Icy topic: How much longer will the Thrashers be in Atlanta?
John Anderson and Slava Kozlov are both pictured here. (AJC photo by Jessica McGowan)
Perhaps you’re fascinated by this whole John Anderson/Slava Kozlov back and forth. Or perhaps you have no idea who John Anderson and Slava Kozlov are.
I submit that more Atlantans fall under the latter heading. I submit more folks around here have forgotten the Thrashers even exist.
(For the record: The Thrashers are the Atlanta entry in the National Hockey League. Hockey is played on ice. The players skate and carry implements known as hockey sticks, with which they attempt to move a small rubberized disk known as a puck.)
This leads me to today’s question(s): Given that the Thrashers traded their franchise player a while back and just finished 28th in a 30-team league in attendance, how much longer do you think they’ll be in Atlanta? Will the Spirit, as has long been rumored, sell the team to somebody who’ll then move it to Canada? (See, Canadians like hockey.) Or will these owners bite the bullet and and keep financing a team that has been in operation since 1999 and still hasn’t won a playoff game?
I’ll go first. Just guessing, I’d give the Thrashers one more year in Atlanta. And with that I’ll hang up and listen to your responses. Assuming there are any.
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231 comments Add your comment
Lowcountry Bulldawg
April 13th, 2010
1:19 pm
JD,
It is for the question of why would a franchise that has struggled for 11 years allow the top man to keep his job the ENTIRE time. At some point why has someone not thought, “Maybe its time to go another direction here?” That is the interest. If the ownership is apathetic to losing then why should the Arena sellout? Or why should I become a fan? Its the business side of this that interests me.
Algonquin J. Calhoun
April 13th, 2010
1:20 pm
They play Ice Puckey here?
Barnacle Bill Bavasi
April 13th, 2010
1:20 pm
Also, it was mostly bluster, but the Clampetts did indeed flirt with Jacksonville for the Falcons.
Big Shooter
April 13th, 2010
1:21 pm
Sorry, Mark… but this looks like something you just wrote down in 20 sec. to have a new blog. No new information. No facts about naming rights, the fact that the Atl Spirit own Philips as well and would be losing 45 dates. Just pretty much, “hey look, the Thrashers suck. Let’s all take blind guesses as to when they are going to move”.
That’s the kind of thing that us bloggers throw out there, not someone who is actually a paid journalist.
Algonquin J. Calhoun
April 13th, 2010
1:22 pm
JD, do you like Ice Puckey?
docsbro
April 13th, 2010
1:23 pm
atlsportsguy1980 that is not entirely accurate. Back before Nique was drafted there was talk of moving them to New Orleans and they actually played 12 games there one season. But I agree that this franchise has taken more heat than all the others. I am also a native Atlantan and also a big fan of hockey grew up watching the Flames. I hope we don’t lose another franchise but this management is trying to get them run out of town. I also think it would look bad for the NHL to save Phoenix and have the commissioner say he is committed to hockey in Atlanta and then let them move. Would not do much for his credibility…
urm...
April 13th, 2010
1:25 pm
MrHughes, you really think JA has done a good job?
BravesWillStinkAgain
April 13th, 2010
1:26 pm
the Thrashers WILL NOT move, Bradley should be ashamed for not doing his homework.
BravesWillStinkAgain
April 13th, 2010
1:27 pm
Anderson has done a horrible job and must be fired. His offensive system is unworkable
at the NHL level and the players know it. He has lost the players.
atlsportsguy1980
April 13th, 2010
1:27 pm
The Atlanta Flames disappeared like a fart in the wind. There was no debate on whether they needed to be moved or not. Plus, I think the state of the city of Atlanta was a bit different in 1979, as was the NHL. How many northern hockey fans lived in Atlanta then as compared to now. How big was the youth hockey movement in Atlanta back then? Any other Atlanta teams you see moving? Oh yeah there was that indoor soccer team.
JD
April 13th, 2010
1:29 pm
Big Shooter:
MB only makes about $25K a year so I am not sure if that qualifies him as a journalist.
Charlie Dalton
April 13th, 2010
1:29 pm
Regarding atlsportsguy1980’s last comment…I do believe the Falcons nearly moved to Jacksonville several years ago, but not sure how close the Smith family/prior owners came to doing that…and we did lose the Atlanta Flames a few decades ago. I doubt many folks here will get bent out of shape if the Thrashers move to Surrey or Halifax or some other Canadian city.
