Is NHL abandoning Thrashers, Atlanta after rescuing others? (UPDATED with Bill Daly Q-and-A)

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Plenty of blame to go around here, but thank you Jeff for pointing out the fact that ownership has been with Waddell, who has consistently mad bad decisions that result in a poor product on the ice.

Hope they don’t leave.

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Only one question remains:

Mayflower or Bekins?

Sad, sad day coming to the ATL.

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ASG has rocketed to Jimmy Carter levels of incompetence.

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It will just que more comments about Atlanta being a “bad sports town” by rust belters who are sad about the fact that we have all of their jobs now.

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Great job Jeff,

Well said. Bettman remains silent…not a good sign at all.

If we lose the team to Canada once again…it’s a good bet we’ll never have NHL hockey again in Atlanta.

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Here, here!! Finally I’m not the only one trying to point out teh apparent hypocrisy of the NHL!

That being said, Gary Bettman is the only person in the NHL possibly more inept than Don Waddell!

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Great one, Jeff. Well said.

I’ve been wanting Waddell to go away for YEARS. And what the heck does someone who was originally from the NBA know about hockey??? Bettman needs to go, too.

Steve Yzerman for commish! Look what he has done with the Bolts! (Obvious wishful thinking is obvious.)

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Where is Gary?

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I remember the sad day that the Flames were sold and moved. Plett, Lysiack, Clement, and Bouchard were as well known in Atlanta at that time as Drew, Roundfield and Rollins.

I expect that the NHL will realize that it is in their best interest to keep the team in Atlanta. The Flames drew very well in all but their final year in Atlanta, The Knights set IHL records for attendance, and the Thrashers set the all-time attendance mark for an expansion team. Even with the turmoil and disapointment of the past few years the Thrashers attendance this year was superior Phoenix, Columbus, and New York and have comparable attendance to another half dozens or so franchises.

The NHL should help the ASG get through a local sale, or else one of the other southern teams will look to relocate to the best market and arena not in the NHL when they are down in ten years or so.

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Betteman is a piece of trash. He needs to be fired and should have during the last lockout. He is easily the worst commish of the 4 major sports.

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Truly sorry that Atlanta may lose their team. Again. The NHL is a tough sport to expand into the U.S. especially the Southern States. Unlike Canadian/Northern States the South has a very tough time expanding their fan base without a winning product on the ice. The mentality is that “no one wants to cheer for a loser”, in Edmonton (last place team 2 yrs running) their building is sold out every night, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal are the same way. The fans there (in smaller cities) flock to the arena to watch hockey.
I don’t so much feel sorry for Glendale and the Coyotes (they built their rink far far away and expected folks to migrate with the team). Atlanta on the other hand has a beautiful building. Philips arena is one of the nicest rinks in the league.
But through a combination of ownership issues and a non-winning team on the ice they have struggled mightily. This was almost the same thing that happened in Winnipeg in the mid-90s. We didn’t have the nice building that the Atlanta has, but what we did have was a major recession and a sub-par team on the ice. In an economic crisis the last thing people want to do is spend money on a hockey game to watch a team that is struggling. We also had an owner who didn’t want to lose anymore money and was trying to sell the team. It sold, but we stuck with it. We got a minor league team, supported them and help rebuild the economy. Also, we don’t feel that Bettman was much help in saving our Jets at the time either.
Please don’t blame the city or people of Winnipeg IF the Thrashers move. They just want their NHL back. They’ll take good care of your boys IF the move happens. I will continue to say IF because that was all we can do is wait and see what the NHL/Bettman will do next.

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what a ship of fools. dear ted turner – thanks for selling the team to these idiots. bettman – liar. waddell – idiot. asg – liars & idiots…let’s go back a little – tom cousion – piece of sh-t greedy b—–d..trying to sell himself as mr atlanta with his east lake crap. i hope there is a special room in hell for all of these clowns with piped in accordian music

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Not a hockey fan so I don’t care too much whether they leave or not. The one reason I would want them to stay is that leaving will reinforce the idea among some in the national sports media that Atlanta is a bad sports town which is not true.

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Hey Tony, people DO care, there are fans. Many of us remember how loud and awesome Philips was during the two playoff games. It was the loudest arena I’ve ever been too during those games. The Spirit becoming the laughing stock of sports ownership is why I stopped being a season ticket holder a few years ago and my ticket rep mentioned that same excuse being why many season ticket holders weren’t renewing. I continue to hope I don’t read the headline “Thrashers Jet to Winnipeg”.

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Spot on, Jeff.

Even if the ineffective management shoulders most all of the blame for the state of the Thrashers, Bettman need to break his silence!

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What’s the timeline on the latest “they’re gone”? Do I have this right?
1)Glendale votes to keep PHX for another year and fund losses for 10 years

2)Eklund posted a blog yesterday saying 24 to 48 hours announcement that Thrashers to Winnipeg is done, they’re gone

3)Some unnamed Thrashers’ player reportedly texted a reporter saying they’ve heard they need to prepare for an announcement regarding relocation

Is this a perfect firestorm coming together with no substance? Eklund is a moron and is right less often than Kincade. Everyone’s paranoid with the silence out of the NHL, so it’s possible the rumor mill got to the player and it didn’t come from mgt, but he just texted the rumor he sees floating around the internet (started by Eklund).

As soon as PHX is staying, we all knew True North was moving their attention to us. In my blog post that got eaten yesterday, I was conjecturing that the owners (Spirit Squad) were now going to be in the driver’s seat and their sale price just went up as they can use True North as leverage against anyone interested in buying the club to keep them here and mabye the NHL is being quiet as they are also using the leverage of WPG to help the owners sell the club locally? What better way for the Spirit Squad to chum the waters then to allow the firestorm to continue, a firestorm started by, again, Eklund, a anonymous blogger who has no credibility.

I’m turning this all off and going back to work as it’s driving me batty, I think the PHX fans have been going through this for a long time and the end result is they’re staying . . .

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[...] Visit link: NHL News: Is NHL abandoning Thrashers, Atlanta after rescuing others? – Atlanta Journal Constitution… [...]

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BC&B. Ill gotten BCS dollars. The Fiesta bowl is rolling in dirty money.

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The whole situation is frustrating beyond belief. If the Thrashers relocate, I would seriously like to see ASG burned in effigy in the middle of Peachtree St.

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It’s George Bush’s fault……..

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Jeff, again I SALUTE you for telling it like it is at AJC, something that chris whatever, has NEVER done. I too wonder where Bettman is ???? Why would he fight tooth and nail for Phoenix and
assist other cities, but turn his back on Atlanta?????

I just wonder, if in the next few days, we hear this true north crowd has paid Atlanta STUPID Group, $200 million and the NHL $60 and Thrashers are, like the Flames a victim of A$$HOLE Owners, NOT the fans, A Solid owner would end up making it work here, But… Where are they ???

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We have been begging leaders, including the Mayor, to step up:

http://www.keepthethrashers.com/videokeepthrashersATL.html

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Thrashers suck…bring back the Atlanta Flames…they rocked!!!!!!

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Good article Jeff!! Thank you for giving a little perspective to this. It is sad I grew up with the Flames and LOVE hockey, but this would be the last straw for me. There are plenty of people willing to support a franchise with a real chance to make the playoffs(I think everyone knew there where “smoke and mirrors” in last years early run). I really have a hard time supporting the clowns of ASG as well…too much ill will!!

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There are three factors working against the Thrashers here, and I don’t think they can overcome them.
1) It costs too much to go to a Thrashers game. For the price of nosebleed seats at Phillips, I can get 3rd row centre ice at a Gladiators Game
2) The lockout annoyed a lot of fans, myself included.
3) The Gladiators are putting a good team on the ice.

I really want to be a Thrashers fan. I went to several games up to the lockout. after that, it really lost its lustre. it was obvious to me that the NHL didn’t care about it’s product, and it’s hard to sympathize with players making that kind of money. I know that the Glads are minor league, but it’s fun to watch. it’s cheap enough I can take the family, and I don’t have to fight my way downtown to go watch a game.

