Thrashers, Atlanta were never given a chance
Thrashers fans tried hard to keep hope, season after season. But the deck was stacked against them. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)
(Updated: 12:30 p.m.)
This is how it ends: With the weasel of a commissioner not stepping foot in the city, with another season passing without a playoff game, with a lying ownership group maintaining it did all it could to save a franchise that in reality it spent most of seven years wrecking.
Atlanta has lost an NHL expansion team to a Canadian outpost for the second time. The Thrashers are going to Winnipeg just like the Flames went to Calgary in 1980. A press conference was held in Winnipeg, while the Thrashers sent out this warm-and-fuzzy news release: “The Atlanta Thrashers announced today that they have entered into an asset purchase agreement with True North Sports and Entertainment …”
This isn’t about the fans or the market or certainly Gary Bettman’s fictional “covenant” with fans, which I believe he left in the same sock drawer with his conscience. It’s about greed and abandonment, plain and simple. It’s about a disingenuous ownership group, which had long lost any semblance of credibility, serving up fans swill and gruel and then wondering why the turnstiles sleep at night.
They’ll tell you they care. They don’t. They’re walking away with a fat check. While you mourn the loss of a franchise, they’re waving goodbye with one middle finger.
The NHL is leaving a city that never really was given a chance. It’s going back to a city that it left 15 years ago and that has grown by about 60,000 people and a couple of doughnut shops since. They will be discussing this decision one day at business schools, right after the sections on Charles Ponzi and Enron.
Atlanta didn’t fail. The franchise failed. But the NHL doesn’t care about that. This is a league that survives on franchise fees and relocation fees. It collected $80 million from Ted Turner for an expansion fee in 1997. (He joked in the Board of Governors meeting that followed that he could’ve saved $70 million by purchasing the Flames from Tom Cousins for $10 million. Nobody laughed.) The league reportedly will collect another $60 million for permission to move the Thrashers to Manitoba.
In five years, when another failing franchise wants to move into Philips Arena, Bettman will be happy to collect another fat relocation fee, and he’ll deliver the same canned, phony speech about how he always believed in this market. The guy has told so many lies, it’s a wonder he’s not an Atlanta Spirit partner. (One postscript: Bettman referred to them as the “Atlantic” Spirit on Tuesday.)
Now living in Calgary.
There are hockey teams in Tampa and San Jose and Raleigh, and I could go on. There’s still one inexplicably in Phoenix, which the NHL is floating for another year, maybe because Bettman plans to retire and open up a pawn shop there one day. Is Atlanta an inferior market to any of those cities? Or does product have something to do with it?
There was no reason to do this now. When the Phoenix-to-Winnipeg deal fell apart, the NHL (which owns the Coyotes) was out $170 million. Bettman panicked. So he crossed out Phoenix and wrote in Atlanta. But why couldn’t he have waited a year to see if another owner for the team
Now living in Winnipeg.
emerged? Winnipeg wasn’t going anywhere. Was Bettman that desperate for the $60 million?
“I have absolutely no doubt that this market can support an NHL team,” said Bob Hartley, a native Canadian, a Stanley Cup winner in Colorado and the only coach to get the Thrashers to the playoffs. “It’s a huge disappointment to see the Atlanta franchise leave before so many other cities in the league. I loved it there. My last two years in Atlanta were as exciting as what I went through in Colorado. We had only two [home] playoffs games but it was a Stanley Cup atmosphere. But Hoss [Marian Hossa] left, Kovy [llya Kovalchuk] left, I was gone. It felt like the organization was drained of its energy.”
First player: Damian Rhodes. First draft pick: Patrik Stefan. First coach: Curt Fraser. First general manager: Don Waddell. That was only the beginning. Eleven seasons: one playoff berth, no wins.
Turner was followed by AOL/Time Warner, a bad marriage that was followed by an even worse one: Atlanta Spirit, LLC. Hossa saw no future here. Kovalchuk, given so many misdirections by part-owner Bruce Levenson in negotiations, wasn’t even sure the team would stay. Both wanted out.
