If the Thrashers left Atlanta, would anyone care? Oh, yes.

step 1: FIRE DON WADDELL!!!

how is any fringe fan supposed to support this team when we won’t replace a GM that has shown, year after year, that he cannot put a competitive team on the ice.

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The Thrashers have helped develop and grow youth ice hockey in this area. It would be a shame to lose that connection. If Atlanta loses the Thrashers we will never have an NHL franchise again. It’s not that there’s not enough fan support. It’s ownership incompetence. When the team plays better more people show up-that is what happened toward the end of this season. When the tewam made the playoffs the fan support was definately there.

To those who don’t like hockey and have never been to a game: Once you see the game live and in person you’d be hooked. It is a fabulous sport!

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The Thrashers are not going anywhere! There deal for the Philips Arena naming rights was based on the fact that the Thrashers were one of the major tennants. In addition, the NHL won’t let this team move as it has been sucessful here attendance wise. They spent alot of time trying to build up the southeast division and want to expand their game. They just had an Allstar game here. This grumbling is just coming purists who don’t want to see the NHL in the South and folks with money to burn. Isn’t it obvious that they are attacking Southern NHL teams and relocated franchises that used to have Canadian ties. There’s nothing to any of this.

Wadell needs to put a winner on the ice this year for the sake of the ASG’s balance sheet, but I have been very impressed with John Anderson as a coach. They will be much improved next season.

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hmmmmmm…maybe the Flames could move back to GA. i thought the NHL was still on strike.

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I’d rather see the Gladiators play. It’s cheaper and the team actually makes the playoffs every year. Although it isn’t hard when 4 teams in a 5 league conference make it.

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To John,
It is amazing how one lectures the other of going political on a sports blog, but then does the exact same thing. You two are funny!

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The Thrashers are loved by the hockey fans of Atlanta. The Thrasher fans probably feel like they’ve been held HOSTAGE longer than Americans were in Iran. Let my people go!! Sell this team to someone who will care for it.

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I moved here from St. Louis 10 years ago. In St. Louis I was a moderately intense Blues fan. The team was playing well, it had championship aspirations and it had Chris Pronger. Going to a game was exhilarating.

I bought season tickets to the Thrashers my first year here. It was their first season. They may have lost every game I attended, can’t remember. But I realized that it was going to be a long, painful haul before they were competitive and I dumped the season tix.

I had no idea how long and how painful the haul would be.

With the current management, it’s hard to be enthusiastic about the Thrashers or sorrowful if they were to depart. There really doesn’t seem to be any hope on the horizon. Ownership has bought deeply into mediocrity or worse. I don’t see how it will ever get better with the current incompetent GM or underfunded owners. If Canadians can do better by this franchise by moving it to a land where it’s the national sport, then perhaps that’s for the best.

But it would be a pity if Atlanta never experienced the rush of a competitive ice hockey team, a team challenging for titles and playing with a teamwork and a spirit that makes the heart soar.

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I don’t care about hockey at all, but I’ve been to one Thrashers game and it seemed interesting (although maybe it was just because I had great seats). But considering how easy it seems to be for the national media to dump on the ATL as a sports city, it would be even easier if we no longer had all four major team sports here. So for that reason alone, I’d probably rather see them stay.

Although if that means the DASG has to cut down on Hawks spending to keep the Thrashers afloat, forget it.

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I would be devastated if the Thrashers left town. It would help if the AJC would support them more. Hockey is the BEST spectator sport. We need ownership that cares!

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I was in DC during the Caps Inaugural Season… a complete disaster. They had a black skater who couldn’t skate (affirmative action in action or is it “inaction”). I have been here since the beginning of the Thrashers (yes and Ted got them here and made sure they would be downtown near MARTA). Now that Ted is gone and they have struggled… keep the faith… Wadell has made mistakes but there is light at the end of the tunnel! To hell with the “non-owners”.. we have a program now in place… three years too late. As for the “Knight Fans” during the National Anthem… get real… less than 2% ever went to their games (they need to beat their boots due to my original Knight’s jersey). Get gone Knights along with the Flames… hopefully we’ll have our Thrashers here and get back into the playoffs! On another more important money making note… who is going to win the Preakness?

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why is bradley relevant? Married to the prez? You’re paper is less than toilet paper.

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BELIEVE IN BLUELAND

DW is on year 10 of a 15 year plan if I remember correctly. DW seems like a nice guy but that doesn’t win Lord Stanley’s Cup.

