Thrashers Not Moving

I’ve checked out the Winnipeg rumor and Don Waddell has assured me that “there is absolutely nothing to it, and there is no forthcoming announcement or plans for relocation.”  Even Gary Bettman said in an AJC article last week that “the NHL is committed to Atlanta.”

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45 Responses to Thrashers Not Moving

  1. Ricochet says:

    I’m sick and tired of these rumors.

  2. JT Lancer says:

    If people would just be smart enough to ignore Dwayne and his countless lies we wouldn’t have these issues.

    People, when is the last time he got ANYTHING right? When?

    I would bet my bottom dollar that not only is this entirely made up but he didn’t speak to members of the Board of Governors as he says he did.

    It’s mind boggling that this guy hasn’t been laughed off the face of the media earth yet. Are people really that stupid? Really?

    Ben it’s not my place to give you advice but things would probably be better for you and your hard working organization if you’d just ignore this phony the same way you ignore all the other phony geek attention whore bloggers. This idiot even stated that Mr. Waddell runs the basketball team, which as you know is a hysterical LOL. One of many.

    • Ben Wright says:

      I actually hadn’t seen anything he had written about this rumor. I’m normally happy to ignore these, but I’ve been getting way more questions than usual about this one.

  3. Chris says:

    The guy also said DW was running the Hawks as well.

    Tells you how good of a journalist he is. Oh wait, he ISN’T one.

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  5. Alan says:

    This rumor from HockeyBuzz likely stems from a post by one Scott Taylor:

    http://blog.rogersbroadcasting.com/scott-taylor/

    Scott Taylor was forced to resign from his previous position at the Winnipeg Free Press for plagiarism. He currently works at CITI-FM in Winnipeg.

    To see the rumor in question, you’ll have to scroll down to his post on 12 Feb.

    While plagiarism isn’t the same as spreading false rumors, it is enough in my book to discredit him.

    One would have to wonder how this all could have gone on in secret. Everyone knew there was a problem in Phoenix before Mr. Moyes “declared bankruptcy.” Everyone also knew Tampa Bay was for sale, and would eventually get sold. In Atlanta, we have the assurance that the owners are behind the club 100%. While that doesn’t necessarily make that true, it is an “on-the-record” quote from a verifiable source. Where are the sources for the news that the Thrashers have been sold? What about sources declaring the team is moving at the end of the season?

    Easy. There are none.

    I don’t normally trust the front office people, but I believe they’re being honest with us.

  6. Kris says:

    It seems like another person whose trying to get attention. Yes, Winnipeg does deserve a team, but there are far better candidates than the Thrashers.

  7. Zim says:

    Sorry Winnipeg. Oh, look what time it is… I gotta jet!

  8. AC says:

    I’m sure all 7000 fans in Atlanta will be high disappointed

  9. lordstan57 says:

    7000 fans????

    Big BS comment there pal….. just what we don’t need, and….. wasn’t even original OR witty. I bet there is even more than 7000 Canadian transplants here, as well as Russian, Slav, German, Nor”Easterners.

    Soooooooo, off with you EH?

  10. AC says:

    Been to or watched a Tuesday or Thursday night game lately? Mighty cavernous, lotta corporate tickets that aren’t showin’ up. Doesn’t matter how many transplants are there if you can’t get ‘em in the barn.

  11. e says:

    ac

    The crowd at Phillips was Huge at the last game,I am a season ticket holder originally from Connecticut,and most games I go to are on tuesday and thursday.Also I have horrible memories of the last Whaler game and do not want to re-live that again.ALSO when the Whale left it was because of Bettman and Karmonos the owner not wanting to be in Hartford.Gary B wants hockey to stay here,and in the end if the NHL wants the Thrashers to stay they will.

  12. Anonymous says:

    didnt winnipeg have a team? oh yeah they left and went where? the desert, the most unlogical place for a hockey game, if they couldnt keep their team then why the hell would someone think they could keep one now? exactly, if the thrashers ever move i would doubt it would be to a city that already failed once with a nhl team. whereas atlanta has been partly successful with hockey, remember the flames did well here and had good attendence, but were sold for an offer that no one would refuse.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Now, build a winning team so we can increase attendance. It is bad, but it’s bad because the team has had basically zero success. Bring a quality product, and the fans will definitely come.