There never was a commitment. There never was hope. There never was a plan — at least not one that worked.
A city just lost a franchise. While you mourn, they laugh. It’s nothing less than shameful.
By Jeff Schultz
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1,115 comments Add your comment
Rene Levesque
May 31st, 2011
7:50 pm
You really can’t blame a Owner for trying to make a team work. You can blame the fans however for being Bandwagon fans. Who can’t realize what they have in front of them. Hockey was never meant to work in Southern US it’s not popular so get over yourself and realize this could have been stopped with fan support.
Beau Turner
May 31st, 2011
7:53 pm
Michael, that’s not true. I definitely paid you back. I don’t keep change b/c I don’t ever wear clothes that have pockets, so I have nowhere to put it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to my lagoon hut and taking a nap. Tell daddy I’ll be home for the 4th.
Bruce Levenson
May 31st, 2011
7:55 pm
Mike, don’t worry about it. We can just sue Belkin for the 50 cents.
cryin' blue
May 31st, 2011
7:55 pm
Schultz: Sorry if this has been addressed earlier, but I just saw on nytimes.com that Kasim Reed was quoted TODAY as saying he wants to block the sale and find a local owner. I’m sure many will say this is just a last-minute BS/CYA statement … still, I’d love to hear what you make of it. Here are the relevant grafs:
Mayor Kasim Reed of Atlanta said Tuesday that he was trying to block the move by finding local ownership for the Thrashers. It was the first public expression of such an effort by Reed, who has been criticized by fans for not fighting to keep the team in the city.
“We have put an extraordinary amount of effort in trying to put together a local ownership group, and we have really pushed hard,” Reed said. “It’s important to me, one, because I don’t like to lose, and, two, because I believe having the full accompaniment of major sports franchises says something about a city, and Atlanta is a world-class city.”
Brian
May 31st, 2011
7:56 pm
I would love to find any one of the asg clowns on the street. Too bad they are to cowardly to go out in public.
Hockey chick
May 31st, 2011
8:02 pm
pffft give it up! there coming to manitoba, get over it!
Yougabsports.com
May 31st, 2011
8:03 pm
@Mr. Bill….I’ll take my money either in singles or pennies, either way you owe me a grand.
And since CViv Sugar-coated this entire issue, but I chose to wirte a ltter to Thrasher fans last week. It’ only seems apropriate that if you read it now I wasn’t just on the money, but I proved you never deserved a eam in the first place!!!
http://yougabsports.com/pt/A-Letter-To-Thrasher-Fans/blog.htm
mirandalambert2012
May 31st, 2011
8:05 pm
Well before 1999 I would take a couple of road trips to Tampa. I geuss I can renew that next year.
Thrashers Fan
May 31st, 2011
8:06 pm
This “deal” sounds like it was NEVER given the chance to have any other outcome. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lawsuit (or several) were to come from this.
As I will always state: If the problem was with Phoenix – SOLVE IT WITH PHOENIX!!! BTW, in case anybody didn’t know, the Winnipeg Jets = Phoenix Coyotes! Make of that what you’ld like!
Ghosts of Loserville Die Hard
May 31st, 2011
8:06 pm
Well said, Jeff.
News Please
May 31st, 2011
8:07 pm
Outpost? Village? Good Lord! I expect this from trailer trash but from someone that probably gets paid to “write” this type of slamming article?
You seem to have skipped basic economics class…. This is not a US vs Canada thing, this is not a Atlanta vs Winnipeg thing… this is about money and lack of someone interest in buying a ship tha tis sinking faster than the Titanic. Winnipeg still has to sell 13000 season tickets before the possible new owners take over.
Why don’t reporters stick to reporting actual news without letting their small minds taking slams at cities they have probably never been in. I have been both Atlanta and Winnipeg and would think without a doubt that a Canadian city, or a northern US city would be a better market for hockey than a southern US city, with few exceptions but that is just an opinion…. Jeff grow up and learn to report news, not hurt feelings.
Brett
May 31st, 2011
8:08 pm
yea i would love to see gearon or levenson on the street. i would gladly take a trip to the atl police station to knock either of them the hell out. all tolls from 400 should have gone into a save the thrashers foundation…gotta be at least what…500000 a day???????
