the Spirit Clowns
steeldawg
February 17th, 2011
12:22 pm
Jeff,
Thanks for being one of the local journalists that actually pays attention to the Thrashers. Alot of blame for hockey not growing falls on the TV media both national and local. In alot of major cities the sports stories isnt the last 30 seconds of the news telecast like Atlanta. You are lucky if they mention the Thrashers score. National media/ESPN would rather give you WNBA highlights beacuse they televise some of those unwatchable games. Hockey and Soccer is pushed out of Sportcenter almost all together. Those are two sports that are a thousand percent better in person than on television so they get put on the back burner. Thanks again and I hope you are still talking about the Thrashers for years to come. JUST UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. GOOD THING THEY INVESTED IN JOE JOHNSON TO STAY IN ATLANTA, BUT WILL LET A WHOLE HOCKEY FRANCHISE LEAVE!!!! Where is Bruce Levenson when you need him?. I always knew he was the one with any sense.
Paul in RDU
February 17th, 2011
12:27 pm
This is a shame what is happening to the hockey fans in Atlanta. It just shows the importance of having a reliable owner. We have a small ownership issue with the Hurricanes up here in the Triangle (Karmanos is an absentee owner looking for local investors) but the committment of the owner (singular – not plural like the ASG) has been to the franchise and to the fans and there is going to be a successful resolution.
Joe Friday
February 17th, 2011
12:28 pm
Schultz, can you try to get a response from Bettman or Daly about Gearon’s threat yesterday to move the club? Where are they? Their silence is deafening, try to get them on the record about keeping the Thrashers here . . .
Feel free to copy and paste this text and send it to the Mayor, Governor, and tailor it for the NHL front office:
email to: mayorreed@atlantaga.gov
fill out form for Gov: http://gov.georgia.gov/00/gov/contact_us/0,2657,165937316_166563415,00.html#
fill out form for NHL: http://www.nhl.com/ice/feedback.htm
Dear Mr. Mayor,
You are probably hearing from fans and media about the problems with the Atlanta Thrashers. The ownership group in control
knows little about hockey and has been losing money, and has mismanaged the team.
This has caused low attendance due to fans being turned off by the ownership group, a group who met with the fans and told
them to “deal with it!” if they didn’t like how the team was being run. Imagine if you said that during your campaign, the voters
would deal with it, by NOT voting for you. Fans have voted NO against the Thrashers’ owners by staying away.
But there’s fans in this town and I’m afraid that if you and other local politicians don’t use your bully pulpit to try to save the team,
that we’ll lose them. You may not be a hockey fan, and you may not care about them, but I’m sure they provide a good tax revenue
base for the city, and it will be lost if these current owners don’t find a new local buyer to buy the team.
Please look into this, I’m free to speak with you or your staff to answer questions, but please step in.
Sincerely,
Joe Friday
Sage of Bluesland
February 17th, 2011
12:28 pm
Outstanding article, Jeff–you hit all the necessary points.
This abomination of an organization has been a shame from day-one….from Kasten, the little dictator, getting another entity to be “President” of…to the selection of Don Waddell as GM…to uncaring ownership (among different entities)…Day-one, the causes for chaos have been present.
It’s such a shame. It’s such an insult to intelligence. I’m so fed up with everything they have shoveled for so long.
Ted Striker
February 17th, 2011
12:31 pm
No way anyone could ever blame the fans for any of this. Thrasher fans are awesome. Haven’t suffered like Cubs fans but they’ve had plenty of misery crammed into their compact existence.
That said, Strike ain’t gonna say AS committed fraud. AS is only guilty of investing the money, taking the risk. And having a fractured ownership base by committee.
Ownership by committee only works for the Packers and my harem (as far as they know).
Pazzo
February 17th, 2011
12:32 pm
Unfortunately, creative marketing does have a place in the success of franchise. Team ownership has failed to build an attractive aura around the Hawks and Thrashers. Compare it to “Braves country” and “Rise Up!”. I need a bit more than an announcer screaming “Evander Kane” no matter how cool it sounds. Maybe David McDavid will consider buying them again.
tonyb
February 17th, 2011
12:34 pm
This does look bleak. Why would Bettman roll over on this? He has said time and time again he would help to prevent franchise relocation. Why would he not help Atlanta?
Sunshine36616
February 17th, 2011
12:39 pm
Thanks for this. It’s nice to see the fans get mentioned in a possitive light for a change.
Hillbilly Deluxe
February 17th, 2011
12:40 pm
After being dumped on for most of 11 years since 1999, are Thrashers fans supposed to run through walls for a few good months? Scars take longer to heal.
The fans supported this team a whole lot better than the Atlanta Spirit clowns ever did. Things are looking just about like they did when the Flames left. Is there some way the NHL could take the team over like they did in Phoenix?
What's next for the Thrashers? | Atlanta Thrashers
February 17th, 2011
12:42 pm
[...] I will let our folks who get paid for their opinion – Jeff Schultz, Mark Bradley and even Rawhide (hey, wait do we pay him?) – weigh in on who is at fault for [...]
Jack P
February 17th, 2011
12:48 pm
Bye! Bye! Don’t let the door hit you in the arse as you leave.
Sage of Bluesland
February 17th, 2011
12:48 pm
“…Gearon, Bruce Levenson, et. all — they’ve been planning for this. Several months ago, they quietly renegotiated the $10 million annual Philips Arena naming rights deal. Now if the Thrashers leave, it won’t null and void the entire contract, but merely decrease it. Funny, they never announced that….”
This speaks extreme volumes.
This has been a fraud, nearly from day-one.
It’s past time to end the incompetence.
Hip Czech
February 17th, 2011
12:49 pm
Can we sue the ASG?
BG33Brown
February 17th, 2011
12:50 pm
Keep the Thrashers-keep up the good work. We need to find one place to put all of our efforts. Well done sir.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 17th, 2011
12:51 pm
“Atlanta gets knocked for being “a bad sports town.” Fact is, Atlanta sports fans are smart and discerning consumers because they mandate a reason to spend their money. ”
Exactly.
I don’t know anything about hockey, but please cut and paste this sentence any time someone knocks Atlanta sports fans for not showing out to see the area’s other sports teams.
former thrashers fan
February 17th, 2011
12:53 pm
it was gearon sr. and tom cousins and a shifty partner buy-out that made mike jr. his money. no wonder this group is a laughingstock. Atlanta (Thrashers) Spirit KILLERS – fraud from the get-go.
BlueEagle
February 17th, 2011
12:55 pm
This is on the Atlanta Spirit Group…all of them. Shameful thing is the Hawks are run just as poorly, they only have a longer history and fanbase to draw on. It’s too bad for the Thrasher fans that truly love this team that they were never given a fighting chance due to mismanagement.
Bet they wish they would have give David McDavid a shot now, huh?
Tim
February 17th, 2011
12:57 pm
This is so sad :’(
KLS1
February 17th, 2011
1:10 pm
To destroy a brand new frnachise in 10 years is an amazing accomplishment…nice work ASG, you should all never show your faces in this town again.
Sadly, without a playoff push this whole relocation will happen without a whimper. I hope we can grind our way into the 8th seed in the playoffs and go put some energy behind this team.
As it stands now, after 10 years of misery it is hard to get fired up about anything.
SomaAtl95
February 17th, 2011
1:10 pm
We want the team to stay in Atlanta and send the A$G to Winnipeg. That way they can kill NHL Hockey for a second time in another market.
R. Stroz
February 17th, 2011
1:17 pm
I’s be more than happy to charter a poorly maintained plane for the Spirit Clowns to fly over the Bermuda triangle.
The only problem is this: I’m sure the Bermuda Triangle has standards for disappearances.
The ASG does fluffing for Gay Porn on weekends
February 17th, 2011
1:17 pm
I have been pissed off with this group ever sense they let Hossa go. Been severely pissed off since Kovy left, but I did not know of the subplot in the negotiations; like the ASG was gonna bring that to public light. They need their franchise pulled by the NHL for fair market value, which by the way they operate won’t be very much, that will be the only way this franchise is to be saved. What a bunch of losers to blame the fans for their gross incompetence. Jeff I loved the term “Captains of Disaster”. How would like to be a rank-and-file employee under these Morons? They probably installed pay toilets in their guest bathrooms.
Chris
February 17th, 2011
1:19 pm
I would feel horrible getting Thrashers from Atlanta. Fans seem genuine. On the other hand, I’d gladly take the Coyotes from the bandwagon fans of Arizona. In Jobing.com Arena, The home team is always the away team. That and the Coyotes lie about attendance all the time which I’m not a fan of.
Alan R.
February 17th, 2011
1:20 pm
KLS1 – To be fair, it took them seven years. Smell that? Smells like napalm. Check the ground underneath your feet, for it may be scorched.
JLC
February 17th, 2011
1:22 pm
Bottom line is that Atlanta is just not a hockey town (thank God). I know there are loyal fans here, but it’s just not a good fit here. We love football and the Braves. I’m sure the boys north of the border will be thrilled when they get them. Oh, and if any of the Thrashers need a ride to the airport, please don’t hesitate to ask!
