While Bettman hides, Thrashers' slow death near complete

Empty Seats in Philips

May 23rd, 2011
10:59 am

Jay Clemons………paging Jay Clemons………..John Kincade on Line 1

Thrashersfan

May 23rd, 2011
11:00 am

Save the thrashers!

J(Z)

May 23rd, 2011
11:01 am

Thorburn has always been one of my favorites…that won’t change.

This Guy Right Here

May 23rd, 2011
11:01 am

Jeff,

Quite a few typos in this one. Anyway, thanks for the constant anti-ASG articles throughout the years.

Eileen

May 23rd, 2011
11:01 am

Gary Bettman loves money. Plain and simple. He can rot along with the ASG

Eileen

May 23rd, 2011
11:02 am

Also, JS, thanks for the headline. I love it how you don’t cut Bettman any slack.

Sage of Bluesland

May 23rd, 2011
11:10 am

On Friday, Kincade had the absolute nerve to state that the fans were to blame for this debacle. I’ve had continuing email correspondence where he has, in no uncertain terms, labeled “me” (and assuming those like me) as “the problem.”

It’s funny, though–when people began calling into his show to place the blame where it ultimately lay (OWNERSHIP!), he cut them off and then proclaimed he “didn’t want to talk about it anymore.” Pure cowardice. See, he was too busy fighting for scraps off of ownership/management’s table to be honest in his pitiful efforts at journalism.

The league office has their “fingerprints” on the crime-scene, as well. Would the allowance of a franchisee to fail as miserably as they have, to have been uncared for as they have, in a first-rate organization (like a Chik-Fil-A)? You know the answer.

I want to thank Jeff Schultz as being the only one at the AJC to ever care about the Thrashers in the attempt to make them improve their operations. No one else even tried.

The 790 boys this morning called Kincade on the carpet and deservedly so. My boycott of the Buck/Kincade show will commence immediately. I encourage all others to do so.

Joe-Bob-Friday-Revisionist is absolutely correct about one thing (ahead of time): The NHL is a “Mickey-Mouse” organization…and that’s with much apology to Disney….

Chris

May 23rd, 2011
11:11 am

It’s a little late for that Thrashersfan… I am not a hockey fan. But I know a lot of people who are. I feel for you guys who have put your heart and soul into this team. Anytime a team moves it has a big impact on the city as a whole. Who is to say that companies like Easton or Bauer aren’t looking at this and saying “Hockey can’t succeed in Georgia so let’s look elsewhere for our new factory.” Now I know that is a stretch but it certainly a possible outcome of this entire debacle.

William Satterwhite

May 23rd, 2011
11:12 am

When the truth finally comes out, I think we’ll all see that Bettman doesn’t really deserve any of the blame here except for maybe not pulling a Bud Selig and seizing control of the team years ago while ASG was locked in litigation (of course, as long the bills were being paid, I’m not sure he would have had any real ground to do so). The way this deal has been structured, there’s nothing Bettman can do- he can’t block ASG from selling the the Hawks and the arena separately and that is the primary issue here. If your previous column is correct, trying to squeeze as much as he can out of ASG’s profits from the sale is just about all he can do.

This isn’t Glendale where he has an arena owner literally bending over backwards to help him keep the team there, by all accounts ASG has been using a Thrashers-less arena as a sales pitch for the Hawks and the arena.

tonyb

May 23rd, 2011
11:22 am

Jeff, you have been the voice of reason in this town concerning the Thrashers for a long time. Sadly, some did not want to hear the truth, but that can be expected when one is so emotionally involved with a sports team.

Saying that, losing the Thrashers to Winnipeg is a blow to the City. But its a much bigger blow to the NHL. This city will continue to grow and thrive, with or without NHL presence. Yes, the recession in the short term as taken its toll, but that won’t go on forever. This market will not shrink, nor will its other sports teams suffer. The NHL is taking a very short term view here, and its just lost one the biggest and richest cities in the US. That is no way to run a pro sports league.

Yes, I loved the Thrashers. But I love my city more.

Bluelander

May 23rd, 2011
11:22 am

Other than working “behind the scenes” and saying we are not shelling out any $$$ to keep the team here through an assistant (a move we can all understand given the economy), why hasn’t Mayor Reed or for that matter Gov. Deal taken a public stance on this. Now that this charade is just about played out, it is time for the Mayor and Gov to chime in. C’mon Mayor and Gov. tell the NHL to shove it and demand the ASG divest themselves of what remains and get the h.e. double hockey sticks out of town. Our city and our state got played big time on this. Mark Bradley is probably right. In the end it means little but we just got socked in the face.

SC Ace

May 23rd, 2011
11:23 am

I bet Chris Thorburn is more angry about the fact that he’s now learning he’ll have to winter in the friggin’ Winnipeg tundra instead of Atlanta.

Matt from MN

May 23rd, 2011
11:25 am

It’s just criminal, absolutely criminal, the way the fans in the town have been treated by both the Atlanta Scumbag Group and the NHL. The sad thing is watching the Conference Finals, seeing how great the game can be, how energized the fans are and realizing that it will NEVER happen here.

docsbro

May 23rd, 2011
11:26 am

I just wrote the best comments and the computer lost them in Internet purgatory…I don’t even care enough to rewrite them…

Sage you are right and the only solice we might get is that DW will finally be fired and leave MY town. Should have happened at least 8 years ago!!

tonyb

May 23rd, 2011
11:30 am

Sage of Bluesland*- I have often disagreed with you and your methods concerning the Thrashers. But there is nothing in your post that I can’t disagree with. I do think you saw what the NHL and ASG really were long before the rest of the fan base did. And for all the faithful fan loyal to the product, they got walk out on by the league and ownership. Sad day Sage, sad, sad day.

docsbro

May 23rd, 2011
11:32 am

That is solace………… and @Matt you are right!! My wife is from Buffalo and we had a great ride with them a few years ago. Playoff hockey is better than any other sport…the action and physicalness of football with the drama of baseball perfect playoff atmosphere.

Also, I REALLY wish Kincaide would go back to Philly!!! He never has truly embraced the teams of Atlanta and he should go back home!!

Herschel Talker

May 23rd, 2011
11:35 am

FIRE MARK RICHT

Relocation News: All Winnipeg NHL related news Day 4 | Illegal Curve Hockey

May 23rd, 2011
11:39 am

[...] Journal Constitution: While Bettman hides, Thrashers slow death near complete. The Thrashers fans are going to be left wondering, why Phoenix but not [...]

K. Sampson

May 23rd, 2011
11:40 am

Does anyone actually think Bettman & the NHL want to move a team from Atlanta to Winnipeg? Listen, I’m a Canadian & for sentimental reasons, I’m glad that Winnipeg is getting a team back but I also hate that it has to be at the expense of anyone else. It’s depressing & I have nothing but sympathy for anyone who supported their team. Undoubtably, it feels rotten. But let’s be honest. This is about the terrible mismanagement of the ownership group – nothing more. Even Gary Bettman – one of the more widely detested people in all of Canada can’t wait to be done with the Thrashers owners. It has zero to do with the fans or the Atlanta market, which I think everyone agrees is vastly superior to Winnipeg. If City Council felt it was a priority to keep the team & fork over cash, the team would stay. If there was a well heeled person, group or local company that wanted to own the team, the team would stay. Bettman doesn’t want this team to move – but without the finacial backing of the City or another ownership group, what choice does he really have? If Glendale City Council hadn’t ponied up (and a lot of people think their decision was a foolish ransom to pay & that the team is still doomed), the Coyotes would have been the 1st to go, not Atlanta.

Patrick in Canada

May 23rd, 2011
11:40 am

Sorry Atlanta, but you’ve lost your team. Canadians know how it feels too, we lost the Nordiques and the Jets in the ’90’s because the Canadian dollar was in the toilet. This despite the fact the teams sold out almost every game. Hockey is religion in Canada much like baseball is in the US. Even Canadian based teams that continually fail to make the playoffs sell out every night and merchandizing is a huge revenue producer. I watched a clip of your rally to keep the Thrashers and it was underwhelming to say the least, 200 people thats it. When the Jets left in ‘96 over 30,000 showed up for the rally. Its no secret in Canada that Gary Bettman dislikes this country has undermines Hockey in Canada at every turn. He’s been fighting the return of another franchise to this Country for three or four years now. But this is inevitable, other US based teams will follow suit in the next year or two. Our dollar is worth more than yours and the fan base is unstoppable. The Coyotes are done and otherSouthern US teams are on the chopping block. Canadian cities like Hamilton and Quebec city will be their new destinations. Again, sorry about the loss of your team but they’ll flourish in Winnipeg and will be successful, take solace in that.

reebok

May 23rd, 2011
11:41 am

a less-than-mediocre team with poor players, poor coaching, no leadership and the worst management in (possibly) all of professional sports. good riddance. can we get the knights back? they played hard.

da'boomer

May 23rd, 2011
11:42 am

Jeff, I appreciate your straight up reporting on this sad state of affairs holding this collection of liars accountable for their actions. As someone that still hasnt gotten over the Flames departure, I cannot believe this is happening again.

blazerdawg

May 23rd, 2011
11:43 am

Well said TonyB. Thank you JS for the support – you were great on WSB last night as well.

PMC

May 23rd, 2011
11:45 am

Cheers Patrick. Enjoy the team.

PoweRForgeD

May 23rd, 2011
11:47 am

Not all of the southern teams are failing. San Jose was packed yesterday, and from what I hear they are a somewhat profitable team. Nashville is on the up and up.

Although I have to admit, there were alot of Vancouver Canuck fans there, alot of Canadians. Hell even Neil Young was there wearing a Manitoba moose hat.

Coach

May 23rd, 2011
11:48 am

Thanks, Patrick. I’d say the sports religion in the US is football, though.

kracker

May 23rd, 2011
11:48 am

On Bettmen being blameless: One thing he didn’t do that he colud and should have done is speak more forcefully about the NHL wanting/needing to keep the team in Atlanta. There is the new deal w/ NBC he could have used as a talking point about not wanting to dilute NBC’s interest by removing NHL hockey from a major or words to that effect. He could have stressed the fact that the team attracted adequate fan support until the owners began squabling and suing one another and thusly, funding the team in an inadequate manner. Whatever talks Bettman had with local governments or corporate entities, if any, could have perhaps been a bit more public simply to generate more local press awareness. I’m guessing on that one. The league could have placed full-page ads in the AJC, run local TV ads supporting their product in the Southeast in general and Atlanta in particular. There is all sorts of support that could have been done in a more general sense such as having league representatives either appear at youth events at our ice rinks or organize such events themselves.

In short, the league made zero efforts to support Atlanta. I now realize that the league most likely abandoned this market when these owners decended in to their self-imposed lawsuit chaos. I thought the Belkin mess was holding back the Spirit group from aedquately funding the team. Silly me. That 5-year lawsuit was the only thing keeping the Thrashers in Atlanta. I hope to soon never see or hear the initials of the ownership group again. The same goes for their name.

kracker

May 23rd, 2011
11:49 am

Oh yeah, there is the little matter of the first time ever $60M relocation fee. A little bribery can certainly help to grease the skids, eh?

