Icy topic: How much longer will the Thrashers be in Atlanta?

aswingruber

April 13th, 2010
12:17 pm

First!.. and I’m reading this in Ecuador… sadly the Thrashers have a couple years max in the ATL. I think there are enough hockey fans in this town, myself included, for a NHL franchise to be successful here but we can’t expect the city to support a perennial loser.

UGA ALL THE WAY

April 13th, 2010
12:18 pm

First Mark?

UGA ALL THE WAY

April 13th, 2010
12:19 pm

Never!!!! Soon Mark, i will be first…. to me it seems the thrashers are just being forgotten about. All the other Atl based teams seem to be doing circles around the franchise and the thrashers just cant keep up

Alex Murphy

April 13th, 2010
12:19 pm

As long as Waddell is in charge they are doomed.

John K

April 13th, 2010
12:20 pm

Agree. There are enough fans in ATL to support the Thrashers. However, between the spirit and the joke that is Waddell, they aren’t putting out a product that will entice fans to put out the $$$ to watch.

Bryan G.

April 13th, 2010
12:21 pm

I would think they are going to get sold at some point. I don’t think even a successful hockey team would sell in Atlanta…much less the hot mess that is the current team.

tp

April 13th, 2010
12:23 pm

Gone baby, gone.

Wait, have they even arrived yet?

Chris

April 13th, 2010
12:37 pm

Solving the Hockey on TV problem:

Tennis serves go 110MPH, and we have no trouble seeing them. Hockey slapshots go the same speed, and you can’t follow them. Why: because a tennis ball is white/light green and a hockey puck is black.

Paint the boards and the floor under the ice black and switch to a white puck. Watch viewership and franchise values rise enormously.

lancedavis15

April 13th, 2010
12:38 pm

I wouldn’t be so sure that they would sell too many more tickets even if they were a playoff team. Look at the Hawks. One of the top teams in the NBA and still struggle in attendance.

BravesWillStinkAgain&IWillWatchEveryGame

April 13th, 2010
12:39 pm

they will never leave the atl….changes on the way is the inside scoop…

drawtheline

April 13th, 2010
12:39 pm

They may as well leave now if Waddell remains GM for life. No top tier star wants to play here. I doubt they’d be 28th in attendance if all the freebies they give to season tix holders were subtracted.

atlsportsguy1980

April 13th, 2010
12:39 pm

Are you serious? No, I mean it, are you serious? Winning is what drives the crowds right? Hockey would succeed in Atlanta if it had ownership and a front office that was dedicated to trying to build a winner. Shoot, it would succeed in Birmingham if you had competent ownership. Every year attendance is an issue for the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, and Thrashers. Remember the playoff games for the Braves we couldn’t fill the seats for? How about the Hawks. Now, that the young players for the Hawks have finally matured and become veterans they are winning. Wow, go figure patience paid off. Do you remember the laughable attendances Phillips got for the Hawks before 2008? What made that change? Winning. How about the Falcons? Before Arthur Blank became the owner and Michael Vick was drafted do you remember the crowds? We were blacked out almost every week unless we were playing the Cowboys, 49ers, or Pittsburgh. The difference there was that no one was barking for the them to be moved. Are you seriously gonna sit here and say because of attendance the Thrashers should move? How about this…let’s get the Atlanta Spirit to sell off Phillips, the Hawks and the Thrashers. Get 1 owner (one, single, not many owners) who wants to build a winner and is dedicated to performing that task. Give it a real shot here in Atlanta and if attendance still sucks then move them, but until then if you have no interest in hockey just stay out of the conversation.

BravesWillStinkAgain&IWillWatchEveryGame

April 13th, 2010
12:39 pm

they will never leave the ATL, changes on the way in a big way.

Lowcountry Bulldawg

April 13th, 2010
12:39 pm

As a sports fan (not a hockey fan though), how has Waddell kept his job? On the job since,’99 and the team is still a mess. How does this happen, isn’t 11-12 seasons of less than mediocore Management enough to show that he just cant do the job? And what happened to the guy they brought in from Colorado? Why did they run him out of town?

Falcon Josh

April 13th, 2010
12:41 pm

The team was selling out all the time when they made the playoffs 3 years ago. The arena was rocking when the playoffs started but the Rangers quickly took care of us in 4 games. Put a winner out there and people will come.

BravesWillStinkAgain&IWillWatchEveryGame

April 13th, 2010
12:42 pm

they won’t leave the ATL.
changes on the way in a big way

dream a little dream

April 13th, 2010
12:43 pm

at least we still have the atlanta dream. or do we? i forgot…

Charlie Dalton

April 13th, 2010
12:45 pm

As long as the Falcons are still here, I’m happy. I sure wish we still had the ol’ Atlanta Chiefs though. Being an Atlantan by birth and growing up in our generally warmer climate, it’s difficult to get energized about a sport played on ice.

robray701

April 13th, 2010
12:46 pm

I hope the “big changes” that are being hinted at include replacing the GM, and selling the team to a local interest who is dedicated to putting a winner on the ice.

Herschel Talker

April 13th, 2010
12:47 pm

MB:

Forget Greg Norton. He’s the Jo Jo Reyes of GMs.

HT

RazorCatchPrey

April 13th, 2010
12:49 pm

The Thrashers have to win to bring folks to the arena. They have a good young core around which to build now, and competent management can turn this team into a winner in a year or two. Now they just need to get that competent management. Check out the Atlanta Analyzed series on bluelandchronicle.blogspot.com for more on the subject of Atlanta as a market for hockey.

BravesWillStinkAgain

April 13th, 2010
12:49 pm

They won’t leave the ATL, but they really should get rid of ALL management.
I am a part season ticket holder since it started and not only are they incompetent
boobs but the customer service sucks too! Case in point: I wanted an extra ticket
to the last game, and wanted to sit with the extra person, 3 together. I had two tickets.
I was willing to move even to the upper deck to get the extra ticket and sit together
and give them back my lowers which they could resell. They said they can’t do
that sort of thing. So I instead bought my ticket from some other fan outside
and poached, sitting next to my other seats. So instead of selling me another ticket,
they got nothing and I still got my way, plus got all 3 people downstairs at my normal
location. They are idiots who don’t know how to run a franchise, and I am giving
up going unless the major changes pan out.

Barnacle Bill Bavasi

April 13th, 2010
12:50 pm

Don’t really follow hockey, but for those who do, I wish the Thrashers were more successful, so this would not be an issue.

By the way, I don’t know if this is the same photo you’ve used before. But the ladies in the background are muy caliente. Thanks.

Wally

April 13th, 2010
12:54 pm

Funny, Atlanta carried the Hawks, Falcons & Braves for how many years before they won anything, or even came close?

leland

April 13th, 2010
12:55 pm

Dear Mr. MB–it is an icy topic, and it leaves me cold.

Your pal, Leland

D Hawks

April 13th, 2010
12:56 pm

@atlsportsguy1980 – please check the archives on the history of ATL franchises. Every one of them has had a “move the team” movement or threat by ownership at some point in their history. Trust me, I’ve been a season ticket holder at one point or another for all except the Thrashers.