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heartofdarkness
February 17th, 2011
1:45 pm
How can you say there is no market for buying the Hawks-Thrashers- Philips interests, Jeff? The Chinese are building empty cities in Mongolia, for crying out loud. Russian oligarchs are already in the NBA. Professional sports can’t be a worse investment than Citigroup, and the Saudis are all over that. Canadians are assembling oil fortunes again, And the Social Network guy could probably hide the entire deal in a footnote of his I.P.O. The question is, how much would ASG have to pay someone to take the enterprise off their hands.
Rock Perdoni
February 17th, 2011
1:52 pm
Quick – name three Thrasher players. …. Yawn.
schmeckdawg
February 17th, 2011
1:56 pm
Schultzie, for once I agree with you. This team has been here what 10 years, made the playoffs just once and got swept! Time to go!!!!!
Ozzy
February 17th, 2011
2:04 pm
If the NHL and NBA both folded up tomorrow, would anyone south of Philadelphia really give a rip?
Hella Jeff
February 17th, 2011
2:04 pm
Bryan Little, Evander Kane, Dustin Byfuglien. try again, Rock.
ot
February 17th, 2011
2:07 pm
I’ve always wondered why people bother to come here and comment about how much they hate hockey, and some are even glad to see them go. What do *you* gain by having the Thrashers leave? I’m sure you have a favorite sport, and I’m equally as sure that it’s not the same as mine (since mine is hockey). But I’m happy you have your team to cheer for, and I hope I will still have mine for years to come.
Being on the Internet and being anonymous doesn’t mean you have to try to be a jerk just because you can.
Bluelander
February 17th, 2011
2:13 pm
Jeff, unless I missed something this is a key piece of info I picked up while reading an article in the “north of the border” press…can you comment on whether this is true or not…because if it is true…we have all been set up…they will sell to folks north of the border for sure…and the league can’t stop them:
“Thrashers ownership is in the last year of its seven-year relocation covenant with the NHL. The covenant is a promise from owners not to move their franchise for seven years and is part of the consent agreement all owners sign when they buy a team.
Atlanta Spirit bought the Thrashers in March of 2004 and will be in position to request a relocation sale for this fall”
reebok
February 17th, 2011
2:17 pm
I attend sporting events in Atlanta regularly, including Braves, G-Tech and GSU games…I also go to UGA games in Athens and NASCAR events at AMS. Don’t call me a poor sports fan because I don’t go to Thrashers games anymore…I don’t go to the games because they are a pi$$-poor use of my entertainment $$.
GaVaHokie
February 17th, 2011
2:18 pm
Bluelander… I was under the understanding that the covenant was until 2014… don’t remember where I got that from, it’s just always been stuck in my head.
One silver lining, according to this article (last paragraph) is that a third to half the league is looking for new investors.
http://blogs.forbes.com/mikeozanian/2011/02/02/buffalo-sabres-sold-for-165-million-to-billionaire-terry-pegula/
Gwinnett Fred
February 17th, 2011
2:19 pm
At least the morons making up the ASG can’t be accused of false advertising. The poster clearly shows they are all part of owning a basketball team, distancing themselves from hockey from the very start!
JSS
February 17th, 2011
2:19 pm
At Ted Striker and Davenpoop…
Massive Co-signs!!!
I’ve said my part on the Thrashers, I won’t rehash it now… Still, the NHL will contract before it expands. The troubled franchises: Atlanta, Miami, Carolina, and Phoenix are very unlikely to make the trip North with the exclusion of the Coyotes…There is no reason that this team can not succeed; but they’ve got to make the playoffs and breathe life into this fan base… It will not make the owners loved. That ship has sailed. But at least it might show some outside group that “hey, let’s give it a go.” The NHL wants no part of Hamilton or Quebec City because they pull from two of the prime teams in the league Montreal and Toronto… The Leafs make the Thrashers look like they are well run!
JSS
February 17th, 2011
2:24 pm
“Bet they wish they would have give David McDavid a shot now, huh?”
That man is Bud Adams Jr… He’s a crackpot!
Eon Rodeo
February 17th, 2011
2:24 pm
I usually don’t buy into the “What about the children?” line of reasoning, but I was disturbed by the honest disappointment in my 7-year-old son’s face last night when I told him it’s possible the Thrashers might be leaving. I firmly believe having them here really helped get him into a sport I grew up with and love, and if they leave, who knows? That could hurt on a very personal level.
And for those who say who cares about hockey, it’s about more than just the sport itself, but of keeping Atlanta as a legitimate big-league sports city. Losing one of the top four stick-and-ball sports is a blow to civic pride. I sincerely hope this can still be resolved in Atlanta’s favor.
Good!
February 17th, 2011
2:25 pm
I think it would be great if we lost the Falcons and the Braves too. For that matter it would be even better if NHL, NFL and MLB leagues were all disbanded. So sport can be sport again, not overpriced entertainment underwritten by Municipal debt. Where are the teapartiers when you really need them?
dga
February 17th, 2011
2:26 pm
@Pazzo: I agree with the marketing aspect. Of course, the ownership is about as crummy as possible, but there are many easy marketing items the Thrashers could address that a friend and I were talking about last night.
The Falcons and Braves players are always out in the community, signing autographs at different functions and showing up at different locations around the city (in the Braves’ case, the entire Southeast). I don’t think of D.C. as a hockey town, but it was amazing to see the buzz around the Capitals (even during a tough stretch) and how well that organization was run on HBO’s 24/7 (granted, they do have one of the two best players in the league).
Why don’t the Thrashers have a couple of days where they come to the outdoor skating rink at Centennial Park and skate with the kids (The Caps did this on 24/7)? I also know the Thrashers practice in Duluth, but why don’t they do a lot of PR/events at other ice rinks and roller hockey rinks in the state? Market to those who actually play hockey and obviously have an interest in the sport. Start there. Plus, I know roller hockey is pretty big in the Gwinnett and Cobb areas, and it seems they forget that.
The fact is they don’t even do the minimum in trying to create interest from a marketing/PR standpoint. I mean Thrash getting “arrested” is the best they can come up with?! Really?!
Another thing is that tickets aren’t as affordable as a Braves game. Who wants to pay $20+ to sit in the upper deck? Not to mention concessions. My theory is, decide how you want to make money, concessions or ticket prices. I would say offer more affordable tickets ($10 in the upper deck). Once people are actually IN the arena, they’re going to buy concessions, regardless of cost.
Rich T
February 17th, 2011
2:32 pm
Michael Gearon: “I think it helps having fans show up because it demonstrates that the city is committed to the team.”
It would be easy to be committed to this team had the ownership group shown any level of commitment over the years. It works both ways.
Atlanta Spirit has failed the hockey fans of this city.
Brian
February 17th, 2011
2:33 pm
I shared season tickets for years. When the team dumped Marion Hossa it became apparent the ownership was not serious about putting a winning product on the ice. (Hossa would not re-sign for reasons repeated later with Kovalchuk). I declined to renew. In my experience, the fans were seriously loyal to the team but that loyalty was not rewarded and has begun to erode. I think Don Waddell did the best he could within the limitations created by the owners.
Joe Tess Fish House
February 17th, 2011
2:43 pm
The Trashers reel problem is they got rit of there best player in Kolvachock. Every sence than, they not look like winers.
My letter to Winnipeg:
February 17th, 2011
2:43 pm
I’ve been doing tons of research over this in the last few days, and I really think we should give the team to Winnipeg. I’m a huge hockey fan, and I like going out to as many games as I can afford to, but when you look at the fanbase in Winnipeg, their history, and how they were so unfairly ripped of a team they so deserve by the “Evil Gary,” I’d say they can have it. I mean, how much does out city/state really want a team. I’ll sometimes go to a lounge and start chatting about sports, and every time I bring up hockey, I get looked at like a loonie (get the Canadian reference there?). This city doesn’t need NHL hockey to be a happy sports town. Winnipeg does.
I want my Beer
February 17th, 2011
2:46 pm
Thirsty Thursdays are promotional days where they offer discounted beers in certain locations. On two separate occassions when I was there, THEY RAN OUT OF BEER!!!
What more do you need to say about these jokers running the Thrashers? Their incompetence is truly pathetic. I feel sorry for the players wasting their careers playing for these idiotic owners.
I guarantee the Winnipeg vendors would never run out of beer.
polskidawg
February 17th, 2011
2:47 pm
A repeat from Bradley’s artice:
Completely and shamefully the biggest group of incompetent, disingenuous, lying b*stards in the history of Atlanta sports ownership. That’s saying something in a city that has previously seen the Smith family as owners.
Puckhead
February 17th, 2011
2:49 pm
The ASG’s bumbling ownership reminds me of an old saying. Can’t remember the first part, but the last part is: “…and the horse you rode in on.”
Richard Bagge
February 17th, 2011
3:02 pm
Why on earth should I go see the Thrashers when, for one-fifth the cost, I can see a BETTER team play BETTER hockey from BETTER seats in Gwinnett County, where my concession dollars support local schools and the parking is free? Go Glads!