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I would be angry if they left. While I don’t attend as many games as I did in the past, I still am a die-hard fan of the team. When Atlanta Spirit bought the team, I really did have higher expectations than when the team was owned by Time-Warner. While early on, they did show that they were willing to put together a team that could contend, unfortunately, they kept the weakest link, Don Waddell as GM. Just because someone was a semi-successful minor league GM who happened to spend a season with the Red Wings as an assistant GM when they won the Stanley Cup does not mean they’re an NHL caliber GM. Too many bad trades and draft picks for him to justify keeping his job.

Once this lawsuit gets settled (For some reason, I’m almost hoping Belkin buys everyone else out, as he couldn’t do much worse than what the others have done in the interim.), the future of this team will be clearer. If the team is sold, it will definitely be to someone local who wishes for the success of the team. I could see the Dickeys or Ron Terwilliger making a bid for the Thrashers, seeing as both the Dickey family and Terwilliger made bids for the Braves (as did Arthur Blank) before Time-Warner made the deal with Liberty Media. One could potentially include Arthur Blank as a potential owner as well, but I would think he would be a lesser possibility over the Dickey family or Ron Terwilliger.

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Mark,

Thank you for checking in with the hockey fans here in Atlanta. I hope you are one as well to some degree and beyond your duties at the paper. I’ve read your columns since you came to the AJC, mostly about the other sports.

Like my short email reply said, I’d be devastated if the Thrashers move and I don’t know what I’d do then. They are my favorite team and sport these days. Well, along with the area football teams. I was here at the end of the Flames years in Atlanta but the sport didn’t capture me the way it does today.

We are in the midst of the long summer were a few dates are anticipated. The playoffs are onging and the entry draft lottery is now behind us. The draft itself is about six weeks away where draft day deals can happen and young talent is chosen. Last year was great in picking Bogosian…but then the team certainly did earn the right to select Zach with the bottom finish. They’ve earned another top selection in this draft. Soon after the draft is July 1st when the free agent signing period begins. Also this is when team mgmt. can attempt to negotiate an extension for Kovalchuk, which is another big thing happening this summer, hehe.

Maybe the %$#&*@ lawsuit will end soon and a replacement for Belkin and his withheld funding will be found. That’s another big thing to get past. On the ice, the team has some young talent maturing and perhaps they are are finally recovering from the setbacks caused by the Snyder/Heatley tragedy.

Anyway, don’t be a stranger, eh, Mark? Throw some cyber ink our way…Schultz and Waddell seem to dislike each other too much to actually discuss the team in a straightforward way, so learn more about the sport, I’m sure you will like it.

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I’m a native Pittsburgher (Go Pens), and I do like the Thrashers as my #2 team, but in reality I have only been to games where they are playing Pittsburgh. And for those games, it seems that about half the people in attendance are for Pittsburgh. I assume that it applies to other teams just as well. I would bet dollars to donuts that attendance is dictated to some extent my the visitng team’s fanbase in Metro Atlanta.

That being said, I hope they stay (so I can see the Pens, but also so Atlanta get’s to enjoy a great sport); however, it’s about business. If they can make more money in Hamilton, the owners need to go where they can maximise their return on investment.

Also, I should point out that Hockey has become a much more competitive sport since the salary cap was instituted. It gives small markets (like Pittsburgh) the oppertunity to compete, it also helps large markets (like Atlanta) that don’t have the great TV rights and merchandizing like the Maple Leafs. Perhaps in a few more years, the Thrashers will become more successful thanks to the salary cap…but even that is problematic, fair-weather fans won’t build a team. Atlanta needs to build a real fanbase…

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We care about hockey but I sincerely question whether ownership does.

The Thrashers payroll has consistently been near the bottom of the league. The GM, Don Waddell, is the laughing stock of the league.

That said, for years the Hawks payroll(pre-Bibby) was near the bottom of the NBA and attendance was dismal. Once again, a bad GM, Billy Knightmare, and cheap owners were to blame.

I would love to see both franchises, the Thrashers and the Hawks, freed from the clutches of the ASG.

For years, both franchises had the dumbest GMs in their respective leagues.