If the Thrashers are to have any prospect for survival in Atlanta, they must change the GM and coach NOW. Waddell has had 11 seasons, and after the only successful one (the one playoff season), he fired the coach 6 games or so into the next season. This was obviously due to some major disagreement, but it just underscores his ineptitude as GM. If your franchise player won’t re-sign for $100 million (if it is really true that this offer was made), that speaks volumes for the direction that he feels this franchise is going. Fans were excited when hockey came back, but the product that we skate out every night is barely NHL caliber despite having some talented players. There is no hockey mentality in this town because there is no product to be excited about. Just listen to the talk shows and you’ll rarely if ever hear anyone call in to discuss hockey. I think the team is gone after next season unless they make drastic changes this off-season.

GT Falcon

April 13th, 2010
1:01 pm

Def need to make a change in the front office before moving. Its amazing that idiot still has a job. Actually blows my mind.

I remember going to games the year the Trashers went to the playoffs and the crowds were good. Winning = fan interest. Tickets are expensive and I’m only going to buy them when the games have meaning. I’m not going to waste my money on a poor product. That goes for anything I spend my money on. Not just sports tickets.

docsbro

April 13th, 2010
1:02 pm

The attendance issue is a convenient distraction from the reality of the team being a complete joke!! If there was a team worth watching they would sell the place out enough. Hockey fans are very loyal to hockey and will support the team. But as long as DW is in charge the fan base will continue to dwindle. By the way attendance was awful in Pittsburgh before Crosby, it was terrible in DC before Ovi, what is the common denominator? They put together succesful teams and the buildings are sold out. If you go back just a few years and the Thrashers where well ahead of NJ, CHI, and several other teams.

Maybe so

April 13th, 2010
1:02 pm

Let’s face it, Atlanta is not a Hockey town. More people in the Atlanta area would be more interested in enduring a root canal on a Friday night than fight the downtown traffic to see a Thrashers game. And that isn’t a knock on Hockey, it is just true that Atlanta isn’t a great market for Professional Hockey. The Atlanta Fan base isn’t that great, even for the sports that most people like. I think this will be the reaon that Thrashers get out of town soon. It is one thing to get southerners out to watch a GOOD hockey team. It’s even worke if their bad.

Jason

April 13th, 2010
1:02 pm

Mark, my question to you is: You know which one John Anderson is in that picture but do YOU know which one is Slava Koslov?

timthebrave

April 13th, 2010
1:03 pm

People will support it if you put a good product on the ice. I remember how Phillips was rocking to close to sell out crowds for the last month of the season and playoffs a couple of years ago. The momentum was completely destroyed when we got swept, traded our good players and started the season terribly. If you have a good team the seats will magically fill up.

MrHughes

April 13th, 2010
1:04 pm

The Thrashers are tied to the naming rights at Philips Arena. They are not going anywhere. Plus, the NHL has a vested interest in keeping the southeast division intact. There’s not a market for an NHL team out there that hasn’t failed already. Phoenix is proof that anything can be rebuilt.

DW is gone, but I think JA has done a good job. Winning is part of the equation. You have to put a product on the ice that inspires the populace. For example, the Heyward Braves of this year versus last years team. Or, Mike Vick with the Falcons versus the team that doesn’t sell out the Dome presently. It’s really a shame. The Thrashers played some great hockey down the stretch. I was more impressed with the fight in that team, than the score happy bunch that went to the playoffs a few seasons back.

Also, folks that talk about the weather are missing the point. There are sucessful NHL teams in warmer climates.

Iceman

April 13th, 2010
1:04 pm

The only “rumors” I’ve seen about the team moving are from the doofi who make such comments on AJC blogs. What the Thrashers need…

1. A real, one person owner who cares
2. A GM that can keep a team together

That happens, and the winning will happen. Winning brings crowds.

Example; the Blackhawks, despite being one of the oldest and most recognized teams in a great hockey city, suffered for years under the iron fist of Bill Wirtz, the worst owner in NHL history. They had years of horrible teams, attendance that was near death..people went and saw the AHL’s Wolves instead. Bill died, his son took over, brought in a good coaching staff and management, put together a good team, and now they’re one of the league’s top teams, with attendance last year that passed a million for the season. You cannot get tickets to their games.

Not saying ATL would have a million attend in a year, but just saying that when you do things right and win games, people will come.

Knockahoma

April 13th, 2010
1:06 pm

sorry born and raised in Georgia. Couldn’t care less about hockey. I would be happy if atlanta would focus on getting an MLS team here.

Iceman

April 13th, 2010
1:10 pm

docsbro makes another good point about Washington…VERY low attendance before Ovechkin got hot, and then the whole team got good…booming crowds are there now. Over the last 3 seasons they’ve had 150 sellouts.

Once again I say; get a good team together, and the people will show up.

Dawgs2010

April 13th, 2010
1:10 pm

Nobody wants to go into the Ghetto and deal with all of the homeless to watch a game. Perhaps if they moved the games to the Gwinnett Arena, attendance would improve.

Josh

April 13th, 2010
1:11 pm

Where was your blog when the Thrashers were contending for a playoff spot?

gwtvol85

April 13th, 2010
1:11 pm

I have not been to a Thrashers game. Having grown up in Marietta, however, I attended several Flames games and lament what happened to that franchise. The Flames were marketed well and made even the most unknowledgable hockey fan want to watch and learn about the game. The city embraced the players and vice versa, which is evident from the number of former players who still live in the area after the team left town. That said, the best team this area has had in the interim has been the Knights. When the Knights began play this town welcomed hockey back w/open arms and the team did well. Can the Atlanta area support hockey? To be honest I’m not sure anymore. But, as with a struggling Fortune 500 company or small business, until changes are made with regards to who is making decisions and long range planning I would say “no.”

atlsportsguy1980

April 13th, 2010
1:12 pm

@D Hawks, I too have been a season ticket holder for the Braves, Falcons and at one point the Thrashers. I have lived in Atlanta my whole life (born and raised). No one has ever called for any of the other major Atlanta teams to be seriously relocated. I agree with you totally about management with GM and Coach. We need to improve the whole entity that is the Thrashers organization. But I think it starts with ownership. The only reason they haven’t invested in the team is that they know that they have to hold onto the team until the lease ends with Philips arena and then they were going to sell them off any way. But if that’s truly the case the Atlanta Spirit should never have been granted ownership. I agree totally that it shows a lot that Ilya gave up $100 million to go somewhere else for less and have a chance at a championship. But I ask this…where was that $100 million in the off season when they needed to upgrade goalie, defense and overall depth on the team?

@Mark B, I think to find an owner to keep them here in Atlanta the NHL would have to find a CEO or some guy with loads of cash to invest somewhere in the US. Then the NHL would have to make a deal with that guy that he has to keep the team in Atlanta for at least 5 years and keep the average team salary around the top 15 of the league (try to build a winner) and invest into teams marketing. If we can’t draw crowds after that, then he can move the team where-ever. Is that out there? Probably not in this current economy.

JD

April 13th, 2010
1:15 pm

For all the idiots who don’t follow or care about hockey, why would you post a repy on this blog. I guess I answered my question. You are an idiot.

Dr. Warren

April 13th, 2010
1:15 pm

The photo Mark has chosen is actually a Rorschach test of sorts for hockey’s viability in Atlanta–be honest, folks, who actually noticed the hockey players first??

JD

April 13th, 2010
1:16 pm

The Thrashers have to do what Tampa did just after 3 years (not ten plus like here) to prove to the fans that they are heading a different direction – good, bad, or indifferent. Fire the GM and coach.