Mooseberg - Season Ticket Holder
February 17th, 2011
3:08 pm
Thank you Schultz, someone needed to write the fans side and truth about what has been going on with the Thrashers. Hope we can find a way to keep them.
gearon is an idiot
February 17th, 2011
3:08 pm
Michael gearon is such a punk. He really wants to question the fans commitment after what those mental defectives did to this franchise? If you went into a restaurant and the waiter brought out your plate and it had a big pile of horse$hit on it would you go back? Heck no. The spirit group served the Thrasher fans a big pile of dung for over a decade.
Rich T
February 17th, 2011
3:09 pm
polskidawg: “Completely and shamefully the biggest group of incompetent, disingenuous, lying b*stards in the history of Atlanta sports ownership. That’s saying something in a city that has previously seen the Smith family as owners.”
Funny you bring up the Smiths, as I was thinking the same exact thing last night.
VOLinATL
February 17th, 2011
3:30 pm
Baggee: The Gladiators are a better team??? Really?? I like the Glads, but please….
gooneygoogoo
February 17th, 2011
3:31 pm
I must say I am suprised so many fans are atill at the games. The ASG and WADDELL screwed this team and the fans so many times they made people hate the team. For this team to survive there needed to be alot of redneck converts. How can you convert the locals with a team contantly in flux and never making the playoffs. ASG are cowards who wont blame themselves and hide behind the curtains.
I’m sorry they are going to leave I wont be able to see the PENS live anymore. Damn Smucks ASG.
LAC
February 17th, 2011
3:37 pm
Right on Jeff, We have endured HORRIBLE Businessmen buying sports teams in this city and they,
cousins and the Litte Liar Boys, had/have NO idea as to what they are doing. It just astounds me
that the NHL, a respectable league, which holds players & teams to HIGH Standards, are allowing these sririt IDIOTS to lie, lie, lie. I really cannot believe they have not stepped in and done something.
When “did” the NHL say winnipeg “will” get a team back ???? I heard Bettman at the ASG, say NO franchise will be relocated.
But yet AGAIN, the Fans are NOT to blame, it is the owners, and gearon or WTF your name is, you are a little stinking LIAR. I REALLY wish your car would stall on one of my railroad lines…
Instead of putting the train into emergency and stopping, I would instruct ALL my engineers to notch up to throttle #8 and split you in half and drag you for about a mile, then stop and let the EMS people pick up YOUR pieces !
Morons in Charge
February 17th, 2011
3:38 pm
Hire back kasten! He’s in the know!!!
nascar/NOT
February 17th, 2011
3:41 pm
nascar is not a sport, period. I see more than enough cars on 285. nascar is simply stupid as hell !
@ Jeff Schultz - New Website Up
February 17th, 2011
3:42 pm
Jeff: We are close to “de-Blanking” our plea – we are shifting to “Keep the Thrashers”. We also will be migrating to a new facebook page soon (not yet) – you can show support for hockey in Atlanta by “Liking Us” on the new facebook page. We will post an update here. We need to try to build some momentum in the next two weeks. Our cause is to keep hockey in Atlanta. New domain is:
http://www.keepthethrashers.com/
Let’s fight the good fight – it is much easier to keep an existing team than to get another franchise (just ask Winnipeg or Kansas City).
JSS
February 17th, 2011
3:42 pm
VOLinATL
February 17th, 2011
3:30 pm
“Baggee: The Gladiators are a better team??? Really?? I like the Glads, but please.”
I’ll never step foot in Gwinnettt Arena (or the G-Braves Stadium) for just the reasons ‘Baggee’ stated why supports them… It’s Gwinnett!
Thrashers Stay Please!
February 17th, 2011
3:44 pm
A few points that should be at the center of this rather than everybody whining and moaning “do this” and “do that” to ASG:
1. Every sports franchise/ownership has been disingenuous with fans from time to time and ALL OF THEM worry about the bottom line… period. ASG may be to an extreme, but they really aren’t any different so get off that crap…
2. The Braves? You Kidding? People supported them because grew up loving the sport? WOW that’s a farce… I grew up going to Braves games when you could throw a hand-grenade in parts of Atlanta-Fulton Co. Stadium and nobody would get hurt and everyone got invited behind home plate in the third inning…. they only reason they stuck around was because Ted wanted them too and lvoed baseball — oh and it drove his ratings on Channel 17 to the point he could make it a national cable network.
3. Fans can’t be blamed…. BULL&^$&^!!. Everyone is to blame if they really want hockey to stick around here. It’s a disgrace to see an arena half-empty for team that is playing hard and WANTS to make Atlanta its home regardless of ownership issues.
4. Media to blame? ESPN shows more Hockey and Soccer highlights now than it ever has – and other than football, basketball and baseball hockey is fourth. I’ve seen more local Thrashers coverage than ever before – and the national media went nuts over the team went it really started to cook back in November.
5. The bottom line is nobody OWES the fans a $#$^#%^$^%& thing. My family loves the Thrashers and we go to every game we can – although from an 1:30 mins away we only make it about 5 to 7 times a season — but I don’t go thinking somebody owes us this or that — I go because I love the team and want them to succeed and stay in Atlanta.
BOTTOM LINE — either get off your a$$es and go to the games or shut up and don’t complain. Period.
Non combative Winnipeger
February 17th, 2011
3:45 pm
Gotta disagree with part of Jeff’s comments. While the owners may be guilty of everything Jeff accuses them of, the comments regarding Atlanta’s “discerning” sports fans are not well thought out. Jeff says the fans need a reason to pay for Thrashers tickets and explains that the team has not been winning enough to warrant fan support. This theory applies to fans on the periphery of the sport only. True fans support their teams for love of the game (hockey, football, etc.) and the team. The Atlanta Falcons have had 30 losing seasons in their 44-year history. Are you telling me the fans didn’t support the team during the lean years? Of course they did, in part because pro football in Atlanta is “big-time”, whereas hockey just isn’t as popular. I’m talking on the street level. How many Falcons jersies can be seen worn around town, year round, compared to Thrashers jersies? As an Oakland Raiders fan, I use the phrase, “Win Lose or Tie…Raiders till I die!” I’m sure enough Falcons fans feel the same about their team and that’s the what you need for a professional sports team. I’m not saying true Atlanta Thrasher fans are to blame, but I am saying there may not be enough of them.
KLS1
February 17th, 2011
3:46 pm
Has there ever been a franchise started and killed in such a quick time? Maybe the Charlotte Hornets?
Winnipeg Jet
February 17th, 2011
3:54 pm
Bring us the Thrasher!!!
Good riddance!
February 17th, 2011
3:56 pm
Get these 2 loser franchises out of town and hopefully all these sorry millionaire owners leave too and move to canada. Stay away!
brett
February 17th, 2011
4:03 pm
this city is riddled with famous people, big corporations, ie COKE., and all kinds of investors. 150 mil is pocket change to new ownership. hell, coca cola makes that in a few days…i remember seeing someone write on here a while back if they took over, just rename philips coca cola arena or some crap. so hard to believe that not one or more people in this entire city are even interested to our knowledge. davis love III, tom glavine, holyfield (i think hes broke), LIL JOHN (haha) ive seen them all at games numerous times…someone needs to step it up. i heard kincaide say yesterday he had a meeting today with a group of investors (prob just sarcasm) i wasnt paying attention enough…but thatd be a START
I want my Beer
February 17th, 2011
4:21 pm
To Non Combative Winnipeger:
You are correct about the Atlanta’s lackluster support for hockey. I was up in Winnipeg for Canada day a couple of years ago, and while my wife and I were watching the fireworks at the Red River park, I overheard some younger Winnipegers talking in depth about the Thrashers! They were more knowledgable about the team than 99.9% of the people in Atlanta. I thought it was hilarious that in order to have a good hockey talk about the Thrashers, I had to go to Winnipeg of all places (my wife’s family is from there, in case you are wondering why).
I agree that the average Winnipeger would definitely appreciate the team more than average Atlantan. That being said, the owners have done a lousy job of stimulating a fan base, and they have no one to blame but themselves for the sorry shape this franchise is in.
Atlanta is a fair-weather city when it comes to supporting their teams. The Falcons were not selling out a couple of years ago when Joey Harrington was leading the team the season after Vick’s trangressions. I think if the Thrashers showed promise, the city would get behind them, but sadly, we may never find out.
JSS
February 17th, 2011
4:23 pm
KLS1
February 17th, 2011
3:46 pm
“Has there ever been a franchise started and killed in such a quick time? Maybe the Charlotte Hornets?”
Nope, the 2nd Washington Senators… They were dead men walking from their 2nd season when the Orioles finally became winners. That team was a mess…
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
4:32 pm
Jeff Schultz, you’re exactly right. This market, and its fans, have not failed. The onus of putting a good product out there falls on the ownership. Ownership must install team oversight. We call that “management.” For almost all of the Thrashers existence, that responsibility fell on Don Waddell.
