If the Thrashers leave, it won’t be because Atlanta failed them
Are the lights about to dim on ice hockey in Atlanta? (AJC photo by Jessica McGowan)
The endgame has surely begun. It’s sad, yes. Given the way this franchise has been run, it’s also inevitable.
In the three months since Michael Gearon Jr., one of the team’s many owners, said the Thrashers were for sale, no credible buyer has emerged who’s willing to throw away money to keep the team in Atlanta. And now, reports esteemed colleague Chris Vivlamore, the Atlanta Spirit has begun negotiations with True North Sports and Entertainment, which very much wants a hockey club for Winnipeg.
Some continue to hold out hope, thinking an Atlanta knight will appear to save the Thrashers. But here we need ask: Does this franchise merit saving?
Atlanta is on the cusp of becoming the first American city to lose two NHL teams, but this failure is more pronounced. The old Flames actually did well on the ice, making the playoffs six times in eight years. The Thrashers have been a continuing dud: One playoff appearance, no playoff victories. They’ve seen their two best players leave because they wanted to make more money but also because they wanted to win.
As convenient as it is to lay all blame on the ham-handed Spirit, these owners weren’t the ones who hired Don Waddell as franchise architect. Time Warner did that. Where the Spirit failed was in its basic commitment to hockey.
The Spirit was made up of businessmen from three cities, most of whom preferred basketball. In the Spirit’s corporate eye, the Thrashers were always going to be the Hawks’ little brothers. Had the hockey club been well-run, that might have been OK. But the hockey club was adrift, and ownership didn’t much care. Indeed, it kept rewarding Waddell for the rousing achievement of coming in under budget.
We now know that the Spirit sought to dump the Thrashers almost from the start, but the sideshow with Steve Belkin lasted so long the team lost its novelty. This stopped being Our New Hockey Club and became just another serial loser. Worse, it was a loser working hard not to spend money. Why should anyone subsidize such a half-hearted enterprise?
Not many among us did. The Thrashers’ attendance cratered, and even the hope inherent in last year’s makeover – new GM, new coach, many imported Chicago Blackhawks – came too late. The Thrashers wilted after New Year’s, and yet another season ended with the 82nd game.
It’s hard to miss the NHL playoffs, which include more than half the league’s teams, 10 times in 11 tries. The Thrashers have managed it. They haven’t found a goaltender or played much defense. They went five years too long with Waddell. They’ve given the bulk of the audience no reason to keep watching.
As cruel as it sounds, they’ve had their chance. Of the four teams that entered the NHL in the latest round of expansion, the Minnesota Wild has made the playoffs three times, reaching the conference finals in 2003; the Nashville Predators have qualified for postseason play six of the past seven seasons and just won a series. Only the Columbus Blue Jackets — one playoff appearance, zero victories — keep the Thrashers from being alone at the bottom.
Not since 2007-2008 have the Thrashers averaged more than 15,000 at Philips Arena. Over the past three seasons, they’ve outdrawn only the Islanders, who are the third team in the New York metropolitan area, and the Phoenix Coyotes, who were in line for export to Manitoba before voters stepped in last week. When you go three seasons and average 13,901 per home date, is there really an audience to desert?
There is, sort of. The same cluster of fans who loved the Thrashers when they arrived in 1999 love them still, but the franchise has had 12 years to attract a bigger audience and failed. For the zealots, separation would come as a blow. For the rest of us, it would mean little. Because the Thrashers have never sold themselves to us. They haven’t won big enough. They’ve been part of Atlanta, but they’ve never become part of the Atlanta conversation.
They’ve had 11 seasons, three more than the Flames did. They set up shop in a new arena and rode a wave of good will. They capitalized on none of it. If/when they leave, it won’t be because Atlanta failed the Thrashers. It will be because the Thrashers failed Atlanta.
By Mark Bradley
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263 comments Add your comment
East Point Bob
May 16th, 2011
7:27 pm
“esteemed colleague Chris Vivlamore”, You have got to be kidding right ????? This guy is asg’s little Bitch, reports what they want, when they want, how they want. Has never, never, never ever
asked one single tough question of these idiots or don waddell, not once. His only response to
getting on him is a stupid comment like, “Cool off dude” ??? This guy is the worst hockey beat write I ever saw with a wimp attitude and no stomach to be on the fan’s side. Like I said, he is the asg mouthpiece and does exactly what they want him to say, and if the team moves, I hope they take him with them.