Barnacle Bill Bavasi

April 13th, 2010
1:18 pm

“No one has ever called for any of the other major Atlanta teams to be seriously relocated.”

Then, how did the Calgary Flames get there?

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.

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.

Ignernt

April 13th, 2010
2:40 pm

So, MB, how long did it take you to find someone in the office who could tell you who Kozlov was?

Seriously, If Waddell comes back next year the entire city should take it as proof that the ASG doesn’t give a crap what we think… Or maybe Waddell has someone convinced them he knows how to build a winner…

smokemonster

April 13th, 2010
2:41 pm

The GM has a job because failure is an option here.

ChippersLoveChild

April 13th, 2010
2:42 pm

Awesome, way to write your first doom and gloom piece on the Thrash. Couldn’t have had anything when they were still in the playoff hunt a few weeks ago? Oh that’s right you were too busy riding Paul Hewitt’s ass to notice. If you read what your fellow reporters wrote, you would new that Bettman told Schultz he wants to keep the franchise here. Instead of writing a piece about how long they will be around, how about holding the GM and owners accountable for the product they put on the ice? Or would that require too much actually journalism on your part?

ChippersLoveChild

April 13th, 2010
2:43 pm

*Know not new…

Smoothie

April 13th, 2010
2:44 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”.

And football isn’t silly?? Are you kidding me? I like football, but I reckon our version of football seems rather silly to the other 95% of the world that doesn’t play it. Football is no less silly than hockey in the respect that you have a bunch of grown men running around in pads and helmets trying to grab each other’s balls at the bottom of a fumble scrum when “Burner” Turner breaks a nail and loses control of an oblong-shaped ball that doesn’t bounce straight back up to you when you drop it…what’s up with that??

You people are dumber than the average Atlantan, aren’t you?

Sam

April 13th, 2010
2:47 pm

Aren’t YOU supposed to REPORT on something in your blog? Not ask the readers to do it?

Ask the question?

April 13th, 2010
2:48 pm

Mark Bradley – Your the journalist! Why don’t you confront the Atlanta Spirit about the state of the Thrashers? You, as well as the Thrashers beat writer, should force the issue with the ownership. Press the “Octocluster”(Atlanta Spirit) to address the glaring deficiencies in the hockey side of the house. It’s been well documented that owners are basketball guys. So it’s no surprise that Don Waddell is still employed after the less than stellar record he has produced. The owners have no hockey knowledge at all! So what are they going to do spend more money to bring in a new GM? No they’ll continue to employee Don Waddell because he can run a team on the cheap and BS the fans and media into believing the Thrashers are headed in the “RIGHT DIRECTION”! Please! The ownership group is a joke! They don’t care about hockey and have proven it time after time. They aren’t present at the games unless your talking basketball. Bruce Levinson has alienated the fan base at town hall meetings. This group could care less about the hockey fan. So as long as this group continues to manage the hockey side as currently managed hockey is doomed in Atlanta. And as a born and bred Atlanta native that loves hockey it’s disappointing to say the least.

Spud Webb

April 13th, 2010
2:54 pm

I believe the thrashers are tied to phillips???? also bettman (the nhl commish) won’t allow the team to leave here.

mark louis

April 13th, 2010
2:54 pm

The bigger question is what the NHL wants. The league stopped the Coyotes from leaving Phoenix because they didn’t see any reason to put another team in Canada. If they wanted to hold on to the Phoenix market, wouldn’t they want to hold on to Atlanta? The NHL took control of the Coyotes, they could do the same with the Thrashers.

drajax

April 13th, 2010
2:54 pm

The city would lose something if the team moved. A town with four professional teams was a mark of being big time, at least with the chamber of commerce. There are enough northern transplants like me who want to see a winning team and who will support a team. But since there’s no tradition here the team has to build one, and that is done by winning.
I don’t believe Waddell is the problem, I think that ownership’s refusal to pay the salaries of the necessary players to win which is the problem. However, I do think Waddell has missed on his coaching choices which is serious because I think this present team could have had a better record if coached properly. Anyone who paid to see the last New Jersey game saw the difference between the teams in the matchups, line changes and overall attitude displayed on ice. A coach is responsible for that.
It would be a shame for hockey if this team moved, not to mention your newspaper, and the downtown area. The team generates revenue for not only Phillips but the restaurants and bars downtown. Your newspaper gets advertising revenue. Plus as a season ticket holder I’ve noticed more and more African American families at the games; although I wouldn’t ever expect to see more than 10% minority in the crowd, the fact that I believe it’s possible says that the ownership is trying to reach out to that part of our community and the selection of Evander Kane will sell more and more tickets while the team’s here.
I’d hope the community would rally around keeping the team here but I won’t hold my breath.

Paddy

April 13th, 2010
2:55 pm

I want the hockey team to do well and stay in Atl. To do that, the ASG must disappear from the Atl sports scene. Even with a good team the Hawks have they are near the bottom of the league in “butts-in-the seats” The ownership battle has taken the fun out of these two franchises. Not to mention all the ASG money. They are broke and we are sad fans, not a good combination to build on!!!

Gwinnett Fred

April 13th, 2010
2:58 pm

An easier way to say which one Kozlov is in the picture is that he’s the only one with a big white “A” on his uniform.

Kinda missing the obvious, aren’t we??

Bill

April 13th, 2010
2:59 pm

MB, please stop encouraging those losers who post “First!” on these blogs. You come off as a fellow loser when you do.

The Thrashers have not done a good job in Atlanta. Perhaps new ownership and a new city will help this franchise. If the Thrashers leave, the NHL will never come back. My guess is that most Atlantans do not care.

ChippersLoveChild

April 13th, 2010
3:02 pm

So we wait for a response from Mark Bradley on an actual report, maybe a question or two that he has directed at the ASG, and what does he do? He uses ellipsis to tease the readers into thinking the Arena’s name might change… Brilliant… and they wonder why this paper is going in the toilet…

Matt

April 13th, 2010
3:02 pm

Don’t even THINK about blaming the fans for this fiasco. This franchise has got to be the most poorly run NHL team over the last 10 years. It’s frankly amazing that they draw as well as they do considering how badly mis-managed this team has been.

I will continue to support the team and go when I can, but as to season tix, not until Waddell is shown the door. I am not looking forward to the THIRD five year plan in it’s history.

Give the fans something to be excited about and they WILL come. Look at the sellouts for the first (and only) playoff appearance. The fans are just crying out for a reason to attend.

Blueland Fan, Jeff Schultz Hater

April 13th, 2010
3:12 pm

How much long will the Thrashers be in Atlanta?

Hopefully, longer than the AJC or the Grade-A Jerk & Liberal Sissy Jeff Schultz who has singlehandedly done more the trash hockey in this town than anyone would believe.

Falconsforlife

April 13th, 2010
3:12 pm

Why would you even write this Mark? Obviously the franchise is in a bit of trouble, but in a town full of fair weather fans you need more than 1 season of fair weather to fill the seats. Attendance would not be an issue with a decent owner/front office.

Everyone rags on Atlanta as a bad sports town, but outside of the Braves the other 3 franchises have never had much success outside of a few years here and there. Success breeds passion, when you don’t have success you can’t have a large passionate fan base. It’s very simple. ASG has to go. Someone local needs to buy the team (Arthur Blank? A boy can dream right…) and needs to install a solid front office. It will all change if that happens.