Ox Baker

May 23rd, 2011
11:50 am

ASG=MoFo’s.
Winnipeg= take care of our Thrashers, cause our low-life, scumbag, mercenary owners certainly didn’t.
This should result in a curse upon asg.

Um

May 23rd, 2011
11:51 am

“Again, sorry about the loss of your team but they’ll flourish in Winnipeg and will be successful, take solace in that.”

Can we get that in writing? What happens when they miss the playoffs every year?

Two Line Pass

May 23rd, 2011
12:01 pm

I too was upset to hear Kincade’s rant on blaming the fans for not supporting the team. It is like that Restaurant analogy: a new restaurant opens up in a great location, many people at first flock to but the restaurant serves and continues to serve you bad food. What happens, people stay away, then the restaurant before they close their doors say that if more people would have shown up then they would have served you better food!! That analogy just does not fly.

Even if Thrashers fans packed the place every single night and the team continued to be lousy then what would have been managements reason to get any better?? If you provide this town with a winner, fans support it. The Falcons are a great example of this, fans believe in Arthur Blank and his organization and support them with sell outs.

Too bad the team is leaving town but the blame is on the ASG and the Thrashers management (mainly Waddell) and not the fans Kincade!

j nes

May 23rd, 2011
12:05 pm

According to Dante, the 8th circle of Hell is for the fraudulent, and the souls trapped there are eternally frozen in ice. That is kind of ironic for the former owners of a hockey team isn’t it.

Rot slow ASG.

Nate

May 23rd, 2011
12:07 pm

Chris Thorburn = my new hero.

B. Thenet

May 23rd, 2011
12:10 pm

Bettman can find several people to go public about their interest in the Yotes which they are trying to sell for nearly $100 million more than the Thrashers, can’t find one for the Thrashers?

Won’t even make a deal regarding attendance like he was going to do in Nashville….heck never even gave a STH target to hit this spring.

Bettman and the NHL Board of Governors are complicit in this, they want their damn money. The owners of Boston and Philly run the BOG, no wonder the Boston media, including the Bruins own employee Jack Edwards, has been more abusive to the Thrashers than many Canadian outlets.

In the end the fans will be blamed, and the NHL will end up in a dire situation a decade from now when the tanking Canadian dollar puts several of their franchises at risk yet again and forces another round of relocation South.

nechopper

May 23rd, 2011
12:11 pm

While I am happy to see the return of the NHL to Winnipeg, I understand the anger the Thrasher fans feel of the lost of thier team. 15 years ago we lost the Jets to what Bettman wanted. He wanted to move teams to large T.V. markets. Now tomorrow Bettman will be here (in Winnipeg) to announce the return of the NHL. He did everything in his power to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix for one more year just so he didnt have to eat crow while watching the team moved back to Winnipeg. Now Atlanta gets to see a loss of a team and I feel for the fans there and hope they dont have a negative feeling towards Winnipeg but towards Bettman and the teams owners. Bettmans last ditch effort to save face is he wont let our new team be called the “Winnipeg Jets” no, but it might be called the “Manitoba Jets”. I still will wear my Thrashers shirt to the games at the MTS centre in respect for where they came, but still chant “GO JETS GO”.

LAC

May 23rd, 2011
12:14 pm

I always thought bettman was a good guy and was good for the NHL and the fans… NO LONGER !

His disappearing deuring all this is TOO MUCH, and bill daly and his baldheaded smirk at Atlanta Fans !

I will NEVER NEVER NEVER watch, attend or buy anything NHL ever again. The ONLY saving grace would be for bettman to after he announces the Thrashers move, it that Atlanta and Kansas City will get expansion teams in two years, Nothing more, Nothing Less !

He has shown he is a fraud and cares less about Atlanta being in the NHL, but would rather have a NOTHING place like whinnerpeg, be an NHL town. Just watch when their dollar craps out, the team there will move as well, I HOPE SO !

Quiet day expected in Thrashers negotiations as Canada celebrates Victoria Day - Examiner.com

May 23rd, 2011
12:14 pm

[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]

chief of smoke

May 23rd, 2011
12:17 pm

New Potential Hawks and Phillips Areana Owners —BEWARE———— There are a lot of Thrasher fans that will Boycott the Hawks and Phillips Areana for the foreseeable future since you were not Interested in Buying the Thrasher

wpgJetsfan

May 23rd, 2011
12:18 pm

The mew team name in Winnipeg will be called “Manitoba Falcons” The Jets name was part of the old franchise and TNSE has decided to start from a clean slate. Sorry Fellow Winnipeggers but the JETS will not be used.

GO MANITOBA FALCONS GO!!!

Eileen

May 23rd, 2011
12:20 pm

Add me to the list of those who thought Kincade was out of line. I go to the games, and I was offended. Those games don’t come cheap. I totally respect anyone that does not attend the games due to the ASG, the losing and the inconsistent effort from some of the players. Also add in the fact that times are tough. Some of you may think you know what we pay for seats. I can tell you that you are wrong. With decent seats, parking, food, it is at least 200.00 a game for 2.

consumed

May 23rd, 2011
12:21 pm

Gonna make my 5 year old cry . . . thanks NHL guys, thanks. You’ve handled this whole thing about as bad as you could. Thanks for letting us all down easy. not . . .

dougefreshtb87

May 23rd, 2011
12:23 pm

Ive never blogged on the thrasher side of things before, but i will chime in my 2 cents anyway. I used to be a die hard hockey fan, grew up in ny rooting and never missing a ranger game. The lockout changed all that for me and have stayed away from the nhl ever since. That being said, this franchise never had a chance from the beginning. Ive come to learn this town will support anything as long as there is some effort put into the team. I know this bc i was at the only two hockey playoff games this town has seen and it was the loudest building ive ever been in. I work in the sports industry and even worked at philips arena for a time, so ive been in my fair share of buildings. The ownership group (i wont even refer them to them by name bc they are not even worth the acknowledgement) are cheapest and most dysfunctional group of men in the history of sports, hands down. I know thrasher fans are frustrated with bettman, but this is no way his fault. Glendale and here are two completely different situations. Im sure bettman is as frustrated with this group of owners as anyone else. He is about to lose a team in the 9th biggest market and the first ever in the U.S. I hope this buyout in someway doesn’t happen, but there is to much money transferring hands. RIP ATLANTA THRASHERS (1999-2011)

Winnipeg = Poverty

May 23rd, 2011
12:29 pm

As an outsider looking in it is pretty obvious to why the Thrashers are finished in Atlanta. The Thrashers and the NHL are being evicted by the Atlanta Spirit Group. This ownership believes through some sort of market research probably not available to the public, that having both the NBA & NHL operating out of the same building won’t work in Atlanta and weakens both franchises, so they prefer the NBA team remains and the NHL & Thrashers move on and that of course doesn’t include any plan for local ownership. Has happened before, when the New York Yankees needed a home they rented the Polo Grounds, then they acquired Babe Ruth outdrew the landlord New York Giants and the Giants the decided to evict the Yankees, this is how the original Yankee Stadium was born. There’s lots of questions on the internet why save Phoenix and not Atlanta? The Coyotes are the only major tenant in Jobing.com arena and thus they are wanted in Phoenix unlike Atlanta and therefore the NHL has bent over backwards to save them. The only way NHL hockey comes back Atlanta is someone with deep pocket acquires and builds a hockey-only arena.

j nes

May 23rd, 2011
12:35 pm

The fact that fans easily sold out the Thrashers playoffs games even after 7 miserable seasons of failure speaks volumes for the number and passion of hockey fans in Atlanta.

Alphare

May 23rd, 2011
12:38 pm

Hockey is a hard sell in the south. I watched exactly one hockey game in my life time. It’s a more thank OK. But I’ve never played the game, know no stars. Most importantly, it’s to start a conversation with friends about hockey.

So, Canada, you can have all the hockey teams in the US. I know hockey is better appreciated there. I can go up there to watch them if my interest strikes me again.

thesawch

May 23rd, 2011
12:48 pm

Atlanta even thou we are getting your team and by no means are any respectful Canadians dancing on the Thrashers grave we have all one thing in common and that is the hate for gary bettman and the way he treats all hockey fans. Sure teams in Montreal,NY and Philly have very succesful teams and no real contact with Bettman but in the smaller markets he is a moron.He would sell out his mother for a mere million dollars. If he has the guts to show up to Winnipeg he will be booed and drowned out. Actually it will not go over well so maybe he should just not show up. Any Daly can stay home also. I will always respect where the new team in Winnipeg came from and would welcome any of you if you ever travel to the north to watch a game or 2 in our winter. We will show you a great time. Atlantans you are always welcome in Winnipeg and you can wera your thrasher jersey as proud as we were ours(Jets jersey) when at the Coyotes games in Phoenix.Thanks

Thrashers Fan

May 23rd, 2011
12:58 pm

Thanks for the nice post and invite thesawch.

Section 119

May 23rd, 2011
1:08 pm

With the imminent departure of the Thrashers, ATL will descend from the ranks of US cities with all 4 major sports, to an MLB, NFL, NBA only city. That puts us in a group with Houston, Cleveland, Oakland and Milwaukee (if you give them the GB Packers). How’s that sound to you Mayor Reed, Gov. Deal, ACVB, Atlanta Sports Council, etc?

Joe Friday

May 23rd, 2011
1:08 pm

The blame, in order, goes to Waddell for his inability to build a team, ASG for mismanaging the operation once they took control, the NHL for abandoning us, and the local politicians, Chamber of Commerce/Atlanta Sport Council for being asleep at the wheel and not standing up for the community.

Kincade should go out of town on the second set of rails for his ludicrous Balkan nonsense followed up by blaming the fans.

lombardi

May 23rd, 2011
1:10 pm

Jeff, what time you calling Kincaide today?

Joe Friday

May 23rd, 2011
1:11 pm

Oh, and the fans who continually supported Waddell’s “building it the right way” ineptness and the goofballs who’d come on here and attack Schultz for not writing glowing praise about these boobs for all these years. AJC called it as they saw it for years, as many of us did.

DaveDawg

May 23rd, 2011
1:15 pm

How many does Gwinnett Arena seat for hockey? I image an NHL team would do well or better in the Atlanta suburbs.

Thrasher Fan

May 23rd, 2011
1:17 pm

ASG created a poison pill to anybody interested in keeping teh team in atlanta when they separated the Hawks and the arena from the Thrashers. Nobody in their right mind would would to pay rent to ASG and tehrefore going forward the only legitimate offers would be from entitites looking to relocate. The disappointment in as to the league. According to ASGs own pleading there was cloud over the team until last December preventing them from selling. As a result the team has only truly been for sale less then 6 months. There is no eveidence whatsoever that Bettman has done anything to try and keep the team here and in fact he appears to be blessing a quick sale. Is there really any question that if this team became seriouslycompetitive that attendance inAtlanta would be back up in the top third of the league.