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The Thrashers are still here? That’s funny, they left town for me 8 years ago. Being a “lifer” hockey fan I bought into all the hoopla and BS of the inaugural season and purchased season tix. Had em for the 1st two years actually. Then came all the BS promises from DW that were never fullfilled; the season ticket holder meetings with the “plan” outlined and the reasons for bizarre trades explained. “Rest assured” we were told, “this is the direction we need to take to make this franchise a contender”. Eight years later the Atlanta Thrashers are a laughing stock of professional sports both at the league level and the (inter)national reporting level. Small wonder the upper echelon of NHL players won’t come to ATL. And why Hoss and Heats left (you thought it was the accident? Idiot). That’s why Kovy will be gone next year. ATL won’t field a respectable team until management are FORCED to hire a competent GM and fork over some $ for quality skaters. And that won’t happen until all you die hards quit patronizing these clowns. Tough break for the players? You bet. But would you want to play for the Lions either? As far as I’m concerned this team is already gone. And I call BS on you Don Waddell.

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Absolutely, I’d be blue. I love the Thrashers more than any other professional team in any sport. Not only would the city of Atlanta miss the team, though, they would miss the ancillary benefits of having an NHL team in the town. The Thrashers Hockey Development Team does an outstanding job exposing kids in the area to the sport. My son is fortunate enough to have two members of this group as his current mites coaches. These guys are second to none.

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If the AJC left town, would anyone notice?

Would anyone care if they did notice the AJC died (aside from Sunday coupons no longer arriving)?

Georgia Hockey Fans deserve better coverage than this newspaper will ever deliver.

Burn in Hell, AJC!

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Great call Tater!
At least Terrance Moore is writing about hockey anymore!

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Hey Mark-we need real hockey coverage in this town. The AJC plunks hockey on the back pages, aside from this stupid article on whether we would miss hockey or not.

The AJC has done JACK for this team over the years.

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There is no way I could possibly care LESS if Atlanta (or any other city, for that matter) has a hockey team or not.

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We need new ownership.

Nine owners who are either engaged in infighting or late night drinking will never send this team down a clear path to victory.

One owner with vision and dedication will preserve Hockey in Atlanta.

I grew up watching the Flames and was immensely saddened when the moved away. If the Thrashers move away I believe there will never be an NHL franchise in this city again.

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I agree that 7:00 is too early… Are you listening, Atlanta Spirit??

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First, it says a lot that Atlanta is one of very few cities in this country that has a team in all four major league sports, not even Los Angles can say that. Second, if we could get this ownership to do something productive, we could get some help for Kovalchuk. The potential is there, we do have a division championship under our belt. Honestly, and no offense to the Braves, but gee, baseball is so static. Hockey, on the other hand, is constantly moving, fast paced, and truly a great sport. Don’t take that away from our city.

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As much as I like the Thrashers and love going to see them in person, I wouldn’t care if they left. The ownership will never commit to making them a contender year after year. Plus, the front office doesn’t seem to know anything about drafting players. As many top 10 picks as they’ve had since they joined the league they should be better than they are. Maybe that’s all on Waddell and him leaving would help turn things around, but with the Falcons, and Hawks on the rise, and the young talent the Braves have I wouldn’t miss hockey too bad.

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What the hell is the matter with you, Bradley?

Of course I’d miss hockey! But I sure wouldn’t miss you and your dumb articles!!

FIRE WADDELL AND BRADLEY!!!! RELOCATE THE AJC!!!!!

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Now that you mention it, Mark, I do remember you touching on your past exsposure to the sport in an earlier column. As a remaining 7 day subscriber I hope the coverage at least continues at the level it was at before the recent buyouts but the print biz is changing for sure. And, yeah, I know the team has to make their on noise to get heard above the general sports din in this city.

Y’all can’t do any worse than 680, though. As the flagship station for the Thrashers, they rarely even mention the team or hockey beyond a headline burb or two or reciting last night’s score. I used to call the Buck & Kincade show to talk hockey but would never get beyond the call screener. Their position is that nobody wants to hear it. Well, you have to at least try to help develop interest in the sport by devoting some regular time per week if you are the “Home of the Thrashers”, don’t you?

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Ah, let me be fairer to 680 the fan: They usually have DW or a coach on once a week on the morning or evening drive time show. But they really are pretty weak as the team station. It’s the same for them as with the AJC, coverage is tough to get in this town. You have to admit, though, the Thrash should have gotten more local media hype during their playoff year. (Yes, they got swept but the games were competitive except for the 3rd game blowout…remember the bad bounce goal on Moose?)

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Nope, you aren’t. Like I already said, the team needs to win…but the Braves got (and get) super press no matter how many consecutive years they flopped in the playoffs.

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I think the Thrashers are inexperiencing a “malaise.” I know something about this term. The cure is the Reagan Administration and the releasing of the Thrasher Hostages from Spirit captivity.