The Caps had awful attendance until they drafted Ovechkin. Ovy’s buzz coupled with WINNING got the city behind that franchise very very quickly. And don’t even think about saying Kovy is on the same level as Ovy. He isn’t even close.

Steve Budnik

April 13th, 2010
3:17 pm

Could not agree more regarding Don Waddell comments. He must “have something” on ownership to survive as long as he has. He must go, for starters. Secondly, ownership has no clue. Get one owner committed to running an NHL franchise. Lastly, if you “lead the league’ in goals allowed every year (or come very close) you will never be a playoff team in this league. Somewhere, someone exists who can teach defense to these guys.

Gwinnett Fred

April 13th, 2010
3:18 pm

The sad thing, is that if they leave this time – they will probably never return.

Never in the history of the NHL since the “original 6″ has a city lost a franchise TWICE and have it ever return. In fact, Atlanta is one of only four cities (Minneapolis, Phoenix & Denver) to ever get it back after losing a franchise once.

I have to rely on the hope that the ownership fiasco will get done with in another year, giving the reshaped ownership probably one more year to make or break the existance of NHL hockey in the ATL forever.

hey yo

April 13th, 2010
3:23 pm

I want the Knights back!

tebowtears

April 13th, 2010
3:26 pm

The NHL in general over-expanded too much and got big for their britches.

Chains

April 13th, 2010
3:27 pm

management doesn’t know when to hold em…and when to fold em…… can’t keep Hossa, Kovy….but hang on to Kari Let-em-in for 4 years too long. Heatley was another sad story of bad leadership on a young team…..How long will Waddel be allowed to stand on the necks of the hockey fans in this town…….Till they go the way of the Flames, and the Knights…HISTORY……We need a solid GM…..

thebighairybeast

April 13th, 2010
3:30 pm

There are alot of good reasons the Thrashers are always in the relocation rumors. However the support has been there when the team has done well. What most non hockey intrested people dont realize is the ineptitude that the hockey fans have been submitted to the last 11 years. The AS is nothing but a bunch of wealthy men too poor to own a franchise individually and really treat the Thrashers as an after thought. Don Waddell is an amatuer pettifogger who thinks he knows the game but whos track recorder shows he is clueless when it comes to running a franchise.

The one thing in the Thrashers favor that will keep them in Atlanta for the near future is that Atlanta in the fifth largest media market in the country. Bettman, the NHL Commissioner, knows that and isnt about to let a team leave Atlanta yet. And though no rose himself he does have some inkling of what a mess the ownership group in Atlanta is.

So no I dont think they will be moving in the next five year.

Smoothie

April 13th, 2010
3:44 pm

Word o’ the day: Pettifogger!

Bill O’ Reilly would be proud.

MB – did you see that, someone used a big word. You might want to look it up. Oh wait, I did you a favor: “someone who raises annoying petty objections” is a pettifogger!

Stop being one and do your freakin’ job AS A JOURNALIST!!

smokemonster

April 13th, 2010
3:45 pm

Smokey likes the twins in the picture.

Will

April 13th, 2010
3:49 pm

Mark:

I am afraid you are right – most likely one more year and they will be sold and gone.

If Don Waddel is retained at GM, the season ticket base will be negatively affected.

I am old enough to have gone through this with the Flames (completely different but same result) and enjoy NHL hockey.

Although I cannot afford season tickets, I do spend close to a thousand a year on single game tickets for our four member family. We enjoy seeing any of the “original eight” and/or other Canadian teams play the Thrashers.

Unlike in 1980, when the Thrashers leave, at least we drive to Raleigh/Nashville/Tampa a couple of times a year to continue watching NHL hockey and can go to Gwinnett for a pretty entertaining brand of hockey.

cheshire

April 13th, 2010
3:58 pm

I just hope this doesn’t become another ridiculous knock on Atlanta fans if the team does move. The fact of the matter is that the fans in this town have had to put up with more $#!^ from their pro teams than most any city out there (Cleveland and Seattle being the exceptions), and yet Atlanta fans get knocked for not supporting their teams enough.

I grew up here and have supported all my teams, but year in and year out, i’m either having to deal with a team that was a joke coming out of the gate, or that got my hopes up and just choked when it mattered. It’s been horrible.

The Thrashers are no exception. Fans shouldn’t have to put up with a team that goes ELEVEN YEARS (it’s amazing to even have to type that) without a single playoff victory. I am a Thrashers fan, but at some point this team has to give me a reason to come out and support it and actually (gasp!) make me think it cares about it’s fans.

If the Thrashers move, the NHL needs to realize it wasn’t a failure of hockey in Atlanta… it was a failure of a franchise to produce anything that ever had a chance of succeeding.

nola ATL fan

April 13th, 2010
4:02 pm

MB – nice way to recycle that picture. I know I have seen you use it before, just can’t remember which Blog. The caption should have read, “lady in green shirt and Thrashers”

Iceman

April 13th, 2010
4:04 pm

Mark..find out who the lady in the green is. Tell her I said “How you doing?”

LAC

April 13th, 2010
4:06 pm

Raised in Charlotte lived here now 41 years. A diehard Hockey fan dating back to the Charlotte Checkers of the EHL. Then The Flames and up until three years ago The Thrashers.

I could give a $hit about hawks and why ANYONE would watch soccer, gee I’d rather watch my grass grow than that CRAP and nascar, I see enough cars on the Interstates everyday, who cares about that worthless so called sport and georgia football, I’d rather drink cow pee than read or watch or hear ANYTHING about that place.

Hockey is THE perfect game, fast, tough and skilled. I get sick of those out there who slam hockey because it is on ice and other stupid comments. I’d love to see some georgia football players make FOOLS of themselves on the rink !!!!!

I quit going because of ONE person LIAR don waddell. The man is a liar from start to finish, he has NO clue as to running a lemonade stand, let alone an NHL team. He is a CAREER LOSER
and HE and HE alone is why I will not attend until he is FIRED period.

Too bad when the blew up The OMNI, we had a chance to build the new arena outside downtown, but they chose they same damn place, it IS awful to drive to a game I admit, but when they rid waddell from the team I WILL return, but not until then…. as for stupid soccer as
The Nature Boy would say… “Keep on dreamin” !

LAC

April 13th, 2010
4:10 pm

Oh lastly, did you read in AJC where waddell said THIS…

“We are still trying to figure it out.” After ten years and he is still failing at GM 101 with THAT
comment… Then you know the franchise is in BIG BIG BIG Trouble… Go To Hell waddell !

Always a hockey fan

April 13th, 2010
4:12 pm

Took my kids to a game last year. At the end of “kiss cam” when they showed fans of the other team, the guy gives the camera “double birds”. I would think they would take it off the jumbo screen immediately, but no – they kept it on for an unbelievable amount of time. I could care less for my own personal sake, but try explaining that to a group of kids. What really floored me was the lack of ANY response when I complained via email. So I decided to complain via phone. The exact response I got was “what do you want us to do?” When I said an apology would be nice I was hung up on. Really fan friendly!

Cliff Fletcher

April 13th, 2010
4:13 pm

Once again, another Mark Bradley article that is worthy of toilet paper. You and Schultz are idiots.

The house was close to full until this ownership group took over.
They don’t care and have an idiot for a GM.

Any team in any town would have trouble if it were ran like this one.