Sage of Bluesland

May 23rd, 2011
1:19 pm

It’s humorous reading some of the comments (wink to Joe-Bob-Friday-Revisionist); where once there was a lone voice in the wilderness, now there’s a virtual chorus…

I ‘used’ to think Waddell was at the top of the Thrashers-Failure-pyramid, as Joe-Bob-Friday-Revisionist ‘currently’ does….but then realized that he’s merely a symptom of a much bigger problem: Ownership indifference.

There is NO excuse for keeping that buffoon employed after the first “Five-Year Plan” and the meagre results of “building through the draft!”….

My return was contingent ONLY upon two items: 1. The long-overdue firing of Don Waddell; 2. The resources made available to succeed. I can handle “rebuilding”; it’s a necessary function over time. I can handle “bad” decisions, as well….as long as those making them are held accountable, when more bad ones happen than good ones do over time.

Neither conditions were met by ownership. Thus, my boycott continued.

But, Joe-Revisionist is correct about one thing: the goofballs who would come on here and continually defend the indefensible was abhorrent. He should know, after all…

Your Mammy

May 23rd, 2011
1:35 pm

NHL is corrupt, just like the NFL…its time to pay attention to more important things in life…..as much as I love the Thrashers, I’m sick of what pro sports have become all together. If I find I need them, Im going to put my money into alternative sports, like ECHL hockey, or arena football…

JBR

May 23rd, 2011
1:39 pm

Jeff – What is the deal with Kasim Reed and the rest of the elected officials around here? Are they saying absolutely nothing because they are trying to duck? It seems to me that some shots at Bettman about the treatment of Atlanta vs. Phoenix, etc. might have put some pressure on the league (and maybe ASG) to slow this down and try harder to find a buyer to keep the team here. If there are any shenanigans going on with ASG about trying to keep the Hawks and Philips at the expense of the city, it may have pushed them to get out of the way if selling all three would have been easier. I know they’re talking about the guy from San Diego, but I have a suspicion that that guy is going to keep “basketball guy” Gearon and egomaniac Levenson in as partners rather than kicking them out the door, where they belong.

Shutterpups

May 23rd, 2011
1:49 pm

Ox Baker – I am so sorry that you’re losing your team. Please take some solace in the fact that we will love them here in Winnipeg and treat them like a part of our family – like the fans in Atlanta tried to do in spite of ASG’s best efforts to sabotage that.

Atlanta-to-Winnipeg update: Last local bidder apparently out of running for Thrashers | ProHockeyTalk

May 23rd, 2011
1:49 pm

[...] patiently to celebrate in earnest at the return of the NHL to their Canadian prairie city. Schultz isn’t expecting to see anything from the NHL home office, however. The team’s sale to a Canadian outfit and move to Winnipeg [...]

Atlanta-to-Winnipeg update: Last local bidder all but out of running for Thrashers | ProHockeyTalk

May 23rd, 2011
1:50 pm

[...] patiently to celebrate in earnest at the return of the NHL to their Canadian prairie city. Schultz isn’t expecting to see anything from the NHL home office, however. The team’s sale to a Canadian outfit and move to Winnipeg [...]

BlahBlahBlah

May 23rd, 2011
2:03 pm

Section 119 – Los Angeles is in that “3 sport city” club too. I don’t think they’re too sad about it.

Peter

May 23rd, 2011
2:12 pm

The save the rally Thrashers was pathetic only had 200 fans show up. It is clear hockey is not meant for Atlanta. Even if the spirit found local ownsership the new owners would still lose tonnes. It doesn’t make sense to prolong the inevitable.

atlthrasher Fan in Rome GA

May 23rd, 2011
2:20 pm

I’ve got one Tattoo on my body, and that is an Atlanta Thrashers tattoo on my left arm. Sad thing is, I just got it in January. No regrets though. I got it because it is what symbolizes ME. I’m a native of Saskatoon, Canada and grew up outside Toronto. Moved to Georgia in the mid 90s. I love Atlanta and its sports teams. Georgia has been home as I have no intention of mving anywhere else. The Thrashers experience was awesome! I loved the fan friendly atmosphere and what lengths the team will go to to make sure the kids are having fun. No other team has constant open practices and look how accessible the players were to fans. I was going through a bitter divorce 6 years ago, and I would go to Thrashers games all the time in 2005 and the atmosphere really helped escape the heat (no pun intended). Since then I’d been a regular at the Bulb. I also travel from Rome and battle through Traffic just to get there. I’m always there for warmups. It was sad to see the Bulb go from a decent crowd and sellout games to about half that this year. The only blame here lies on Atlanta Spirit. They did absolutely nothing to grow the game. Hockey in the South takes time to build. You have to plant the seed and feed the plant to watch it grow. The seed was planted, but it wasn’t given any water or sunlight.

Joe Friday

May 23rd, 2011
2:21 pm

Schultz, the arena and Hawks are back in play? You would think that would benefit us as the only way someone buys the hockey team is to buy all three so they hold the arena rights.

Or do you think the Spirit is going to try to retain the Hawks and arena?

StingerSplash

May 23rd, 2011
2:21 pm

Monsieur Schultz,

An opining from noted hockey scribe Kevin Paul Dupont:
http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/articles/2011/05/22/its_hard_to_see_winnipeg_as_a_winning_move/

Rutherford Seydel

May 23rd, 2011
2:22 pm

I would pay money to see someone sucker punch Ed Peskowitz.

mark

May 23rd, 2011
2:24 pm

Let’em leave, the spirt group is the most dysfunctional group in all of sports today. Spirt Group should be renamed to Disspirted Group. What a bunch of idiots. Leave the sports business all togehter get out now!

Eileen

May 23rd, 2011
2:33 pm

Only 200 fans at a rally, blah blah blah. Give it a rest. Tonnes. Do you mean tons?

genius logic by Johnny Kincade

May 23rd, 2011
2:48 pm

You should be buying tickets anyway even if the product put on the field/court/ice stinks year after year. That’s what they do in Philly except for the Sixers and the Phillies before they built the new stadium. That’s what they do in New York except for the Mets and Islanders. That’s what they do in Detroit except for the Tigers and Lions. That’s what they do in Cleveland except for the Cavs and Indians. That’s what they do in Washington except for the Nationals and Wizards. That’s what they do in…

ATL hockey fan

May 23rd, 2011
2:56 pm

Jeff – Why hasn’t there been more noise from Kasim Reed, Nathan Deal and other elected officials around here? I’m not suggesting tax dollars should go to subsidize any pro sports franchise, but if they had made some noise about how Atlanta is not getting the treatment other NHL locales (most notably Arizona) have been getting, it might have at least slowed Bettman down a little bit to give someone more time to put something together to keep the team here.

Reed, Deal and others should call out the ASG partners as well. If they are called out for betraying the trust they were given when they were allowed to buy the teams, they might try harder not to benefit themselves at the expense of metro Atlanta. If those guys are making it harder to keep the Thrashers here by trying to figure out a way to keep their fingers in the Hawks, someone ought to get after them on that. Those guys ought to get the total boot if that’s what it takes to keep the Thrashers here.

Are the elected officials just ducking? It seems those types in other cities facing this situation have been much more vocal.

Matt from MN

May 23rd, 2011
3:02 pm

Ha Ha, ASG can’t work out sale for arena and Hawks!! Enjoy your tremendous support from the fans of Atlanta you scum!! I’ve already pledged NEVER again set foot in Philips Arena until you utter, lying, filth encrusted scumbags have sold the arena. Doubt I’ll even go to Hawks game then, cause NBA basketball is soooooo boring.

timthebrave

May 23rd, 2011
3:02 pm

Good bye Thrashers and good bye NHL. I stopped watching the playoffs when I got the feeling the Thrashers were moving. I will never watch another NHL hockey game EVER!

timthebrave

May 23rd, 2011
3:07 pm

I too won’t be stepping into Phillips arena until ASG has nothing to do with it. They just lost 10 hockey games a year, 5 concerts and a few basketball games a year. The ASG won’t get a penny from me

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
3:07 pm

Patrick in Canada

Baseball is not thought of as a religion. College football in the SOUTH is thought of as a religion and Saturday is The Holy Day!!!!

Hope this helps!!!!!!!!!!

moriler

May 23rd, 2011
3:11 pm

If you expected help from the Atlanta elected officials, good luck — they have their hands full dealing with the crime-infested trainwreck that is “downtown”. Oh, look… that’s where the arena is. That’s a shame, isn’t it?

And if you expect help from Deal, that’s even funnier — he’s a good ol’ boy and if it ain’t football, he don’t care. Damn fine job we did electing another pig-ignorant redneck after we just got rid of Perdue. At least this one believes that Sunday liquor sales aren’t the tool of the devil.

Jeff, my final request is that you close commenting when you finally make the ’sold’ post; there is little need to provide the Whinerpeg donkeys a soapbox to bray from.

HillMan

May 23rd, 2011
3:11 pm

If the folks in the PEG really hate Bettman and some fo the other NHL clowns, why would you support this effort? You are not getting back the Jets, just someone elses expansion cast off. You guys could send a message for all hockey and sports fans everywhere. Don’t give us someone elses castoff, give us back our old team or give us a new expansion team – period!

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
3:15 pm

Note to Chris Thornburn: I don’t blame you for being upset with your owners, they’re complete incompetent morons with no scruples; however, if y’all didn’t suck for 10 out of the 11 years that the Thrashers have been here, would we be having this conversation?

HillMan

May 23rd, 2011
3:18 pm

By the way, this would also send a message to all mismanaged team owners, you don’t get rewarded for poor ownership. You either sell locally or you go out of business and a new expansion team will take your place. We need to stop letting failed ownership move and get rewarded. Force failed team to fold and allow expansion to replace them.

Ed Peskowitz

May 23rd, 2011
3:18 pm

Rutherford! You still owe me that $20 you little snotnose punk! Your father-in-law is going to be very annoyed when I tell him that you won’t pay me back.

Mooseberg

May 23rd, 2011
3:18 pm

File you Kincade complaints to this guy his boss at 680thefan

jimmahanay@680thefan.com

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
3:19 pm

And as far as John Kincade goes that gutless moron is trying to save face by putting this on the fans when the real truth is that he has been shouting it from the highest mountain and at every turn that the Thrashers were never in danger of leaving Atlanta.

The little man from Fulladelphia knows all…NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
3:21 pm

@Mooseberg

It’s a waste of time my friend. If I thought that would work, I would have filed so many, Mahanay’s inbox would have exploded by now!

Michael Gearon, Jr.

May 23rd, 2011
3:21 pm

Ed,

Please stop making our disagreements public. It’s bad press.

Thanks,
Mike

Mooseberg

May 23rd, 2011
3:25 pm

Never like the little runt anyway….wish we could get him back to philly where he belongs and deserves to live.

Steve Belkin

May 23rd, 2011
3:26 pm

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

You boners should have invested in my surge protector and pizzeria businesses! Maybe then you wouldn’t have to sell the teams.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
3:29 pm

Agreed 100% Mooseberg. I can’t listen to him and Buck anymore, I have to wait until Buck, Leo and “The Lemmer” do their pre-game show to tune back in.

Hockey Guy

May 23rd, 2011
3:29 pm

Is the NFL lockout over yet?

Ga30306

May 23rd, 2011
3:30 pm

How long till kickoff of college football season?