Yougabsports.com
May 31st, 2011
8:10 pm
Two franchises, lost both of them but you sit here and say they never had a chance. The AJC staff is in just as much denial as the fans, if not more.
Puck Headlines: Thrashers anger, blame; Dallas Stars sale soon? | | sportsport
May 31st, 2011
8:15 pm
[...] • Jeff Schultz on the end of the Thrashers: "This is how it ends: With the weasel of a commissioner not stepping foot in the city, with another season passing without a playoff game, with a lying ownership group maintaining it did all it could to save a franchise that in reality it spent most of seven years wrecking." [AJC] [...]
Thoroughbred
May 31st, 2011
8:15 pm
@Fred
You need to check youself buddy. I just made fun of hockey and Canada. I didn’t call anyone out but because I think hockey sucks and Canada is a waste of country I’m a loser. Funny if that is a loser in your book I know plenty of losers in Atlanta.
@theAntiMe
Get your insults up. Seriously that was the best you could do. Kissing my sister yeah thats a new Southern stereotype. I have not heard that one. Either way hockey sucks the majority of the A’town agrees and any snow filled city in Canada can have it.
steve
May 31st, 2011
8:21 pm
In case any of you have not heard, Waddell will NOT be going to Winnipeg, reported on XM when I was driving home tonight.
mark
May 31st, 2011
8:23 pm
I am a St. Louis Blues fan who suffered through many years in the deep south and was able to satisfy my hockey fix with the ECHL. The Gwinett Gladiators (formerly the Mobile Mystics) have good owners who have learned that in the minor leagues its the fans who are the key to their ability to survive. I ask all true hockey fans in Atlanta, make the NHL and the Thrasher’s ownership group realize their mistake and help Gwinett achieve NHL level attendance this year!
frank
May 31st, 2011
8:27 pm
hockey sucks, go home yankees
Shameful
May 31st, 2011
8:28 pm
I can’t believe how many racist comments are being posted here. Hockey is for everyone – including black folks like me.
Billsen
May 31st, 2011
8:34 pm
I totally sucks to be a hockey fan in Atlanta today. While everyone seems to want to point fingers at the Mayor for not doing enough to keep the team in town, I’d suggest that the typical Atlanta resident would have issues if tax dollars were used to bail out the team, like they did in Arizona.
That said, I do wonder why some of our deep-pocketed corporations – yes Coca-Cola, I’m looking at you – were not willing to make an investment in the team. Heck, they could have bought the entire works and renamed Philips Coca-Cola Arena without blinking.
Will Stockdale
May 31st, 2011
8:34 pm
Hey Ben, maybe you’ll get to like the Air Force, zooming all over the sky and shouting ROGER and WILCO and everything. Maybe it won’t be so bad.
Will Stockdale
May 31st, 2011
8:35 pm
Atlanta had a hockey team ? When did that happen ?
magicdeeds
May 31st, 2011
8:35 pm
The responsibility for the loss of the Thrashers is 50/50 – ownership with a better product on the floor, but when the “fans” prefer to sit at home and watch on tv, rather than buy a ticket and go to the arena, a team will not be viable. The owners are businessmen and businessmen can/will only sustain so much in losses before choosing a different path. The true voice of the “fans” was heard when only 250 showed up at a rally to keep the Thrashers – others too busy to come downtown….Atlanta is and always has been a fickle sports town and that will never change – too many other options on a given day. Some will miss the Thrashers and some will not – only those who took the time and spent the money to purchase tix and attend the games will truly miss the team. Others are only talk – or for some threat makers. Hopefully most are adults and will move on.
CuJo31
May 31st, 2011
8:36 pm
I feel bad for my fellow hockey fans in Atlanta, but the NHL couldn’t afford to support 2 teams in Atlanta and Phoenix.
They chose us because we have far better fan base than Atlanta. Atlanta is reportly giving away 6000 tickets per game at $5 or $10 in an effort to reach the level where subsidies would kick in.