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Atlanta has a hockey team?!

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Wait, Atlanta has a hockey team?

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Everybody thought the Flames were hot stuff (pardon the pun) in 1973 when they first arrived…then they were doused. They have thrived in Calgary. Send the birds to Ontario.

Hockey is a foreign sport. Lets concentrate in getting the Braves back into the WS and the Falcons into the SB. To hell with hockey.

Maybe we can get a 2-for-1 deal and send the Hawks packing too. What a pathetic showing against Cleveland….

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I thought they went to Calgary?

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I’d be willing to bet that the AJC has lost more subscribers than the Thrashers have lost fans…

You might want to ask questions that hit closer to home.

Didn’t take the buyout huh?

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Yes, It would be very disapointing to no longer be a 4 sport town. Also as is commonly discussed. Atlanta is a transient city. Even if our hockey team is horrific if not dull… it is, and it has been historically for the most part… the venue still allows people from all over to see thier teams play close to home.

We can only hope that they some how manage to stop making stupid front office decisions and put a team that is actually capable of playing interesting hockey.

This town absolutely gets behind teams when they are interesting, they just aren’t interesting generally on a consistant basis enough and the lack of TV in Hockey and non sellout Football has also hurt the franchise loyalties.

Good Hockey is a fantastic watch even on television (ok maybe not on VS) but Playoff hockey is every bit as exciting as any other playoff sport in America. It has all the elements.

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I’ll say this as well. Go to Pittsburgh… they talk Hockey in July. They are discussing Malkin and Crosby on sports talk. If you did that in this town people would go to sleep. Regionally we are just different. We grew up playing football and baseball predominantly… College Football is king, then baseball (because they don’t seem to care that kids from 7-13 when they actually follow and care about baseball can’t watch WS games that start at 9:30… though that saves them from Tim McCarver…so maybe that’s a plus) Ultimately though… college town, in a College Football region.

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WOW Congrats to Walker and the Canes! Even tho they are a div foe, I support the SE Division. Plus, as one of “the 151″, they are a good road host to go visit, great fans there. I was afraid Brind’Amour’s injury was gonna cost them.

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Losing the Thrashers because of horrible management and ownership would even be worse than being front row at a Clay Aiken concert. It would suck so bad………

Give us a legit team with solid playoff performances, and maybe even a cup, for a good seven or eight years in a row. If the fans fail to show up or care after that, THEN move them to the frozen north somewhere.

Looks like there are quite a few folks here who would give more of a damn if the front office did.

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Go Thrashers Go!!

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John Kincade is the only one in Atlanta that cares about hockey, hell when do the NHL playoffs start? no one watch hockey so if they leave so what!

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IF WE ONLY HAD A SCORER – A COACH – AN OWNER (NOT A BAND OF IDIOTS).

NHL BLEW IT FOR ME WHEN THEY TOOK A YEAR OFF. AS A SEASON TICKET OWNER (FORMERLY) THE OWNERS ARE CHEAP BASTARDS!

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Isn’t there another former Thrasher playing for Detroit?

Ex-Thrashers 1， Thrashers 0.

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Atlanta is not a hockey city therefore a city that embraces hockey more should get the team especially in Canada where hockey is king. I would suggest if the thrashers were to move to another American city they should move to Seattle.

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Hockey can’t survive in the South!!

Thrashers to Houston LOLOLOL!!!

Suckers.

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Instead of writing an article debating the effect of the team leaving, why don’t you try covering the team in a consistent manner. The attendance and W-L record are not the paper’s fault but the second rate coverage is your responsibility. Atlanta is a fair weather town, attendance for all sports is subpar, look at the empty seats at Turner Field on a nightly basis!

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I enjoy the Thrashers. But if they go, I’d be more than willing to help every single Thrashers fan from North of KY to pack up and move to somewhere they had a hockey team. As a public service, of course.

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The Penguins were on life support with 1 beat left until the NHL officially declared them dead. A few years later and they’ve been to the Stanely Cup and are now 1 series away from going back. Why are the Thrashers still so far away?! Every off-season I find myself saying the same thing… we need a solid defense!!

Our scorer is lazy and doesn’t play both sides of the ice but still thinks he should be included in talks with Sid the Kid and the Russian Assassin. Our goalie is suppose to be a phenom but not even Patrick Roy in his prime could last in the net on this team. The defense is so craptastic I’m thinking I could score against the Thrashers. (I don’t even know how to ice skate)

We’ve been picking in the top of the draft for years… where’s the minor league help? We couldn’t have traded all of them away. Or are we selecting busts year after year?