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
3:31 pm

Is it college football season yet?

ATL hockey fan

May 23rd, 2011
3:31 pm

Seriously – I think I’m going to start a website about boycotting the Atlanta Spirit Group. Not only should we not buy tickets to the Hawks until they sell, we need to list every business that buys a sponsorship at Hawks games so that people will know not to patronize them. If we can make buying a sponsorship and putting money in the ASG partners’ pockets a potential negative for a business, they’ll spend their marketing dollars elsewhere. More pressure for the ASG to get out of town.

We also need to boycott any other businesses owned by those clowns, including Seydel’s law firm, the publishing business owned by Levenson and Peskowitz, etc. And when Michael Gearon Jr. is out of a job, I hope no one in Georgia will hire him.

terrible

May 23rd, 2011
3:32 pm

Buck Belue is even dumber than Kincade. That show is horrible. It’s worse than their morning show.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
3:33 pm

ATL hockey fan

Get it going, I’m in!

Jackets21

May 23rd, 2011
3:34 pm

Isn’t Belkin one of the owners and the manufacturer of Belkin internet routers – one and the same? May choose to boycot purchases of these products in protest.

Rutherford Seydel

May 23rd, 2011
3:36 pm

ATL hockey fan,

I dare you.

And Ed, I already told you that I’m not paying you back. Eat it.

HillMan

May 23rd, 2011
3:37 pm

ATL Hockey fan – I think it becomes real painful if we also put new Hawks/Arena owners that we will boycott them for 3-5 years. That paints the ASG in a corner they can’t get out of.

Sage of Bluesland

May 23rd, 2011
3:38 pm

I think an A$G listing of businesses is a wonderful idea….so, we can ensure a proper boycott of those that deserve it.

Thank you to the person who provided the 680 manager’s email. I will be sending an email within the day. It may not make an impact…but I’ll feel better about it.

I always do.

This is what happens to “false” prophets and those who commit fraud….

CharlieAlphaBravo

May 23rd, 2011
3:38 pm

So once this deal is done, can we stop acting like we care???

Gary Bettman

May 23rd, 2011
3:39 pm

steelerboy,

Kiss my ace. I do what I want. I’ll spit on you if I feel like it. This is MY league.

Vince

May 23rd, 2011
3:39 pm

terrible, I have to agree, Buck is a boob. Never seen anyone leverage being Herschel’s caddy for so long. Gave up that show some time back. Couldn’t take his babbling anymore.

steelerboy

May 23rd, 2011
3:40 pm

Went to Two games this year, both PENS games and both times Thrashers lost. BUT both times The FANS of the THRASHERS were there in big numbers and cheered hard. I respect you guys. Dont worry about the uneducated hicks talking crap.
However, Now I have to go to Raleigh, NC to see the PENS play damn you BETTMAN!!

HillMan

May 23rd, 2011
3:42 pm

All those that don’t care, should care not about the Thrashers but about the trend in general. Owners should be forced to either sell locally or go out of business. If the Braves attendance drops for 3 years in a row and the owner decided to sell to Charlotte, should that be allowed?

There are many teams in several leagues with poor owners in marginal cities which run this risk, yet those owners are not accountable as long as they can find someone in the universe to pay their price.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
3:42 pm

steelerboy

Is Raleigh much closer than Tampa? Just trying to help!

Ed Peskowitz

May 23rd, 2011
3:43 pm

Rutherford,

I’m going to clothesline you the next time I see you, you young punk. I’ll whoop you good like your daddy should have done a long time ago.

English Teacher

May 23rd, 2011
3:48 pm

Well, it’s going to be quite a long ride to Gwinnett Arena from the south side next year, but still, I’ve got to have my hockey.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
3:51 pm

steelerboy

According to Google, Raleigh is 420 miles, Tampa is 455 miles. So you have options!

English Teacher

May 23rd, 2011
3:55 pm

…only about 250 miles to Nashville.

Liberty Medical and Wilford Brimley would be better owners

May 23rd, 2011
3:56 pm

I’m officially done with buying tickets and merchandise for teams owned by people who have little to no commitment to winning. That leaves me the Falcons. I may watch the other 3 (or 2 after this deal) on TV but I won’t be attending games or buying their crap.

The ASG and Liberty Media are a joke.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
4:02 pm

English Teacher

GREAT CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Didn’t even think about Nashvegas!!!!!

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
4:07 pm

Does anyone else on here think that Don Waddell has got to be the luckiest MF in the whole world? How do you do a pi$$ poor job for 11 years and not only keep your job BUT get a promotion…UNREAL!!!!!!!!!

C'mon man

May 23rd, 2011
4:10 pm

I see three big issues here. First is this moronic ownership group, but enough has been written about them. I will say that I, for one, and I hope many others, will never step inside Philips Arena for any event that puts money in their pockets.

Second is the NHL. The expansion of the league has been unsuccessful from a business perspective. The NHL has totally dropped the ball on making hockey a national sport of relevance. It is clearly the most exciting sport to watch in person. Bettman and his boys have not figured out how to get that across on television. Thirty years ago hockey and basketball were equals in television ratings. If the NHL had a TV deal like basketball does, there would be no thought of moving a team from this market. The ONLY reason the Hawks make money is because of the TV revenue. They were 22nd in attendance this year. The NHL has now accepted that they are not a major sports league in line with MLB, NFL, NBA, even Nascar. That is nothing more than a bunch of very highly paid executives who could not get it done. Pathetic and a shame.

Lastly I put some blame on the city of Atlanta. The city has not done enough to make itself a draw for athletes and their families. Free agents should look at this city and WANT to move here. Compare Atlanta to Dallas. Why is Dallas so enticing for athletes, but many stars don’t want to play in Atlanta? Taxes?…Crime?…Backwards politics?…Crappiest school system in the country? Atlanta appears to be doing the same thing the NHL is…accepting that they are not as good as the best.

hip czech

May 23rd, 2011
4:14 pm

This whole debacle has shed light on just how much that ASG wanted to get rid of the Thrashers.

This team has not been marketed for 7 years…my brother was going to buy me a new Thrashers jersey for Christmas and the poor schmuck didn’t realize you can’t get Thrashers merchandise at the local mall. I applaud his efforts for at least finding a hat.

Whoever said the only way the NHL saves face in this is by announcing Atlanta gets an expansion team in 2 years is right. And even then, a lot of people here are going to hold their noses.

Just great Gary Bettman, just great. I as a lot of others have 2 boys that have just started to play youth hockey. Way to kill their enthusiasm.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
4:15 pm

EVERYBODY leave Govenor Deal alone. He’s got some important things to take care of. Sunday liquor sales for one. Why would he want to spend his time messing with the Thrashers? Obviously, no one around here besides the meat whistles that already own them want any part of this problem!

Mark

May 23rd, 2011
4:15 pm

As soon as Kincaid starting working for the Thrashers doing between period interviews and then working into the TV broadcasts, he lost all credibility in his reporting. Listen closely to Kincaid blast players on all Atlanta teams and even coaches, then listen to him become a pussycat when he gets a face-to-face interview with that same person. He’s all talk – I turned off 680 in 2006 and have not listened to it since – his opinion is not worth the time and effort.

Hockey Only

May 23rd, 2011
4:16 pm

The only sport I spend my money on is hockey. I’m not going to suddenly start following basketball, just because the Thrashers are gone.

ASG won’t miss the pittance I spent, but the parking employees, the concessionaires in CNN Center, and the vendors inside might. They’re hard-working people that just took another hit in a tough economy.

The whole damn thing just makes me sad.

Big Daddy (formerly waffleboy)

May 23rd, 2011
4:17 pm

The worst thing about the whole issue is I really believe this is a horrible move for the NHL as a whole. What makes it attractive now is the relative value of the Canadian dollar versus the US dollar. Doe anyone think that i going to continue? We are still the largest economy in the world and will continue to subsidize all the Canadian markets. That’s why the NHL expanded to the lower 48 to begin with–that’ where the money is. If they continue to relocate US franchises in Canadian markets, the NHL will continue its decline.

bfred

May 23rd, 2011
4:22 pm

The NHL for sure (and probably some of the other sports leagues) needs stricter enforcement of its franchise rules. Owning a sports franchise is like owning a McDonald’s – at the end of the day all you have is the right to operate under its umbrella, which can be taken away for lack of performance or violation of certain standards.. That the Spirit are allowed to hold fans of two sports in a city hostage to their pathetic, childish antics is reprehensible. They should have been forced to sell these teams years ago. Seize them, hold auctions and pay whatever they raise to the owners.

I definitely hope that some of the Thrashers’ players bump into their former bosses before leaving town and administer a little street justice, just to give us all a some satisfaction.

KLS1

May 23rd, 2011
4:26 pm

Makes you wonder what would have happend if Phoenix had moved? These ASG clowns are so hard-up to sell that the Thrash would be in Kansas City.

I hope all of ASG jokers are living under a bridge someday, and based on the busienss acumen displayed running these teams I think it is more likely than not.

Throw in the Towel

May 23rd, 2011
4:29 pm

Buy up your collectible Thrasher’s gear before it’s too late. It seems we are just waiting for a non-holiday in Canada for their celebration to begin.
As far as Kincaid goes, what would you expect from a sports talk hack who is employed by the ASG to do interviews during the games?
If nothing else came out of this debacle, at least we now have a crystal clear picture of what a bunch of idiots the ASG is. Go ahead and sell both teams, the arena and then get the hell out of town!

C'mon man

May 23rd, 2011
4:38 pm

The WORST part of this is the effect on youth hockey in Georgia. THAT’s who the NHL is turning their backs on. Pathetic.

Gwinnett Fred

May 23rd, 2011
4:40 pm

Damn, wonder how good the economy is up in Winnipeg? They act like they will sell out the arena every night regardless of the product on the ice and more power to them, but I find it hard to believe their average wage is THAT good.

2mins

May 23rd, 2011
4:42 pm

Big Daddy (formerly waffleboy) … ” We are still the largest economy in the world and will continue to subsidize all the Canadian markets ”

Seriously man… are you on drugs?

Six (6), yes six Canadian teams account for 40% of ALL the NHL revenue. Its because of the teams in Canada that teams like Phoenix, Florida, Tampa, Carolina, Nashville, and Atlanta have even survived this long. If those 6 teams disappear, the NHL disappears, thats a fact.

Sure it sucks to be losing your team, but try not to twist the facts so you sleep better.

Throw in the Towel

May 23rd, 2011
4:42 pm

I still want to know why “Teflon Don” survived all these sorry years with no accountability for helping run the team in the ground and kill the fan base. What ASG members does he have nude pictures of?

Fed Up

May 23rd, 2011
4:44 pm

Let the NHL move to some frozen outpost in Canada. Who cares? I won’t watch another minute of that obscure sport called NHL Hockey.

Cornbread

May 23rd, 2011
4:46 pm

An NHL expansion team to ATL? Please stop. What would that get us, another 5 year plan? Meanwhile, the Peg steals a very good young team instead of starting from scratch and behind the 8 ball like ATL.

ATL has gotten screwed royally in this deal. I am done with the NHL.