Another reason was that Atlanta is in decline, my neighbours moved from there and described Atlanta as a crime-ridden war zone.
Phoenix on the other hand will be the second largest city in the US within 10 years.
Sorry that its left to me to be the one that has to state the truth.
Thrashers Fan
May 31st, 2011
8:39 pm
FB
“May 31st, 2011
1:07 pm
And once again the Canada bashing begins. Leave it to the Americans to take every chance they get to up themselves a few everytime they feel threatened. @ Winnipeg = Poverty…you must be confused with one of your fellow American cities, and believe me…there’s many to choose from. Fact is, Canada is where the money. 90% of revenue generated by Canadian NHL teams (which are 10% of the teams in the NHL) are used to support American teams, so you’re welcome for us letting you borrow our team for as long as you did! ”
Fine – please take the Phoenix Coyotes back & leave my Thrashers ALONE!
Thrashers Fan
May 31st, 2011
8:42 pm
“CuJo31
May 31st, 2011
8:36 pm
Phoenix on the other hand will be the second largest city in the US within 10 years.
Sorry that its left to me to be the one that has to state the truth.”
Who’s to say what ANY city will be like in 10 years?
pete
May 31st, 2011
8:46 pm
mr. schultz, you make some great points! as a canadian who is happy to see a team back in winnipeg, i have to say that i feel really bad for the thrasher fans. but this deal was done so quickly and quietly it really gives me the feeling that something else was at play here that nobody is talking about. there are too many things that don’t make sense. bettman fights tooth and nail to keep a team in phoenix for more that two years but lets atlanta slip away over night without a peep? if gary was sincere about keeping franchises where they are why didn’t he approach matthew hulsizer to buy the thrashers when the deal in arizona died? the sale to winnipeg must have been done in a back room for a reason, no?
i was hoping to see you at the press conference today to embarrass bettman but hopefully you’ll get a chance some other day
craneman
May 31st, 2011
8:51 pm
I grew up in Hartfor CT. So first it was the Whalers, now the Thrashers, BETRAYED AGAIN
Wimps_ca
May 31st, 2011
8:55 pm
I’m truely sorry for the true Trasher fan, I was a season ticket holder when the Jets left for Phoenix so I understand the pain.
I wish that Wpg. got their team through expansion not at your expense.
Atlanta is too big a market and too good a sports town to believe that the NHL will not be back especially when the recession is over.
There is so much money and there are so many rich corporations in Atlanta I can’t believe that a group didn’t come forward. What happened?
NHL Hockey will be back, third time a charm.
Big Wally
May 31st, 2011
8:57 pm
Maybe we should take a trip to Winnipeg to check it out before we bash it (unlike the way they bast Atlanta). What’s the best way to get there; dogsled, horseback, canoe, or stagecoach?
Kilroy
May 31st, 2011
8:58 pm
You know this article could have been written in Brooklyn in 1957. Well said.
Big Wally
May 31st, 2011
9:03 pm
Wimps_Ca, I don’t think any new buyer wanted to be a hockey tenant in Phillips arena to the ASG bastards.
CuJo31
May 31st, 2011
9:05 pm
Pete
Read my above post, the NHL could only save 1 team.
The wealth is draining out of Atlanta. Phoenix is where the wealth is migrating
Within 10 years both cities will be very different places, on opposite ends of the proposerity scale.
KLS1
May 31st, 2011
9:07 pm
An investor and businessman that is running a business he really doesn’t want to will always lose money.
If these ASG aholes ran it right they would have made money and not wanted to sell it.
Lets go get the Florida Panthers…
Anna
May 31st, 2011
9:08 pm
Thanks for the awesome picture of my brother. He has been a die hard fan throughout the Thrashers’ time in our city. I attended the first playoff game for the Thrashers, and found it exhilerating. People can whine and moan that Atlanta is not a hockey city, but it was to my family. I do not watch any other sports, and feel like a major part of a tradition every year is gone for my brothers and me. Money is important, I guess, but so is integrity, and I don’t think the owners cared enough to think about anyone who doesn’t have $100 million to make in this deal.