I really… REALLY want the Thrashers to stay here in the ATL because I look forward to an incredible night of looting Stanely Cup style, but I’m thinking my beloved Saints have a better chance of winning a Super Bowl before anyone sips from Lord Stanley’s Cup in Hotlanta.

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What?! Did I just read you right? “Only three out of 50 responses…?”

The very fact that you had so few responses to your Twitter and so few posts here and so few votes re. your question are all the evidence you need. If you asked a similar question about the Falcons, Braves, or even Hawks, you would have 100s if not 1000s of responses. Heck, DOB easily gets over a 1000 postings EVERY SINGLE NIGHT that he blogs on the Braves. Here you are posing a provocative debate about the future of the franchise and you can only muster a few dozen reactions.

The cold reality is that most of us don’t give a crap about hockey to begin with – and we wouldn’t be too sentimental about losing the most pathetic franchise in professional sports.

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Illini,

You can’t compare the Thrashers, who are an expansion team, to a team that has been around since 1871 of course the Braves are going to have more fans are responses. Thanks to TBS they have one of the biggest fan bases around and have actually won a championship in Atlanta. The Thrashers a hardcore group of fans in Atlanta and in the south east just like every other team. Look at Chicago the Blackhawks were last in attendance every year just about and now that they are winning again they sell out every game. A winner makes things happen and the Thrashers have been losers 8 out of the 9 years they have been a franchise. Not to mention their best and most popular player ends up killing one of his team mates and then asks to be traded. If Dany Heatley was still on this team they would have made the playoffs more than just one year and they would have a bigger fan base because he is a player that Americans can get behind. Even though everyone love Ilya he still is Russian with a funny name.

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It took the Washington Capitals 9 years to make the playoffs, 23 years to win the Eastern Conference, and since then a lot of disappointment. Thrashers are Caps redux. I suggest you pretend the Thrashers do not even exist and do something with your new found spare time such as study and work. Because of crappy Caps I am a lawyer today.

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I love hockey and would have season tickets if the Atlanta fans were better. Though my favorite team is in another city, I have actually needed to defend the Thrashers to their own fans when my team was playing them. One mistake or just a good play by the other team will cause the hometown “fans” to start bad-mouthing their own team.

In addition, the arena gets the reputation of being loud, not because the fans are enthusiastic, but because they crank the PA system up so loud that the music is completely distorted. I’ve been to many arenas, and this is the most obnoxious I’ve seen. They also push the limits of the league rules by keeping the music playing after the dropping of the puck.

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This would be a good “Hockey Town” if the Thrashers were just competitive. End of story.

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I have changed my mind Bradley-thanks for brining this discussion forward. The problem here is that some of the feedback has given more fuel to the people in Hamilton, who want to steal a franchise, any franchise.

To the anti-hockey morons; thanks for bringing your ignorance to this column. Now please take your stupidity back to The Vent where it belongs.

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I love hockey but the Thrashers are a sorry excuse for a franchise. The name is stupid, they can’t figure out what color they wear, they have no personality – they are no fun, which is worse than just being a bad team. What they need is a complete makeover – new name, new, simple, traditional unis and at least one marquee player. Sports is supposed to be fun. Watching this team is like watching shift change at the laundry.

-drl

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NO. Too expensive, too hard to get to the arena, too boring, not enough scoring. Get rid of the goalies and I might be interested.

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I’d miss them like I’d miss a good case of the crabs!

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No. But that’s just me.

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Hockey? We have hockey in Atlanta?

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As a native Atlantan who watched a team get hijacked to Calgary because of a bankrupt owner selling out to Canadian businessmen, it would pain me to no end if the Thrashers left. And I’m not a hockey fan; just an Atlanta sports fan (well, except for the Doggies).

It’s funny how folks from other parts of the country rail on Atlanta for being a ‘poor’ sports town when every major city has its fair share of bandwagon fans. Fact is that you can’t name one city with MULTIPLE sports teams who didn’t run for the hills when things went south. I don’t recall it being standing room only in Yankee or Shea when NYC had bad teams. You couldn’t give away tickets in Detroit when the Tigers were bad and the Lions were worse. And just how many folks were in Boston a couple of years ago to watch the Celtics and Grizzlies get it on before Danny Ainge got wise and brought in Ray Allen and KG? But yet folks can pile on us for not spending $$$ on such a lousy product? Now THAT’S the true meaning of a double standard, folks.