I

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maybe they don’t know what’s going to happen because ASG has different sets of books, and they’re trying to get to the bottom of what’s real. no way are the hawks rolling in dough and the t-birds are losing money. and if there truly are only 2,000 households watching hockey in an area of 5.3 million, then i’ve got a bridge in brooklyn i want to show you.

maybe the team moves to an area with less people than Fulton County for a short-term payoff for the owners, but the reality is, hardly any serious person actually feels that it’ll be in Winnepegg long if it goes. sure, they’ll pack em into the rafters the first 3 years maybe more, and then it’ll dawn on folks that they’re paying $100 for a family of four to see Ahl level talent. that’s the truth.

if this team goes i’ll be mad for a minute. I’ll be depressed about it for a while. I might even follow them for a while, but i’ll move on. I want the thrashers to stay, i really do, and i’m not convinced that it’s over between us and the nhl if they do move. run propperly, this would be a great hockey town. to say it’s a bad sports town isn’t all the way accurate. Atlantans have a show me attitude about winning. you win, and they’ll come, next year.

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I used to be a damn near preacher before the Thrashers came to town. But while watching their poor, lazy ass efforts, I cussed my way into sin. Maybe I can get back on the righteous path if they leave.

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Atlanta fans i feel your pain. Being from Winnipeg and going through the same thing 15 years ago, I truly hope you keep your team as you are more than entitled to than Phoenix. Bettman couldn’t move the Jets out of town fast enough. If Bettman can’t support you Thrasher fans the same as he did for Coyote fans then i personally don’t want anything to do with the NHL or Gary Bettman here in Winnipeg.

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I don’t know how the Atlanta Spirit can make a go of things owning just the arena and the Hawks. I don’t think the numbers work at all. Which means those assets will also have to be sold, and I don’t see buyers lining up for them, either.

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Bettman is nobody mastermind he does what the owners tell him to do and I got a feeling the owners really don’t want to own more than one team. Phoenix was a major Charlie Foxtrot for the league and it sobered their willingness to throw good money at bad money. If they can find another sucker to milk they will but if there was any left Gary would have unloaded Phoenix by now.

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Great job Schultzie! Echos the sentiments I expressed in my blog entry in which I wrote a letter to Mr. Bettman. In it I raised many of the same points and I must give you a firm tip of the cap for the quotes you pulled out of GB last Feb as I used a couple of them to underline one of my salient points. If you get the chance, I’d love it if you took the time to read: http://tiny.cc/0t3zm

Thanks and let’s make this work Atlanta! The Thrashers are worthy of being salvaged and this market CAN work with the right ownership, ahem, The Balkan that is, in charge calling the shots.

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Thanks Jeff for submitting an article that sums up the majority opinion from the diehard Thraher fans like myself. I’m glad it’s out there for all to read.

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Honestly I’ve wondered why both the NHL and NBA league offices don’t take over the franchises from the ASG. If you can’t spend you can’t compete. And if you can’t spend you can’t hire effectively which has been the bane of both ASG teams. This should be a plus market for both sports with all the transplants – myself included. As weird as Hockey in Atlanta sounds at times Hockey in Phoenix and Tampa and Sunrise is even weirder. Do something guys!

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So, say they go to winnepeg and lose horribly for 10 of 11 years…. and in that one out of the decade plus of absolutely horrid hockey…. they get swept in the playoffs….

are people going to whine that Winnepeg is a bad sports city and that’s why they just don’t support the team?

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If there’s a city that needs to be abandoned by the NHL it’s Nashville. A town that is doing its best to replace Atlanta as “Losersville”.

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the flames left atlanta????????

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Man am I going to be sad and mad if the thrashers get shipped out of atlanta. If this happens our kids will get to fill the same pain we felt when the flames left, but when they grow up there kids they will never see a nhl team in altanta. Please save the thrashers!!!!!

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Bettman didn’t support the teams in Winnipeg, Hartford, or Quebec either. They left. They’re all also “hockey markets” where as we are not. I’d love for the team to stay, but quite frankly our paltry attendance and TV ratings don’t indicate that we deserve for that to happen.

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This is the South and no one cares about lame hockey except for transplanted Northerners. I am glad to see it go…again

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Once Winnipeg gets its franchise back I expect Quebec City & Hartford to get theirs back as well . Those places all drew better than most teams in the southeast . They have ice and play the sport . The problem is as more people migrate south the more disenfranchised they become from the things they left . I grew up an Islander fan . So what ?

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Bettman, please say something so we can get back to pounding on the ASG!

These guys are class acts, they think they can dismbowel one franchise and then run another one successfully in the same town? I don’t think so.

Us fans are coming for you ASG, you can’t win. Sell all 3 entities and leave town immediately…or you can just sell the hockey team to canada and wait a few more years for us to drain the pennies you have left from running an empty arena and paying off year 7 of the Joe Johnson contract.

You will lose and I will enjoy it…scumbags.

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“Upfronts” roll outs are next week, going to the Big City! Look, we were promised that there were legitimate buyers for the Thrashers. Now, I’ve heard nothing from the snake Kincade, the beat writer, or you on what has happened to those possibilities? What happened?

The NHL has staked their ground, the new TV package has no 4 letter savior raining money and shared revenue riches on them… So many so-called Thrashers fans wanted to force this team to be a Northside entity, they got their wish… Now it is going to an even further “Northside entity,” all the way in Manitoba!

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Jeff,

While a well written piece, Atlanta is just not a hockey town. In coming from Philadelphia, the Eagles are the kings of the town, with the exception of a Phillies pennant race, from August to February. That being said, the Flyers still sell out games and are still discussed on sports talk radio. I listen 680 and 790 and they may have Thrasher updates, but there is not a lot of audience participation when it comes to Thrasher discussions.

I have been to Thrasher games for the Flyers and the Penguins. The most recent in March when the Thrashers still had an outside shot at making the playoffs. While the game was at Blueland, it was an away game for the Thrashers. As you point to in your column, ownership needs to develop and cultivate the Thrasher brand and the relationship between the Thrashers and their fans. They need to build a tradition with their fans.

If not, all will be lost, but will it be missed?

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You could put a NHL team in Beijing China, big TV market but if the interest for hockey is noty there … . There are dedicated fans in the ATL area but not enough, same in Phoenix, Hockey is a way of life in the Great White North, you have population density in the South but if the people don’t wnat to spent money on NHL hockey you can’t force them. Winnipeg and Quebec would have a higher amount of local supporters for a NHL franchise plus higher ticket prices, better CDN Dollar … . Right now NHL in Canada makes sense if the Dollar stays close to par or above NHL finances make sense in Canada.

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Great article. This sums it all up. Would love to see a new owner build an arena for the Thrashers at the old GM plant in Doraville. A more central location for all the hockey fans in the north suburbs.

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C’mon Jeff, we all know they’re giving away peace prizes in cracker jack boxes nowadays.

Good article though, glad someone is sticking up for the fans here; build it and they will come.

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Good article Schultz. Glad someone give a crap. Between crappy management, idiot owners, corrupt NHL, and incompetent city officials, the only thing supporting this team is fans and players. How come none of this relocation talk existed when the Hawks sucked terribly for something like 20ys.

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So if they move to Winnepeg, who gets the spot in the East? Detroit in order to rekindle rivalries? Or that city in Ohio?

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The idea that the South (Atl) will not support hockey is a myth and repeated by others to the point that some actually believe it. Hockey can thrive in any market big enough to support the cost. It takes great ownership and and marketing that places value on the game. once you get a fan to buy a ticket (not give it to him /her) and he or she enjoys the experience, they will come back as paying customers. Once you give a fan a free ticket to a game he will never buy a ticket again. Sports Management 101!

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Sure, Jeff, we’re a top 10 TV market, but that doesn’t help the Thrashers when only two or three of every four games isn’t on local TV… What’s up with that?

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Jeff

You should be proud…..you have called out asg for who they are. Gary,ASG, etc blame the fans for not showing….what a shame!
These people have an agenda that is not in line with the fan. They have all lied and you need to continue dig into these phonies….
I could go on but I think you are on track…..
Gary gets his 60mill to appease owners…ASG break even
…fans lose completely..what a fraud
Keep fighting the good fight jeff

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A truly toxic mix – the NHL and the Spirit group – they actually deserve each other.