Hockey hasn’t started in Atlanta … and won’t … UNTIL a ‘committed ownership’ group is installed. Ted Turner ’seemed’ like a good choice, back in 1997, for the team that would start up operations in 1999. But he was pushed out, and Time-Warner stepped in. Corporate ownership, in general, isn’t a good thing. They never pursued Stanley Cup titles. And, we now know that the Atlanta Spirit, LLC, has been trying to dump this team since it acquired it. You tell me, is that ‘committed ownership?’
So, the last time anyone with power CARED about this team … was probably 1998, when Ted Turner told the AJC, “When fans come up with $99 million, they can name the team. Until then, it will be called the Thrashers.” Little did we know that that brazen backlash of authority … would be the last time ownership gave a cr@p about “The Thrashers.”
If the team is gone, it’ll be interesting to see how we view its legacy. Will we treat it with reverence, like we do THE FLAMES, with names like Dan Bouchard, Phil Myre, Curt Bennett, Tom Vail, Tom Lysiak, Bill Clemment, Tim Ecclestone, Willi Plett, Bob MacMillan, Bobby Lalonde, Guy Chouinard, Ken Houston, Rey Comeau, Pat Quinn, and Randy Manery. Will these names be held in the same esteem?: Ray Ferraro, Jeff Odgers, Denny Lambert, Petr Buzek … Ilya Kovalchuk, Pasi Nurminen, Kari Lehtonen, Dany Heatley, Marian Hossa, Andy Sutton, Garnet Exelby, Jim Slater, Johan “Moose” Hedberg, Captain Rat, Scott Mellanby … and some of the newer Thrashers, like Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian? Time will tell.
Jeff Schultz, will the greatest memory of the Atlanta Thrashers … really be … Ilya Kovalchuk pointing his finger at Sidney Crosby, after scoring a goal with Sid in the box, as Crosby skated back to his bench? Will it be the memory of Moose Hedberg going behind the net, only to have the puck carom crazily off the glass into the net, in Game Two of the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs? Will the memory that lingers … really be … the team’s NEARLY ANNUAL appearance in the LOTTERY DRAFT??? Or will it be the shape of Don Waddell’s Head at the podium, while announcing the Coburn for Zhitnik trade, during the 2007 trade deadline?
Or worse yet, will the memory that sustains … be the sight of moving trucks packing up the Thrashers??? I hope not. At least if the team is here, it has some ‘mathematical chance’ of being relevant in the NHL. Jeff Schultz, I truly feel for the good fans of Winnipeg. They saw a team whose sole purpose in the NHL … was to give Gretzky’s Oilers someone to play and defeat in the opening round of the playoffs. Point of fact, the Jets/Coyotes franchise is 2-17, in 19 playoff series. The Coyotes have not won a playoff series in Arizona. So, if the good folks of Manitoba are feeling nostalgic for a team with uncaring ownership and no playoff wins in a decade, they certainly have found a ‘carbon copy’ of their beloved Jets. I just hope that if this team moves, that Don Waddell will be REQUIRED to remain on with the franchise. Let the good folks of Winnipeg … be careful what they wish for. They just might get it. Just like WEEE did, when hockey returned to Atlanta. Honestly now, the Atlanta Knights won a Championship in 1994, and every hockey fan in the area enjoyed them. They were evicted to bring in 10 years of a franchise that principally served as the NHL’s farm system (Heatley, Kovalchuk, Coburn, Lehtonen) and schedule fodder for the teams whose ownership was at least ‘trying to win’ rather than ‘trying to sell.’ Teams like Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Carolina all finished below the Thrashers … then won Cups … while Atlanta continued to wallow in obscurity. These passionate hockey fans of Atlanta … truly deserved better.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:34 pm
Thanks Vince.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:35 pm
Buckeye — Talking about Georgia? I honestly haven’t read headline or story today, but heard last few mins on radio. Def. a bad loss.
Glackie Jeason
February 17th, 2011
4:36 pm
Let’s combine basketball with hockey, and call it basketballskey. Talk about fouling, wow, we’d see some major T’s. Everybody wears skates, and you get four points for a windmill slam if you stick your landing. 100 points if you slapshot the ball into the net from the half court line. Now that would draw a crowd. How ’bout it Atlanta?
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:38 pm
Thanks, Steeldawg. I agree that hockey gets the short end of coverage sometimes but TV chases ratings and newspapers chase pageviews and unfortunately NHL has dropped down totem poll behind most other sports. Some people say if they get more coverage, more people would show up and/or watch. But it’s like the chicken/egg argument (not sure if media is the chicken or the egg in this argument).
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:39 pm
Joe Friday — League is talking publicly about this, other than to there’s no plans to move team “at this time.” League loves Atlanta market but hates the ownership situation. Bad combo.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:41 pm
Sage of Bluesland — Thanks, although I wouldn’t apply too much blame on Stan Kasten for any of this. Things already in place when he stepped in as president and was gone when Spirit took over.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:43 pm
Bluelander — Forget the “covenant.” I just don’t find it applicable for this reason: If Gary Bettman will allow a team to move, it will move. If he doesn’t want a team to move, it won’t move. To me, nothing else matters.
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
4:44 pm
JSS, the Kansas City Scouts lasted but two (2) seasons before relocating to Denver, CO, to become the “Colorado Rockies (NHL).” But during their time in K.C., I kid you not … they had a stretch of 44 games that saw THISSSS as their record: 1-36-7. That’s nine out of a possible eight-eight (9/88) points. Today, that franchise is known as the New Jersey Devils, with 3 Cups, and 4 trips to the Finals, and six berths on the CF, I believe.
Wanna hear a pathetic franchise’s story? Try the Oakland Seals, based in the Bay Area of California. They entered the league in EXPANSION (1967-68) and changed their name three times (3x). They became the California Seals. And then, the California GOLDEN SEALS. That didn’t work, and they up-n-left for Cleveland, Ohio. The Cleveland Barons lasted two seasons, and were dissolved in a merger with the Minnesota North Stars, who today … reside in Dallas, Texas, as the Dallas Stars. That’s a franchise whose early history is just as pathetic as the Thrashers, pretty much. Though, I suppose, they did win three (3) playoff games in 1969. But back then, the league consisted of only 12 teams, and I think eight of them made the playoffs. I’d have to double-check that, though.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:44 pm
JSS — David McDavid a “crackpot”?
Right. Better to have this stability. (Chuckle)
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:45 pm
Thanks, Mooseberg.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:46 pm
@Jeff Schultz … I’ll Tweet to my followers.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
4:47 pm
Thanks Brendan. Agree — fans deserve a lot better.
Ted Striker
February 17th, 2011
4:49 pm
Vandy loss was tough. Stegeman was rocking. Was like Kentucky or UF was in the house. 14 point lead probably 24 minutes in.
Then….Vandy took it. Won’t say UGA gave it away. Vandy just took it. Kudos to them.
I think this was one of the tougher losses Fox has had. I just got that impression from him after the game.
Tweets that mention It’s shameful to blame fans if Thrashers move to Winnipeg | Jeff Schultz -- Topsy.com
February 17th, 2011
5:04 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Johnson , Mr Poopypants. Mr Poopypants said: RT @AB_BuyThrashers: http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2011/02/17/its-shameful-to-blame-fans-if-thrashers-move-to-winnipeg/?cxntfid … [...]
dmr
February 17th, 2011
5:20 pm
Michael Gearon has been the disillusioned one from the get-go. He is like a poor man’s Al Davis. I own a sports franchise, so I am smarter than you…whoever YOU may be. You could be one of the best GM’s or coaches; he still knows more in his mind.
If Atlanta really wants hockey to stay here; DON’T GO TO GAMES for now. Force the hand of the ASG to relinquish this property. No investor in his right mind would put his fortunes into this club until the likes of the ASG are long departed.
Blame yourself for this…NOT THE ATLANTA FAN BASE.
The real Bill
February 17th, 2011
5:21 pm
Let’s fill the arena and chant Spirit Sucks until our throats bleed.
The world needs to know that there are fans here and we are fed up with the lousy excuse that we are forced to call owners.
More like abusers.
JSS
February 17th, 2011
5:26 pm
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
4:44 pm
“JSS, the Kansas City Scouts lasted but two (2) seasons before relocating to Denver, CO”
I remember the Scouts and the Seals all too well… The WHL/WHA/NHL wars made the NHL stupid, playing hockey in Oakland was an appeasement to CBS which had the hockey TV contract. The same one that gave Schultz his beloved Kings. There really wasn’t a market for the NHL in a expansion team. The old WHL Seals had a loyal following. Kansas City was another case, they were in that mix too… KC had a new arena and it seemed logical at the time since the Kings had just moved into new Kemper Arena as well… They never averaged over 8,300 fans in a 17,000 seat arena… Their time in Denver was a totally different story… There are lessons here to be learned about the “grass is always greener” philosophy of franchise hopping for current franchises from these franchises… The now Devils chased success for 13 years (first winning season) and 20 years before finally catching lightning in a bottle with their “neutral zone trap”
He asked about “alienation of the fan base.” DC wanted to love the Senators. They 3 owners in 5 years. The last one borrowed the money to buy the team. Lord Bowie didn’t tell anybody about it… When it finally got out, the gig was up! It
WingsRule
February 17th, 2011
5:27 pm
Atlanta IS the worst PRO sports town, but owners need to take most of blame. Najeh, when the Braves & hawks can’t come close to selling out PLAYOFF games & Falcons “fans” are bailing in the 2nd qtr vs. packers, it’s clear that no one really cares about any of these teams.