Innocent Bystander

April 13th, 2010
4:17 pm

As much as the Canadians enjoy their hockey like we enjoy our baseball and football, they would still be the same team for awhile, meaning they would have the same players and arguably, the same marginal results. Even Canadians won’t want to watch this team, at least not right off the bat.

UGA_2001

April 13th, 2010
4:25 pm

They aren’t a bad team, they just need to put it all together. Blame the ownership and general manager. They are the only constants in all of this. Players and coaches have come and gone.

The Thrash have a very loyal core group of fans. It would be a shame to let them down by moving. The ownership needs to get their stuff together and commit to winning. The city will support if them if they do.

Gwinnett Fred

April 13th, 2010
4:32 pm

I think MB has left the blog – too many people nailing him with negative stuff (not that it should be anything new to him!)

Theron Sapp

April 13th, 2010
4:35 pm

Mark, you can write what you wish (and you do a fine job at it), but some of these people have a point — this topic cries out for a little reporting. The Philips lease question comes up regularly in AJC blogs, and I cannot remember the newspaper actually explaining the facts, at least not in some time. Meanwhile, I think a Canadian paper recently reported that the no-move provisions, whatever they may be, expire soon, which could release the team to move.

Any chance of the AJC telling us what the facts are?

JC

April 13th, 2010
4:45 pm

It’s all about ticket prices. It’s $ 90 to sit in the best section. Sure, it’s a great view, but it’s also an absurd amount to pay. Lower prices and you’ll fill up those floor seats.

T. Patrick Soolan

April 13th, 2010
4:48 pm

A couple of months back, when the Thrash were better-than-average, Raleigh’s tam was floundering on bottom. I made a bet with a guy who owed me a chunk, double or nothing, that Carolina would make the playoffs and the Thrash would not. I lost that by a hair. I made another bet with another friend 100 bucks – straight up – that Carolina would finish ahead of the Thrash at season’s end. Lost that, too, by just a hair. Am I against the Thrashers? Hell no, but my heart and wallet are two different entities and I never bet with my heart, although in this case I would have lost both ways.
What is it to say that Nashville and Carolina both, cities and areas with less than 1/3 the metro Atlanta’s population, can out-draw and, in both areas, not only out-draw, but out play and have better teams.
Is this the fault of the ownership? GM? Coach?, Location (uh, who in his right mind would go downtown Atlanta for anything)?, or a combination of all four? I vote this way: Location #1 (very bad); Ownership (obviously a misnomer)#2, the GM, #3 and John Anderson, well, you can guess that one.
the Flames were a better team but attendance, driven by a poor location at that time (Omni) left.
Call it what you want, but I, for one, wouldn’t go to a sports game anywhere within 10 miles radius of the Capitol, not unless I had an AK-47, two machetes and razor-knives in my pockets – all of which would not do me any good if I got confronted by some gang members or other undesirables!
TPS
Alpharetta

Dejay

April 13th, 2010
5:12 pm

This is bad comedy, folks. The only reason the Flames are in Calgary is because the owner (Tom Cousins) nearly went bankrupt in the late-70’s when his real estate investments bottomed out; NOT because of poor attendance (the Hawks didn’t reach their numbers until Nique and the gang got it cooking in the late-80’s). If Ted Turner had taken Cousins seriously and made a bid before Scalbania did, the Flames would’ve won that ‘89 Stanley Cup in Atlanta, just like he kept the Braves and Hawks from moving during the same time period by buying them and putting their games on TBS. That’s a fact; he’s said it himself.

The sole reason why hockey hasn’t taken off like the second go-around is simple; THEY DON’T WIN and by keeping Waddell around as long as they have, they give the impression to everyone that THEY DON’T CARE. It’s as simple as that.

I would question one’s sanity if he/she decides to continue spending hard-earned $$$ in an economy like this on a product that not only fails to produce year after year but keeps the person solely responsible around to drive them further into the ground. Even Pete Babcock looks like a genius compared to Waddell and it took nearly a decade for the Hawks to get out of the mess he and Kasten left behind.

Hockey will only succeed here if the Notorious A.S.G. finally decides to cut ties with the Teflon Don and bring in someone who has a clue how to build a NHL-level franchise, not an AHL one.

I’m not the biggest hockey fan on the planet but the tragedy of it all will be if the Thrashers move to Canada, only for the ‘light bulb’ in their heads to suddenly pop on, fire Waddell, bring in competent players, and start winning. The Flames never got out of the first round here but the instant they left, they started playing for Stanley Cups. The Nordiques were horrible in Quebec but what happened when they arrived in Denver? The same thing that happened to the Whalers after leaving Hartford for Raleigh. I was here to watch Calgary celebrate a Cup in our places while we were left to watch Rick Mahler try to get outs with his 74-MPH heater; that’s a reality I DON’T wish to live through again.

Guyman33

April 13th, 2010
5:12 pm

Bradley,

Go on youtube.com and search atlanta flames fights. Look at the crowd in the videos, why can’t we get like that. As a day 1 STH, I hope they don’t leave. It hurt when the Flames left.

Hillbilly Deluxe

April 13th, 2010
5:19 pm

Losing causes attendence problems; winning solves those problems. If they would start winning, or at least show they are serious about becoming a winner, they could draw well enough to stay. On their current course, I would give them 2 years.

Twoambers

April 13th, 2010
5:23 pm

We could write for days about this, but if the Islanders can move, don’t think for a second that we can’t. Phoenix was gone until the league stepped in. Is Nashville really a good idea? Well, Atlanta isn’t either.

The economy has created so many issues, though, that contraction seems like a better answer. Where would we move to that would make sense? It seems that stability or closure would work more for the NHL than moving would. And not just for us.

Would the NHL really be better off if the Islanders left New York for Kansas City? Better than building the Lighthouse project and staying on Long Island?

Some of these teams should be folded, or moved back up north. People say that if these teams won, fans would show up, and everything would be OK. But it’s a sports league. Half of your teams by definition have to be bad. That’s when you have to have people that care about the sport for it to maintain itself through the bad seasons. We just don’t have that here.

As much as I love hockey, and I went to my first Flames game in 1975, it just doesn’t belong here. And the NHL would be much better off if this team didn’t exist at all.

dean

April 13th, 2010
5:30 pm

When the Flames left ATL, so did my enthusiasm for hockey. I have never watched another game and don’t miss it one iota.

MrHughes

April 13th, 2010
5:45 pm

@Gwinnett Fred

All of those teams are not original franchises…
The Colorado Avalanche are the Old Quebeq Nordiques
The Dallas Stars are the old Minnesota North Stars
The Phoenix Coyotes are the old Winnipeg Jets

The Thrashers and the Wild are expansion teams.

Kory

April 13th, 2010
6:02 pm

I have lived in Atlanta all my, have been a baseball and football fan forever, but I have always enjoyed hockey. It is a great fast paced physical game, and if people in Atlanta gave it a real chance, they would love the games. I do agree, however, that no one wants to come see a losing team. We had a hard enough time getting people to Braves games we were winning the division every year. Until the Thrashers ownership changes, this team is doomed. I would love to see this team get things rolling. I can’t wait to buy playoff tickets to a Thrashers game….eventually.

Robert

April 13th, 2010
6:09 pm

Wow when was the last time you covered the Atlanta Thrashers.