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While I feel for the fans of the Thrashers (and the Atlanta Flames before them) the problem is that by refusing to go to games because the product on the ice is poor, in a market that is not “groomed” for hockey, can only lead to the situation that you have now.

Even accepting the fact that the management of the Thrashers is inept, by not financially supporting the team, especially a team relatively new to the market, not only sours the current owners, but scares off any “white knights” looking to buy the team as well.

Ultimately, a team lives (and yes dies) by whether its fanbase supports it both emotionally and financially…

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Whoever continues to buy season tickets and continues to give even a single more dollar to these undeserving frauds….I have just one word to describe you.

Sheep.

Give this ownership what they have long-deserved. Losses.

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Sage… choke on it you complete and utter Troll!

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Wow, Jeff, that updated Q&A with Daly makes me feel even worse. His non-committals and no comments really speak volumes. Sad, sad indeed.

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Cry me a river..Now you care. WELCOME TO BLUELAND

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Jeff

Keep digging something stinks
What exactly has the NHL done?
These owners are wealthy people they are not in financial dire straits….this is all wrong
Bill Daley is a joke and was not honest

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Jeff97

Correct but these are greedy people

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So Daly is chasig down old men rambling at Glendale City Council meetings, but the magical behind the scenes “search” for Atlanta owners has managed to elude all media and NHL sources?

Why wasn’t Matt Hulsizer wasn’t sent our way?

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I don’t want a single penny of my tax dollars to go towards keeping a freaking hockey team in Atlanta. Sorry, hockey fans.

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Good questions Jeff – boy did Daly come off like a complete jerk.

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Dear American friends:

I would let you have the Thrashers, and all the other Canadian teams, just to have my Expos back in Montreal. Heck I would even throw in the Blue Jays to complete that trade.

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Sage would like some really good info on Donny and the owners?

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Reading the Q & A, does anyone else find it interesting that Daly refers only to Levenson when discussing the owners? Gearon is on the record as saying he wants to keep the team in Atlanta and that he himself is willing to remain involved but if I’m not mistaken, Levenson hasn’t had any public comments other than to say what amounts to “no comment”. Is it possible that part of the problem here is that there is conflict within the ownership group as to what to do? In another article, Daly refers to having to sort things out with the owners in Atlanta, is it possible he means sorting out the sellers as opposed to anything having to do with the buyers?

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[...] answers from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly later in the day. Here is the main talking point from that discussion: Q: Can you guarantee the team will be in Atlanta next season? A: “Nope. I can’t guarantee [...]

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go nhl

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I gotta say that after reading the q and a I feel worse than I did before. Jeff, I thought that they couldn’t pursue a sale until 6 months ago? What’s this talk about working with ASG for two years on a sale??? This smells really bad….like Daly is using this “behind the curtains” crap to justify apathy and letting this happen without any fight.

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Hell on Ice, A lot of us care. Sorry if it is not your sport. Go ask the fans in Tampa if they care about their team being the Eastern conference final. It’s Florida. Try to get a ticket and you will find out how many people in the south actually care about hockey.

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IF THE THRASHERS MOVE, IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO TAKE DON WADELL AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE ATLANTA SPIRIT GROUP WITH THEM, AS NONE OF THESE LOSERS ARE WELCOME IN THIS CITY.

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Wherever the Thrashers go, I will follow. I’ll miss going to games though. We really need to get this third-grade ownership/management drama out of the way so we can start working on all that talent we have on the ice. We have all the ingredients for a Stanely Cup team, we’ve just got to get an owner/coach up in there to put it all together. To Management: You’ve got three months, boys. Get it together. To fans: Don’t give up yet. There’s always a rainbow after a storm. Stanley Cup, anyone?

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http://fb.me/sSmOiPg1

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Sage, f you … that is all.

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If the Thrashers leave us and the members of ASG aren’t burned on Marietta Street, everyone needs to boycott the Hawks and Phillips Arena. If we lose another NHL hockey franchise, I doubt we will be getting one in Atlanta again. This sport is so much fun to watch. It’s a shame that this franchise has been terribly mismanaged since its inception. Please don’t leave us Thrash!

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I dont understand how a group calling themselves “Atlanta Spirit Group” could be so disinterested in the city. Sickening. I wish we could overthrow them for the good of the city and the Hawks and Thrashers.

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Every person who cares need to come to Phillips on select a seat day (even if cancel) and go nuts on showing their support for NHL and lackof support for the ASG stooges…..lets get 18000 down there going absolutely ape. May 21

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Bunch of chaff from Daly. League has been plenty visible and vocal in other situations not involving a league owned team. See Penguins, Preds. Deflecting to Levenson is BS. The league has a big say about sale & move even if ASG/TNSE filed for relocation before 1/1/11. And a HUGE say if they didn’t. Six months time to find a local buyer is not an exhaustive attempt. This thing really has a stench to it.

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No one cares except the yankees who moved down here and also pull for tech. ……..same marketing campaign. 4 tickets, 4 cokes, 4 hot dogs.

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I am a diehard Thrasher fan but too many things working against the ATLANTA Thrashers:
1. Canadian Oil money
2. Comish Bettman is PRO Canada. When there is an opportunity to get a franchise “back” to Canada, he’s going to work hard to make it happen.
3. Thrashers lack of fan support, attendance and making the playoffs.

I hope I am wrong! I will cry like a baby if hockey leaves the ATL.

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A slippery slope.

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Hillbilly Deluxe – exactly. How in the world can that be true when this was pulled directly from the lawsuit?

“Plaintiffs would not have incurred these losses if they had had free and clear title to the Thrashers and thus had the ability to sell or otherwise dispose of the franchise.”

Liars covering for liars?????

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This also from the lawsuit:

““Potential buyers talked with Plaintiffs about acquiring the Atlanta Thrashers. However, because they had been unable to acquire Belkin’s interest and were entangled in the Maryland litigation, Plaintiffs could not convey free and clear title to the franchise and thus were not in a position to sell.”

How can you help someone sell something that is not “in a position to sell”???????????

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During the Thrashers ONLY playoff run there were many sellouts and averaged over 16k fans per game. It’s not the fans fault the ownership group does not know how to run a team. Why waste your money on a losing product. Don’t punish the fans due to ownerships incompetence.

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Winnipeg wins the cup in 2020.

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If Winnipeg wants a team that bad then why don’t they push for an expansion team?

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Also what happened to Glavine going in as part owner?

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Atlanta is a strange sports town but they seem to like that way…..first, there was Georgia Tech.and then the Atlanta Crackers,,,then the Braves..then The Falcons…….maybe thats enough to satisfy folks in this town. its a party town we dont need all that other stuff

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Yeah, the NHL owns the Phoenix franchise because it saved it instead of letting it fold. Now the NHL is trying recoup all of the money it has spent saving Phoenix by letting the Thrashers relocate and collect a relocation fee.

Atlanta is home 5+ million people and a good number of them came from northern, hockey-mad cities. It blows my mind how incompetent a hockey ownership group has to be to fail here. And now it blows my mind that the NHL hasn’t realized the potential either.

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Thrahsers fans should not feel bad, insecure or upset. Fans in this city reacted as any reasonable fan base would react to the kind of product offered here….and that includes Canada.

The bottom line is that the best thing possible for hockey fans in Atlanta is to have the Thrashers, their sorry management, and pathetic ownership swept out of town. This body is dead and the corpse has been rotting from the inside for some time now.

But there is a silver lining: the NHL, like most sports leagues will surely give Atlanta another team. In doing so they will collect another expansion fee, once again enter a Top 10 market, and fill an other empty arena.

Do not worry Thrashers fans – the NHL will be back. I 100% guarantee it.

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daly said ask levenson. heard levenson at local news before hawks game. no good. by the way check attendance lovely braves. it’s like hockey 13000-15000. Atlanta worst sport city in America. only dawgs get people on stand on regular basic. hockey still second best sport for me after soccer. sure Winnipeg going to get 110% attendance good luck thrashers i am sure you find success there. what a game between Canada and Russia on world champ. Russia won 2:1. Canada out. winning goal by kovy.