TankMC
April 13th, 2010
1:31 pm
I love hockey. I was born in Atlanta and watched the Flames as a kid. The problem with the thrashers is management. Bring in a hockey guy like Bob Gainey and watch things change. A consistent winner will bring the fans. IT is not unusual for fans to be upset at a team that onl;y makes the playoffs once in 10 years and (was swept then also). Unacceptable. Bring a winner and hockey guy and watch the seats fill up.
Buzzard
April 13th, 2010
1:32 pm
Who cares. Let them go. They are a poorly run organization by a even poorer ownership group.
Andy
April 13th, 2010
1:35 pm
Atlanta has a hockey team?
Just kidding but seriously…who cares. They are a terrible team that really have no prospects of getting any better. There are very few people in the South that care about hockey. We barely support our playoff NBA team, who really thought hockey would catch on in Atlanta? Get rid of them.
leland
April 13th, 2010
1:35 pm
Dear Mr. MB–just teasing. That’s all it is. That is all it is. Your pal, Leland
Big Shooter
April 13th, 2010
1:37 pm
JD – Maybe we should take blind guesses as to how much longer the AJC will be around, what with the state of the newspaper business and all these days. I have no facts to support my arguement. All I know is readership and subscriptions are down due to the internet, so surely that means they will fold.
My guess is 2 years. Everybody else?
Jeff
April 13th, 2010
1:41 pm
Due to the tie in’s with the Arena, they are not going anywhere. The ownership group does not think low attendance is a priority, otherwise they would take real steps into improving the product. Unless that changes, expect the continued mediocrity.
Mash
April 13th, 2010
1:42 pm
So your saying the Thrashers are still in Atlanta? …It’s time for them to go back to Canada, they deserve more hockey teams.
leland
April 13th, 2010
1:44 pm
Big Shooter–it will be six years, seven months, nineteen days. Two thousand four hundred nineteen days.
Stephen
April 13th, 2010
1:44 pm
if you are the Spirit, focus all the resources on one team, The Hawks; a much bigger ROI for the ownership going that route. Hockey in the states will never generate the kind of traction to justify the resources needed to keep it afloat without the local interest. Just too many other things sportswise that the locals invest in and better relate to, such as UGA, GT, Falcons, Braves, Hawks and golf
Royal Healms
April 13th, 2010
1:46 pm
the Spirit group is an embarrassment. as long as they’re involved i’ll never support the thrashers.
Smitty
April 13th, 2010
1:46 pm
Mark,
How about a column on the poor management and ownership of the Thrashers? How about a column on why the ownership has paid so little attention to the Thashers? Perhaps the question you raised regarding knowledge of John Anderson and Slava Kozlov should be asked of the ASG.
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
April 13th, 2010
1:49 pm
Hockey Shmockey. If Gawd (or extremely industrious extraterrestrials) had wanted us to fool-around on ice, we’d have blades instead of feet.
Big Shooter
April 13th, 2010
1:53 pm
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans – And if God had wanted us to fool around on the football field I suppose we would have helmets instead of hair?
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
April 13th, 2010
1:58 pm
If Y’all’ve never realized, toes were meant to be mud-grips for the masses. Not much there for ice navigation.
J-man
April 13th, 2010
2:00 pm
If the NHL wants hockey to stay in Atlanta, and I’m finding it hard to see that they would want to leave the USA’s 8th largest TV market, they will simply block any sale to a buyer they think will move the team. Seriously, why is this question even being asked? Slow day at the AJC?
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
April 13th, 2010
2:01 pm
Mr Shooter, that’s why I have a helmet instead of hair. You sure do know a lot.
just me
April 13th, 2010
2:02 pm
Hockey is a silly sport….grown men gliding around on ice skates and running into each other…once in a while some guy tries a shot through all of the confusion and it luckily goes in…crowd goes nuts. What a “sport”.
Georgian in exile
April 13th, 2010
2:08 pm
Forget all that! What I want to know is, who’s the, um, healthy-looking woman in the photo (green shirt, w/ beer bottle)? Shame if she left town.
