[airborne]

Hockey News Ping!

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Report: Thrashers sold to Winnipeg group

According to an unconfirmed and to this point unsubstantiated report in the Globe and Mail, an agreement to sell the National Hockey League’s Atlanta Thrashers to a Winnipeg group which plans to relocate the franchise to the Manitoba capital is done.

Sources told the Globe and Mail Thursday night that preparations are being made for an announcement Tuesday of the sale and transfer of the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and the MTS Centre arena, which would become the NHL team’s new home.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=563305&navid=mod-rr-headlines

[EQAndyBuzz]

Surprised it wasn’t the Coyotes.

[secret garden]

They lost a team before. Can they keep one this time?

[shove_it]

As I recall, the Flames home was Atlanta in the early 70s. I attended a game there and saw them get beat by the Flyers. It was amusing to watch the drunken fans cheer when the Flames iced the puck.

[B Knotts]

Makes more sense to locate hockey teams where there are hockey fans.

[Alberta's Child]

Interesting news, but not surprising. In light of the problems facing teams like Phoenix and Atlanta, I think it's about time the NHL really sat down and figured out exactly what they want to be when they grow up . . . a "popular sport" marketed to casual (i.e., disinterested) fans in large U.S. television markets, or a "cult sport" marketed to passionate fans in traditional NHL markets and smaller U.S. and Canadian cities with strong hockey cultures.

Less than two decades ago, the NHL decided that a metro area like Phoenix with a few thousand hockey fans among 3+ million people was a better market than a city like Winnipeg with several hundred thousand serious hockey fans among only 600,000 people. It looks like they're starting to see the folly of that growth strategy.

[secret garden]

It’s down to two. I think Vancouver has the edge.