Mr. Obvious

April 13th, 2010
6:15 pm

If the Thrashers sign Michael Vick, we can count on ONE particular group coming to Philips Arena to sell out all home games for no apparent reason that is hockey-related.

Remember the so-called Football “Fans” who packed the Dome for that felon?

Imagine a multi-year waiting list for Thrashers tickets and “Freaknik Revisited” at every game.

Vick can save the Thrashers!

BubbaDaPuckman

April 13th, 2010
6:31 pm

Who cares? Who’s the hottie in Green behind “Coach”…10 minutes with her would be better than anything the Thrashers have offered since “Bringing Hockey back to ATL”…

UGA Slobberknocker

April 13th, 2010
6:32 pm

As long as the Thrasher’s owners are content to be at the bottom of the league in payroll, the Thrashers will be at the bottom of the league standings as well. Atlanta is a winner’s town and that is something the Thrashers have never done. Nothing will change until this ownership group sells to someone..and I doubt there is a buyer in Atlanta..so my estimate, theyre gone by season after next to new owners in Winnepeg, Kansas City, Seattle, Milwaukee, Houston or any of the several major league cities with no NHL team.Somebody will take em warts and all.

da Boomer

April 13th, 2010
6:36 pm

Maybe we can talk Calgary into trading teams and we can get the Flames back. Or if not, maybe the Thrashers could have nostalgia night and sell 20 oz draft Tuborgs for $2 like the old days.Willi Plett could beat up a few people..it would be great.

Jacques Richard

April 13th, 2010
6:39 pm

Here’s a great way to get the Thrashers a crowd over 5000…have a Flames nostalgia night. They could sell Tuborg tall drafts for $2 like the old days..Willi Plett could beat up a few people..it would be great!!

Delbert D.

April 13th, 2010
6:40 pm

The old video game “Pong” was more interesting. Had I grown up in Grand Rapids or Boston, I probably would not think that.

Carolina fan for Atlanta

April 13th, 2010
6:52 pm

I was not able to read all the posts so if this has been posted, just move along. Atlanta would definitely support hockey if the on-ice product had some success. You can’t tell me that raleigh, Tampa/St Pete or Miami are better hockey towns. They would all be moving if the results were the same as Thrasher results. the fans will come if there are results or at least hope. The Canes have won a Cup and quite a few playoff series and games. The same in Tampa Bay. The Lightning even made the playoffs in ‘95-’95 just a few years after their existence. I believe they won two playoff games from the Lindros-led Flyers that year too. Even the Panthers had some super runs (remember Mellanby and the rats?). Atlanta just needs some success.

He Hate Gator

April 13th, 2010
7:26 pm

Agree with those that say location is awful. North Gwinnett where the majority of the hockey fans are would be much better and easier to get to. Move the Hard Rock as well so its next door and open some nightclubs, bars, and eatery’s so there’s things to do before and after the game…

Joe Schmoe

April 13th, 2010
7:33 pm

We have a hockey team?

f33ts3x

April 13th, 2010
8:06 pm

Watch the thrashers? I’d rather eat the corn out of my own $hit!

Damian Rhodes

April 13th, 2010
8:08 pm

Last!

Matt the Brave

April 13th, 2010
8:14 pm

The question is will the NHL allow the Thrashers to be moved? The commish has stated that he is ‘committed’ to staying in Atlanta. However, this has been said about other franchises. I still bet that they move them to Kansas City instead of Winnepeg. Larger market (really), and also still in the US. The Sprint Center in KC is supposed to be one of the best if an team moves in there, too, and the county wants a tenant terribly.

DaveDawg96

April 13th, 2010
8:18 pm

The NHL will step in and secure ownership that will keep the team in Atlanta, as they did in Phoenix. The NHL said as much.

The sooner, the better!

Artie

April 13th, 2010
8:36 pm

The Thrashers are the Royals of the NHL!!!!!!

Artie

April 13th, 2010
8:37 pm

…they trade away the best talent to keep costs down!!!!!

Boca Baby

April 13th, 2010
9:13 pm

This is sad because there is a winning combination. Prove to the fans of Atlanta that you will do what it takes to put a winner on the ice and Phillips Arena will be full. If not, then you have what you have now. Atlanta will not support a loser. Moreover they are insulted when they see that you are not trying. Rankin Smith got away with it longer than anyone else. He was getting NFL money and he had no reason to put anything other than a team with the appearance of competing.

I remember driving to Atlanta to see the Flames skate. I and my girlfriend each wore our official flames sweater (jersey). Eric Vail, Willie Plett, Eaves Belanger, Dan Bouchard and Tom Lysiak (the Sidney Crosby of his day) were awesome. With Marshall Mann doing the PA in the Omni it just didn’t get any better than that! I even listened to hockey on the radio. Jiggs McDonald and Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion doing the play by play. It was electrifying! They may not have won but they did what they had to do try and put a winner on the ice. It was only a few seasons after moving to Calgary that they won the Stanley Cup. But the seeds of that championship team were planted in Atlanta.

Arthur Blanks wants to win. Result: first back-to-back winning seasons in the history of the franchise. And the future is bright. If you don’t want to win then take it to Canada. After all, “they ain’t got nuttin’ else better to do.” We have something other to do than watching a loser lose.

jojatek

April 13th, 2010
9:17 pm

Remember the Flames, folks?? I grew up with that team… they were a playoff team and a solid club most of the time, with a colorful cast of players who were active in the Atlanta area and, in many respects, went on to become local legends around this town. None of that mattered. The Flames headed for Calgary without even the courtesy of a name-change (I don’t recall Sherman turning north toward Canada in my Civil War history…) and the “city too busy to care” barely noticed…

Win or lose, Atlanta is not a hockey town. So long, Thrashers (and when you go, please do us the courtesy of changing your name… something native to Canada, perhaps…??).

Boca Baby

April 13th, 2010
9:19 pm

Oh, by the way. I cannot believe the NHL does not want a successful franchise in the ninth largest city in America. If they are committed to having a team here then they need to step in.

Disappointed

April 13th, 2010
9:27 pm

Not a huge hockey fan, but I do enjoy a game every once in a while. Went to see the Thrashers play (pre big trade) and it was sad to see these men play so poorly and with such little spirit. I first saw hockey with the career-less Trax when I lived in Macon (sorry, I was there post Macon Whoppee). The Macon Trax were more exciting than the Thrashers, and those boys weren’t going anywhere in hockey, but they played harder and were more fun to watch.

Fred M.

April 13th, 2010
9:29 pm

As long as the Spirit owns the Thrashers and Waddell is GM I will never go back and see another game. The Spirit ownership group want a loser since they keep Waddell as GM. There is no worse GM in all of sports and we have had him since 1999. Just look at his draft picks since 1999. Most of these picks were overall No. 1 and No. 2 picks. Where are these players. WOW! Please God help the Thrashers stay in Atlanta and get rid of the Spirit ownership group and Waddell so I can go back and enjoy hockey again. I feel so sorry for the players.