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I wouldn’t get too worried yet. In Winnipeg, we’ve been told a team is coming back for 3-4 years now. We’ve given up taking it seriously.

It is sad that the league has done little for Atlanta so far after all they did for Phoenix. They did NOTHING for the Jets, moved the team as fast as they could.

But like I said, I wouldn’t worry about the team moving. The schedule has to be made in two weeks so no news by then means the Thrashers will be staying next year at least. A lot of people in Winnipeg are so bitter about the NHL they don’t even want a team back.

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Thanks Atlanta Spirit Group! Thrashers will now be NHL powerhouses for the next 15 yrs!

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Tom Glavine has expressed an interest in purchasing the team. His interest in hockey (he had a choice between hockey and baseball), along with his relationship with Ted Turner and some assistance from the league could easily keep the Thrashers in Atlanta. Ownership interest and focus on the team is the key to success. The GM (Rick Dudley) is an extremely valuable asset. He can put together a successful team. A major focus on goaltending and defense is also key. The offensive attack is fine. But it all hinges on keeping the team here. Success will generate TV revenue. Butts in the seats will generate success. Tough economic times will have to lower ticket prices. Creative promotions require the right individual to generate ticket sales. Free parking to weekend games would fill the arena, etc. We need a lot of luck for all this to happen, with the Atlanta Spirit focused on roundball at this critical time.

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How many hundreds of millions of dollars will it take for the people of Arizona to say enough is enough? I am sure the NHL is happy to just keep taking the money from all of the unemployed people of Arizona with its close to depression economy.

So, the NHL’s brilliant plan of moving ice hockey from Canada to legendary hockey hotbeds like Arizona and Georgia hasn’t turned out so well. What next? If you follow Bettman’s logic – it goes a bit like this: who cares if the local population even gives a crap about hockey – if you move the game to where there are enough people and a big potential market, all will work out good. What could go wrong with a genius plan like that?

With that logic, let’s move NHL teams to India and China. Do the Chinese like the game – no – never heard of it – but who cares, the potential market is HUGE!

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The IHL Atlanta Knights proved that you can have successful hockey in Atlanta(Don’t remember why they left) . The problem with the Thrashers is is that they have only made the playoffs once in franchise history.

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[...] From the AJC, Schultz and Daly: Q: You and commissioner Gary Bettman both made frequent trips to Phoenix to speak publicly about the Coyotes staying there, but there has been no similar efforts in Atlanta. Why not? [...]

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The problem is that no one wants to fight traffic to drive downtown to see a mediocre product in a city that everyone is ashamed and embarrassed about. So many What Ifs. What if public transportation (MARTA) was better. What if the Thrashers put out a better product. What if Atlanta were a city that people were proud of rather then a crime ridden inner city hellhole where there’s virtually nothing to do and the mayor shows no interest in cleaning things up.

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Did I just read a comment from someone in Atlanta saying one of the reasons they might leave is because Bettman is PRO Canada??? I get that Altanta fans deserve to be upset especially with what has happened in Phoenix, but we all know if the team moves it’s because there were no serious local buyers in the mix and NOT because Bettman is pro Canada.

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And at 8:17 PM the “Northside can solve anything” shows its clueless face….

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Yeah Bettman really shows his PRO-Canada stance with his New York accent on the phone from his New York office, moving a Canadian game from Canadian cities to American cities – which accurately characterizes his reign in this league.

News for you folks, Lord Stanley wasn’t an American.

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“Let’s make this absolutely clear to the NHL. Atlanta does NOT care about the Thrashers. Atlanta does NOT want the Thrashers. Hockey has no business being in the South”

I call bull on that. There are plenty of hockey fans in the city, many have been around since the days of the Flames and Knights and there are also plenty of people who have moved from rust-belt states to Atlanta. Tampa and Carolina have both won Stanley Cups so hockey doesn’t belong in the south?

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Jeff – spot on analysis.

I’m in a unique situation – lived in Atlanta, now reside in Winnipeg.

As someone who saw the Jets leave, and left their piggy bank to try and save them 15 years ago, I’d like to say we would welcome the NHL back. It is unfortunate it might happen at the expense of another city since I know what that is like.

From the beginning I cannot fathom how Bettman can say he has done anything to save your franchise compared to the mind boggling theatrics of Phoenix. You guys truly have been put through the ringer and screwed, completely. It’s not fair after what transpired if your team were to move here, not at all. Given Atlanta is a bigger market than Phoenix and is better positioned for a team logistics wise with the arena, Bettman cannot say with a straight face that he has been anywhere close to as dedicated to saving your team.

At the same time we in Winnipeg are getting sick and tired of being held up as potential threats. He’s using us, and it hurts, as much as it does to potentially have your team moved. The NHL has been less than graceful and forthcoming throughout this whole process, and it screams “bush league” to me. Another reason why it will never be like the NFL, Gooddell would never let this happen.

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I can remember the days when the Braves were lucky to have 5000 in the stands, (Think the 70’s). For any sports team to succeed at the gate, they have to put a quality product on the field/ice. For the most part, the Thrashers haven’t done that and that falls on the ownership. That can’t be turned around overnight. The fans have lost all faith in ownership but if a quality product is put on the ice, for a reasonable length of time, the fans would come back.

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Bettman says no imminent deal, but doesn’t step up to definitely say we’re staying here, we’re being played here folks:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6536272

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I have never been to Atlanta

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You can’t compare Atlanta to Buffalo. Buffalo has a fan base with a waiting list a mile long for season tickets. They actually have a cut off to make sure there are single game tickets available. It may be a small market, but it has southern Ontario and all of Western NY behind it. Atlanta, on the other had doesn’t have a fan base. When one goes to the games, the majority of the team sweaters belong to other NHL franchises. This is not a hockey town, its just a great place to go see your favorite team without paying through the nose. One of my friends commented it was actually cheaper to fly down to Atlanta and watch his team than to even try to get tickets in his home city. We don’t deserve a team, the city never rallied around the Thrashers, but the Thrashers never gave us anything to rally around. Even when they’ve made postseason, it was by default, winning their conference while other teams had better records were shut out of the post season.

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Butros, Florida hasn’t really been good for a while now but remember when they were in the Cup Finals against Colorado? As I said Tampa and Carolina have both won Stanley Cups and it looks like they have a shot at getting to another Cup Final. I was born after the Flames left but have fond memories of going to Atlanta Knights games back in the 90s and even made it to 1 game of each playoff series the year they won it all. Then they left and i was highly disappointed, there are alot of fans that live in the northern and eastern suburbs of Atlanta. The problem is that other than the year the Thrashers made the playoffs they haven’t really had a quality product on ice and as such attendance has suffered.

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The Thrashers must stay in Atlanta. We are a hockey city. Rid us of Waddell and the Spirit and we’ll flourish.

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We knew this was coming, but it is still an awful feeling. I wish all the “Bad JU-JU” on the Atl Spirit. I hope they all wreck on the way home from the Hawks loss tonight.

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Will this FINALLY convince some of you sheep to STOP throwing your money away???

(If this doesn’t, nothing will. How pitiful and sad!)

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We have a arena,we have the richest man in Canada and we have fans. Don’t forget we are born and raised palying hockey up here.There are over 300 indoor and outdoor hockey rinks in Winnipeg alone with a population of 750,000 people.

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At least if they leave they will being going to somewhere where they will be loved and idolized. In Canada if you are aNHL player you can’t walk down the street without people asking for autographs etc. Do not hateWinnipeg, Canada or the thrashers. Blame Gary Bettman for all this KAOS!!

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Dale with all that hockey is that why the Jet’s left? I can only hope you have to take the current AH owners with you

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I am a season ticket holder and all my rep cares about is the Hawks, mazybe if the hawks threatened to leave the city would help by supplementing the loss. this local government could care less about hockey

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The NHL must have hired J-Smoove as an advisor. Because they are making stupid decisions just like J-Duh does on the court. Waddy and the DAMN Spirit take J-SMoove and get the hell out of Atlanta. The Spirit own the Thrashers, Hawks and Phillips through underhanded, unethical and home-cooking discount shenanigans…

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I apologize if this has already been pointed out. But it’s not just Gary Bettman’s and the NHL’s in-action that people should be upset about. It’s also their action. Remember it’s Bettman and the league’s Board of Governors who approved these clowns to take over ownership of the team… Unbelievable!!!