JSS
February 17th, 2011
5:31 pm
@ Jeff Schultz…
Yes, “McDavid” is Bud Adams Jr.! He doesn’t fool me one bit with his “corn pawn” smarmy act! The ASG are liars but McDavid is a crook car salesman! No thanks to that!
MF
February 17th, 2011
5:37 pm
@WingsRule-Go back to Michigan. You come here for the good jobs, nice weather and quality of life and then turn around and dog the town and it’s teems. Go back to the cold.
Willy
February 17th, 2011
5:42 pm
Going to see an Atlanta Spirit team is like paying a chef who hates food to cook your meals.
WingsRule
February 17th, 2011
5:43 pm
hey, at least I show up to see the Thrashers (who I also cheer for) & Hawks. I love this town, but stop sugar-coating it–it’s a terrible pro sports town. Great college football/hoops city.
CMC
February 17th, 2011
5:53 pm
If the Thrashers go, they won’t be taking any of the ASG people with them to Winnipeg – they already have a great ownership group ready – Mark Chipman is one of, if not THE best owner in the AHL. The Manitoba Moose are the model way to run a hockey franchise. Imagine how great an operator he had to be to sell a franchise back to Winnipeg fans after the Jets were stolen from them by Phoenix! He is backed by David Thomson who is one of the wealthiest men in the world. Both men love hockey…..it’s only a matter of days until Winnipeg returns to the NHL I’m afraid…….
Manitoban
February 17th, 2011
5:54 pm
As a Winnipeg fan, I feel sympathy for Thrashers fans. Back in 1996, we went through the same thing. We had a poor ownership group, an antiquated arena owned by a incompetent publicly owned group who would not throw a bone to the Jets, and a pragmatic government who were not going to subsidize a hockey team while the province was in recession. If you look at Atlanta, I see a similar situation.
The Jets were never really given a good chance, as the NHL forced the team to completely dismantle the 1979 Avco Cup winners. It also didn’t help we were in the same division as the Oilers and Flames in the 80s (the highest the Jets achieved in the standings was 4th in the NHL, but we still ended up third in our division). That said, it was a huge blow to civic pride when they left, and tens of thousands rallied to try to save them from moving. I suggest watching the movie “Death By Popcorn” (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6405669483655957433#) to see how things played out in Winnipeg.
Remember, like with Winnipeg, it was never a problem with the fans. Even with better attendance and higher ticket prices, I don’t think that the Thrashers would have stood a chance with this apathetic ownership group. I think this team will be moving to Winnipeg next year, and may already be controlled by the ownership group in Winnipeg. They Byfuglien deal makes sense in that regard, considering that he grew up only a couple of hours south of Winnipeg.
Updating the Thrashers’ and Coyotes’ ownership situations | The Vancouver Canucks
February 17th, 2011
6:00 pm
[...] the Atlanta Thrashers’ ownership situation is becoming less and less solvent by the day: In a Thursday blog, [the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jeff] Schultz reveals the Thrashers changed their tune [...]
Peter
February 17th, 2011
6:04 pm
Gee isn’t this the same ownership group that gave Joe Johnson a mega STUPID Deal ?
DUhhhhhhhhhhh……. they suck as owners and as a group in general. We will never even have a real Basketball team………who shows up for either team here in Atlanta ?
JP
February 17th, 2011
6:11 pm
I’m a Toronto sports fan – and I wish the best of luck to the Thrasher fans. It would be awful to have your favourite team relocate. I would like to see Winnipeg and Quebec City get franchises, but it’s never enjoyable to see it come at the expense of another city.
Also, apologies for the Canadian commenters that tend to seem pleased about these kind of situations. Losing the Jets and Nordiques (plus the Expos and Grizzlies) in a ten year span was a major blow the pride of many Canadian sports fans, and it’s made some pretty bitter.
Best of luck to you guys!
Who wants to buy the Thrashers? A Hollywood filmmaker has interest | ProHockeyTalk
February 17th, 2011
6:12 pm
[...] in Atlanta just might be because the owners that bought the team were looking to get out and the fans have a hard time buying into a team that the owners aren’t really trying to do anything with. Still, it’s positive to see [...]
Paddy
February 17th, 2011
6:49 pm
Jeff, You have kept the fans appraised of this disaster the best you could under journalistic ethics. That is appreciated. We fans that love hockey have smelled a rat for a long time. ASG is by far the worst thing to hit this community since Eddie Haas was named the Braves Manager. What ever it takes, get these creatins out of our town!!!!
Paddy
February 17th, 2011
6:54 pm
Wings Rule… we don’t know who you are but your comments say you are ill informed and lack a good Southern decency. We have no patience with your kind down here. Try a blog in Dayton, Ohio!!
5150 UOAD
February 17th, 2011
7:26 pm
Juat for a twist ask TYLER PERRY to see if he and some buddys want to buy the THRASHERS. That would be Totally Unique to the South and Hockey. Rich Black ownership of a Hockey team in the South could be a real draw. Maybe. Tyler Perry has TPS I mean TBS in his hip pocket. Maybe he can sell the product to the ATL market better.
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
7:49 pm
JSS, I always kinda chuckle when I hear fans say, “This is as bad as the Inaugural Season.” Really? That season fetched 37-points, after 82 games. I don’t go into any remaining Thrasher game wondering if, maybe, it could result in a win. Of course, it could result in a win. Back in the Inaugural Season, I took every win as if it were a playoff game win. ‘Cuz man, that team was bad. But not even close to the 1974 Washington Capitals, who won 8 games all year, banking 24-points, I think. That … was an exercise in futility. Though, the KC Chiefs 1-36-7 stretch of season makes Washington’s year sound a bit better.
Jeff Schultz
February 17th, 2011
7:50 pm
Paddy, thanks. Eddie Haas — before my time.
JSS
February 17th, 2011
8:06 pm
Brendan
February 17th, 2011
7:49 pm
“JSS, I always kinda chuckle when I hear fans say, “This is as bad as the Inaugural Season.” Really?”
They are dramatic aren’t they? I’ve said it before, it can be much worse! I don’t say that to excuse that mess that Time-Warner and the ASG drop on us literally…
Diehard
February 17th, 2011
8:27 pm
The owners conduct is so outrageous it is hard to believe they are this arrogant and stupid. Perhaps they are putting a low payroll team on the ice and openly insulting the fans so nobody shows up and it will justify moving the team like the owner from the movie Major League. Hard to believe any owners could be so shameless.
Freddie's Falcon
February 17th, 2011
8:30 pm
Peter: That what I said. If this ownership group pays Joe Johnson more money than King James they must be the biggest bunch of morons on the planet.
snoopy
February 17th, 2011
9:52 pm
There’s hockey in the ATL?? Move….. No one cares…
TheAntiMe
February 17th, 2011
10:12 pm
Of course it’s the Atlanta fans fault, Jeff. Why wouldn’t it be? This ownership has poured billions of dollars – (OK, at least $200,000 or so into the Thrashers) and have won 5 NHL championships over the past 6 years – (OK, they have made the playoffs once or twice in the history of the franchise and could have won it all – (even though they have never come close to winning even one playoff game).
What do you have to do to get these ungrateful Atlanta hockey fans to show up when you have a top-notch ownership that pours every single resource imaginable into their Thrashers only to have the fans disgracefully fail to support these highly successful owners who care only about the fans and nothing at all for themselves?
Brent
February 17th, 2011
11:27 pm
I’m a hockey fan and I’m ready to see this team leave town. They are an embarrassment to the city in general and to the NHL specifically. And the NHL has A LOT to be embarrassed about since Atlanta Spirit took the reins here, namely an unforgivable lack of due diligence when researching this band of shysters’ bid for ownership. Hockey hasn’t failed in Atlanta; the NHL failed Atlanta hockey.
Brendan
February 18th, 2011
1:12 am
Another tough ‘regulation time’ loss for your Atlanta Thrashers tonight. No worries, though. All it takes now is a 17-7 record, down the stretch. Piece of cake.
Has this team really only won six times in the past 23 games?
Mr. Tony Geinzer
February 18th, 2011
4:16 am
I wish I could bring my future babies in the future to see Hockey in Atlanta, but, Ownership is a Farce.
dawgma
February 18th, 2011
6:50 am
Thank you JS. I was a season ticket hoder for 3 years when this team came to town. I spent $250 per game to watch these jerks (the mgt group) drive two hall of fame potentials (Heatley & Kove) out of town, bicker like fat spoiled babies over ownership and blame everyone but themselves.
I was not in favor of this “mgt by committee” setup and it has proven out to be a disaster. I almost puked hearing Gearin on the radio this week blame:
1 – The lawyers who wrote a defective contract.