Just because a team is based here doesn’t mean it’s our civic duty to pay hard-earned $$$ to see them if their not bringing the goods in return. If you go to a restaurant and the food and service is horrible, while its manager treats you like garbage, you’re not coming back for more; and while you’re at it, you’re telling everyone about how horrible the place is. That’s a fact. So tell Michael Wilbon to put that in his pipe and smoke it, Bradley.

Back to the Thrashers. They and the Hawks have both been under-served by their litigious ownership group and some hideous front office decisions. What have the Hawks lacked when they were losing 50+ games a year? A point guard and a big man. With FIVE LOTTERY PICKS, what Billy Knight selects? Everything BUT a point guard and a big man. Can you even fathom what the Hawks would look like with Chris Paul, Rudy Gay, and Al Jefferson on the squad instead of the Williams boys (Shelden and Marvin) and Josh Childress? Even I could’ve done better with the draft picks than Waddell has, yet he still draws a paycheck?

What Billy Knight has done to the Hawks and what Waddell is doing to the Thrashers is borderline CRIMINAL to the sports fans in this town. Until someone with a clue (and deep pockets of $$$) takes over BOTH teams, we’ll see more of the same and be writing stories about more of the same.

GAME, SET, MATCH.

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We need a better product. Hockey is doomed unless we start winning

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“Hockey is a niche sport, at least in the U.S.” – That’s true. It’s also true the niche can be enlargened by a quality team with good marketing and the backing of area busniesses and the media.

Where do all these ppl come from? I don’t go to the other sporting blogs and leave inane comments.

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It is impossible to watch hockey on TV. I have been to a couple hockey games, both here in Atlanta and once in Pittsburgh. While it was fun at the time, it’s only fun if you are in the arena. Local media, newspaper, radio, and TV does not give the kind of coverage needed to generate enough interest. Plus we are a week away from the official start of the SUMMER season and we are STILL talking about ICE hockey.

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What’s hockey?

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Mark, I am born and raised in Ga. Falcon STH/ Braves STH/ and die-hard
college football fan. I, like many posters who haven’t given this game a chance at first did not like hockey. Once I learned most of the rules
and saw how athletic these guys are I now love the game.
I wish we had a chance to play when I was growing up but it was nowhere
to be seen. I also wanted to dunk a b-ball also but that never happened either. I have bought i/4 season tickets the past 2 years and it is a great time there. The problem is people are not going to flock to games
if you don’t win. Plain and simple.
If Kovy does not get any help he is gone and then so is the Thrash.
I actually believe this team has some very good younger players and are starting to understand JA’s system. It would be sad if they left.
change the start times to 7:30 or even 8. This game is usually over in 2 hrs. All you haters(take it from a southern boy) these guys are talented.

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I’m a single, professional guy in my 20’s, I chose to live in Atlanta because of the sporting events offered in this town. Atlanta has it all, if they no longer had it all one day, my life would be less fun. You don’t have to like hockey (though I do) to appreciate the fact that we have a team here. I choose to use my spending money on sporting events, football and hockey mostly, so I want any town that I live in to have those two things. I’m not saying I would move out of Atlanta if the Thrashers left, but I passed up job opportunities before because I liked the lifestyle this city offered. If that lifestyle were diminished I would be much more interested in seeing what other cities had to offer.

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I went to a couple of hockey games. Didn’t get much out of it. I really don’t remeber when we got the Thrasher’s and I doubt I’d remember when they left. It’s just a sport that decribed as “something other than football, baseball or basketball”.

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I have never been to a Thrashers game, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care if they stay or go. I believe the Thrashers are very important to ATL. I believe once they win consistently they will be a big hit. Just look at the Hawks. Atlanta loves it’s sports, and the Thrashers are good for Atlanta. Now lets get new ownership and front office.

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Mark

When you get up in the morning you must cringe or laugh that you have to write another article where you know that people, the likes of ; falconfan, Mr. Sknyrd ( great group though), David Smith, James and their ilk will throw in their two cent (that’s all it’s worth). You must realized that because they say so it must be gospel and no other opinion is necessary or needed. Thank God the northerners are coming down to slow down the inbreeding.

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Are the Flames leaving?

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In all seriousness, I like your last sentence in the article Bradley. Interesting perspective that I agree with.

While we’re on the subject of non-mainstream sports, I think there would be at least as much fan interest in an MLS team as there is in the Thrashers. I know I’d try to make it out to a few games.