Dixie

May 23rd, 2011
4:46 pm

If the NHL wants to move more teams to the Great White North, then they can become the CHL instead of the NHL….Take off eh!

Throw in the Towel

May 23rd, 2011
4:47 pm

Perhaps this move is all for the better. The new owners can have all the team’s injuries handled by Canada’s socialized medicine and not have to worry about paying out of pocket. Of course, the players may die before they get treated, especially in a place like Winnipeg, but it’s the Canadian way.

2mins

May 23rd, 2011
4:52 pm

C’mon man ” The WORST part of this is the effect on youth hockey in Georgia. THAT’s who the NHL is turning their backs on. Pathetic.”

It has never been proven that not having an NHL team in a city in anyway relates to how many kids play hockey in that city. Its a myth.

Winnipeg and Quebec haven’t had NHL hockey for 15 years , yet kids still play. The only difference is that instead of a local NHL player to follow, they follow players on the teams in other cities.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
4:54 pm

You have to leave Atlanta and go play AND LIVE in Winnipeg. Wow, what did they do to deserve that?

bfred

May 23rd, 2011
4:55 pm

2mins, do you have any idea how much the franchise fees for the expansion teams you mentioned raised for the NHL? The last round of expansions – Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus and Minnesota – each paid $80 million. San Jose, Anaheim, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Florida each paid $50 million. That’s $570 million to the league. Don’t tell me for a second that the legacy teams generated a fraction of that profit over the last 15 years. The NHL’s problem is they let a bunch of second-rate owners buy into the league. Let Atlanta Spirit be a lesson – if it takes six or seven guys teaming up to buy an $80 million franchise (never mind that they can use debt to finance a large portion of that purchase price) then there’s no one there capable of personally supporting the team. And what we see is the outcome.

Singing Annie Warbucks

May 23rd, 2011
4:56 pm

Tomorrow, tomorrow, i’ll hate ya, tomorrow ….. it’s only a day away! Goodbye my beloved Thrashers. Thanks for nothing!!!

The Thrashers died a touch when Ray Ferraro left. Died a lot when Dan Snyder actually DIED. A little more when Dany Heatley wanted out and management quickly gave in. Lets throw in a playoff sweep to the Rangers for more death. Then the biggest insult of all – the Ilya Kovalchuk trade without even a chance for the fans to say goodbye. Surprise not then and not now either. Death, death and more death. Lets add in more hours of suffering too just for kicks since the Canadian Banks are closed today for a holiday and Kid Rock playing a concert tomorrow at the Winnipeg MTS Centre, thus impeding a press conference and new ticket sales (Ironically the tour is called “BORN FREE”).

Oh tomorrow, tomorrow, or the day after (tomorrow), I’ll hate ya, it’s still only a few hours away.

GOODBYE MY THRASHERS! Thanks for one last knife in the back.

2mins

May 23rd, 2011
4:58 pm

schmeckdawg… Its interesting that when talk was the Phoenix Coyotes were moving to Winnipeg, a bunch of the Coyotes players came out and said they are against moving to Winnipeg, and they would rather go play in the KHL or retire….. yet so far out of Atlanta the only comments I’ve heard from the players is that they can’t wait to play in front of a sold out building.

So where are the comments from the Thrashers saying they don’t want to move?

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
5:01 pm

2mins

My mother’s side of the family is from Winnipeg. I have been there many times. Just saying that because the players might not be saying it I’d be willing to bet my uh hockey puck that they are thinking it. I mean come on, Atlanta, Ga. or Winnipeg, Manitoba are you kidding me! What a hole! Plus what would the new owners be thinking if the players were ragging on where they are going to be playing?

sobaka

May 23rd, 2011
5:03 pm

Warriors, Clippers, Maple Leafs, Browns, Bengals, Wild, Oilers, Cubs, Wizard … what do all these teams have in common? They stink, but sell out nearly every game … bad ownerships don’t last very long, and in time the longsuffering fans will be rewarded. Scouts, Seals, Barons, Expos, and Thrashers … all bad teams, all had poor attendance, and all are re-located. Don’t forget rule #1: you have to support the team at least enough to convince someone that they are worth keeping in town. That obviously was not the case in Atlanta. Fans are not on the same level with the owners: if the fans stay away, the owner merely sells to an owner in another market, and guess who loses? It’s always been that way, and always will. Fans don’t control the owner, but they do control whether they show up in sufficient numbers to be attractive to another local owner. It’s always better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

tech99

May 23rd, 2011
5:03 pm

I hope after the ASG loses the Hawks, Michael Gearon Jr. gets turned down for a job coaching 8th grade basketball at his alma mater, Marist.

bfred

May 23rd, 2011
5:04 pm

2mins, fans don’t show because the team is relatively new and consistently mediocre. Why is that? Simple – why would any player want to remain a part of the organization as currently constituted? The ownership group’s public, never-ending fueds and the effect they had on the Thrashers’ ability to field a competitive team has fouled the entire enterprise. There’s not a quality GM, coach or top player who would touch a job under ASG. Look how quickly Blank turned the Falcons after years of the Smith family train wreck. Investment in the Dome and surrounding area (don’t get me started on the effects of the locations of ALL Atlanta areas – politics trumps all, I suppose), hiring true professionals and giving them the room to work, and of course the willingness to sign top free agents. Leadership starts from the top and ASG has been catastrophic in that regard.

thrasherdawg

May 23rd, 2011
5:04 pm

bfred says:

“The NHL for sure (and probably some of the other sports leagues) needs stricter enforcement of its franchise rules. Owning a sports franchise is like owning a McDonald’s – at the end of the day all you have is the right to operate under its umbrella, which can be taken away for lack of performance or violation of certain standards.. That the Spirit are allowed to hold fans of two sports in a city hostage to their pathetic, childish antics is reprehensible. They should have been forced to sell these teams years ago. Seize them, hold auctions and pay whatever they raise to the owners.” end quote”

How true is this?

First of all they are able to purchase the team with only 10% in the deal. This is almost as bad as the “home loan” fiasco. Over half the losses have to be in interest payments alone.

The NHL is at fault…1). they should have required much more skin in the game and 2).they should never allow a group that no one person has majority ownership. This was a trainwreck before the train ever left the station.

What a bunch of idoits!

BTW-Can I buy the team for 10% down? If so I will have you a check by the end of the week.

Gwinnett Fred

May 23rd, 2011
5:04 pm

Well, there’s one thing we can all feel good about.

I’m sure the first line of business for the new owners will be to FIRE DON WADDELL!!!

Mark (another one)

May 23rd, 2011
5:07 pm

I think ASG should sue Bettman for damaging the sales process, and attempting to hold them hostage with his crappy fees. He wants a $60 million relocation fee and part of the sales proceeds? For what? Not complicating the deal? Not standing in their way? Mismanaging the entire ownership mess?

Or is it just for spite? I bet the courts would have a dim view based on previous sales. The NHL; the joke that isn’t funny.

As for the fans roll in all of this, they are the ones that will pay the $110 million thru higher ticket prices in Canada. Los Angeles had the right idea with the NFL. If the owners can’t support it with their own (and the fans) funds, let it fold or move. I don’t feel I owe ASG a thing, and the NHL even less for allowing this debacle to drag on.

bfred

May 23rd, 2011
5:08 pm

hey, my first pull-quote! Awesome!

bfred

May 23rd, 2011
5:12 pm

@thrasherdawg – I knew it was bad, but not THAT bad. So six guys collectively put down $8 million to buy the franchise? Don’t get me wrong, that’s real money, but it’s not Ted Turner, Arthur Blank money. And that’s what you need to support a team over the long haul.

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
5:14 pm

No team is going anywhere until the Good Saint Bettman says it is..

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
5:14 pm

Thanks tech99

I figured one or more of these trolls had to go to Westminster, Lovett, Marist or Pace Academy. They just wreak of it!

moriler

May 23rd, 2011
5:16 pm

You won’t find a single player bashing Winnipeg — employed in a frozen outpost is better than trying to find a team. But you’ll find that slowly… ever so slowly… the quality players just leave as their contracts expire. They’ll go to Tampa, Boston, Washington, LA… places that don’t suck to live. Places where their families don’t hate it. (If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy — and all those boys who’ve been liking the Georgia peaches down here know it).

The RFAs they have will be signed away by other teams with big juicy offer sheets. Winnipeg won’t be able to match them because they’ll always be a borderline team financially, just like the Oilers. And the whole cycle will happen again in ten years, except probably the Peg team will go to Kansas City or Seattle then.

Any Peglets want to bet on whether Buff resigns in the Peg when his contract’s up?

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
5:18 pm

Players good enough to choose their own team will NEVER choose loserpeg..

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
5:26 pm

moriler

My point to 2mins exactly!

Zing

May 23rd, 2011
5:28 pm

Never really been a hockey fan. Went to a few games in the first several years they were in existence–good show, but not really my sport. However, it’s always sad to see a team leave a city, if for no other reason than that it increases the odds in any given year that the city will have at least one good team to get behind.

Anti-G52

May 23rd, 2011
5:37 pm

Players good enough to choose thier own team will NEVER choose Gongdale..

FOGHAT

May 23rd, 2011
5:37 pm

`
…………. a slow ride to Winnipeg ………….. that hurts.
.

The Commish

May 23rd, 2011
5:38 pm

The first words out of the players mouths after arriving in Winnipeg…. Man is it going to be fun to play in front of knowledgable hockey fans and a full house.

Canuck76

May 23rd, 2011
5:39 pm

Gotta admit I’m pretty stoked about seeing the Vancouver – Winnipeg rivalry again. I was twelve when we won the last game of the regular season in ‘89 against Winnipeg. The winner of that game was to go to the playoffs – and we took Calgary too 7 games!!

I feel bad for US taxpayers about having to empty government coffers to pay for sport arena’s and franchises. Up here in Canada, we focus government spending on priority items like health care, good public education etc. It will be fascinating to watch Glendale’s budget in the next couple of fiscal’s and how they manage teacher/police/firefighters salaries.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
5:40 pm

FOGHAT

You have no idea! Please see my post from 5:01.

nechopper

May 23rd, 2011
5:41 pm

A city like Atlanta cant support a NHL team. Your city is NOT hockey.

gcs

May 23rd, 2011
5:42 pm

@Mr. Bettman,
You better pray you never have to change planes in Atlanta.

.

Hedley Lamarr

May 23rd, 2011
5:45 pm

Kincade has never been wrong in his life. Just ask him…

Paddy

May 23rd, 2011
5:45 pm

Bettman would have done alot more to keep the Thrashers in Atl if he didn’t hate the ASG so much. I hate to say this, it is addition by subtraction. Now the ASG needs to get out of sports. Leave this town and with it all the bad memories and decisions. The buying public has already turned their back on buying Hawk tickets. What is the reason they are still in our great state of Georgia? Out damn spot, out!!!!!!!

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
5:49 pm

Hedley Lamarr

No truer words were ever spoken!!!!!!!

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
5:53 pm

At least the mayor of my town had the common sense to do WHATEVER it took to KEEP the team..