  14. WPG says:

    Anonymous,
    You are correct when you state that Winnipeg had a team. However, that is where it ends. Winnipeg lost the team not because of poor fan support. Rather the team was lost because of short sighted politicians who threw up so many obstacles that the owner could never make it work. The old arena is gone and we now have a new one. When we do get another team, the owner will not only own the building they play in, but they will also receive money from concessions, television, marketing etc. I would suggest that you check your history of the Atlanta Flames. The owner at the time was forced to sell because his business was failing. He could not get much for the team in Atlanta due to POOR FAN SUPPORT and the lack of a major television contract. Eventually a Canadian businessman bought the team for 16 million and moved it to Calgary. In Atlanta you still do not have the fan support or television and the current ownership is a mess. Atlanta was given a second chance and blew it. Winnipeg will get a second chance one day and it will work. Cheers.

  15. AC says:

    I bet half the tickets at our office go unused, can’t give ‘em away. Seen my boss toss sets of 4 in the garbage on more than one occasion.

    Boo freakin’ hoo, a lousy sports team leaves town or folds. Truth be told, I’d like to see about ten teams dissolved so we wouldn’t have to watch garbage games for 1/2 the season. It’s obvious there aren’t enough “quality” players, coaches, mgmt and ownership to sustain 30 strong and fully stocked franchises.

  16. geo says:

    to AC…

    what are you doing spending all day on a thrashers blog if you dont even like or care about the thrashers? LOL, find something better to do!!!!!

    to everyone else…

    too bad thrashers fans have to put up with all this “thrashers are moving” garbage. i dont sit around hoping that other teams get moved. it doesnt aggravate me that the coyotes havent been moved after lousy attendance. i hope teams like this catch on because i want the sport i love to expand to non traditional markets. i wish other people would leave us alone and stop spreading ridiculous rumors.

  17. Tim Wright says:

    Gary Bettman also said he was committed to Hartford. He has no power to stop a willful relocation by the team’s owner just like what happened to the Whalers. The truth is, Atlanta fans won’t know until the deal is done, and everyone with the organization and its hockey operations will deny because they won’t be involved in the negotiations. Don’t trust businessmen. They have no incentive to let the fans know anything.

  18. JoeBlue says:

    Hey AC,
    If your boss is “throwing away a set of 4 tickets” PLEASE let me know, no kidding. I am sure I will use them. Myself and friends would love to go to any game where the tickets are wasted, but right now we can’t afford to make every game.
    I’m not saying that every night would sell out, but if we can put a team on the ice that can compete, the fans will show up. I was there for the 2 sell outs for the playoffs, trust me, they will show up.

  19. SV says:

    I am a die heart thrashers fan but, I believe if this team doesn’t get up and running within 2-3 years they will move. I know the owners aren’t big hockey fans so they wouldnt really care. I was depress when Kovalchuk left but I got over it. So basically it do or die for the thrashers within these next few seasons.

  20. Wayne stuck in AL says:

    Hey AC:
    Suppose 10 NHL teams do dissolve…Do you really think any major U.S. television network (broadcast or cable) would actually be interested in a sport with fewer U.S. cities?

  21. anonymous says:

    I find it highly ironic that thrashers fans say that Winnipeg cannot support a team because they had a team and lost it. Have you guys ever heard of the Atlanta Flames? How about the Minnesota North Starts? California Golden Seals? Colorado Rockies?

    19 years between the flames leaving and the thrashers arriving.
    15 years between seals leaving oakland, and sharks arriving in San Jose.
    14 years between the Jets leaving and now
    14 years between rockies leaving and avalanche arriving
    7 years between north stars leaving and wild coming back

    Why is it so impossible for a team to come back to Winnipeg? It wouldn’t even be the shortest wait before the NHL retried a market!

  22. Frank says:

    The Atlanta Spirit own the Thrashers and Phillips Arena. I think the lease on the building is still good for 3 or 4 more years. They wont be going anywhere until that contract is up. After that its anyone’s guess, and if DW is still in charge I’ll help pack their bags.

  23. CB says:

    Why don’t they pick on the Coyotes?

  24. AC says:

    Wayne:
    Ever heard of the English Premier League? ESPN carries games from that league and –gasp– they have NO teams in the US. And what network carries the NHL now? Versus (one or two games a week and most Americans probably don’t even know it exists) and NBC which shows about 8 regular season games a year because they get to do so for free. Pickin’s couldn’t get much slimmer.

    I watch 90% of my hockey off the computer and pick and choose the best matchups each night. I’m a fan of “great” hockey (or sport for that matter) and not some kitschy made up logo or a team that should have been -relegated- to the AHL by now. (Now THERE’S something that may have forced this putrid ownership group to pull their collective heads out of their arses!)