Will Stockton
May 31st, 2011
9:13 pm
@Big Wally
I see its been a while since you did any travelling my hillbilly brother.
There are are more modern methods to leave Atlanta nowadays.
back and forth
May 31st, 2011
9:14 pm
As bad as this is PR-wise for the NHL, it would have been even worse if the Coyotes had moved back to Winnipeg. They would have been seen as even more of a traveling circus than they already are.
I think that’s an angle that isn’t getting enough talk. I don’t think this year’s $25 million had as much to do with it as some people want us to believe.
Bill
May 31st, 2011
9:15 pm
Atlanta native here, and with re-locations to Boston,NY, Chicago and Toronto notwithstanding, a life long native.
Also went to about 30 Thrasher games while they here here, so this is from experience.
Here are a couple of the real reasons why the Thrashers didn’t work here.
1. First and foremost, Atlanta is a massive college football town (the best in the country) , with pro football,
baseball and NASCAR second. Many of us picked up our college teams through the generations, just like Cub, Yankee
and Patriots fans did over the years in those cities. The pro teams came much later and since most of them were
losers out of the gate, no allegiances were made between the fans and teams.
2. Philips Arena is in the middle of the city (in theory, convenient). But let’s be honest, from the northern
suburbs, it’s hard to get to, it’s expensive and yes, crime is a factor, especially panhandling and yes, when you
factor bringing your family to the games,all these things go into the decision making process of whether or not to
go to a game. Add in a prolonged recession and ownership that didnt care about the fans, and THAT’s why fans stopped
going to the games.
3. Poor transporation planning to deal with Atlanta’s traffic. This is on the civic leaders past and present who
continuously push mass transit on everyone, except themselves. Marta is NOT an option when you are in charge of the
safety of your family. If that sounds racist, so be it…
4. Despite what will be the opinion from ESPN and all the Northeast jock-sniffers that Atlanta is a lousy sportstown, here’s my rebuttal:
We don’t seek your approval and we don’t care what you think!
We have our favorite sports and we support these sports 100%, so STEP OFF!
Krusty the Clown
May 31st, 2011
9:16 pm
Hey hey! Woooka-wacka! Huh-huh!
I’ve just been approved to be a new minority owner in the Hawks. Sideshow Mel is in for $10 and I’m in for $50. Now where’s the booze?
Tim
May 31st, 2011
9:21 pm
Bitter fans much? Get over it.
Steve
May 31st, 2011
9:23 pm
Jeff,
There is no need to insult Winnipeg here – they deserve to have a team, because they support the game and were purely victims of circumstance back in 1996 (just as true fans of the Thrashers are now). The love for hockey in Canada is so great, so ingrained in the culture and a part of who we are…the Prime Minister even issued a statement today celebrating the return to Winnipeg! (analogous to the President doing the same when the Cleavland Browns returned) That might sound small town and hokey, but that is our country and that’s how we like it.
In the mid-90’s with our weak dollar we lost a lot of assets (not just hockey teams) to America and other countries…it hurt. Now our dollar is stronger than it has been in many decades and this is vindication. With a quality building, and one owner that built the AHL’s flagship franchise (Mark Chipman) and the other is one of the richest men in the world (David Thomson), Winnipeg will be a strong franchise for many years.
I hope they bring the huge portrait of the Queen out of storage for old time sake – Go Jets!
Michael Gearon, Sr.
May 31st, 2011
9:25 pm
I’m tired of people taking shots at my boy. You want to pick a fight?! Pick one with me. I’m a MAN!
Fred
May 31st, 2011
9:26 pm
@Winnipeg=Poverty
Your ignorance reeks off anger. Your bitter. I understand that. Unfortunately, your anger clouds the truth. You say players won’t play there because, what? it’s too cold? Um, most who play hockey reside or grew up with cold winters either here in Canada or elsewhere. Winter, the snow, the cold it’s a way of life here so one growing up with aspirations of NHL glory isn’t exactly thinking, hmm, when i lift that cup it better be in a warm climate city! No, it’s visions of a Habs, Leafs, Flames, Oilers or even Jets crest on their chest. Oh, and no good players played for the Jets during the 80’s and 90’s?? Hawerchuk, Selanne, Tkachuk, Khabibulin? None of these ring a bell? Heck Thomas Steen loved the city so much he never left and became a local politician. You only make yourself look dumb and I’m not from Winnipeg, not even close.