Greg T.
May 16th, 2011
7:28 pm
I couldn’t care less about the Thrashers and the NHL.
The truth
May 16th, 2011
7:29 pm
Ohl
Thrashers were never good and get your facts straight
HOTROD HOCKEY
May 16th, 2011
7:30 pm
“Fire Bill Daley and Gary Bettman”. They have not help hockey much and have not stood up for the Thrashers at all.
TheAntiMe
May 16th, 2011
7:30 pm
Looking back, it appears that this franchise was doomed with mismanagement issues right from the very start when with the very first pick in the history of the Thrashers they used the #1 pick of the 1999 draft on – wait for it… Patrik Stefan! I’m guessing that he will never be confused with Wayne Gretsky or Mario Lemieux. Or even Claude Lemieux, for that matter!
HOTROD HOCKEY
May 16th, 2011
7:32 pm
Hey The truth…..Winnipeg is not the answer…
The truth
May 16th, 2011
7:34 pm
I agree… Atlanta is the answer with the right owner gm then people would get jacked up.
Bruce levison is to blame
Ray W
May 16th, 2011
7:35 pm
Winnipeg=Poverty,
The reason David Thomson (no p) is involved is that over the course of the last decade he has bought massive amounts of property in downtown Winnipeg, owning as much as 40 per cent of the land within a 9 block radius of the rink. He is currently getting approval to build a high-end hotel directly across the street from the rink and is in negotiations to build a casino that would be attached by sky walk to the arena. He’s doing it for real estate development purposes, as he was able to buy these properties at relatively low cost, and knows that the addition of an NHL team as an anchor talent for the neighbourhood will be a boon to his property valuation.
He has publicly stated he has no interest in owning a team in Ontario. He sees this as a wise investment, and has already been part owner of a hockey team in Winnipeg (the Manitoba Moose) for 8 years. This is also part of why an NHL team could be financially successful in the Manitoba capital. Many of these properties are owned by Thomson through True North, (including the proposed casino) and will provide additional revenue streams for the team. In additin the new SHED district in the downtown will see a portion of the property taxes he pays redirected to the team, which he would also own.
Archie
May 16th, 2011
7:36 pm
Another zealot here, I have a question for my fellow hockey fanatics… How much more and more angry do you get with all the “who cares!” comments from the local non-fans? If you lost your job, I wouldn’t go up to you and say “who cares, I never didn’t lose mine!” If someone stole your car, I wouldn’t say “oh well, I thought your car was ugly anyway!” Nobody would say that, because it’s a terrible, cruel, a-hole thing to say! So why do all these clowns come out and say the same thing now? Who cares how many people care the team is leaving?!?!? All that matters is that some people care, the people who paid their hard earned money for 10 years to watch a team that never gave them anything in return, and the people who don’t get the money they spent back the way these owners do when they sell!
blazerdawg
May 16th, 2011
7:36 pm
Flames drew very well.
Knights broke IHL attendance records.
Thrashers set the expansion NHL attendance record.
After a few years, when another team’s fan base is down in a smaller market, that owner is going to take a hard look at Philips arena and this market.
Long Island, Columbus and Florida – you are on the clock.
Gwinnett Fred
May 16th, 2011
7:39 pm
Technically, since the NHL started in 1917, Montreal (Wanderers in ‘18 & Maroons ‘38) & Quebec (Bulldogs ‘20 & Nords ‘95) have also lost franchises twice!
Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things – but just wanted to save the great city of Atlanta from being the only one as you erroneously stated in your article! Though they would become the first ever USA city to lose a franchise twice!
HOTROD HOCKEY
May 16th, 2011
7:39 pm
Ted Turner screwed the Thrashers when he decided to sell the Thrashers to this group and not
David Mcdavid. ” Remember him” He is the 1 owner that want to buy everything but Turner screwed him in that deal. Well I am glad Mcdavid sued him and won more then what everything is worth. Around 285,000,000….So in the end Mcdavid got is and is laughing all the way to the bank. At least if we had him here, we would have someone who loves hockey and cares
Ray W
May 16th, 2011
7:40 pm
Fred, didn’t the Wanderers just merge with the Canadiens, rather than fold/move? I was aware of Quebec City.