  25. litz says:

    I thought the Philips deal was extant until 2020 (essentially 20 years) ?

    BTW – something has GOT to be done about the drug spam. Can we add a CAPTCHA or something before allowing updates?

    - litz

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  27. JT says:

    Is ESPN now reporting on this move? Read this on another blog. Say it isn’t so!!

  28. lordstan57 says:

    A revelation!
    I had no idea the THRASHERS weren’t televised.

    And somebody had better inform Cousins Properties that their business failed some 30 years ago.

    MORON.

  29. none says:

    Hockybuzz is a joke. Even after Waddell’s “Alexi Zhitnik is a big part of the future of this team” crap, I’d trust him over Hockeybuzz.

    And to think, people pay to be members of the site.

    http://hockeybuzzhogwash.com/

  30. Anonymous says:

    I thought the lease was up in the next 2 years. I do believe this team will be moved but not for a few years.

  31. Wayne stuck in AL says:

    The only thing that’s up right now is the Thrashers’ radio rights on 680 The Fan; now that they have the Braves, Thrasher broadcasts will probably move up the dial to some low-powered gospel or Spanish-language station…

  32. Jared says:

    AC

    Get a life asshole, this is a blog for the Atlanta Thrashers fans, not angry losers trying to make arguments. C’mon man, why all the hate.

  33. Anonymous says:

    wpg your confused, the flames made the playoffs six of the eight years they were in atl.
    and they were sold for a then nhl record 16 mil
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Flames
    so go enjoy your winnipeg pee wee hockey while i go watch all the nhl teams when they cruise through the atl
    peace and chicken grease

  34. Jim Wright says:

    According to Don Waddell, the lease on the arena was a 99-year lease (he stated this at a Town Hall meeting in 2008). The lease stipulates that there be BOTH a basketball AND a hockey team for the life of the contract. WPG, get your facts straight. The Flames left due to unrelated financial issues pertaining to Tom Cousins. The AJC has repeatedly misreported this info as well. NHL attendance was abysmal, in the 1970s. Atlanta’s was relatively good, in a league that only had as few as 17 teams. The Cleveland Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars. The Colorado Rockies moved to New Jersey. These cities are far more “hockey” oriented than Atlanta would be expected to be. Yet, the Flames had support, & made the playoffs in six of its eight seasons.

    Atlanta’s current attendance problems have to do with weeknight games. This problem extends beyond the Thrashers. Check out a Hawks game on a weeknight, or a Braves game when the weather is cold (sometimes, even when it is warm). The city supports a team that can prove its dedication to success. We’ve been “taken” before by owners that were either clueless or indifferent. We’ve learned not to be any owner’s fool, regardless of the sport. I believe that such is good policy.

  35. Anonymous says:

    hey jet fans, if attendance was never an issue with the jets moving, then why throughout the history of your old team was the highest season average attendance only 13,600 out of a stadium capacity of 15,500?? The last year, the jets averaged about 11,000. No wonder moving to the desert seemed like an attractive alternative. So ATL is supposed to move to a “hockey city” that can’t even fill a smaller stadium to watch their national sport? right.

  36. Fan from 99 says:

    This rumor crap only helps the hacks that put it on their blogs it is bad for Winnipeg and Atlanta. Unfortunately these rumors will not stop in the near future because the climate is right for them to continue. Here are just a few of the problems that keep this mess going. Don Waddell can give all the statements he wants but he lies so often that when it is important no one trusts him. The ownership keeps DW as general manager even after he has failed to build a hockey market, a successful business, or a team for ten years. Every year think that this year the team will be different but most hockey fans in Atlanta have given up and moved on to other things. Many of the fans that have walked away say that if DW is gone they will give it another try half of the STH hate DW and their numbers keep shrinking. My point is that the owners would be financially better off to hire a new GM and run Don out of town on a rail. They would get an automatic do over with the fans their credibility would go up and some fans would come back giving them a chance to rebuild the team and the market. So why don’t they do it? I do not have the foggiest notion but many out there think that they keep Don only to run the team into the ground for an impending sale or relocation. Added to the ever lowering ticket sales and the inability to keep talent it is natural for cities who want a team to pick on us. I hope that the Thrashers turn things around this is the 8th largest market and there is no reason a team can not win here but I have given up this year again because they do not have the 15 wins in them to make the play offs so for now we can all look forward to next year.




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