2 – The fans
3 – Everyone but themselves.
They are cheap bastards who deserve to lose their fortunes. Go blame someone who cares ’cause it ain’t the fans problem.
Paddy
February 18th, 2011
6:54 am
Jeff……Eddie Haas replaced Joe Torre as Braves Manager. To me that ranks up there with these Maroons from the ASG as our towns biggest embarrassment. Eddie never lied to the fans like the ASG. Liars can’t ever be trusted.
Big Al
February 18th, 2011
7:46 am
Who really cares if they leave town. Hockey is a third rate semi professional sport. Even more, it is a northern sport. If it was not for the fights, TV would not even carry hockey.
Larry
February 18th, 2011
7:54 am
“Atlanta gets knocked for being “a bad sports town.” Fact is, Atlanta sports fans are smart and discerning consumers because they mandate a reason to spend their money.”
Best Sports Quote of the Year!
Touché, Mr Schultz
ss
February 18th, 2011
7:56 am
Jeff,
Do they have an arena that can support an NHL club? It doesnt make sense that a team would go back there since it didnt work the first time.
If i recall correctly, their buidling isnt big enough and isnt updated with the boxes and all that stuff to support an nhl club.
The Winnepeg area can beg all they want, but it probally wont work there again if it failed once.
The Spirit sucks and i hope the hawks choke the rest of the season!
Thank You…
gt
February 18th, 2011
8:07 am
Northeastern transplants are the only reason we have hockey. It works better in Florida which has a large population of Canadians and the black socked and sandled northeasterner wintering there. I am surprised Arthur Blank who is soaked in the garb and ways of that section of the country, with the pencil hair mustache and the mobster clothing, doesn’t buy the team. I guess he can’t come down to court side and be with his team, in the third period. May fall on that ice and bust his his….
ss
February 18th, 2011
8:19 am
hey gt,
Your point is fair, but when these clowns invest into something that dont have a clue what their doing with maybe they should use the options to figure out how to build a good product. Though their all arrogant and i hope the hawks suck the rest of the season.
Blueland Buddha
February 18th, 2011
9:13 am
There are several grassroots movements to make our passion for the Thrashers known on a wider scale. The callers into NHL Hour with Gary Bettman (every Thursday at 6pm) were great! We had several Thrashers fans that made it on air. There is the well publicized Keep The Thrashers website and FB page. There is also The Concerned Atlanta Thrashers Fans Facebook page. We should make all attempts to get get our voices heard! Please join them!
The Ghost of Norm Van Brocklin
February 18th, 2011
9:16 am
Wait a minute…..Atlanta has a hockey team? REALLY?
Nonfan
February 18th, 2011
9:33 am
Much ado about nothing. The Thrashers have always sucked. The Hawks are also a mediocrity that can’t really contend in the post season. I would say the management group is a joke, but there is nothing funny about continually offering up pathetic teams and then complaining that Atlanta is a bad sports city. Bye, Thrash.
JMT21
February 18th, 2011
9:36 am
Jeff was on Team 1200 to discuss the ownership woes. He mentioned that no new owner in their right mind would get in bed with ASG. Judging by what I’ve read many here are probably in agreement.
He then went on to mention that any new owner or ownership would need to separate themselves entirely from ASG and in all likelihood would need to purchase the Thrashers, Hawks, and Phillips arena to make a go of it.
I’m guessing this would be a 500 million investment.
Being from Winnipeg I’d be happy to have a team back and it seems the Thrasher fans certainly deserve better than what ASG are giving them.
10,300 announced attendance in Glendale yesterday…… actual attendance closer to 8K.
If a city doesn’t deserve a team it’s clearly Glendale…….
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2011
9:40 am
JSS — Far be it for me to defend a car salesman but I’m not going to indict McDavid as a potential sports owner just because he’s, uh, “colorful.”
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2011
9:41 am
JP — Very cool comments, thank you.
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2011
9:43 am
Dawgma — Thanks. You’re correct about nobody in ASG taking blame.
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2011
9:45 am
Paddy — It’s funny — reminds me of the belief some folks have that a media person only hates athletes when they don’t talk to them or act like an A-hole. I’ve never been like that. If a guy is an A-hole but he’s honest and yells at you to your face, I’m fine with that. At least I know where they’re coming from. It’s the dishonest backstabbers I can’t stand — and some of those folks are great in public.
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2011
9:45 am
Thanks Larry.
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2011
9:46 am
SS –Winnipeg has a smaller arena that I believe seats about 14,000 (don’t hold me to that). But actually was talking to a friend in Toronto yesterday who told me they can raise the roof to expand the arena.
Jimmy Crack
February 18th, 2011
9:50 am
This can’t be true, Jeff.
680 the Fan’s celebrity oracle Father John “my farts don’t stink” Kinkade says it is all the fan’s fault.
Who am I to believe?
kaiser souze
February 18th, 2011
10:04 am
Insightful article and even more insightful comments by the masses. The Lack of Spirit Group is not deserving or smart enought to roll with the Big Boys of the NHL or NBA. They bought a big house in a expensive community but don’t have the bucks to furnish it properly. No bucks, no Buck Rodgers to ride in and save the day. Atlanta fans are discerning and in this economic climate the sports dollar is quite frugal. We invest in organizations that we would be proud to be a part of and well represent our city and Georgia. The Lack of Spirit Group. no soup for you, or fans or winning playoff series. Dumb sh_ts all.Selah!
JMT21
February 18th, 2011
10:10 am
The MTS Centre holds 15,003 for hockey. There has been talk regarding raising the roof to add more seats but the ownership said it wouldn’t happen because the costs to do so would far outweigh the revenue from adding say 2,000 seats.
Adding 2,000 seats by raising the roof would likely be the cheapest tickets so the potential revenue wouldn’t be worth the cost.
ATLSN
February 18th, 2011
10:18 am
If you’re an Atlanta/Georgia Sports fan and want to talk with other fans, check out our NEW message board.
http://www.atlsportsnation.com/forum
We have team forums for the Falcons, Bulldogs, Hawks, Braves, Yellow Jackets, Thrashers, etc. Please register and post! Be apart of a huge site in the early days of existence. See ya there! We’re looking for posters, moderators, bloggers/writers. Join up if interested.
I Hate Hockey
February 18th, 2011
10:20 am
I hate Hockey but I have a lot of friends that love it. This is completely the fault of ownership and not the fans. I hope they stay for my Hockey loving friends but this team should be given to owners that give a S*&t and taken away from these spoiled brats that We currently have now.
NHLer for Life
February 18th, 2011
10:25 am
As a season ticket holder, I need a compelling reason for renewing (side note: BY MARCH 11 to include PLAYOFF TIckets) for an uncertain season that may not even materialize here in the Atl. Every day goes by and the reasons fail to appear. There is more negativity coming from this group of misfits that lessens the chance of my renewal.
The marketing campaign for this season really was spot on – the team may be good, but we are brutal. Brutally good? Come’on, the biggest oxymoron I have ever heard.
I have followed the NHL all my life, the youth of this team bodes well for the future but we will never see it. Going to games used to be fun and as a season ticketholder, was a worthy investment. These days it is playing the most moronic games during breaks (Cliff Hanger?, fan wave -who thought of this mindless exercise?), promotions that do NOT entice people to come out, and treating the season ticketholders as mindless syncophants. There is nothing special about being a season ticket holder, just someone who gets laughed at as a fool.
While I do not wish for the team to leave, I wish someone with a set of gonads would step up and honestly communicate with the fan base. We have been lied to (relocation tied to Philips Arena contract), doing our best, etc. Time to throw them out.
The aggravation has to stop. Our health depends on it as well as the health of the team.
Sage of Bluesland
February 18th, 2011
10:40 am
John Kincade is a ‘paid’ representative of the organization (like the other tool Darren Eliot). Their hands are ‘tied’ and can only serve one master, so to speak.
However, recognize the propaganda for what it is.
To blame any of this on the fans is not only dishonest, it is reprehensible. It is disgusting.
It is further proof, for any that need it, that this organization’s ownership/management do not deserve another dollar to subsidize their incompetence.
I’ve been offended for many years on the double-talk, the failed promises, the failed performances, the failed vision, the failed deliverables…but this final act was it for me. I won’t go down there for even “one last time”. I refuse to give a single dollar of mine to those who have treated me with such disdain.
Nope, can’t do it. It’s not in the fiber of my being. Those who continue to subsidize even a small portion of this abomination is part of the problem now.
If you want to force a change, then cut the funds…entirely. If ownership and management don’t care, then why on Earth do YOU?
Think about it.
JSS
February 18th, 2011
10:57 am
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2011
9:40 am
“JSS — Far be it for me to defend a car salesman but I’m not going to indict McDavid as a potential sports owner just because he’s, uh, “colorful.”
Old Bud is “colorful” too… But at the end of the day, he’s no better than Art Modell… McDavid is a stone cold predator who has made his millions on the backs of either the very poor and just hard working people who are fighting to stay afloat. Now I know it is second nature for financial predators to be put on a pedestal, especially here in GA. However, to knowingly elicit an owner like that, I again say “No thanks!”