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The Jets left because we couold not get a arena at the time. The last year they were a dead duck team as they were leaving so people stayed away to protest as they were leaving anyways. Things have changed. And by the way the players not wanting to play in Winnipeg is crap. Big Buff come from 70 miles from Winnipeg and his family is pumped if he comes to Winnipeg. They won’t play in Winnipeg thing is a bumch of crap. Just like Atlanta is only rednecks. Thats what all of Canada thinks but its most likely not true.

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No one cares about Canada…especially Winnipeg. Take the team. It will fail there too and I will laugh my arse off.

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If they were to move to Winnipeg they’ll likely be dubbed the Manitoba Moose. This would see the current title owner (AHL) moving to another Canadian city.

I don’t think the NHL can ignore the fact that ticket prices will double if the team was to move. A 40$ ticket in Atlanta is a 90$ ticket in Winnipeg.

It’s an unfortunate situation but I think its the leagues best play.

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Phoenix is the exception, not the rule. The NHL is bending over backwards to save the Coyotes, but did nothing to help Winnipeg, Quebec, or those of us in the Hartford area. The NHL’s business model is unsustainable, half the teams in the league lose money each year. So there will be a constant parade of teams in crisis. Right now it’s Phoenix, Atlanta, and the NY Islanders. When these are resolved, other teams will be in trouble. Bettman has turned the league into a money-vomitting disaster area. He needs to be replaced by someone who understands hockey and business. Bettman seems to understand neither.

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@Kanarstead Take Healy’s comments with a grain of salt. This guy will say anything on HNIC to get a rise. Anyone who watches the games he works knows that he’s a troll. He basically goes against whichever team has the majority of the audience – regardless of who’s playing.

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It’s called capitalism folks, suck it!!!!!

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Moving here from Dallas four years ago, and an avid newspaper reader for 30 years..I have to say say, that you sir, are one of the most negative sportswriters in a home city that I have ever read. Every article you write takes snarky potshots at the ownership group for the Hawks, the Braves…one day your positive, the next three days you are negative……I’m tuning you out, and will cancel my subscription as well. I don’t see how true Atlanta sports fans have put up with your negativity for so long. Maybe if the hockey team leaves, you will cut as well

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Wow, I see where the ASG (Atlanta Sham Guys) broke out the gimmick everyone wear white t-shirts at the Hawks game tonight. Gee, what a shocker… ASG going with a gimmick. They may be short on money and integrity, but they can trot out gimmicks all day long… Blueland… The Highlight Factory… Jersey with Atlanta down the one sleeve (easily the worst unis in the NHL)… Giving out winter scarves in mid April for the Thrashers’ only playoff appearance (for those of you from Canada, that really did happen – yep, these idiots really did give fans in Georgia winter scarves in mid April… I kid you not.)… yep, this group is just one gimmick after another. And they can’t understand why they haven’t had success.

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Darren LaPorte – wait til you live here for 10 years and then revisit that statement….we are tired of all the BS this town goes through with our sports teams….

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Kanarstead

May 12th, 2011 11:13 pm At least $90. When the Thrashers move to Winnipeg they will be playing in the smallest arena in the league, seating barely 15,000. The Thrashers averaged just 1,500 fewer fans per game than what they could draw in Winnipeg selling out all home games.

The expected average ticket price in Winnipeg is expected to be $60 – $70, not $90. And as Phoenix fans have been slow to understand….. its not how many people attend the game, its what they pay that’s important.

2010 – the average price in Atlanta was $48.51

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This is exactly how Whalers fans felt in 1997. Our team was dying and the NHL helped fill the gas into the moving trucks. Yet, they almost kill themselves to save other teams.

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Think Atl got screwed with Flames?
Think Cleveland and the Barons…
Dan Gilbert will be buying NHL franchise soon and relocating to Cleveland…
Smaller market.
Bigger heart.

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Welll…As is the case in the Red Wings/SJ Series, The NHL is rigged according to Gary Bettman’s liking. Totally predictable

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Thanks for turning the heat up on the Commissioner’s office Jeff! Keep it up brother. We need all the help we can get.

Come on Glavine…get a group together. Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux, Jones and a very wealthy retired hockey player to buy them minus the $60,000,000 the league would get for relocation.

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Sorry, but I oppose the city of Atlanta bailing out the Thrashers. I guess the libertarians in AZ just gave up in the last minute.

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wow

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Hey PensFan, you are correct, yes Atlanta is getting shafted by the NHL. As far as why the league is sticking by the Coyotes and at the same time letting the Thrashers be moved, it’s really quite simple. You see the NHL owns the Coyotes. If they sell the team to True North they can’t charge themselves a relocation fee. However, if they allow the Thrashers to be sold to True North they can, and will, charge ASG a $60 million relocation fee. So when Bettman & Dailey say the two situations are very different they are telling the truth.
They are different by 60 million dollars.

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Top 10 TV market? Hockey’s on TV?

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I don’t mean to pour salt in the wound, but I have to ask, why weren’t you supporting your team?

In the highest level of professional sports, no team can afford to have poor fan support for too long. Player contracts are too high, arena maintenance is too expensive, and there are always vultures at the door waiting to snatch a poorly-maintained team.

Look at us here in Toronto. We’ve been horrible for decades. We still sell out. Edmonton, New York (R), Buffalo, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal haven’t done much for awhile, but the fans still show up.

If you luck out and manage to keep the team this year, show up! If all you do is go to the games and boo all night and call for new ownership, that’s fne. But show up and support your team! That is the only way you’re keeping them.

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Looks like they are gone as soon as this weekend, sad, sad news. http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2011/05/thrashers-boss-discusses-future.html?s=newsletter&ed=2011-05-13&ana=e_atl_rdup

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And then this…

Hullinger: What would you like to say to fans wondering where all this stands? What would you like to say to them?

Levenson: If you know anybody who is interested, have them get in touch with us.

Are you kidding me? THAT is what you have to say to the fans?! What a piece of work. I’m glad the Hawks lost last night, you don’t deserve a winner.

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I did not read anything different in the Atlanta Business Chronicle article that hasn’t been said before. Still hoping.

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Jeff has done a great job on this. When did he EVER rip the fans. Rednecks, only “things” in Atlanta, All Winnipeg people are without anything to do ever in life, it STINKS up there !, been there and seen that !

No hockey fans in Atlanta ??? All Northern transplants ??? Hummm….

Attended Charlotte Checkers games in 1960, then Flames, Not Thrashers, Screw hawks and nba,
I know nothing about Jorgia Feetball and could give a damn about tech. Braves, little interest and Falcons, well it’s like jorgia feetball !

Hockey Number #1 always will be, but will lose total interest in the NHL is Thrashers leave, just like when Flames did !

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Jeff,

I have heard that an offer was made to ASG to purchase and not relocate the Thrashers, and it was rejected. Can this be investigated?

Also, would the NHL get involved with the process to the extent of telling ASG “You had a legitimate offer and refused it; we will not allow you move the franchise.”?

One concern is that due to the way the NHL has subsidized the operation in Phoenix (and kept Winnipeg in the buyer’s market for immediate relocation), the NHL has created an artificially high seller’s market for ASG to relocate the Thrashers, making them less likely to negotiate.

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How foolish do some of you feel for subsidizing the utter incompetence for so many years?

Never let it be said that some didn’t warn you. Many times.

My bank account has thanked me ever since I recognized Don Waddell and the ownership for the frauds they ultimately were.

Oh well, never forget who told you so. Many times. Enjoying likely the last bits of sheep-ignorance, which makes me sad, in a way. But, I’ll never forget the laughs at Gavasheep; Alanlamb; Smoothie; et. al.

To the tin-foil hat gang, I salute you!

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What is being paid for this disfunctional sorry mess?

Can they be forced to take the ownership and the Hawks with them?

I’m not sure I ever want to attend another concert or event at that arena for fear of putting money in any of the pockets of the Spirit. Especially when there are plenty of other quality venues in the area.

For the record Guerin is ok by me because he at least made attempts to explain the goings on and admit that the failure gets to him too.