OHL
May 16th, 2011
7:45 pm
@truth, pardon me, I was quoting someone and they said “decent” but not “good”. So there you have it. They were decent but not good. But the numbers still stand. You can’t possibly compare yourselves to profitable teams like Boston or Chicago when they had poor attendance and poor owners because they still made money through other streams that would not occur in Atlanta (a tv contract with NESN for starters).
Gwinnett Fred
May 16th, 2011
7:46 pm
They might have done some combining, but technically they folded because their arena burned down and they never rebuilt it and the team dissolved.
"Chef" Tim Dix
May 16th, 2011
7:46 pm
If Glavine’s passion and pocketbook decided to stay clear, they must be worth next to nothing and thusly why the league wants the 60 mil in relocation fees.
ASG=TFB
May 16th, 2011
7:47 pm
The ASG started out with no chance of survival. Think about it, 8 egomaniacal guys? Or was it 9? At any rate, there is no way 8 or 9 guys are going to agree on anything after the ‘honeymoon’ wears off. When that many dollar signs are involved, the honeymoon is short lived, indeed.
Half of the group earned at least part of their own fortune, the others inherited everything, or in Rutherford Seydel’s case, married into it. That doesn’t make ‘em bad guys, just inexperienced business men. And pitiful, rudderless owners. As always, we the fans suffer the most. ASG
will end up recouping most of their money, minus the lawyer fees from the Belkin lawsuit.
ASG=TFB
May 16th, 2011
7:47 pm
Trust Fund Babies
"Chef" Tim Dix
May 16th, 2011
7:48 pm
Oh, AND, don’t blame MARTA.
Hawks have one foot in the grave with this bunch.
Winnipeg = Poverty
May 16th, 2011
7:50 pm
@ Ray W Winnipeg as a entertainment destination in Canada? I doubt it, you’re confusing Winnipeg with Las Vegas and Branson, Missouri. Winnipeg is still too poor, unpopulated and isolated from the rest off North America and if any real money is to be made off an NHL franchise in Canada, its going to be in Southern Ontario.
Atticus
May 16th, 2011
7:53 pm
If they sell the team and it moves I will NEVER, EVER pay one dime to enter Phillips Arena for any event, ever…………again. And I know a dozen others that feel the same way. We had Flames tickets and that was a different era…….0 playoff wins in a decade is a freaking joke and it is due to this ownership group and no accountability.
Lew39
May 16th, 2011
7:53 pm
Mark, I too have been a season ticket holder for years. I do not blame any fan for not coming to see a game where the product was inferior. These so called business men/owners never really invested in their product and at the end of the day it is the product that puts cheeks in seats.
The NHL should also take some of the blame here as they saw how disfunctional ownership was and did nothing to step in to help. I believe new owners and a better product can and would be supported here.
The city should also take some blame in not wanting to subsidize the Thrashers for one more season. Would the City’s repsonse had been the same if the hawks were being sold? Somehow I truly beleive the city would come up with the money for the Hawks.
Nate
May 16th, 2011
7:53 pm
Thanks Mark. Well said.
I am a zealot and have thrown away money at this franchise for each season of its existence. More so since the return after the lockout when the team got young and talented even if it did lose.
Unfortunately, Dany Heatley ultimately killed any chance this franchise had at longterm success. If the accident had never happened, I don’t think you’d have ever written this article. As bad as the Spirit group has been, if he stays the team would’ve had enough success to build a bigger fanbase to draw from. JMO
Ray W
May 16th, 2011
7:55 pm
Where did I say it was an entertainment desitnation?
I said Thomson has invested heavily in real estate there, which he has. Some estimates have projected that through the increase in his property valuation, he’d be able to make back the full $170 million purchase price within 5 years, regardless of the success of the franchise. The man is worth approximately $24 billion and would be the richest owner in the league by a margin of about $22 billion. He knows what he’s doing when it comes to making a buck.
I’d like Atlanta to keep the team, but don’t put up the false contention that a Winnipeg franchise would not be financially successful when you are not aware of the other investments that are involved.
Sunshine Falcon
May 16th, 2011
7:59 pm
I hate to see the Thrashers leave. I saw the Flames last game, in Atlanta. It’s sad about hockey in our town, now and then.