Urban Renewal

May 23rd, 2011
5:53 pm

Atlanta need to tear down that hunk of junk called Phillips Arena.

poor journalism

May 23rd, 2011
5:58 pm

Kincade’s obvious reluctance to criticize the ASG b/c they employ him is a disgrace to 680. Grow a pair, do your job, and stop editing your opinion.

Atlanta Deserves Better

May 23rd, 2011
5:58 pm

Atlanta should tear down that hunk of junk called Phillips Arena.

I hope the Atlanta Spirit Group goes totally bankrupt.

Todd

May 23rd, 2011
6:03 pm

I stopped listening to 680 last year. Kincade is one of the most pompous arrogant pricks in this city. He’s really not that smart but pretends he is. And what is he? Like 5′5. Short loser.

Just saying

May 23rd, 2011
6:04 pm

The Commish, no the first thing they will say when they get to Winnipeg is, ‘I need a drink’.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
6:08 pm

poor journalism

NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could have left work a little early today to listen to his show. I’d have loved to know what that meat whistle was saying. He has been swearing up and down for weeks now that the Thrashers would never leave Atlanta.

Brendan

May 23rd, 2011
6:10 pm

Such a shame that our elected City officials, and Governor Deal, are content to watch $30 million in lost income revenue waltz out of our state. At least, we can’t call it “outsourcing.” Sorry to hear the lease the Thrashers had on Philips Arena, until 2019, was severed so easily and inconsequentially. Sorry to hear that the owners renegotiated the price of “naming rights” for Philips Arena so easily, to prepare for this JETTISONING.

And, most of all, sorry to hear that this move (1) pleases the NHL, which will get $60 to $90 million in the sale, (2) pleases the Spirit, who never wanted this team, (3) pleases the Philips Corporation, (will pay less for the naming rights) and (4) pleases the Mayor of Atlanta, and Governor of Georgia (who apparently don’t like hockey, nor fear any sort of backlash at the polls). With all these “pleased” entities, I’m surprised there isn’t some article about what a RAGING SUCCESS this endeavor has truly been.

Meanwhile, am I the only one thinking that, today, we are LESS of a major city, having lost a professional franchise, and the concession sales, parking revenues, and millions and millions of dollars of State income tax?

...... $pirit $tinks

May 23rd, 2011
6:13 pm

Atlanta should at least keep the Thrashers name,
like the Cleveland Browns did.

The ASG Are Morons Party 2011

May 23rd, 2011
6:21 pm

The ownership group is the only ones to blame here and if Ol’ Kincaid is saying otherwise, he’s just being a blowhard to try and get ratings and permanently move to CT for a job. (Good luck…. we won’t miss you… or listen to you.) The utter failure of this ownership group can be summed up with this – they promoted Don Waddell – quite possibly the worst GM in sports history. Atlanta would pack Philips if we had competent people putting together a complete, competitive team.

*The preceding message was brought to you by The ASG Are Morons Party 2011*

Eileen

May 23rd, 2011
6:34 pm

Former coach John Anderson interview today–”ownership not commited to hockey”.

Brendan

May 23rd, 2011
6:37 pm

Thank you, Eileen. I’m dying to hear quotes from the following, “Dany Heatley, Ilya Kovalchuk, Marc Savard, Ray Ferraro, Graham and LuAnn Snyder (Dan’s parent’s), Jeff Odgers, Dan Kamal, Darren Eliot, Matt McConnell, and Ted Turner.”

Jeff, can you get quotes from these persons?

Singing Annie Warbucks

May 23rd, 2011
6:40 pm

I just came up with a couple of positives about the Thrashers leaving.

#1 – NO MORE PARKING TICKETS DURING THRASHERS GAMES THANKS TO OUR IDIOT MAYOR’S DEAL WITH ‘PARK ATLANTA’. THAT ALONE HAS CUT DOWN ON ME GOING TO GAMES WITH ALL THOSE NEW PARKING METERS ALL OVER DOWNTOWN.

#2 – NO MORE GETTING ASKED FOR CHANGE BY “BEGGARS” WHILE WEARING MY THRASHERS JERSEY GOING TO AND FROM THE ARENA

#3 – MORE CONCERTS / EVENTS –
POSSIBLY TWO NIGHTS OF THE SAME SHOW IN A ROW

#4 – I WON’T HAVE TO TRAVEL WITH MY THRASHERS CLOTHES AND TAKE PICTURES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD SHOWING MY THRASHER “BLUELAND” SPIRIT

Ha Blueland — maybe tomorrow it will live up to it’s name for the world to see.

Liberty Media

May 23rd, 2011
6:41 pm

We at Liberty Media are very delighted with the drama that has unfolded around the Thrashers. It allowed us to bid $1 billion on Barnes and Noble and continue operating the Braves in the middle of the pack in MLB without anyone in Atlanta noticing.

Stupid fans (and media). They believe what our management team (McGuirk and Schuerholz) tell them to believe.

Brendan

May 23rd, 2011
6:42 pm

Jeff, please add one more name: Ex-Head Coach Bob Hartley. I’m dying to hear what he has to say about the relocation.

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
6:47 pm

It’s May 23rd, I’m lookin’ around, still no team in loserpeg..

sobaka

May 23rd, 2011
6:47 pm

Big Daddy has it right: for the NHL to have failed in a market as prominent as Atlanta is an embarrassment to the league, and it does not speak well to the future of the league in the US. What needs to happen is for those who actually care about the NHL in Atlanta to work together to find a committed owner who will put an honest effort in keeping the team in town. Let’s be honest: had Raleigh, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, or Denver had teams with the record that the Thrashers had, those cities would have also lost their NHL franchises. The difference with those cities is that they had much better ownership than the Thrashers. The Blue Jackets were by no means better than the Thrashers, yet they are still at least breathing because the owners here, while inept, do NOT attempt to suck the life out of the franchise. Same goes for the Miami group. As was pointed out before, leadership starts at the top. You can have the best fans in the world, like the original Cleveland Browns, but a bad owner like Art Modell, ruins it nevertheless. There are plenty of monied people in Atlanta; it’s the fans’ obligation to track them down and get them to buy the team, with the understanding that the fans will support the team. That is why the Wild are successful now in the Twin Cities, as opposed to why the North Stars failed there less than a decade before the Wild came on the scene. It’s time to pick yourselves up, collect yourselves, get over the grief, and move to the task ahead. It’s not easy, but nothing in life worth having is easy.

Eileen

May 23rd, 2011
6:48 pm

Brendan, my computer is having problems and won’t let copy a link. You can find the whole interview from Sirus if you google it. He did say the ASG are “nice nice guys”????? Also, that Atlanta is a hockey city,

Bob Hartley

May 23rd, 2011
6:48 pm

I was fired because I called Don Waddell a big lying “cat” and then went and spit in Levenson’s face. I dragged a team in the playoffs with guys that were old enough to earn Social Security or bad enough to play D league hockey.

ITS OVER !!!!!

May 23rd, 2011
6:56 pm

HEADLINES: MAY.23.2011
It’s finally over. The cheque is ready to be signed.
The day hockey died..in the south..forever.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/jetsmeter/

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
7:16 pm

Other than begging the province for cash to help buy the team, has anyone heard anything official from TNSE.. I don’t think the thrashers are moving anywhere..

wpgJetsfan

May 23rd, 2011
7:20 pm

Well Folks it appears the Press Conference is going to be dalayed since there is a Kid Rock Concert at the MTS Centre Tomorrow.

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
7:24 pm

I remember back when Kid Rock was cool..

The Nature Boy

May 23rd, 2011
7:25 pm

@ G52PIM228 …gutsy post, but you gotta be wrong…EVERYBODY has the Thrashers going to Manitoba….is that a state or province or a city…no clue..I have no passion about hockey…but reading posts from Thrasher’s fans makes me feel “sad”…I hope don’t get beat up here, but I’m thinking the Northern transplants stuck with the Flyers,Penguis,Bruins etc….Atlanta is NOT a hockey town, folks….it aint rocket science…

Artie B's not Walking Through That Door, People

May 23rd, 2011
7:25 pm

Jeff, I’ll repost this from before, because I really think there’s something here.

2 angles you need to go on from here on:

1. Look at what the San Antonio Spurs have and the Cleveland Cavs have. NBA team, owning the facility and having a (gasp) AHL franchise in the same building as well. This makes sense for the ASG. Manitoba will have to jettison its AHL franchise, Spirit will have 44 more open nights now to fill the building as well as a full staff who can sell, service and work the franchise. The overhead will be far less than what it is for an NHL franchise and they can set ticket prices more in line with what the market has tolerated in Atlanta so far (Chick fil A nights, 50% off, BOGO offers).

2. If the Thrashers leave, the blood of many great ASG employees will be on their hands. There’s no way they keep the same staff numbers losing a hockey team and going into a lockout in the NBA. Bruce and company may get off as close to breaking even as possible (when you factor in the under valuation of the arena and Hawks in the Turner deal and whatever they get out of King & Spalding) but it would be at the expense of scores of innocent people who gave it their all for that franchise that Bruce and the Gearons could care less about. Don’t let the ownership group get off from that.

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
7:34 pm

“EVERYBODY has the Thrashers going to Manitoba”

Yup, everybody except the people that matter..

sobaka

May 23rd, 2011
7:37 pm

G52PIM228 is spot on when he asserts that TNSE will hold up Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the federal Canadian government for big bucks to bring the team north of the border. The arena holds just over 15,000 fans, so even if it’s sold out at a high ticket price each night, how do they make money? Any NHL team averaging 15,000 fans per game is undoubtedly hurting. Unless they are counting on team paraphenalia and apparel sales and TV/radio rights and sponsorship from Atlanta, I don’t see any way that the team is profitable in Winnipeg. In fact, supporting the team will place a tremendous drain on the local economy. Undoubtedly TSNE is counting on the emotional euphoria of having the NHL come back to Winnipeg in getting people to vote and spend money in a manner that they know is inappropriate and unsustainable. Eventually the piper has to be paid, and as before, Winnipegers will complain that the league and the players are out to make too much money. Guess what, we didn’t ask you to come into the league in the first place. When the hangover wears off, you’ll still have to pay the bill, and that won’t be fun!! Winnipegers, be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. Everything about this tells me that TSNE will be just as onerous to Winnipeg as ASG was to Atlanta. It will be their turn to get screwed, and justice will be served.

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
7:55 pm

“Any NHL team averaging 15,000 fans per game”

The VERY best the team can do is 24th.. TNSE will be perpetual revenue sharing recipients.. You figure a billionaire not afraid to beg for Manitoba tax money, defiantly will not be afraid to attach to the NHL’s teet..

TonyCee

May 23rd, 2011
7:55 pm

From a business and exposure standpoint, leaving Atlanta for Winnipeg makes zero sense. Actually, if Bettman wanted to go retro, putting a team back in Hartford would be more logical — east coast, close to Boston and NY markets, plenty of media coverage. And as one scribe accurately pointed out on another site, and I’m paraphrasing, “Do you think the ‘Peg locals are going to show up on a Tuesday night when it’s 30 below to see the Florida Panthers?” The Thrashers are a young, multi-cultural team that’s a player or two away from being really good, in a must-have market in the US. Atlanta has always been known as a lousy sports town, but I see no reason why this can’t work. Look at Nashville.