JSS
February 18th, 2011
11:06 am
Sage of Bluesland
February 18th, 2011
10:40 am
“John Kincade is a ‘paid’ representative of the organization. Their hands are ‘tied’ and can only serve one master, so to speak.”
Kincade’s hands are not tied. Everything that he does is a calculated to his benefit. He had no problem speaking his mind before. I have never put one ounce of credence of validity to any opinion that he makes, product that he endorses, or cause he champions. He choses to sell his soul. He is a mercenary!
Sage of Bluesland
February 18th, 2011
11:29 am
I don’t know about that JSS; I consider him an “agent” of the organization. A paid-agent (either monetary or non-monetary benefits). I’m sure there are conditions in his agency agreement/contract, etc.
I would also bet you that one of those conditions is not to poop on the organization through his radio-show…
He has no problem speaking his mind when he is not committed contractually….Thus, take everything–EVERYTHING–he states related to the Thrashers with a very small grain of salt.
I know I do. Even when he wasn’t doing his little gig between periods, he may have had his eyes on such an eventuality…
In the end, he has proven, time and again, to be nothing more than a tool of the ham-fisted organization….and a poor one at that, too….
(His email discourse has proven to be lacking, trust me….)
Does Arthur Blank
February 18th, 2011
11:36 am
For the last five years Blank has been trying to get an MLS team here. Surely, someone needs to realize that the lose of the Thrashers anywhere will seriously jeopardize any chance of another top league sports team coming here. Heck the MLS are even having exhihibiton games at KSU to explore viability – how viable is it when an NHL team which has more wide spread support is being shipped to Canada. If the city of Atlanta doesn’t want to biggest joke of a city in a week where they were named the #2 crime city in America and their school board are accused of wide spread cheating then they need to step in a sort this situation out
Jeff Schultz
February 18th, 2011
12:03 pm
JSS — “McDavid is a stone cold predator who has made his millions on the backs of either the very poor and just hard working people who are fighting to stay afloat.”
… Oh gee. Like that differentiates him from most sports owners.
meh
February 18th, 2011
12:14 pm
we can’t lose another team to Canada. they already took the Flames, they can’t have the Thrashers. let’s keep them in Atlanta
meh
February 18th, 2011
12:23 pm
the problem is that the ownership sucks. it’s hard to get the fan base to care about the team when the ownership doesn’t
gooneygoogoo
February 18th, 2011
12:52 pm
So was Kovy pointing at the Stanley cup and saying to Crosby I wish i could one of those like you did???
gooneygoogoo
February 18th, 2011
1:02 pm
What about MLK III. He wanted in on the METS. Maybe he will put his money where his mouth is, and breakdown some barriers by owning a hockey team.
gooneygoogoo
February 18th, 2011
1:31 pm
Wow now i will have to drive to raliegh or nashville to see the PENS.
Dawg Tired
February 18th, 2011
1:41 pm
Hockey should be played in Canada or one of the original “hockey towns” in the US like Detroit or Pittsburgh. The only thing more ridiculous than playing hockey in Atlanta is playing in Florida or the desert.
Fans - Tell Chamber of Commerce to Step Up
February 18th, 2011
1:42 pm
This is a sad situation for Atlanta hockey fans. Not surprising the NHL does not consider Rollins as an alternative. We have added a way to contact the Atlanta Metro Chamber of Commerce asking them to lead the fight to save our hockey team – leaders need to lead on this issue:
http://www.keepthethrashers.com/chamber.html
Keep fighting the good fight! Let’s not let Canada take our team.
Dawg Tired
February 18th, 2011
1:51 pm
Hockey should be played in Canada or one of the original US “hockey towns’ like Detroit or Pittsburgh. The only thing more ridiculous than playing hockey in Atlanta is playing hockey in Florida or the desert.
The Atlanta Spirit are part of the Unfortunate Segment of the Populace
February 18th, 2011
2:03 pm
`
Can we send the Atlanta Spirit Bozo Group to Wnnipeg forever
. . . . . . . . . . . and keep the Thrashers.
PopeyeTheSailorMang
February 18th, 2011
2:12 pm
Jeff, ss et al – the 15,000 seat arena in Winnipeg is more than adequate according to the head honcho.
“You’re going to have a very intimate building that can generate substantially, not completely, but substantially all of the revenues that a slightly larger building could generate,” said Bettman. “So I don’t think people need to get hung up over a thousand seats.”
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=326714
LAC
February 18th, 2011
3:58 pm
This town WILL support NHL hockey and in a BIG way. However, these lying little whinning owners are THE sole reason people, including myself, a STH for 7 years, not to continue to go. Plus I was right in my assumption. New owner seats fill back up FAST ! Real Real easy equasion, hard to see Gary Bettman had NOT figured this one out…
Problem is paying these players sick amounts of money to play a game. That is one of the reasons pro teams are losing money on a regular basis. I can tell you as a business owner of seven shortline railroads, if I do not keep costs down and maximize my people and assets, I will lose money and I will not allow that to happen. To be a good businessman, you need COMMON sense as well, something most pro sports owners DO NOT HAVE.
Just look at the photo of these little wimps in Jeff’s artical. They are touching the basketball like it was a gift for GOD himself, while Idiot rutherford snydel, and Drunk levenson are holding the
hockey sticks like they were reaching for toilet paper.
IWhy all the hype the team will go to canada ? Guess these LIARS will never tell the truth,
I honestly have to say, I hope one day they ALL Burn and Rot in HELL for what they have put Atlanta Hockey Fans through. Satan will torment them forever and I really hope that happens !
stendek
February 18th, 2011
4:25 pm
Fans at fault? My a$$ Mr Schultz! Blame management. For sure. Blame players. Hell yes! Seen the uncaring go through motions ice follies these disinterested prima donna bums have been negotiating for the last few weeks? This so called team is not worth supporting Jeff! Went into tank a long time ago. Why in Hell should fans support a group of uncaring quitters who gave up on them? Not this one time fan. I will shed no tears when these losers crawl out of Atlanta to Hamilton, Quebec or wherever! Good riddance to bad rubbish! As for owners? Hell ain’t half full lying hypocrites. All your reservations have been confirmed! Have a nice day Jeff. Thanks for outlet to talk ice hockey. What AJC needs!
STENDEK
Jimbo
February 18th, 2011
4:58 pm
Right on Jeff. These guys may be the worst owners of any business that I have seen. If in fact they wanted to sell from Day 1, every owner recognizes that you want to increase the value by doing certain things- improved product, better service, increased awareness and reach, etc. The Gang That Couldn”t Manage Anything has done just the opposite and now they cry that it’s the fans. I sure hope that the NHL steps in and doesn’t let these clowns move hockey out of a good area. You are also correct that there are many transplanted hockey fans that recognize value and would support it if it was offered to us.
Yawn!
February 18th, 2011
6:29 pm
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Thrashers…and please take the Hawks with you!
JR1967
February 18th, 2011
7:11 pm
Yawn-I still remember back in the late 80s when the popular slogan in Atlanta was “Go Braves-and take the Falcons with you.”
Thrash 1
February 18th, 2011
7:23 pm
Good article – right on…
blazerdawg
February 18th, 2011
7:44 pm
Next game at Philips – FRIDAY, February 25 against Florida – let’s pack the place and show the NHL that Atlanta worked too hard to get a team back.
JSS
February 18th, 2011
9:13 pm
Sage of Bluesland
February 18th, 2011
11:29 am
“(His email discourse has proven to be lacking, trust me….)”
Oh I know, he spent half a show one day thinking he was berating me back in 2006 when was fanning the racial divide in Atlanta. This after people simply pointed out that he was wrong about a Mid American Conference team’s nickname.
Here’s my favorite Kincade tirade: “I have a national show on ESPN, I know I’m right! They are the Toledo Mud Hens (not the University of Toledo Rockets). I hope you enjoyed your 15 seconds of fame.”
I have no time for that pompous buffoon!
Bitter hershal in south beach
February 18th, 2011
9:32 pm
hockey please, i lost hope after the flames who drew over 12,000 at home games in the late 70’s were sent packing—–why have any hope that a bunch of greed suxing corp types would ever have the ATL interest at heart!!!!our system really sux—–thank god collage football is protected from scum bag money grubbing thugs—the h— with pro sports
Bitter wall street "thug"
February 18th, 2011
9:40 pm
quit whinny, our system is designed so to take advantage of the poor and what we all on “Wall st” refer to as gubbers( average middle class)
we only believe in profits—-so stuff that in your pipe and smoke it
PS: everything is for sale—–deal with it—its the USA baby
Drexel Gal
February 18th, 2011
10:33 pm
I have a solution: Sell the Thrashers to Tiger Woods. That will make him the good guy again.
Ray Ferraro's Bobble Head Doll
February 18th, 2011
10:45 pm
Jeff – Have the owners bought out Belkin yet? Or do they need to raise some cash by selling the Thrashers to do that?