Ray W
May 16th, 2011
8:06 pm
Nate
“Killed” may have been an unfortunate choice of words there, due to the literalness of it.
Bluestreak
May 16th, 2011
8:11 pm
The first screwup the ASG made was to alienate the Flames that remained in the city. What an awesome opportunity to tie the first local team with the new one, but the thick-headed numbskulls that run the Thrashers refused to build that link.
Then, there was no grassroots effort to build a fanbase. If baseball runs a ‘101′ class for women, you would think they hockey team could do something similar.
Missed opportunities…hopefully there is still a chance for the Atlanta Knight to ride in and save the Thrashers from deportation to Siberia.
Paging Mr. Balkan, Mr. Balkan…the ASG is on line one
BluelandBuddha
May 16th, 2011
8:12 pm
Although ASG didnt hire Waddell, they certainly had ample opportunities and ample reason to FIRE him. There is no better proof of their complete disregard of this franchise than that. They simply didnt care from Day 1 about the NHL. And Bettman is prepared to give them a pass by allowing the sale to TNSE. Add me to the list that will not spend 1 dime on an event in Philips if these a$$clowns would in any way profit from it. Never.
Bluestreak
May 16th, 2011
8:14 pm
If the Icebirds leave, then the ASG may as well be the Seattle Supersonics Group and move the Hawks. No one will want to support anything handled by the goons.
I hope the few that actually live here have plans in place to vacate the state. Sydel and the Gearons are no longer welcome to live here.
Dr Fever
May 16th, 2011
8:15 pm
I have to say hockey is the only professional sport that has received any of my entertainment $$$ over the past several years. That money now goes back to the kitty.
eltong
May 16th, 2011
8:16 pm
I’m from Atlanta, live in Virginia, and am an ex-Flames season ticket holder. I would love to have been a Thrashers fan, but someone wouldn’t let me. All their games were blacked out here. In Virginia, for crying out loud! They didn’t try very hard to attract a bigger audience.
Two Line Pass
May 16th, 2011
8:27 pm
Once it is official someone needs to hold a ‘Trash the Thrashers Day’. Bring all of your Thrashers gear that you have and either torch it or tear it to shreds. I am sure it would draw a ton of people and would be covered by all media outlets. It is sad it’s come to this but it has. Hold the event either out at Philips or at the Ice Forum in Duluth.
Rob
May 16th, 2011
8:28 pm
Me and my family started watching the Thrashers in 2008 at Phillips when my wife’s company gave us 4 free tickets and surprisingly enough we all loved hockey. Surprising because i’m a brown skinned guy. After that I bought ticket for us 4 for the rest of that season. As the playoffs got near the ASG start a fire sale on some of their best players and start trading them. Which to me showed they weren’t really serious about the team getting better. Then 2009 we still attended games not as many then they never try to keep Kolvulchuck, trade again. No games attended this season because they didn’t try to get any better. They made good trades with the Kolvie trade but never anything after that because all along they were trying to sell them. I wish they could have sold them to someone else to keep them here I’ll miss hockey in Atlanta I loved hockey more than I did the Hawks, Sad day for a new hockey family.
B. Thenet
May 16th, 2011
8:29 pm
The Gearons and the rest of the Atlanta portion of ASG should be shunned for their digusting behavior. One can only hope Old Man Ted has cut off the part of clan that was involved in pillaging Atlanta’s hockey team to line their velvet lined pockets.
Waddell, well if he had a shred if dignity he would have admitted his own failure and resigned years ago. In the end it is not his fault he was retained, incompetence must be purged from the ranks by upper management and ownership.
Cam's Money
May 16th, 2011
8:35 pm
Atlanta Spirit are DEAD to me.
Cam's Money
May 16th, 2011
8:36 pm
Does this mean select a seat is cancelled?
Cam's Money
May 16th, 2011
8:39 pm
Who is the biggest dumb arse DWad, Deal With It Levinson, or Daddy’s Little Baby Gearon Jr.?
DMR
May 16th, 2011
8:39 pm
A terrible economy, terrible ownership, and a terrible product. IT’S NOT THE FANS, STUPID! The fans are not responsible for this. No matter how much support could be mustered for this team, it probably would not and should not be enough.
I feel for the vendors and other businesses that will likely suffer due to the loss of this franchise. However, this is simple. Build a crappy product…expect crappy results.