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
7:57 pm

“leaving Atlanta for Winnipeg makes zero sense.”

I don’t think the BoG vote for the TNSE deal..

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
8:09 pm

Then again, I eat my boogers, so you never know

Wayne stuck in AL

May 23rd, 2011
8:14 pm

Ironic that the exclusive window for the Hawks/Philips “sale” ends when the Thrashers are about to be sold down the river.

thrasherdawg

May 23rd, 2011
8:14 pm

APB

Can someone please find David McDavid.

Wayne stuck in AL

May 23rd, 2011
8:19 pm

If any good comes out of this, it’s John Kincade’s reputation has been torn to shreds.

nechopper

May 23rd, 2011
8:19 pm

G52PIM228 is feeling the sad for the loss of the team that the city of Atlanta could not support. Now turns his anger towords the city it is going to. DICK ENVEY? Must be….

sobaka

May 23rd, 2011
8:25 pm

This is one of those surreal situations where nothing is as it seems. Think back to the Balsillie attempt to take the Predators to Hamilton; it made no sense, going from a growing metropolitan area to a rust-belt over-the-hill burgh, and it never happened. Balsillie was going to hold up Hamilton for the arms and legs that it did not have, and as a result the deal flopped. He tried the same with the Coyotes. Why? Because he is an insufferable megalomaniac who thinks he can pull the wool over everybody’s eyes. Sports and nationalism are a toxic mix, and people like his exploit that to the max for their benefit. To what end? Political ambition, I say. The Canadian equivalent of Donald Trump. In the case at hand, I foresee the sale going through, but then Winnipeg and Manitoba balking at the deal because of the add-on surcharges. Thompson, being ever savvy, blames the government for ignoring the will of the people, gains in popularity. Meanwhile, ASG gets stuck with the team for another year, during which time a buyer to keep the team in Atlanta is finally found. Eventually, Manitoba ponies up to pay for a franchise fee for an expansion fee, @ $120 million. So the NHL ends up with $120 million, not merely $60 million, Thompson gets the glory of bringing hockey back to Winnipeg (and for $50 million less than currently debated), Winnipeg and Manitoba get soaked (which is what they deserve for trying to be major league when they clearly are not), and ASG gets a much-deserved financial beating. But to top if off, Bettman gets the credit for keeping the Thrashers in Atlanta, and NBC stays happy at retaining the league in a top-10 US city. It happened in the Twin Cities-North Stars-San Jose-Sharks ordeal back in 1990, and this has all the fingerprints as that one. With Thomson’s fame, his popularity soars, and he runs for Prime Minister. There are too many sinister characters with dubious motives to take anybody at their word here.

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
8:26 pm

You should all hail Glendale. The only true sports city in the nation !!

Flagstaff

May 23rd, 2011
8:30 pm

*envy

nechopper

May 23rd, 2011
8:32 pm

This time next year Phoenix will annonce they are moving to Quebec city…. Just like tomorrow Tharshers are to be announced they are moving to Winnipeg…. GO JETS GO…..

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
8:33 pm

sobaka… i recommend you start drinking heavily, if you have not done so already

otherwise, that was worth a good laugh

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
8:35 pm

http://illegalcurve.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Bill-Daly-Interview.mp3

listen to Bill Daly say in hos own words
Winnipeg is a viable market

sorry rednecks… this has been done in the backroom to move the team out of mayberry

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
8:38 pm

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly appeared in an interview on The Illegal Curve Hockey Show Saturday morning. This quote caught the ear of Illegal Curve.

When asked on today’s show about the market potential of the city of Atlanta:

“I would acknowledge that Atlanta historically has been a difficult sports market, and I can’t exactly put my finger on it as to why that’s been the case. You make good points when you point to the fact that the Atlanta Braves make the playoffs 13 consecutive years in baseball, where it is a little more difficult to make the playoffs. And they are having difficulty selling out their home playoff games, which, you would think in most markets is unheard of. So, Atlanta has proven to be a very difficult market.”

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
8:56 pm

The NHL went to great lenghts to improve the game for rednecks….

between periods they have 2 zambonis racing around to entertain you.

Hillbilly Deluxe

May 23rd, 2011
8:57 pm

A tip of the hat to Chris Thorburn for speaking his mind.

OHL

May 23rd, 2011
8:57 pm

If Atlanta is such a prime market, then why did a savvy organization like Turner Broadcasting sell the Thrashers in the first place? Does it have anything to do with the fact that the 2 seasons before they sold it the Thrashers were 28 out of 30 in attendance? Why didn’t more people go to the games before the bad owners bought the team? Why did this team stumble right out of the blocks with poor attendance before mgt even had time to do anything?

G52PIM228

May 23rd, 2011
9:09 pm

“Any NHL team averaging 15,000 fans per game”

The VERY best the team can do is 24th.. TNS.E will be perpetual revenue sharing recipients.. You figure a billionaire not afraid to beg for Manitoba tax money, defiantly will not be afraid to attach to the NHL’s teet..

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
9:10 pm

then again, if the team stayed in asslanta, they’d still be revenue sharing recipients and still lose 20+ million a year

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
9:12 pm

Yotes season tickets start at $10/seat. They will sell like crack in buckhead.

Bert

May 23rd, 2011
9:44 pm

I’m not sure if this fits, but these lyrics came to mind:

“That’s the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That’s the night that they hung an innocent man”

I think the “innocent man” is a metaphor for us, the Atlanta Thrashers Fans. Thanks ASG!

wpgJetsfan

May 23rd, 2011
9:53 pm

G52 will have a mental breakdown when Winnipeg records a profit next season and his WELFARE COYOTES have another season in losses.

goodnight moon

May 23rd, 2011
9:54 pm

G52,

Go to bed. You need more sleep.

thrash 1

May 23rd, 2011
9:58 pm

glavine has millions and is a big hockey fan—why can’t his group buy the thrashers and keep them here? the city should step in with big money to pay some owners to buy the team. Just raise sales taxes to pay whatever it takes.

Rogie

May 23rd, 2011
9:58 pm

In 11 seasons, the owners of this franchise never fielded a team that had much hope of doing much more than making it to the playoffs. It’s hard to expand a core of serious fans when the product that you produce is lousy. Blaming the fans is bush league and cowardly.

farleybear

May 23rd, 2011
10:07 pm

Winnipegger here. I again wanted to re-iterate how good 95% of you folks down in Atlanta are. The cheap-shots about Winnipeg haven’t been too bad and you’ve handled this whole ordeal with class and have shown tremendous amounts integrity. I can totally empathize with how the majority of you feel. It’s painful. I really wish we could have gotten the Coyotes so you could have kept the Thrashers. Chins up, Thrasher fans!

JR

May 23rd, 2011
10:08 pm

the thrashers had one of the lowest attendence of the league’s teams. as was payroll. the owners wanted better attendence before committing to a higher payroll. the fans wanted a more competitive product [higher payroll] before going to games. the fans don’t act in concert so the only way to break the stalemate was for the owners to risk a higher payroll, hopefully increase the caliber of play, and then watch to see if the fans came. i am confident that they would have but the owners never broke the stalemate to see.

JR

May 23rd, 2011
10:11 pm

it is tempting to say that the winnipegians have been so gracious because they are about to get the thrashers. however, i’ve been there and the people are really gracious.

Winnipeg Jets

May 23rd, 2011
10:12 pm

Darren Ford had an interview scheduled with CTV for Tuesday for when the Press Release was suppose to happen. It has since been rescheduled for Wednesday.

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
10:15 pm

If the coyotes leave Glendale, they may as well shut the league. Because this is the only true sports city. If it can’t make it here, it can’t make it anywhere.

Matt the Brave

May 23rd, 2011
10:20 pm

Jeff, saw you on the Sports weekend show. Do you really think that there might be an NHL team in Atlanta after losing two teams now? (Yes, I’m assuming. I try not to, but oh well.) I think after this cloak and dagger show by the NHL, fans wouldn’t support it no matter how much an owner might put into making it fan-friendly. My guess is that we will see the Gladiators become more important and develop a fan base like the Knights used to have.

That said, I do agree that it would be pretty lucrative to an owner to move here b/c there is already an arena, a large TV market (if they can actually get the ice on the tube), and a chance at a large fan base, per your statements.

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
10:29 pm

In Gongdale, my Yotes lost $36 million last year.

hotrod hockey fan

May 23rd, 2011
10:41 pm

The owners never cared about hockey. The blame starts with Ted Turner for selling it this sorry group. Next the group is sorry and has bee sorry sense day 1. Everyone who loves hockey and is following this crap knows that the Phoenix Coyotes should be moving. Next that sorry Gary Bettman should be “Fired”.

G52PlM228

May 23rd, 2011
10:51 pm

everyone move to the valley !!
we can all support the yotes

thrasherdawg

May 23rd, 2011
11:08 pm

I’ll ask again.

Anyone know how to get in touch with David McDavid?

It would be funny if he showed up after the deal was done but before the NHL vote and said here are my financials.

What are the chances?

thrasherdawg

May 23rd, 2011
11:12 pm

The Thrashers are missing a huge opportunity for the upcoming season.

No NFL, No NBA, Could you imagine the attendance next year with no NFL and no NBA.. Selling the team now…just another dumb business decision from the ASG.

If someone bought this team with the forecast to come with the NFL and NBA…the first season would be huge.

Mikeinvan

May 24th, 2011
2:44 am

Many cities have lost big league teams including mine. Since we lost our NBA Grizzlies to Memphis, many people who were fans of that team have turned their back on the sport completely. There is almost no media coverage of the sport anymore in this market. The frustration lies in the fact that despite years of having an underachieving team, many fans still loved the game and league. Although Vancouvers situation is different than that of Atlanta, the net result is the same. The hockey community is about to lose some loyal fans and that is a shame. I hope that for those of you who want to stay fans of the sport are able to find a way to stay connected. (There’s always room on the Canuck bandwagon. And an added bonus is that Winnipeg will end up in our division so you can watch us stomp on the team that broke your heart.) I wish you all the best and hope that local interest finds a way to keep the Thrashers in ATL.
Cheers

eugene

May 24th, 2011
3:37 am

Ownership does make a huge difference. Everyone looks at the Vancouver Canucks with envy but they don’t know the Canucks were in danger of being relocated to Portland a couple of times. When the Griffiths family overextended themselves by building a new arena and bringing the Vancouver Grizzlies into the market they sold the franchises to John McCaw, a billionaire who thought owning a sports franchise was a toy. He then proceeded to destroy the Grizzlies and the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks had made it to the Stanley Cup finals and it took only 3 years for McCaw to run it to the ground. Brian Burke saved that franchise when he was hired and got the Canucks back to respectability. During those 3 years, fans coming out to Vancouver games were averaging less than 14,000. Vancouver was lucky that they had a guy like Brian Burke. McCaw’s ownership of the Canucks had him lose money for 10 straight years before the Aquilini family took over. The Thrashers never had a chance. They never had an owner who was passionate about hockey. Look at the St Louis Blues, they were a great organization for years until Bill Laurie ruined the franchise, he had no desire to have a hockey team. His primary goal was to buy an NBA team and move them to St Louis. Atlanta could have been a great market, like the Nashville Predators. That building was electrifying during the playoffs. More electrifying than anything I’ve seen at Air Canada Center, Joe Louis Arena, or Rogers Arena.