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I would buy the first tank of gas for them to leave town.

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It sure would be nice if we could expand media coverage of the Thrashers (Hint, hint).

I would be completely devastated if the Thrashers left town.

Thrashers marketing department needs to step up in a big way, and the media outlets here in Atlanta (TV news, AJC, etc) need to ramp up coverage of the team. Hockey might be a niche sport in the US at large, but it doesn’t have to be here. With virtually zero coverage of the team, it’s no wonder Canadians are salivating at the chance to steal another team from Atlanta.

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I was born in Alabama and have lived in Georgia the rest of my 29 years in this life. Hockey is my favorite sport by far. I play with the Thrashers on Xbox live every night and I’m ranked in the top 4000 in the world. That ain’t easy, but they’re my team so I stick with them. If the Thrashers leave, you will get the chance to see a grown man cry.

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Mark:

For the most part, the Thrashers haven’t given fans a reason to attend. Very little on-ice success doesn’t build a fan base. In many ways, American fans are smarter than those in, say, Toronto, where the arena is usually sold out. In the Maple Leafs’ case, it gives the team no incentive to improve the product. (BTW, I read recently that the Leafs were expecting a $100M profit this season.)

Some of us with long memories remember the Braves of the 1970s with attendance below 7,000 fans at many games. Even the Red Sox and Yankees have had periods of low attendance.

I’m a New York Ranger fan going back to the early 1970s, but I like having teams in new markets. Dallas is an example where hockey works, not only because the team has been competitive but it also has worked hard to build minor hockey. Today, Dallas has something like 70 high school hockey programs.

Keep the faith, Thrasher fans. When the product improves, you’ll fill the building.

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Not all of us Canadians want to see the Thrashers leave. Hopefully ownership can surround Kovalchuck with better talent…A puck moving defenceman would really help your team. Once the Thrashers starts winning more games, the attendance will rise and so will the fan base.

Keep your heads up and your sticks on the ice!

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Mark, I would miss hockey terribly if the thrashers left town.
Do me/us a favor, please, write more stories about the owners of the Thrashers & their GM. Call them out more, for the morons that they are. Please, I’m begging you. I guarantee attendence would go up if we had ANY faith in the GM and or owners. Especially now with our franchise player on the brink of leaving town in a year. SCARED TO DEATH. And Dandy Don will tell us “everything is ok”, we have a “plan”. hahahhahahhahahhaha, lord help us!!!

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These results are from a team that has had minimal success. Imagine the bandwagon hopping if they put together a team that could compete!

Waddell needs to go.

.

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I’ve been a Thrashers fan since the inaugural season, and I’m a Southerner. My interest in the sport grows each year. (I’ve been watching a ridiculous number of playoff games.)

If any city in the South deserves to have a hockey team, it’s Atlanta: more than 5 million people and tons of transplants from hockey-loving states.

GO THRASHERS!

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If Waddell could get his head out of the Butt of the Atlanta Spirit, and if the Atlanta Spirit could get their head out of each other’s butts, then may somebody could get enough oxygen to their brains to make an intelligent decision about what to do with this team. Putting a winning team on the ice would stop all this talk of moving the team.

Case and point, in the early 90’s, the Braves went from laughing stock of MLB to a premier team. Yes, I was here during the bad years as a kid growing up. Now my son and I enjoy watching the Thrash get pummled with the hope that they raise the Cup on Peachtree Street someday.

AJC: Take the high road and support this team. You can be critical without the hate. You may just pick up a reader or two.

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Enter your comments here

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Thanks Mark for info. If enough fans are going to support the team, great. Management needs to put up or shut up.

Mark is there any sport you don’t like? You do a great job no matter what sport you’re covering.

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Wow, Mark! Nice work. Very nice work. Why does the AJC ever ask Shultz or the artist formerly known as Terrence Moore to cover hockey? See you at the games next season.

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Would I miss the Thrashers ??
Honestly……………..NO.
Having a professional hockey team in Atlanta reminds me of trying to put the glass slipper on Cinderella’s step sisters. It just doesn’t fit.
Awkward and embarrassing.
Sooner or later they will leave, as the Flames did, and the powers to be will understand once and for all that Hockey is totally a waste of time in Atlanta where there are 3,879 other things for sports fans to do.

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Nail on the head bamroz.

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WE HAVE A HOCKEY TEAM. WELLLL I’LLLLLLLLLLLL BEEEEEEEEEE

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No. I hate hockey.