Cam's Money
May 16th, 2011
8:43 pm
Pay Joe Johnson max money – brilliant.
Michael F.
May 16th, 2011
8:43 pm
The ASG mishandled the Thrashers and in the turn diesenfranchised many of the fans that love and support the Team. However, at the same time, it feels at times fans were so worried about not putting money in the pockets of the ASG, they did not buy tickets and thus our attendance numbers suffered and is one of the reasons we are in this situation.
I firmly believe that fans will support the Team during tough times, maybe not sell outs every night but better than our current attendance avg, if the ASG did a few things different and fans felt they were working towards building a contender.
Currently we have a very talented core and a GM that is putting together a good team. It is unfortunate that we may not see the fruits of that labor due to the ASG.
It appears the ASG won’t sell all 3 entities to one person, but are willing to sell only the Thrashers to Canada. Obviously there is someone who wants to buy all 3. Too bad the other NHL owners can’t force the ASG to sell all three as I’m sure they don’t want to lose a top 10 TV market.
Red Wing
May 16th, 2011
8:49 pm
I have always thought the “Wad” sucked ever since he was “excused” from the Red Wing’s organization years ago.
Darkhorse
May 16th, 2011
8:56 pm
@Cam’s Money-Exactly…..Max contract to Joe Johnson to get the Hawks one solid game from him in the 2nd rd and 2 wins against the Bulls.
For the Thrashers? Levenson to Dudley, “you can go a million over the minimum since you’re the new GM. Better make it count.”
just a quick fact
May 16th, 2011
8:57 pm
Less than half of the NHL franchises get good fan support regardless of the product being put on the ice. Anyone who says differently (including that nimrod John Kincade) are INCORRECT.
Darkhorse
May 16th, 2011
8:58 pm
The optimist may say, well I can’t run the Thrashers any worse than the ASG, so maybe I will buy them on the cheap, keep them here and spend some money. Too bad this probably won’t happen
ATL Spirit = criminals
May 16th, 2011
9:01 pm
The Atlanta Spirit have RUINED this franchise. They’ve basically been stealing from it to feed their other franchise (the Hawks).
What’s even more amazing is that Gary Bettman and the NHL have let them get away with it.
Thomas the Tank Engine
May 16th, 2011
9:03 pm
I haven’t read any of your posts. I simply don’t have time. My point is that Phillips Arena has a great opportunity to put on some really great shows.
HockeyLove
May 16th, 2011
9:10 pm
I’m a Thrashers zealot who takes issue with the ignorant people who write Atlanta off as “not a hockey town.” I’m as big a football fan as there is, college and pro, but thanks to the Thrashers I gave hockey a chance, and I haven’t been able to get my fill for 11 years, now.
I know they’ve not been good. BELIEVE me, I know. The things I’ve wished upon Teflon Don make the Moses look like a grade school prankster. Still, this is MY team, and the inherent belief of any fan is that living through the rough days will one day be worth it. Now I just don’t know what to think.
Even those folks I’ve spoken with who aren’t particularly hockey fans realize the blow this would be to the Atlanta stature as a sports town. Unfortunately that’s not even Atlanta’s fault. It’s ASG’s fault.
As depressing as all this is for me – I’m even more sad for my three young sports fans. When will they have a chance in Atlanta to see NHL hockey again?
Paddy
May 16th, 2011
9:10 pm
With the justified hatred of the ASG at an all-time high, the Hawks will feel the sting as well. No one in their right mind should buy a ticket that results in money in the pockets of these carpetbaggers. Where is the rail and the tar and feathers?
newyorker
May 16th, 2011
9:17 pm
I had season ticket number 201 and hung in there until last year. If the team had been any good the arena would have been packed. I was at the two home playoff games and the place was as electric as Madison Square Garden. You are dead right–I stopped supporting the team long after the owners did—they let his city down and Waddell should be ashamed.
Kincade
May 16th, 2011
9:25 pm
@Blondie “and even in the suburb of Kennesaw, there is now a hockey supply store. ”
No Way! Your very own hockey supply store! Wow! Do they have anyone who knows how to sharpen skates too!? Gee wilikers.
Gimmie a break. Hockey has as much place in Atlanta, as do rap moguls, the NBA and the Real Housewives, have in Winnipeg.