TheAntiMe

May 24th, 2011
4:52 am

I know that you guys are not here to be homers and that’s how it should be. I think you do get that right. Having said that, I would just like to thank you, Jeff, for being as thoroughly disgusted as I am with the deplorable way that this situation has been handled by anyone who has a say in what actually happens.

Although I have come to loathe and despise the ASG to the point of being glad that they are out the door in any way, shape, or form (obviously, Hawks notwithstanding for now) but I will truly miss having an NHL team to root for.

just facts

May 24th, 2011
6:46 am

as far as the Kincade rant, it is truly a case of “consider the source”. there is a reason why his big time ESPN show airs at 6am on Sunday morning. if he didn’t ride the coat tails of a UGA football legend then he wouldn’t have a job at 680.

jerry

May 24th, 2011
8:16 am

Hmmmm….wonder what effect it had on attendence that to see the Thrashers, one had to venture into a jungle, full of dangerous animals.

SIberian Express

May 24th, 2011
8:53 am

What NHL players wouldn’t want to play in the the North American equivalent to Siberia? I know the Canadian fans love their hockey, but it would be hell for the players and their families to live there from October to April, or even longer if (God forbid) they mananged to make the playoffs and actually win a playoff game.
Regarding Kincaid, he is on the ASG payroll to run his mouth during the Thrasher games….what else would you expect from him?

Reid Adair

May 24th, 2011
9:48 am

Chris Thorburn and his teammates should get their hockey sticks and pay a visit to the offices of Atlanta Spirit Group.

Scott Stevens

May 24th, 2011
10:04 am

I’m from the north and have been a huge hockey fan all of my life. Management of the Thrashers has been pathetic – but, good for me, as I’m a Devils fan. I go to one Thrashers game a year – against the Devils. I refuse to take my teenage daughters (who like hockey) to an arena where skimpily-clad 20-somethings skate around shoveling up ice chips. Maybe that appeals to the target audience, but not me. Also, the Thrashers product has sucked for awhile. I’m not going to drop $150+ to see them get their butts kicked by some other mediocre team. I’ll save the money and go somewhere real hockey is played (I could name 20 other cities). At the end of the day, it needs to be a business decision – no fans, no revenue, no team, regardless of the reason fans don’t go.

Carpetbagger

May 24th, 2011
10:07 am

If the Hawks were leaving, the ghettos would erupt and burn the city down and make Sherman’s doings look like a small campfire.The mayor of Atlanta would be screaming and the team would not move… even though it was in a beyond a pitiful state of affairs several years ago. Attendance then was a joke… but they started winning. Atlanta is called the “Black Mecca” for many reasons, and hockey is not one of them.

ANONYMOUS

May 24th, 2011
10:41 am

Just called the Thrashers office and leave a message each day for the executive of your choice. No Nastiness…no cursing…something like “Have you no shame?”

Today’s owner:

Leave a message for Rutherford Seydel
Wed-levenson
Thursday-Dominque Wilkins and Beau turner (both don’t have a lot invested)
Friday-Father and Son-Gearon

G52PlM228

May 24th, 2011
11:29 am

most of the players are looking forward to playing in front of a packed house in winnipeg. Thorburn will have to go it alone.

kovy

May 24th, 2011
11:34 am

too bad chris and the boys didn’t get mad a couple of years ago and win a few more games and make the playoffs

G52PlM228

May 24th, 2011
11:36 am

he should move to coyote town… the best sports city on the planet !!

G52PIM228

May 24th, 2011
12:18 pm

It’s Tuesday, I’m lookin’ around, the Thrashers are still in Atlanta..

Surprise Surprise.. Go have another party on Portage to celebrate..

Atlanta Hicks

May 24th, 2011
12:38 pm

Hey G52PlM228: coulnd’t have said better – Mayberry, I’m still laughing……

sobaka:

Canada owns the NHL, nobody has to ask us – The NHL is ours not yours – most of the players are Canadian as well, so we don’t need your permission to have our own league in our cities – Your the ones that need permission and your losers- your lucky you had hockey in a half empty building, TWICE> Love how you make stuff up like the government having to support ownership. Sorry, you can say all the lies you want, doesn’t make it true.
Its the city of Atlanta that has lost 2 franchises = you know nothing of Winnipeg or Manitoba, just an ignorant Atlanta hick that cries because he wants a franchise but doesn\t support it = why should the ASG keep losing millions because you idiots don’t support NHL hockey. Typical American, full of hate, why don’t launch a nuke at us – or just bring the 200 Atlanta Thashers fans and bring your automatic weapons, I mean, every American owns one of those don’t you/they? HICKS

G52PlM228

May 24th, 2011
12:38 pm

hope the announcement comes soon

sobaka

May 24th, 2011
1:03 pm

Atlnta Hicks: Atlanta lost 2 franchises, but Winnipeg and Quebec City did not any franchise, correct? Now I’ve got my history straight. But then what were all those excuses about Winnipeg fans and Quebec fans not supporting their teams prior to the “alleged” moves in 1995 and 1996? Of were those teams supposedly moved because they had such good support?

BTW: I read a lot of reasons why Expos fans didn’t show up in Montreal. Were their reasons valid, but those of hockey fans in Atlanta invalid? And the percentage of empty seats for Blue Jays home games are more than those for Phoenix and Atlanta hockey teams. I hope you don’t like baseball, because I have a strong feeling that Canadian baseball fans will soon feel like Atlanta’s hockey fans. What goes around comes around.

G52PlM228

May 24th, 2011
1:11 pm

move them all to Glendale !!
we can support 2 MLB teams and 2 hockey teams easy

G52PIM228

May 24th, 2011
1:34 pm

An AZCentral poster indicated it was EASY to tell me apart from my impostor because my impostor is poorly educated..

OHL

May 24th, 2011
1:43 pm

sobaka,

I can’t dispute the Expos. That team had some great talent over the years and should have been supported better. So it’s the fans fault that the Expos left, I will not argue that.

Your Blue Jays remark is not accurate. In 2006, 07, and 08 the Jays were in the top 20 in attendance for 3 years in a row. The Thrashers never cracked the top 20 once. Also, there are cities that have open arms for NHL teams (Canadian cities not to mention Kansas City) that create demand for relocation. The NFL always has Los Angeles. The NBA even considers a 3rd team in the LA area. But where is a baseball team going to go? There’s no demand. So I think of the 4 team sports, MLB is one that will have no upcoming relocation. There was serious demand for DC to do it but even the Nationals had a hard time moving (see the games in Puerto Rico).

Jerry Landfill

May 24th, 2011
1:45 pm

Time for a new league.

G52PlM228

May 24th, 2011
2:00 pm

until MLB gets a salary cap, attendance will suffer. either that or MLB expands the playoffs by 6 more teams

KitRanger

May 24th, 2011
2:38 pm

I don’t think anyone here actually knows why the Jets had to leave originally. Our dollar was in horrible shape. It was around the .70 mark, sometimes even less yet we had to pay player salaries in US dollars. Put another way, to buy the Thrashers at those prices, it would cost 250 mil canadian for a 170mil US sale. THAT was the reason for the Jets leaving, not the lack of support. ATL had 200 people show up for a rally with a few million in the city, WPG had over 100,000 show up to a rally to try and save the Jets. They raised millions of dollars, the economics just didn’t work.

The economics have now flipped, where running a hockey team in canada is like printing money. The Leafs have been one of the worst teams in hockey since the lockout, yet they bring in the most money in the entire league (with MTL right behind them). They are worth over a billion dollars. Hockey in Canada works, there is no denying that. The only thing that hurts us is a weaker dollar but the salary cap and revenue sharing has done a lot to help (and now the parity in the dollar). In 2008, when the dollar was around 85 cents, the 6 canadian teams made up for 31% of NHL gate revenue.

G52PIM228

May 24th, 2011
3:14 pm

“until MLB gets a salary cap, attendance will suffer. either that or MLB expands the playoffs by 6 more teams”

The likelihood of readers staying oblivious to the difference in style is minimal..

G52PIM228

May 24th, 2011
3:19 pm

It has been suggested SEVERAL times that English is more than likely my stalker’s second language..

G52PlM228

May 24th, 2011
3:37 pm

any other suggestions ?

G52PlM228

May 24th, 2011
3:39 pm

I’ve discussed this possibility with myself on numerous occasions and have decided that I may have more than one personality

G52PIM228

May 24th, 2011
3:48 pm

If I have motivated you to improve upon your daily mutilation of the English language, it would be just one more accomplishment i have than you..

southoftheborder

May 24th, 2011
4:42 pm

Sobaka – Hamilton a fading rust belt city? Perhaps you have heard of Research in Motion? Or Open Text? Or any number of tech companies that have sprouted up in the Hamilton/Kitchener/Waterloo area the past 15 years. As for comparing Ballsillie to Trump. Yeah Ballsillie is Co-CEO of a public company. Its fairly easy to verify what he is worth.

What the NHL is learning is that franchises can’t do well in markets where they are the 4th pro-team and behind multiple college programs. You can’t build your business model where the a team has to always win in order to draw. Half the teams don’t make the playoffs and rebuilds take 3-4 years in hockey. With the lack of TV contract you need to be a consistent draw at the gate in order to build a franchise.

That being said – Arizona should lose the team before Atlanta does since AZ has proven it can’t draw even if the team wins.

G52PlM228

May 24th, 2011
5:03 pm

if you want to see the rustbelt go to Buffalo, Ohio and Penn.

you’ll get all you can handle

Astonished

May 24th, 2011
8:29 pm

Has anybody been writing to David McDavid now that he should have his $281 Million settlement from Time Warner over the breach of contract when Spirit bought all the properties? Who could be better to save the Thrashers now that Spirit wants to sell it all? He might even be able to buy at less than the cost in 2003 when you figure in his lawsuit winnings!

Let McDavid know the fans will support him if he buys the Thrash, Hawks and Philips Arena and gets them away from Spirit! Spread the word and email, write and call David McDavid today!!!! It’s late in the game but he’s from Dallas: The Mavs’ cause looked hopeless in OKC Monday night, but they still pulled out a win in overtime!

http://www.mcdavidcompanies.com/contact.php

Mr David McDavid
Chairman/CEO
McDavid Companies
17120 N. Dallas Parkway Suite 235
Dallas, TX 75248

T. 972.716.0300
F. 972.250.1715

While Bettman hides, Thrashers’ slow death near complete

Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC; friend me at Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC

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While Bettman hides, Thrashers’ slow death near complete

Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC; friend me at Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC

252 comments Add your comment

About Jeff Schultz

We’ve Moved!

One Subscription. Total Access.

Search this blog

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Archives

More from the AJC

Categories

Blogroll

All AJC blogs »

Tell us what you think about the site

Subscribe »

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Advertising

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