But that said, everyone of the people responsible that has ever had thier hand in this franchice will go to thier graves with the stench of failure.

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“I think everybody needs to take a step back because I think there’s been a fair amount of speculation, supposition and even hysteria in the media, which has been largely fabricated,” Bettman said during the “NHL Hour With Commissioner Gary Bettman.”. “I wish I had a dollar for all of the reports a month ago that said the Coyotes were definitely moving and it was going to happen in a matter of days.

Fron NHL.com Gary Bettman on radio last night.

“I mean, people who are reporting on this stuff are simply making it up, and that’s unfortunate for our fans. It’s unfortunate for the fans who have a club they don’t want to lose, and it’s unfortunate for building up expectations in other places.

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Well, it seems fairly obvious what is going on here. An announcement was made that 5 different entities had signed non-disclosure agreements. Supposedly, at least two of them were interested in all three assets. The others were Thrashers only, but still keeping the team here. Yet Daly stated that none of the scenarios/offers made sense. According to Jay Clemons, one specific party wants all three assets and has had discussions with the ASG, but they go nowhere. Yet reading Levenson’s quotes, they stand ready to sell all three. So, they just can’t agree on a price? Or do they really want to sell all three assets? Or, do they want to sell the Thrash for the highest offer to outside buyers (which will also make the league $60 million) and pump that money into the Hawks?

And, what kind of jackass says when asked what he would say to fans “well, if they know anyone interested, have them contact us….”???? Pretty much sums up their attitude towards the fans.

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jeff it is about the askg. the nhl is giving them a vote of no confidence.

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My question is did we loose money when we won the division? Even my mom went to a game when they were good that season…you can’t just say here is a team so cheer for them…they have to win and pay there dues (not financially but from hard work and winning) before people are going to get attached. The unfortunate part is that ASG wanted to be the face franchise and on the billboard not one of the players…

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Hockey can work in Atlanta, it is just bad business by the ASG.

1. There is no reason to block off the 400 level seats. Sell those tickets day of game, starting 1.5 hours before the game starts. If you sell out those seats and people are there, they will ask for next cheapest,they won’t go home. The money made in concessions, souveniers, parking, etc. is more than leaving those seats empty.
2. Understand and acknowledge that hockey will play a back seat to other sports in this town. Don’t take that as a negative, just market your sport accordingly. More discounts early in the season when people are still watching college football, pro football and waiting for you to prove they won’t fade in the second half and then reap the rewards when the team is the main sport in town (winter time) and they are still doing well. ASG owns the Hawks too, so there should be more cross marketing (buy a hawks ticket, get 50% off a thrashers ticket, etc).
3. Pre season games should be free. Get people in the arena. Get the money from parking, concessions and souveniers and foster interest in the club early on. No one wants to pay for pre-season tickets so you have to get people in there for free. Start giving out tickets 3 hours before game time and have a “fan festival” outside during those 3 hours. Perfect for kids and adults.
4. Be more open with season ticket holders. Season ticket holders have to understand that when a team is struggling they will see a lot of discounts out there in hopes of getting others in the building. This causes STH to think the tickets aren’t worth it. Convince them they are worth it with other perks (meet and greet opportunities, autographed items…the list can go on) and when the team gets good and tickets are hard to come by, increase the incentives to the STH because they were with you when times were tough.
5. Don Waddell needs to go. I know the man is respected in hockey circles (Team USA, etc.) but perception fuels consumer sentiment. As long as he is around, people will associate the franchise with failure. Even though Dudley has set this team up nicely going forward, people will still hold a grudge against the organization as long as DW is around.

The bottom line is the players deserve to play in front of a packed house and we can get there if everyone works together. I firmly believe we can be like Chicago and Pittsburgh are now, but it is going to take effort from everyone.

ASG…do a better job of marketing the team, securing players and make the necessary changes in the front office. If you all love Atlanta so much and believe in your hometown, get the Team in the hands of someone who will keep the team here even if you don’t make millions on the sale. Stop being greedy and do what is right. Remember, you fail with the Thrashers you other businesses will most likey suffer due to fan backlash.

Fans…go to the games. Give the players a packed house to play in front of. Let them know we are there.

Players…110% every night. Yes, there will be some bad games once and awhile, but show the great effort you showed many times last season EVERY NIGHT!

City of Atlanta…help get local business leaders involved. If hockey can work in Nashville, it can certainly work here.

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When I lived in the Philadelphia area in the ’70s, street hockey was very popular, especially with city kids. For me growing up in small town Georgia, it was all about touch football and baseball for pickup games. Different cultures.

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Hey Atlanta Spirit Group: As a devoted Thrashers fan, I would just like to say how happy I am to see the Hawks eliminated from the playoffs. If you morons would have given the Thrashers a payroll better than 27th out of 30 teams you could have sold out playoff games easily like in 2007. You couldn’t even sell out your Hawks games, and 40% of the fans that did come were cheering for the other team. Hope you dips enjoyed that.

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This team has sucked since Hartley was fired. Waddell should have been fired and the only head coach to lead the team to the playoffs should have stayed.

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I thought Bill Daly was a basketball player. WADDELL SUCKS

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Who gives a crap if it is a Top 10 TV market? When you h ave 2,000 viewers for games the size of the entire market doesn’t really make much of a difference.

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Thrasher fans, be not afraid due to Bettman’s silence. Remember that the NHL is nothing but an association of team owners, and Bettman is their employee. The 28 owners took a huge dislike to the guy that wanted to move the Coyotes out of Phoenix (due to their past dealings with him and the fact that he tried to use bankruptcy court to avoid getting their approval to buy and move the team), so Bettman went to war against the move on the owners’ behalf. It wasn’t that Bettman loved Phoenix or hated Ontario, he just did what the owners wanted.

In Atlanta, you have an owner that is still in negotiations to sell the team for the best price possible. Publicity distracts from these negotiations, so on his bosses’ instructions, Bettman says nothing. What happens to the Thrashers depends on who the current owner wants to sell to, and whether the other 28 owners agree. Bettman will go along with whatever they want.

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Hey, if Atlanta can lose an NHL franchise TWICE,then there’s hope for Montreal. Bring back the Expos!

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Glendale has a population of 226721. Divide $25M by that and you get $110 for every man, woman and child living there. If they go the max of 11 years, that’s $1200 per person.

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Moving to the south in 1971, I came as a hockey fan. The first year down here I used to listen to KMOX out of St Louis to the Blues games, with Dan Kelly calling the play by play and watch whatever national games were on TV.

Then in 1972, Atlanta received an NHL franchise and the Flames were born. We had hockey up until the 1979/ 80 season, when Tom Cousins sold the franchise to Calgary.

In 1992, Atlanta again had hockey when the IHL (International Hockey League) expanded and the Knights franchise started play. In year two, they won the IHL championship. When Atlanta was preparing for the Olympics and the Omni was torn down, the Knights moved to Quebec.

Starting in 1999, the NHL’s Thrashers started playing here. Now twelve years later the team is about to leave for Winnipeg. We will be the only major sports franchise (with the exception of Los Angeles and the NFL) that has lost 2 teams in the same sport.

So, where is the blame? Part of the issue is the NHL is the only one of the “big four” (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB) sports that does not have a lucrative TV contract. Ticket sales are not the revenue producers, the TV money is. The second thing is ownership that has no commitment to the city. The Atlanta Braves were the worst team in baseball for the 70’s and 80’s, only drawing 4,000 people to many games but Ted Turner committed to keeping them here. The Falcons were terrible for most of their existence but the ownership never moved the franchise.

I know many blame poor attendance, but the Flames in the 70’s outdrew the Hawks and the Thrashers averaged 15,000 per game in 2000/ 2001 season and 13,000 this last year. Hockey fans are few, but they aren’t casual ones. They are loyal and will go to the games.

So here we are, the mayor not willing to pony up and help (I wonder would he if it was the Hawks or Falcons?) and ownership looking to sell. Winnipeg is the only viable offer out there, so expect the sale to happen within a week.

Gwinnett Gladiators, you are all we have left!

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“Comish Bettman is PRO Canada. When there is an opportunity to get a franchise “back” to Canada, he’s going to work hard to make it happen.”

