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
USMC8541
April 14th, 2010
6:50 am
Speaking of the lady in green….Wow!
Oops i did it again
April 14th, 2010
6:58 am
Well its not i want a winner after all icame from detroit where i almost killed them but in 1999 u came n redwings sent me away and look what happen they won 3 stanley cups…Must be me ha ha.answer this bradley its me Lehnerd usein fake name. Ask waddell n friends why they fire john hartley after 2 seasons barely.Was it cause he balk at waddell cheap ass ways. And said to GM we need more offense n a better goalie defense n waddell fired cause he told waddell u a jerk are some nice name and oh we be in winnipeg in 2012. By then Don(teflon don) waddell been fired at winnipeg then….
Chainshaw
April 14th, 2010
6:58 am
First of all Mark, you write about two or three blogs per year on the Thrashers and every one of them sounds the same. Really, either write something intelligent or keep writing about “them Dawgs”.
Who would buy the new naming writes without a guarantee that there were both NBA and NHL teams in the arena? Face it, the Thrashers are not going anywhere, just as Bettman said. Your sorry attempt at a hockey blog has no merit or facts to back up your lame theory.
For all of you who keep referencing the Flames, Tom Cousins sold that team, because he needed the money. That team had decent attendance and made the playoffs frequently. It’s a different day and age and the NHL will not let this team move. It makes no sense for them to leave the 8th largest viewing market in the country.
Oops i did it again
April 14th, 2010
7:00 am
But if the Thrashers Move folks we lose the Gwinnett AHL team also they relocate to….so we lose two hockey teams at same time..But alas i afraid Winnipeg will get us be re-name Winnipeg Jets!
Oops i did it again
April 14th, 2010
7:03 am
Thats if Winnipeg gets a new arena in time ready for a Team…and remember they drew sell out crowds at old arena in winnipeg of 15,141 every game.I also think winnipeg is gettin a new arena built seat 19,000+ for hockey so either be 2012 are the 2014 season.
CHIEF OF SMOKE
April 14th, 2010
7:38 am
Mark,
The bottom line is this. If the Thrashers were playing as well as the Hawks they would outdraw them. The Hawks should be selling out every game but they are not.
RobertA
April 14th, 2010
7:59 am
This is a sad state. There was a buzz in ATL (at least those who are fans of hockey) when the Thrashers went to the playoffs, only to lose in 4 to the Rangers. Look at all of the talent that has walked out the door. The birds need some quality free agents and a proven coach. Tone starts at the top…out with Waddell along with the Spirit group.
CrashTestChris
April 14th, 2010
7:59 am
Easy answer for all of it…..Get’em outta downtown….Move the Falcons, Hawks and Thrashers outside the perimeter toward Gwinnett and your attendence problem is more than likely solved….In fact, this has been the answer for the last 30 years…Just be a matter of time when the Braves will have these issues again, too….
Tommy
April 14th, 2010
8:14 am
My wife and I used to go to 5-8 Thrasher games a year. I have been to one Thrashers game since Bob Hartely was fired, and will not go back until Don Waddell is fired. The NHL is known for firing managers and coaches at the drop of a hat, and this character has kept his job for 12 years?? If the Thrashers end up moving, it’s the fault of ownership and GM.
Back in the early days I didn’t mind dumping $100 to go see them play–there was a feeling that they would slowly get better. But ever since firing Hartley and giving away Hossa, the team clearly has had no direction. One good playoff run would fix a lot of problems. But Waddell has no freaking clue how to build a team. He flat. out. stinks. at his job.
And for those who think the NHL wouldn’t abandon the 8th-largest US market, note that the NFL has done perfectly fine without a team in Los Angeles for nearly 20 years.
mike
April 14th, 2010
8:15 am
First off, how can the team be successful and concentrate with those two fine looking women seated behind the bench?
Seriously, until this team is marketed properly, cleans house in the front office, and starts winning, it will never be successful.
The ECHL team in Gwinnett markets itself very well, and usually puts a good product on the ice(not this year), and their front office and coach are a bunch of clowns. They succeed because they get out into the public, and do appreciate their fan base. When was the last time you heard of a Thrasher player appearance?
The Thrashers will eventually move, because the NHL wants a team in Winnepeg, and the Thrashers will be the chosen team.
Toby
April 14th, 2010
8:24 am
HA! Mark Bradley writes an article on hockey??? What’s next…a cricket blog?
Steve
April 14th, 2010
8:29 am
If they would put a product on the ice and keep some talent in Atlanta maybe just maybe people would come out and support them!
AtlantaNative62
April 14th, 2010
8:32 am
The problem is and always has been that the Hawks and Thrasher’s play downtown. Until the franchise moves to a facility in the NE/NW ‘burbs, they will never draw the fans they need to support the teams…..even if they win.
j
April 14th, 2010
8:37 am
The fanbase is here, no doubt, but it will take some great promo nights next year (more bobbleheads/fleece blankets/etc) and some great pick-ups over the summer … oh, and they need to make the playoffs. Best thing they did this year was rebuild the team … although, that means a longer wait on the playoffs BUT they put the right pieces in play this summer, it should be something that could be attained next season (that is, if they keep the youth and not trade them away like past seasons). I see more hope in this team for next year than i have in the past few years. Maybe that’s not saying much but it’s at least positive. Attendance would probably jump up an extra 500 people per game if DW was gone, so that would help some too.
Slim Pickinz
April 14th, 2010
8:39 am
After another winter in ATL with snow like we just had —- MAYBE, JUST MAYBE this city could become a winter sports town.