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I grew up in the Twin Cities in a hockey family and was a North Stars fan for most of my life. When Norm Green took our beloved North Stars from Bloomington to Dallas in spite of a HUGE following in the state of Minnesota, I gave up on the NHL (and pro sports) for good.

Yes, I’d be disappointed if the Thrashers left, but it would just be more of the same — pro sports worship of the almighty dollar to the detriment of fans everywhere.

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I’d be disappointed if the Thrashers left. But I’m disappointed that we lost the Atlanta Steam to Charlotte because neither the Ga Dome or Gwinnett Arena would let them play. (Hey, I have a big backyard)

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Thrashers? We dun need no steenking Thrashers.

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I used to live in ATL and was a season ticket holder for five years (yeah, I’m slow) and personally feel the whole Thrasher organization did terrible job from the beginning. I’m not just talking about the on-ice product, but about the whole introduction of an NHL franchise to ATL. I live in Dallas, Texas now and still follow the Thrashers (Eastern Conference Rules!) and was totally amazed what the Stars Organization did here when they moved the Stars from Minnesota: they became part of the community, they built rinks, they started leagues. All of which is still growing – another new rink with two sheets going up as we speak for a total of 18 sheets of ice – and that’s just the Starcenter Facilities plus they just brought in another minor league team (Allen Americans – CHL) for a total of three minor league teams at various levels in the metroplex.

Agreed, the Stars do have a better on-ice product, but they also have ties to the community. The Thrashers have always been too cheap to invest in to building support in the community – Blueland – yeah that makes all the difference…(LOL)

Hockey will always be a foreign sport in ATL because it’s not in the community. Until the ownership clowns figure that out and quit spending their money on lawyers and start putting it in to the team and growing the hockey community in ATL. The Thrashers will always be just another tennant at Phillips. They can come and go like the Ice Capades or the circus and very few people will notice.

I really feel bad for the fans of ATL. You guys are the diehards. But unfortunately, the current ownership group has now interest in bringing competitive hockey to ATL.

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I just love Ice Puckey. Do you think we’ll ever get a team here?

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I love hockey and love the Thrashers. I would hate to see them go. How come no one said anything about the Hawks when they stank up the joint. Screw the Canucks, The Angry Black Men {who think hockey is racist}, and retarded rednecks. Hockey is here and not going anywhere. So suck on that losers. GO ATLANTA SPORTS!!!

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Hockey in Atlanta is a joke–most of the people at the games are there to drink beer and don’t even know the rules. These bozo owners need to sell this franchise and move it to Ontario, where they know hockey. Up in Detroit where I came from, we have the best hockey fans in America. Atlanta can stick to football—that’s the only thing they really care about.

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Hey Detroit Dave,

Have fun watching your hometown continue to devour itself. And by the way, the best team money can buy will lose to the ‘Hawks in six.

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That’s clear not clean

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I would love to see this team move to Ontario! Kovy has always said he loves playing in front of the noisy crowd in Toronto. Imagine playing in front of a noisy crowd for all your home games! Every game would also be a sell-out as Canadians love their game!

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George, if you want a team, get an expansion team and pay the price of growing a team from scratch. You guys are in hijack mode.

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Oh my goodness, some think it’s a fan’s “duty” to “man-up” and support the team, no matter what.

I’d love to sell him a bridge–I think it would be an easy sell, too.

This ownership group doesn’t deserve a single hard-earned penny out of your pocket. If this were a ‘real’ business, it would have gone bankrupt already.

I’m thankful attendance is steadily dwindling–it means the good people of Atlanta are NOT sheep–only a few of the loud ones around here are…Don’t blame the fans for this debacle–it rests squarely on ownership (and their incompetent stooge, Don Waddell).

Tis’ a shame, really. Oh well.

I need my money more than the ownership does–and more are thinking this way, thank goodness…They haven’t done anything to deserve it. Period.

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I would definately miss the Thrashers if they moved. I moved to Atlanta 2 years ago and have become a huge Thrashers fan! They are one of the reasons that I have come to love Atlanta! I love hockey and it is so great to be able to go to the games.

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I’m sick of hearing “the management this or that” blah blah blah! If you really love hockey, as many of us do, you will not let that get in the way of enjoying the game and supporting the team! Basketball is boring, baseball is super boring! Sitting and watching cars speed around an oval, is numbing boring..and I am from Daytona! Hockey is the fastest, best sport there is.

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[...] If the Thrashers left Atlanta would anyone care?  Oh yes! [...]

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