Wait, what? He encouraged a ton of teams to move out of Canada and into the great hotbed of hockey, the Southern US.

The facts are, not many people show up to games, and even less watch the games on TV. It appears that the Shake-Weight infomercial gets better ratings that an average Thrashers game. Granted, Atlanta is a much larger market than say, Winnipeg, but it all comes down to fan interest. If only say, 30k people out of 5.2 million are interested in Atlanta, advertising the huge population really doesn’t matter vs a rabid hockey base in say, Winnipeg.

Another factor that spurred moves in the past was how weak the Canadian dollar was versus American, and guys were being paid in American dollars. It’s evened out, and some times, the Canadian dollar is stronger.

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SAGE, of all people YOU have no right to say ANYTHING about the Thrashers! You haven’t bought a ticket or attended a game for 10 friggin years…..You just sit at your PC and try to convince others to NOT support the team. You are a TRUE ANTI-HERO.

Well, our family saw our FIRST NHL hockey game right here at Philips. We’ve seen some truly GREAT games and some horrible games…..But the difference between you and us is WE BOUGHT TICKETS and went to games and generally enjoyed the experience….We took our kids to practices in Duluth where players gladly signed autographs for them. If the Thrashers do leave ATL, then we will always have fond memories of the hockey games we attended.

You just cry into your pillow each night because Don Waddell never responded to a couple of your e-mails 10 years ago……You crave worship from those on this board…..You sir are truly a PATHETIC individual and you have no redeeming value.

Enjoy your loneliness once the AJC Thrashers boards disappear…..You will soon be forgotten. Just another bad memory that quickly fades away.

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Jeff,

Thanks for your reporting, and interest in the Thrashers. You don’t deserve the ignorant potshots you have to endure on here any more than people from Canada deserve general shots at their country or city. By way of background, I am a STH and have been since the beginning. I lost my hometown Whalers when I was away at college and I truly fear that I am about to lose my favorite team for the 2nd time in my life. At some point it really doesn’t matter whether the main reason for this is the ownership group (which is truly awful), the Atlanta sports market (which is indeed a fickle bunch for anything other than CFB), the on-ice performance (which speaks for itself), the lack of NHL support (which is both curious and frustrating) or the fact that the arena is not conveniently located for some (which is just painful to read about and a silly point). Let it simply be said that I would be one of the group of diehard fans who would dearly miss having the team here to care about. At this point, I am reluctant to renew my seats as I don’t trust the ASG enough that they would even return my cash if the team gets sold. Just an awful situation. Will be hoping for a way that the Thrash are on Philips ice this fall.

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Teams’s right to move are usually restricted to rules by the respective leagues. The NHL does indeed have the right to prevent a team from moving, which the NHL has done numerous times in the past. For some reason(s), the NHL does not seem to want to act in this case. The $60M relocation fee covering the NHL’s loses may certainly explain this.

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Can someone please explain to me why the NHL would get a $60 million relocation fee if the Thrashers move to Winnipeg? For what? I understand that the NHL can set general terms and conditions that have to be taken into account for a franchise relocation, but how can that add up to something in the range of one-third of the total selling price (at $170 to $180 million). Whatever happened to anti-trust legislation that gave owners the right to relocate to a city of their choice. Can any lawyers out there explain how this situation works?

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Why would Winnipeg desire such a poor product as the Thrashers?

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Jeff:

You might want to take a look at the Winnipeg newspaper. The Deputy Commissioner has trashed your story, claiming that there were quotes taken out of context and misquotes attributed to him.

Please try to listen more carefully when interviewing someone. It’s not too much to ask that a journalist (even a sports journalist) report accurately.

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Don’t believe a word of what Bettman says – he did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help us fans out here in Hartford when our beloved team was bought and moved by a carpetbagging owner. The NHL did ZILCH to help keep the Whalers in Hartford – he willfully stepped all over the fans here and allowed the move to happen. Hopefully the situation works out better in Atlanta than it did in Hartford.

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As a Canadian fan, it seems clear to me that Atlanta is getting the “Canadian treatment.” No support at all in the crunch. This is what happened to Winnipeg and Quebec. Best of luck to you in keeping your team, but the signs look ominous. Who can figure out why keeping a team in Arizona is so important and keeping a team in Atlanta is not? There’s some algebra there that’s beyond my comprehension….

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Who’s the bigger liar; ASG or Gary Bettmen. We all know ASG’s lies. Here is Bettmen’s entry from a February interview with Shultz:

But he (Bettmen) did reaffirm that the NHL is “committed” to Atlanta.

“We think it’s very important [for the league] and we believe that whatever issues the franchise has, they can be overcome, and ultimately the franchise can be successful,” he said. “We have a strong track record of addressing franchise problems and not abandoning cities. Look at Phoenix. [The Coyotes went into bankruptcy and were taken over by the league, which is looking for new owners.] I don’t think you need to go much farther down the road than that. But look at Buffalo, Ottawa, Pittsburgh. All three have had problems at some point, but they’ve all been successful.

“When the ownership situation is resolved, we believe the franchise will be able to move forward. We’re committed to the market. Our track record indicates we do everything we can do to avoid relocation.”

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Do not let them walk off with our team and the hefty relocation fee without answering your questions. Here’s a good one:

“If the NHL has been working so hard for ATL, what exactly have they done? If they have been involved for so long, why do they say “you will have to ask the ASG, they are handling that”?

The NHL has not done **** to help Atlanta.

Ask Gary Bettman:

“Is it in the NHL’s best interests and the game best interests to leave the 8th largest TV market? How many transplanted NHL fans in ATL will drift from the game as local coverage drops to near zero levels with no team to cover?”

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Hello from Phoenix; just stopping by to wish Atlanta hockey fans the best as this ordeal plays out.

I can tell you many Coyote fans do-not want to give the city of winnipeg the satisfaction of receiving an NHL team.

Fortunately for you; you haven’t had to deal with all the negative stuff from pegger fans, canadian media, the winnipuke free press and goldwater that have added to the misery of our situation.

For some strange reason pegger fans and the winnipuke press feel they are “owed” an NHL team.

Here’s to sincerely hoping that somehow yours and our situations can be resolved and no teams are relocated to the frozen tundra! Good luck…

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Don’t for ONE SECOND believe the touchy-feely poop from the Winniphlegm (im)posters.
They’ll show you all the Snow Monkey empathy you can take in because they think your team is packing its bags.
As soon as there is some reason (let’s all hope) that it looks as if the Thrashers are staying, these trolls will pounce like Darcy Olsen on an ooey gooey cupcake.

Godspeed to you and fight it every step of the way. Nobody deserves to go to the desolation of the frozen prairie…the land that warmth forgot.

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If the ASG causes Atlanta to lose it’s second NHL franchise then every single owner in the ASG ownership needs to be sleeping right next to bin Laden.

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I love how media blowhards and the organization ‘blames’ the fans for this debacle!

Jeff Schultz is the ONLY media person to attempt to improve the product through the exposure of the incompetence going on–while most everyone else had their head stuck in the sand. Bradley defended Waddell to the end–same as he did with Babcock…so, there was some consideration going on with that.

Same with jokes like John Kincade. He was too busy fighting for the scraps from management’s table to provide honest and credible analysis.

The fans HAVE voted with their wallet–and they made the absolutely correct choice.

I applaud the good people of Atlanta who still have pride and dignity intact…as opposed to the dwindling sheep who defended, pleaded, and lost what little respect they had….Instead of accountability, YOU subsidized the incompetence and did NOT force the league to step in when there was a chance for salvation.

Look in the mirror, sheep, for the reason hockey failed this second time. But one thing I do know: You won’t forget who tried to tell you for so many years….

(Where oh where is Sara and her spweadsheets when they are needed most?!)

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Having lived in Atlanta most of my life I’ve never been a Thrashers game and most people I know do not support the team. How do the Thrashers compare to other NHL teams in terms of attendance, TV numbers, etc.?

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The Thrashers have never really had a good TV deal. First they were on Turner South and then they went to Sports South and Fox Sports South, they were rarely ever on ESPN(if at all) and they’ve had hardly any games on NBC.