Seriously, it’s management. We need the right TEAM in the front office of ANY franchise to excite and invigorate the sports market. There is NO REASON on the planet the Hawks shouldn’t be a sellout team EVERY GAME – a) they’re doing very well and getting better each year, b) FACT: Atlanta is an urban market and basketball is very popular amongst that demographic, and c) they still manage to not excite the market – CAN YOU SAY FRONT OFFICE’S FAULT !!!
The Atlanta Spirit is a JOKE – They get more press about being in a family feud between themselves than when the Hawks force a Game 7 with Boston in Round 1 a couple years ago.
Either sell the team to someone – not a group – who cares or put the CEO on UnderCover Boss so he sees the problems for himself and gets humiliated on TV for being a dufus and not seeing it all along.
Atlanta is a major city and NEEDS an NHL franchise – we have it —- What we DO NOT have is the right professional talent up front to make it the success it can be.
Out with the Spirit !!!!
Dano
April 14th, 2010
8:54 am
Lets see
$10.00 Gas
$10.00 Park
$30.00 Food & Drinks
$400.00 for tickets (wife and 2 kids)
2.5 hrs of entertainment (may be exciting maybe not)
As a FAN I’m supposed to do this 3 or 4 times a season
ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR FREEKING MIND ?
I can take some nice long weekends and build memories with my children for that kind of money.
Paddy
April 14th, 2010
8:58 am
If just winning games would solve the Thrashers problems, why is the winning Hawks team at the bottom of league attendance.? A brief explanation; pro basketball is very unappealing to most fans in Atl. It is not basketball in the truest sense that folks remember from their childhood. If you “can’t relate”, you suffer “at the gate”. NBA has an image problem, big time!
Mark is not Smart
April 14th, 2010
9:05 am
Thrash will stay. Too big a potential market even if not successful at first. Mark needs to stick to Atlanta sports that he knows……what that is, I do not know.
Hockey Canada
April 14th, 2010
9:09 am
Hockey is a Canadian and North-East U.S. sport. Hockey has no business in places like ATL and Florida and Arizona etc. If the League was not run by an American who knows nothing about hockey we wouldn’t have franchises in the Southern U.S. The only reason hockey is in the South is to try and get the U.S. Network T.V. deal (need to be in all the big U.S. markets). That strategy has been a complete failure. I know at least three cities in Canada that would glady take the ATL team and turn it into a success.
Braves Fan in N Fla
April 14th, 2010
9:28 am
I think it will just come down to who gets the best offer between the Tampa and the Atlanta franchise for a coveted location in Canada
Jeffrey
April 14th, 2010
9:38 am
Atlanta is not a pro sports city. Never has been; never will be. Perhaps we are a bit smarter and don’t feel like paying big bucks to support paying these players 10s of millions of dollars a year.
Charley
April 14th, 2010
9:53 am
Hockey has as much a chance to succeed in Atlanta as it does in Dallas, Texas. Dallas has had a good franchise with stable ownership and management for the past 15 plus years. Give those two factors to the Thrashers and they too will succeed in Atlanta and become a big part of the Atlanta sports scene.
Hockeyfan
April 14th, 2010
10:03 am
I submit most Atlantans dont know who Mark Bradley or the AJC are
Matt
April 14th, 2010
10:28 am
A nother
J ackoff
C olumnist
Blueland News Breaker
April 14th, 2010
10:33 am
BREAKING NEWS:
Rick Dudley is the new Thrashers GM.
John Anderson and entire coaching staff Fired!
Jeff Schultz still likes boys and has back hair.
ChippersLoveChild
April 14th, 2010
10:36 am
How about a nice piece on how the Thrashers have built youth hockey in the area and the Alpharetta team that just won a National Title? Too much for you to handle? Or does sunshine not sell papers and move the meter on your blog?
Kane Rocks
April 14th, 2010
10:41 am
They’re not leaving. Period. End of discussion.
Bill
April 14th, 2010
11:09 am
If they win, people will come.
Ed Graham
April 14th, 2010
11:48 am
Let’s do the math. 16 of 30 NHL teams make the playoffs each year. That’s 53% of them. Of course, this means that, statistically, at least one team will have less than a 50% win rate and still make the playoffs. That’s a bit absurd in my book. However, this means that the Thrashers should have made the playoffs five times in the ten seasons they’ve had. They’ve made it only once, and only by the skin of their teeth, then they were knocked out in four games straight.
I couldn’t care less about the Braves, Falcons, and Hawks. After hockey season is over, I don’t watch anything sports-related. I really enjoy going to Thrashers games, but I’m ready to start yelling “WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR!” at the first game of the season. The last game I went to (vs Toronto on March 25th, it was like watching Lucy and Ethel play hockey.
We’re paying way too much for talent that isn’t there. Either they show us they’re worth it or they’ll be history. D**ned sad.
David
April 14th, 2010
1:39 pm
First of all, I believe and know the NHL Commissioner Office does not like teams relocate to other cities. The NHL feel good about the City of Atlanta and the Thrashers organization, and I believe with the right ownership and coaches they will be in the playoffs soon. As for the attendance, we remember the Atlanta Hawks, Falcons, and Braves having poor attendance when the teams lose most of there games or was in last place. It was not long ago, the Atlanta Hawks only won 14 some games in a season. Look at them now, Atlanta will support this hockey team, please do not give up on them because winning is the solution!!!! BELIEVE ME!!!!
ynot
April 19th, 2010
2:35 pm
green’s my new favorite color