Timmy
February 18th, 2011
10:48 pm
Who wants to bet that it won’t be more than a few years after the Thrashers move to Canada before there’s a winning product on the ice.
Wright
February 19th, 2011
12:11 am
ATL has had a history of horrible owners in every sport, so what makes this one different?
No One Cares
February 19th, 2011
12:47 am
Please remind me again why Atlanta even has an NHL Franchise? It’s almost as uninteresting as watching dirt.
scottbravesfan
February 19th, 2011
2:46 am
The ownership is awful. They have ruined the Thrashers and the Hawks. The Hawks are going to be stuck in mediocrity for awhile with the Joe Johnson contract.
wastedyears
February 19th, 2011
8:06 am
FIRE MARK RICHT NOW!!! HE IZ DA REASON THE TRASHERS CANT SELL TICKETS AND LOSE EVERY YEAR NO REALLY GO TRASHERS AND TAKE DA HAWKS WITH YOU HOCKEY IZ DUMB SO IZ BASKETBALL GO I DARE U HA HA STUPID GAME COLLEDGE FOOTBALL RULES
JustAThought
February 19th, 2011
8:13 am
I’m a 52 yr old guy who has played basketball on a regular bases pass my mid 40’s (and still occasionaly play). I been to 1 hockey game to see the Thrashers (too far back, but it sure did look real exciting down by the glass), and I promised myself to go back (try to get a closer seat), but I haven’t yet. I will not be going back to see another hawks game. This ownership group is so bad, now I understand when these leagues have canidiates for new ownership, they seem to lean towards the 1 owner group more so than the mulitple owner group. This ASG group is basically chasing dollars not look to build a real commitment with the community. So I say, screw them and let them leave/or sale the teams. For all the people who do or have supported the Thrashers……….before they got here you supported some other team, just go back to supporting your other team. As far as bad pro sports fans, KISS MY ASS. I may be dumb, but I’m a long way from being stupid!
JustAThought
February 19th, 2011
8:21 am
Speaking of Steve Belkin…………..I guess he was right after all!
wastedyears
February 19th, 2011
8:25 am
SO WHEN WILL THE COLLEDGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME /MUSEUM BE BUILT ,OPEN AND READY FOR BUISNESS? I PREDICT IT WILL SELL MORE TICKETS THAN HAWKS AND TRASHERS SALES COMBINED SO GO WHEN YOU LEAVING FOR THE ARTIC ? PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH KNOW WHATS GOOD AND THATS WHERE OUR TYME AND MONEY GO ,SO GO YOU HAVE OUR BEST WISHES
Rick From Winnipeg
February 19th, 2011
8:45 am
Being from Winnipeg I would agree that most people here want the Coyotes first.Reason being they stole our whiteout they are hanging retired numbers in their rafters of former jets.We in Winnipeg feel the same as the Baltimore colts fans, ROBED.We would like nothing more than to have our team back and erase the dicrace that was created in Phoenix.I feel for the Atlanta fans at least you have them copared to Phoenix but Winnipeg is a hockey town too and will take the Thrashers if the opportunity comes.
Keep Paying
February 19th, 2011
8:56 am
Maybe if the arena wasn’t downtown more people would come….I’ve had my car broken into 3 different times when attending games….move them to north Gwinnett or Alpharetta, thats where all the fans come from anyway
5150 UOAD
February 19th, 2011
9:44 am
What does a single seat season tickets cost and how many home games is that?
ozzfest
February 19th, 2011
1:55 pm
Who cares? How much longer ’til the Boise State game at the dome?
JSS
February 19th, 2011
3:15 pm
@ Davenpoop and those who know better…
Don’t you love when the “Atlanta crime bloggers” sneak on a blog?
5150 UOAD
February 19th, 2011
4:10 pm
ozzfest
Go do some more DRUGs and make your FAT daughter try to be SEXY. Boys only want to do her to get the money.
Loserville USA
February 19th, 2011
5:27 pm
Having hockey in Atlanta is like showing The King’s Speech in the back swamps of Louisiana.
5150 UOAD
February 19th, 2011
6:33 pm
Loserville
ML KING’s speach has been hear in all the backwoods towns in the south, not just WeeseAnna.
@ Jeff and Hockey Fans - Leaders - Will They Lead?
February 19th, 2011
9:02 pm
The fans deserve to have a team. Another loss today…..while it is depressing, we need to be thinking about how our team may be if some new owners come in……we are trying to get ATL leaders to help find investors to keep our team in our town. Please see this page with headshots of the people fans need to have show up very soon – link to facebook is on the home page – the more “likes” we can get on face book, the more impressive it is to (a) potential investors, and (b) the NHL Board of Governors – who must approve any move. Where are Atlanta’s leaders? Please contact them on the “How Can Fans Help Page:”
Leaders Who Need To Step Up Now:
http://www.keepthethrashers.com/fivepartplan.html
KEEP THE THRASHERS IN ATLANTA! If we all work toward the same goal, we can make this happen – a vocal public can be a force for change. Please forward face book links to as many people as possible. Let your voice be heard.
Atticus
February 19th, 2011
9:28 pm
Its a shame. I went to a lot of games the first few years but the owners have mismanaged this team for so long, I just can’t commit my time and dollars to a LOSING franchise. Jeff I am sorry but David Ms article was a joke. Quoting some BS sports marketing gurus about the viability of hockey in Atlanta. What a $$@%& joke! Name me a town where a franchise LOSES for 10 years and 0 playoff wins and show me where they sell tickets. Are you kiddingme?? Hockey is the best live sport and Phillips is a great place to watch, but come on, give us a team that can actually compete for the Cup!!!
Atticus
February 19th, 2011
9:31 pm
ASG is a freaking joke by the way. The Hawks at least are competitive but again, why commit when the team has no chance of winning in the playoffs. That is partly the NBA’s fault though. Every year in the NBA and baseball, 3/4s of the teams have no chance to win a title. The NFL and college football have it figured out and that is why they dominate.
rc
February 19th, 2011
11:02 pm
was here when the flames left and cannot blame tom cousins for selling he was given good$$ for the flames by the crook Nelson Skabania and the candian national insurance bought the omni bld not the omni arena so it was wise to sell and they denied they were selling right up untill the end at least hockey fans will have the Gladiators. the real sad story was ih the 80′ there were no rinks for the kids to play on they were all gone too
JetsFan
February 20th, 2011
12:55 am
First and foremost, as a Jets fan that lost his team back in 1996, I really feel for the true fans that show up on a regular basis and are put through the ringer as a result of all this talk and uncertainty. I really, really feel for you all! As much as I would like a team back in Winnipeg, it would be hypocritical to want to pluck a team from another market. (Except maybe Phoenix :>) Nonetheless, I wanted to comment on the Kovalchuk comment….assuming the above commentary were true, (and I don’t believe that to be the case), he would not want to want up in Winnipeg because he would have been accountable!! In New Jersey….no one cares a less!!!! Therefore, you are better off without this over paid bum!!!
All the best in your efforts to keep your team!!
JetsFan
tony
February 20th, 2011
1:26 am
If they weren’t so busy trying to cut down Belkin they might be in a better position with the Thashers. Out of all the owners Belkin had more sense to disapprove the Joe Johnson trade.
Give the Hawks to BELKIN!
Chris
February 20th, 2011
2:52 am
Its one of the things I love most about the Falcons. I know through thick and thin Blank is going to do his darndest to help this team compete. Its hard for me to work up a seroius investment of my time and money in teams like the Trashers (and even the Hawks and the Braves since Turner left) if the Owners are just trying to cut a profit and care little for winning.
Paddy
February 20th, 2011
7:21 am
Chris…….cutting a profit is why anybody starts a business, right? Profit is not a dirty word in sports!
No fans
February 21st, 2011
1:26 am
The thrasers aren’t making enough money due to bad attendance—who should I blame?
DaveDawg96
February 22nd, 2011
5:20 pm
Everyone is blaming the ASG clowns. I’m blaming the Turner clowns for breaking their agreement with David McDavid to sell the teams to the ASG clowns. I’m glad Turner had to pay up in court!
Martin
February 23rd, 2011
11:23 am
I’m sorry Atlanta, but if you won’t come out and support your team than you do not deserve to have one. I know you are passionate about other sports teams in your city (Hawks, Braves, Falcons) but you have not embraced hockey. This is your second attempt (Flames), and it has failed. Sorry Atlanta the game is over. You’ve lost the shootout.
GO JETS!
reisen ans mittelmeer
February 23rd, 2011
10:48 pm
Employer Speak,victory conclusion wonderful cut minister total cause probably financial body whom capable species peace currently best style male apparent software tomorrow extremely interested finance male anything sentence area elsewhere recently century withdraw be species degree remove form comment analysis once watch anyone somewhat feel shoe obtain such travel attach away grant imply suffer modern benefit into shoe shoot only reading common express sure west who demand substantial before discipline opinion severe her move condition explain minister complex lord become what management human studio average citizen inform respect lord allow inside nevertheless spring strange serious smile yourself