Flames Fan

April 13th, 2010
9:31 pm

Between the Flames and the Thrashers, Atlanta has been in the NHL for 18 years. Over that span, Atlanta NHL teams have won a grand total of two playoff games (both by the Flames). Neither team in eighteen years has won a playoff series. How well do you think any professional sport would draw in any major U.S. city with a pathetic record like that? Eighteen freaking years and not one playoff series win – SAD. As noted above, the Thrashers playoff games were packed – fans were even in their seats before the game started, a novel concept for Atlanta patrons. There are plenty of hockey fans in Atlanta that will gladly support a team that can win a playoff series or two. The Thrashers need to clean house if for no other reason to give the fans some hope. This year’s roster had some talent, enough to make the playoffs in a very weak Eastern Conference. Don W’s stated number one goal this year was to sign Kovalchuk – GRADE F. Goal number two was to make the playoffs – GRADE F. I wish we could steal Nashville’s front office and coach – they have at least been a decent team and have made the playoffs consistently. Since the Thrashers are so pathetic, I plan to catch the Pred’s and Blackhawks Game 4 in Nashville. The fact that we have to drive four hours to see playoff hockey is indicative of the poor leadership over at Phillips. Wake up over there and bring in some new blood!!!!!!! You are killing hockey in Atlanta.

Acer

April 13th, 2010
9:33 pm

I will believe the Thrashers will leave Atlanta the day a jive-talking, bi-sexual, non-citizen Kenyan with almost no political experience is elected President of the United States.

Oh…. Hmmmm….

Never Mind.

Bye, Thrashers.

jack

April 13th, 2010
9:42 pm

oh,,, my bad,,, didn’t realize they WERE still in Atlanta !!

Blueland Fan

April 13th, 2010
9:46 pm

Winning is the only answer! Hockey tickets are not cheap, and fans will not pay the big bucks to support a losing team.

If ownership would make the committment to fielding a winning team, the fans would fill Phillips Arena for every home game.

After the Thrashers got to the Playoffs in 2007, ownership shipped off many of the players that got the team into the playoffs, and they have never lifted the team back to that level since.

I would love to get season tix, but settle for a 10 game package every year because I could not take going to every game, since there is no committment to winning by the Thrashers ownership. Going to watch the Thrashers lose 10 times a season is all my heart can take.

Winning games is the only way to build a fan base, especially in a southern town. It worked in Carolina and Tampa, it can certainly work in Atlanta.

Somebody with a committment to winning must take charge of this franchise and make it happen.

Otherwise many lifelong hockey fans like myself will continue to attend only a few games each season.

P. Bull Terrier

April 13th, 2010
9:51 pm

I thought they traded the Thrashers to New Jersey for a six pack of beer and a used mop.

Next season, maybe they should throw a soccer ball on the ice and make them kick it around while they are swatting at the puck. That would really boost attendance, especially if all three MLS fans in town showed up to watch.

bill

April 13th, 2010
9:58 pm

He keeps his job the same way Stan Kasten kept his. Swagger and little else. But he is in a town where most do not care about the Spirit teams. Remeber the Flames they won and could not draw flies.

Dennis G. Berdanis

April 13th, 2010
10:06 pm

I remember when 16,400 a game would have thrilled Flames, Braves or Hawks owners in the 70s. I guess to support today’s finiancial market you have to draw 90,000 a game huh?

DJ

April 13th, 2010
10:38 pm

Mark

You could DO this piece on the hawks, braves and falcons (LOTS OF EMPTY SEATS) .why are you trying to run the Thrashers out of town?….you are a lazy sports writer…go ask bruce why he hasnt fired DW..If the Thrashers were ligit then the place would be packed…would that bum you out? What is your agenda? go do some digging and start asking some questions as to why the worst GM in hockey has a job…. that is the real question…but yet you take the coward route and ask if hockey can survive…SHAME ON YOU…stupid question…..you missed the story and by the way, youre prediction is wrong….change is on the way soon and you have no idea because you are lame and have no idea. But congrats for getting all the loosers who have never been to an NHL game to blog….Its all about winning Mark not wether hockey can make it in one of the top media markets…..

Guys like Acer are ignorant by the way

DJ

April 13th, 2010
10:41 pm

One more thing, GO THRASHERS…we love ya (just cant stand DWs ability to build a winner)

99champ

April 13th, 2010
10:43 pm

Get a dedicated ownership, spend up to cap money and move the arena north of I-285 where most of the hockey fans reside to get out of the horrible traffic that exists to get to the game

Krebs

April 13th, 2010
10:50 pm

Would have said two weeks ago they are gone for sure. But what I am hearing on Canadian TV and radio is that Bettman wants to keep the teams in major markets because of advertising. Sure Winnepeg has 700,000 folks there and 650,000 are hockey fans but do big sponsors want to invest in Winnepeg? Too many small markets in Canada. Even though Atlanta is half full for each game, it is a large market and still has growth potential. What I hear is that Bettman wants a new team in the Toronto area (new franchise brings in big bucks). And what if the Canadian dollar falls back to 50-75 cents? Also the NHL is on the verge of getting a better TV deal. So I am not so sure now.

B. Thenet

April 13th, 2010
10:57 pm

The real question is if Don Waddell is being employed to build a hockey team, or destroy a fanbase to allow the owners to sell the franchise to a Canadian billionaire with minimal resistance from NHL Commish Gary Bettman.

Larry Sinclair

April 13th, 2010
11:01 pm

Guys like “DJ” @ 10:41pm are gullible, ignorant buffoons who cannot spell correctly, use proper grammar or write in complete sentences, by the way.

Courtney

April 13th, 2010
11:09 pm

It is simply cost. Today was 72 degrees and perfect. What was the weather in Winnipeg? Atlantans are not going to blow $200 to take a family indoors when it is so nice here in the winter.

Joe B

April 13th, 2010
11:26 pm

I think the Thrasher’s fate may have been sealed the night Dany Heatley crashed his car.

Realistically, a hockey franchise needs several winning years in a row to succeed in a Southern city. A Heatley/Kovalchuk-led Thrashers team could have gotten them; instead, the team has struggled to stay competitive. Whether the Thrashers move depends on the ownership situation, which has been weird for years. I know that Wisconsin, with many more hockey fans than Georgia has, would love an NHL team.

ScottBravesfan

April 13th, 2010
11:59 pm

Youth hockey is doing well in Atlanta. The team from Alpharetta won the national championship in youth hockey for 12 year olds. It would be sad if the team moved away.

ScottBravesfan

April 14th, 2010
12:03 am

DJ,

There was 53,081 fans at the Braves opening day, the Thrashers are happy if they draw that in a month. It’s way to expensive to go to NHL and NBA games, their prices are sky high and the NBA especially always markets their teams to executives. MLB and NFL just do a better job of marketing their games to families.

ScottBravesfan

April 14th, 2010
12:05 am

Also look no further than the Washington Capitals as what could happen to the Atlanta Thrashers. When the Caps had Jagr they had a star player and made the playoffs as a lower seeded team and they could not sell out playoff games. They get Ovechkin, start making the playoffs, winning playoff games, and now they sell out every game. That city is even more of a transient city than Atlanta and hockey is not native to norther Virginia yet the Caps do great now. The same thing can happen in Atlanta.

DR DMAN

April 14th, 2010
12:05 am

Mark, I’m the same age as you… and have been here long enough to have suffered through the loss of the FLAMES, many years ago. To be honest it has been hard embracing the Thrashers, especially with this joke of a management and ownership. Is Kozlov correct? Do we also have a Coaching problem? Not sure… But, it is clear that we have owners who aren’t really committed to the success of the franchise, and a GM who is either incompetent – or has his hands so tied he can’t get things going. I tend to think it is option #1. Are there any more ex-HOME DEPOT Billionaires left who need something to fill their days… or, maybe a tax write-off?