Ms Obvious
April 13th, 2010
2:09 pm
If the atlanta spirit gave a crap about their teams at all they would find ways to get people to the games. For instance, the braves have shuttle buses that bring you in from places like Warner Robins, and Macon, and Columbus. No one wants to drive 4 hours to get to a game, have a few beers, and drive back. With the shuttles, they are sober when they get to their cars and drive home. Now imagine if the Thrashers had a few shuttles like that? Also, even living in the burbs around here, it can easily take over an hour to get there and another to get back. A lot of people don’t get back from these games until 11 or later. Now if you have to wake up at 5:30 or 6 the next morning, you aren’t going to go to the games. I believe a few shuttles in the burbs would help attendance as well. The owners don’t do enough to get people to the games. Its not that people don’t like hockey, they just need something to get them excited about hockey. I was hooked after my first game 5 years ago, but people need incentive. Especially considering people have to decide on either watching a hockey game or taking the family to the beach. Come down on ticket prices a bit, and that would help too. It makes me pretty mad to buy a $32 ticket for the upper bowl, then find out if I had waited until game day, I could have gotten a lower bowl seat for $25. (Which I know happens frequently) Good ownership = good fans.
basketball sucks
April 13th, 2010
2:09 pm
Iceman…one more thing they need – media that will actually provide real coverage of the Thrashers instead of one column in the fall saying how bad they are and another column in the spring saying they are going to be moved.
Philadelphia Sal
April 13th, 2010
2:11 pm
The thrashers will not last in atlanta. Their ownership group is a bunch of bumpkins, who have no clue about running a big time franchise. Atlanta is a football town, not hockey. Look for this franchise to move at the earliest opportunity, when a real hockey town and new ownership comes forward with millions.
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
April 13th, 2010
2:16 pm
just me, you are correct. It’s silly up Nawth, down here it’s downright laughable. Try skating on a “frozen” lake in Jawjuh. Survivability depends on how long it takes divers to find your azz.
There’s no young fan base and never will be. Only ice kids here ever see is in the penguin exhibit at Zoo Atlanter.
jarvis
April 13th, 2010
2:18 pm
That’s one tight green sweater.
Iceman
April 13th, 2010
2:19 pm
Any other organization would have fired Don Waddell 5 years ago. Anderson is way too quiet for my taste, but I’ll give him half of next season to get better.
j. naismith
April 13th, 2010
2:22 pm
mark – its not greg norton, its ed norton (from the sewer)
PMC
April 13th, 2010
2:23 pm
considering the ownership don’t seem to care or notice whether or not they have an organization capable of fielding a winner I would say they could be here forever… or gone tomorrow. I guess it depends on whether or not they need some money for Joe Johnson this summer.
meh
April 13th, 2010
2:23 pm
Canada already took the Flames. They can’t have the Thrashers.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2010
2:23 pm
Someone asked if I knew where Slava Kozlov is in the above photo. He’s seated at the left hand of John Anderson. Right in front of the lady in green.
woody
April 13th, 2010
2:27 pm
Iceman are you saying someone has to die before the Thrashers get good. I think I know who I would sacrifice to the Hockey gods.
Jason
April 13th, 2010
2:29 pm
Don’t really care if the Thrashers leave Atlanta. But I sure would like to see a return of the Macon Whoopee. Its soley because they have the best name of any sports franchise ever. I went to a Thrashers game once when Mario Lemieux played in Atlanta during his last season. It was cool to go to a game to say that I’ve been to an NHL game, but beyond that, I have no interest in going to another game. I might go if I were in Detroit so that I could see all the flying Octopi, but otherwise, I just can’t see myself parting with money to see hockey games.
Iceman
April 13th, 2010
2:30 pm
Lady in the green…hmmm…
Smoothie
April 13th, 2010
2:30 pm
Mark – And the point of this blog is??? Care to present any facts or even provide any information at all that might be relevant for an actual intelligent discussion? Perhaps you are a sniping coward who only wants to see hockey fail in this city, and to that I say:
GO TO HELL!!!
woody
April 13th, 2010
2:31 pm
The Lightning cleared house now its the Thashers turn to sharpen the ax!
Jason
April 13th, 2010
2:32 pm
Oh, and whats the point of hockey anyway now that UFC has come along. I would be willing to wager that the success of UFC has cut into the NHL’s profits.
woody
April 13th, 2010
2:33 pm
Smoothie we are already in Hockey HELL!
reebok
April 13th, 2010
2:33 pm
i was at the game in which the thrashers were eliminated from playoff contention. they were lifeless from the get-go. they didn’t hustle, couldn’t pass, and skated like they were on asphalt. it was a pititful performnace and a poor use of my entertainment $$. no way will i waste another night of my life going downtown to watch such a lame excuse for a professional team.
Bigstack O' Pancakes. It is an Irish name.
April 13th, 2010
2:34 pm
No body cares about the Trashers because the ownership and GM are bumbling morons who appear not to have a clue. How the GM still has a job is beyond me at this point.
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
April 13th, 2010
2:39 pm
Mark, maybe it’s time to take Smoothie off your Christmas Card list.