Vince
May 31st, 2011
9:28 pm
@ CuJo
You are too funny! I suppose Phoenix could grow by two million people in the next ten years and pass Atlanta in population…but I doubt it could grow by 8 million and pass Los Angeles as the 2nd largest city.
Only three other cities are home to more Fortune 500 companies than Atlanta….and Atlanta’s list of top 1000 companies has been growing… not shrinking in the last two years.
National Geographic, last fall, named Atlanta one of its “places of a lifetime.” That is a distinction it has bestowed on very few cities worldwide….even fewer in the US.
Thanks anyway, but I will be just fine here without an NHL team. I won’t watch hockey, basketball or visit Philips Arena. I’ll be fine…and I will definitely stay put.
Not a Hockey Fan
May 31st, 2011
9:37 pm
It’s been kind of a crummy day, but at least there’s the good news about the Thrashers. As for the handful of fans who are sorry to see them leave, Delta is ready if you are (but then again Delta has become about as bad as the Thrashers so maybe you can’t count on them either).
Fuddle
May 31st, 2011
9:40 pm
What amazes me is how your letters to the editor are like ours of 15 years ago .
When I was in university , I could buy Jets tickets for $12.00 a game . When Barry Shenkrow took the team over from Ben Hatskin , the prices went up, the Jets became insolvent , and Shenkrow cashed in and sold the Jets to Phoenix . Three issues bug me.
1. Winnipeg fans will not be thrilled in forking out $80 -$135 a ticket .
2 .I don’t believe for a minute that car-dealer-scheister Chipman is really paying fellow-weasel Gary Bettman 60 million dollars for a relocation fee .
3. In spite of his wealth , Chipman received a low interest loan from the Manitoba government the other day to execute this deal .
This is just SO-O-O sleazy .
playmeortrademe
May 31st, 2011
9:45 pm
@Bill
Dead On. The hockey money is in the northern suburbs while the arena is downtown, and no one wants to turn around after driving up 75, or 85, or 400 to go to a Tuesday night hockey game to see a team that loses more often than not.
There’s a reason that the Hawks, Falcons, and Thrashers always have throngs of the visiting teams fans, and it’s because the transplants plan for those games well in advance, may stay downtown somewhere and make a day out of it. The average fan that is needed to fill the arena lives 25 miles and an hour drive away, and MARTA is expensive, not convenient in the suburbs, and has a bad rep. It’s much easier, and a better view for most fans, to watch on HD if they feel like it…but hockey is not nearly as exciting on TV as it is in person. It’s second only to baseball in how dull it appears to be on TV.
I followed the Thrashers early on and of course was very interested during their playoff run, but as a suburbanite I can’t say I ever had a desire to drive back into downtown on a weekday and go to a game to watch mediocre hockey. And I didn’t have any desire to use a nice fall or spring weekend watching hockey indoors…and I think that sums of the average metro resident that the Thrashers failed to draw.
HistoricalFail
May 31st, 2011
9:47 pm
Umm… for the guy who said this a few posts back… the Germans didn’t bomb Pearl Harbour… it was the Japanese. You should sort of… know that, don’t you think?
mike
May 31st, 2011
9:47 pm
go jets go !!!!!!!!
playmeortrademe
May 31st, 2011
9:50 pm
@Fuddle,
The second the Canadian dollar starts back down like it did in the 90s, and the new team fails to be competitive over the next two or three years, and the team is some weird minor-league name like the Manitoba Prariedogs or something, the team will start to fail, and there won’t be local buyer, and the buyers will look to relocate to a bigger population base like Seattle or Hamilton or Quebec City. Winnipeg better enjoy it while it lasts. Hey, people in Birmingham, Alabama love football but that doesn’t mean the NFL should put a team there.