Peter

April 14th, 2010
12:08 am

People. It is not all DW’s fault. IMHO, he has done a fair job with the cards he has been given. Atlanta has NEVER been a salary cap team, so he has never been able to play with the big boys in the NHL. The reason for this is because the Baltimore…I mean Atlanta Spirit does not care about winning. They only care about the revenues they make from the lucrative contracts that they have with their NBA from TNT and ESPN. The Thrashers are a loss leader, that they just assume goes away. We will never have an Ovi or a Crosby and we could not hold onto Kovie. The sole reason for this is because everyone on the team knows that the ownership is not committed to putting a winner on the ice. They prefer to cultivate the young stars that we develop and then trade to a contender at the trade deadline to make room for other young stars that make the league minimum. It is like buying into a $5000 poker game with $500 and hoping to win. You just can’t do it. Anderson is one of the best coaches around. There is not one player on our team that would be in the first 2 lines of one of the playoff teams, but he gets them to play with the best teams in the NHL. You are all correct. Nobody will buy the Thrashers and hope to keep them here. Atlanta and all other American markets like a winner (anyone see the RedWings crowd mid way through the season…that is hockeytown filled with empty red seats). Bottom line is that is the ownership does not spend the money, and take the cuffs off of DW and give Andersone the tools he wants/needs, we are only left to wonder what if. I am a huge hockey fan and a huge Thrashers fan. I wish we had a chance to root for a winner, but the Baltimore Spirit just wants the revenue share from the Hawks. Bettman should have questioned this on day one and not let them come here as opposed to let these d-bags break our hearts. Does R. Seidel even know how to skate? that was a rhettorical question of course.

Matt

April 14th, 2010
12:42 am

If RALIEGH DURHAM can have a successful hockey team than why not ATLANTA GEORGIA bring back the FLAMES

Matt

April 14th, 2010
12:47 am

Congradulations on that little league hockey team from Georgia for winning the National Title. Thrashers need to invest in those kids. The Thrashers have made hockey a sport kids have started to love in the Atlanta area. If the Thrashers leave Atlanta so does little league Hockey. Thrashers need to stay. UNCLE TED needs to buy them back

Goldtimer

April 14th, 2010
12:50 am

The only two things that I can identify in that photo both belong to the lady in green. Who cares about hockey in this town? The ownership clearly doesn’t so why should I?

Matt

April 14th, 2010
12:56 am

I also remember a few years ago when the hawks were losing that they were going to move. In the 80s the Braves were losing and drawing no fans so they almost moved, Then the falcons almost moved to Jacksonville when Rankin Smith wanted a new stadium. Hell even steinbreiner threaten to move the Yankees to Tampa a few years ago, I dont think the Thrashers if they do I would think Seattle would be a good fit for them. Northern most US city without a NBA team or NHL team move. Could you imagine a team called the Tampa YANKEES

phil

April 14th, 2010
2:15 am

We have a hockey team?

Jeff

April 14th, 2010
2:26 am

I have to admit, 20 years ago I made fun of hockey fans in my dorm in college… but around 1993-1994, I started to go to some Atlanta Knights games and I got hooked on the sport for good. It’s an amazingly skilled, fast-paced, physical, fun game to watch… the Stanley Cup playoffs on ESPN in the late 1990s were absolutely CLASSIC television.

That being said… I LOVE the Thrashers and fully support them, and I think there are MORE than enough hockey fans in Atlanta to make this work (see: success of the Knights at The Omni, and the first few years of the Thrashers at Philips). HOWEVER, if the ASG is still the owners in a year’s time, and if Waddell is still the incompetent GM that he is, I think (unfortunately) that the NHL will push to move the team.

I HOPE I am wrong… and I HOPE management will find a way to get rid of Waddell and infuse the organization with some hope and excitement. Atlanta loves a winner, and if this team ever made a run like the 2007 team did to win the division and make the playoffs, I think it would be a great atmosphere at Philips.

Hockey CAN work in Atlanta… the Flames, Knights and Thrashers all proved it… the thing is you HAVE to manage and coach your team effectively. Atlanta does not support losers… I have heard, at various points in my 40 years, about the Braves or Falcons or Hawks leaving because of a few years of bad play. But each of those teams rebuilt, got on the right track and have become very successful… the Thrashers can too, but SOMEBODY needs to step up and take charge to make it happen.

GO THRASHERS! Stay and succeed in Atlanta… here’s one fan who will always support you.

BeachGaBulldog

April 14th, 2010
2:57 am

First, I grew up watching the old Atlanta Flames, and was a HUGE FAN OF THAT TEAM. I went to a TON of their games. When they left, I was heartbroken and I said to hell with hockey in Atlanta. I tried, but have just NEVER been able to get into the Thrashers. I watched their first 2-3 games in season 1, but they bored the hell out of me. I broke down a few years ago, and went to 1 Thrashers game. Again, bored off of my ass. It was against the St. Louis Blues, and the only reason I went was to see the Blues.
When the Flames were around, it was always AWESOME to go see them play the Philadelphia Flyers with Schulz, Clarke, Barber, etc. What a rivalry! I knew the players by heart, their jersey numbers, etc.
What(VERY LITTLE) I do know about the Thrashers is that this Waddell guy is a first class F*** up. Whenever I am watching ESPN catching scores, and I see that the Thrashers have lost, I laugh my ass off. What a joke. They just need to fold. I live in Tampa, and at least they know how to win, having won a Stanley Cup.
Close up shop Thrashers( I have always hated their uniforms, too). YOU WILL ALWAYS SUCK! GOOD RIDDANCE!
God, I miss the Flames!

Just Wondering

April 14th, 2010
2:59 am

Yeah, just what I want to do… Sit in traffic for an hour getting to the game, so I can then spend $15-20 to park my car, so I can then go into the arena and get mugged ($8 beers, $7 hot dogs), and watch a game in a building that is split into the haves and have nots.

Golden Hand

April 14th, 2010
4:35 am

Do what now? They zoom around on ice skates and hit a piece of rubber with sticks? And they score about as often as soccer? Eh, personally, I’d rather watch reruns of spring football scrimmages. You can’t make me care about professional ice hockey any more than you can make me care about soccer. I’ll watch a little of the Olympics and the World Cup, if there’s nothing else on, and that’s my limit.

bugman

April 14th, 2010
5:04 am

Even tho I was fed up with D-Wad after the SECOND SEASON and vowed never to purchase another Thrashers tix until his removal, I surely would hate to see the team relocated. I am holding out hope that he will not be renewed in ‘10 and is asked to move back to MI. I also am of the opinion that the team will not be moved and the NHL will intervene before that occurs.

As for another owner, why not have ASG just hand over the ownership to McDavid in lieu of $316M?

Pinball34

April 14th, 2010
5:58 am

Nice negative story, Bradley. Go back to Kentucky and suck up to the NCAA .. You piece of S***.

bill

April 14th, 2010
6:49 am

Hasn’t this been tried once already in Atlanta – called the Flames? Different name with same results. The reason so many people move here is because it is NOT cold.

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

Icy topic: How much longer will the Thrashers be in Atlanta?

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Icy topic: How much longer will the Thrashers be in Atlanta?

231 comments Add your comment

About Mark Bradley

We’ve Moved!

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Search this blog

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