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Just unsubscribed to the Arizona Republic, now I’ll be here waiting for the day the Jets come back. My bet is they call it the Manitoba Moose to make it a provincial team rather than a city team.

Looking forward to seeing you all wear your Moose jerseys to the Braves and Hawks games.

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Hey Barry, send me one of those Moose jerseys. I’m running low on toilet paper.

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Hey Barry there is already a Manitoba Moose franchise in the AHL unless you guys want to send them down to Atlanta?

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Why do they think that the Atlanta Braves cant fill the stadium. Is it so hard to fathom that fans get disgusted by entities like Liberty Media, The Atlanta Spirit? The Thrashers were dumped on by management and when the NHL has a chance to do something they will side with money, not fans. Dip wasnt in Phoenix for the fans…..

What a joke.

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Anthony,

The Braves have filled their stadium the last 20 years with over 2 million fans a year coming to games. Only the Dodgers have a longer streak. Go to any weekend games or summer games and Turner Field is packed. It’s only when school is in session that they have hard time drawing fans for week night games. And that has more to do with traffic and the sprawl of this city than anything the Braves do or don’t do.

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Enter Your Atlanta $pirit Groupies Comments Here :
.

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“Atlanta, god bless you all, will never be a hockey market.”

We may never truly know if the Thrashers leave. Easy to say Atlanta will never be a hockey market when the team fails to make the playoffs 10 out of 11 seasons.

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The Leafs are also a storied franchise and one of the original 6 of the NHL. They may have run into some misfortune as of late but they have had a ton of success which has built their fanbase over the years. The lack of success in Atlanta plus bad ownership is why people don’t show up. Winning builds fans whether you like it or not.

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Atlanta will only support a winner. And barely that. Other cities support teams in down years. I am curious what the NHL did for Buffalo, Nashville, Ottawa and Tampa? If you dare compare yourself to Ottawa or Buffalo then you don’t know a lick about hockey. They support their teams win or lose and can hover around the top 10 even in non playoff years. Atlanta has never cracked the top 20 in attendance even when they went to the playoffs. Subtract all the free tickets and does Atlanta even sell 10 thousand seats per night?

I also laugh that you say Atlanta is a top ten tv market and Phoenix isn’t. Phoenix was 12th on that link you provided so I wouldn’t cry that they are so much lower than Atlanta.

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SAGE, you’re not only clueless, but you’re a liar. “The League” could not be “forced” to step in and do ANYTHING as long as OWNERSHIP WAS INVOLVED IN LITIGATION AMONG THEMSELVES — Get it Dimwit? Do you even understand that statement?

You’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of hours of your life camped by your monitor & keyboard to “show everyone the way” and “lead us down the path to new ownership and a better on-ice product”….Well guess what you AMAZING FRAUD of BLUELAND?

The only “sheep” in the equation are the clueless ones who followed your idiotic advice — Assuming more than a dozen actually did. What was at the end of your glorious rainbow? Friggin relocation and the LOSS OF ANOTHER NHL TEAM!!!

Is that what you want everyone to THANK YOU for you moron? Do you even have a clue how self-serving you are to continue appearing on these boards as the “only” one who continued to preach New Ownership salvation to everyone who would listen? Not even being able to comprehend that NHL history teaches us that a city’s failure to support its hockey team ultimately ends in RELOCATION?!?!

Thank you Sage of Bluesland? NO….How about F*** YOU Sage of Bluesland!

You’re the one individual I have met in this life that I can truly say HAS NO SHAME! You are a FRAUD. A legend in your own mind. Just GO AWAY already. Nobody wants you around.

Your own PC’s keyboard cringes and secretly cries every time your filth-encrusted fingers approach it…..(”OH NO! Not again….PLEASE somebody save me!)

The #1 guy in the entire world who never ever had ANYTHING GOOD to post about the Atlanta Thrashers now wants everyone here to bow and worship him because he was the “only one” who told everybody to BOYCOTT the Thrashers and never attend any games in order to effect real change, apparently never understanding that real change in the NHL is defined as RELOCATION!

Is that the biggest Mind F*** in the entire history of the World or what??????

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Holy crap. What was that about? This board is getting weirder.

Anyway – something is going down within the next few days and it isn’t looking promising for hockey in Atlanta.

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The reason that Gary Bettmen has turned 180° in the past 4 months and no longer wants to save Atlanta Hockey is simple. He has a conflict-in-interest that encourages relocating the Thrashers.

The NHL lost $15M subsidizing the Coyotes last year. Now that the sale of the Yotes has blown up in his face, the NHL is on track for another $15M loss next season. And it could be worse. The Goldwater Institute has threatened suing Glendale of its $25M subsidy. If that happens, then the NHL is on the hook for that $25M, and possibly last year’s $25M. All of the sudden, the cost of keeping the Yotes in Phoenix may total the NHL $80M!!! To help with these costs, it is the NHL’s best short-term interest to pocket the $60M Thrasher relocation fee.

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I’m sorry that the troll plague from Jetsowner.com has now infested Atlanta’s small but hopefully growing Hockey fanbase. Let me say this right up front, the NHL needs its head examined if it permits a franchise in this size market to move to a city of 730,000 with a midget-sized arena MTS Centre 15,015. What is not mentioned by the Winnipeg trolls is that David Thompson the Billionaire is based in Toronto and I suspect after Winnipeg financially fails in a few years due to lack of local TV and Advertising revenue this team will be on its way to a suburb of Toronto or a new arena 40 miles away in Hamilton which is possibly his real plan. The original Winnipeg Jets failed and moved to Phoenix because as the NHL grew Winnipeg couldn’t keep up just like they can’t today not to mention players will avoid playing there like they do right now with Buffalo & Edmonton. Winnipeg will be a failure on the ice and off because Edmonton is having real problems despite selling out all games and playing in a larger arena as said by the Oilers President. Winnipeg acts like things have changed for the tiny outpost in the middle of nowhere but since 1990 the Canadian Football League have staged 3 Grey Cup games in Winnipeg none of which have sold out and the number one reason was that Winnipeggers thought ticket prices were too high. Hold on Atlanta hockey fans because Winnipeg shouldn’t be any kind of real competition for any other city especially a great city like Atlanta.

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Here is another viewpoint that indicates the NHL has sleazy motivations to dump the Thrashers.

http://blogs.forbes.com/mikeozanian/2011/05/09/nhl-should-let-coyotes-go-to-winnipeg-and-keep-thrashers-in-atlanta/

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If the Thrashers leave, I sincerely hope they will not be run and managed the way in which they were here. Someone should care enough about this team to run it properly.

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David Thompson may have money but he doesn’t have enough power to move the team to Ontario. The current Leafs owners have over 100 billion in assets, 4 times Thompson’s wealth. The Leafs do not want, nor will they allow any team to move.

A team in Ontario may be in the future but it will be an expansion team. Sure money is always being manipulated, but now its manipulated by powers beyond US control. If you think the CDN dollar is going back down to 1.60 wake up. There’s more chance of Canadians buying up NFL teams with a .60 USD. Toronto Bills anyone?

Green Bay Packers have the Super Bowl and its worse there than Hamilton. Thrashers will move to Winnipeg and we’ll enjoy our team and yaou won’t miss it for one single second. Worry about your stupid Braves and Hawks, they have enough of their own problems.

Whether Winnipeg is an armpit or not, every US city has far greater armpits everywhere. There isn’t any slum in Canada that compares to dozens in the States – especially in Atlanta – a city that builds freeways over its own slums. I guess there’s no armpit if you choose to ignore it.

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You brought it up.

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Keep your NASCAR and banjo picking and whatever else you guys in the “deep” south do. Images from Deliverance come to mind.

We’ll keep our hockey. Looking forward to a Winnipeg team in the league once again.

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@OHL why keep mentioning the Braves? The only two playoff games the Thrashers have ever hosted Philips Arena was packed. I remember listening to part of game 1 on the radio and the “LETS GO THRASHERS” chant was loud and proud before the puck even dropped.

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[...] I wrote last week that the NHL appeared to be abandoning Atlanta, unlike its very public and passionate stance to save Phoenix, league commissioner Gary Bettman has [...]

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