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NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

jmh said:
It's as much of a major professional sports city as Hempstead, NY.
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Meh. That's just part of New York. It's like referring to Glendale for Phoenix or Sunrise for Florida. We all know what city the team is attempting to draw from.

I'd rather have a 2nd Toronto team over a mid-Connecticut franchise with 4 other teams within 70 miles or so. Without ESPN's location, the Brass Bonanza and Mallrats, they'd be about as remarkable as the Kansas City Scouts. Let it die.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

joecct said:
But we'll always have the Commack Arena...
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I covered a state GOP convention at Commack Arena for my local yokel newspaper in 1979. It was hysterical -- the people with floor privileges were either 60-year politicos or the 19-year old call girls they'd hired for the night, and the entire arena was literally a smoke-filled room. The press all looked and talked like Jack Germond and they all knew all the officials' mistresses but not their wives. It was an exceptional first exposure to how politics actually works.

Another night, but always the same:

Commack_Arena__1959.jpg
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

bronconick said:
Meh. That's just part of New York. It's like referring to Glendale for Phoenix or Sunrise for Florida. We all know what city the team is attempting to draw from.

I'd rather have a 2nd Toronto team over a mid-Connecticut franchise with 4 other teams within 70 miles or so. Without ESPN's location, the Brass Bonanza and Mallrats, they'd be about as remarkable as the Kansas City Scouts. Let it die.
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OK, but let's be realistic, the Islanders don't even come remotely close to drawing fans from NYC except when the Rangers come to town.

(I'm not saying they should return a team to Hartford either, I'm just saying that it wouldn't be the *only* city in the NHL that doesn't really fit the major league profile.)
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

jmh said:
OK, but let's be realistic, the Islanders don't even come remotely close to drawing fans from NYC except when the Rangers come to town.
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This wasn't always the case. The Isles are paying the price of 20 years of incompetence while the Rangers are reaping the windfall of 20 years of slightly less incompetence.
 
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Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

From Rotoworld: The Atlanta Spirit, who own the Thrashers, are reportedly in negotiations with True North Entertainment and Sports.
If the Thrashers are sold to True North, they will likely move the team to Winnipeg. The Atlanta Spirit desperately want to sell the Thrashers, but they might still be able to find a buyer that's interested in keeping the team in Atlanta. A group of investors that includes Tom Glavine is believed to be interested in buying the team, but it's not clear if they're a serious contender. We'll keep you posted.

The Fourth Period Magazine is reporting that a deal is close to getting done. Take that for what its worth.
 
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Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

The AJC has an article regarding the negotiations:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-thrashers/atlanta-spirit-true-north-947628.html

Negotiations began after a buyer willing to purchase the Thrashers and keep the team in Atlanta could not be found.

NHL bylaws require that an owner seeking to relocate a team submit a written application to the commissioner by Jan. 1 of the year preceding the proposed move — “unless a majority of the [clubs] consents to a later filing date.” That clause and caveat leave open the question of whether a move, if a deal is reached, would be for the 2011-12 or 2012-13 season.

...

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, speaking on NHL Live radio last week, said the situation regarding franchise relocation comes down to ownership.

“It’s the reason we ended up leaving Quebec City and Winnipeg,” Bettman said. “Those teams moved when nobody wanted to own the club there anymore. If you get to that position, where somebody is not prepared to own the club anymore and you can’t find a new perspective purchaser, then you are really between a rock and a hard place.

“We know that the current ownership of the Thrashers has been trying for a long period of time to try and sell the franchise and they haven’t been able to do it. … If they can’t find local ownership, then we might all have to deal with that. But I know they have tried very hard and I assume that they continue to try very hard.”
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Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
More like 17 years of slightly less incompetence for the Rangers.
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Without Mess we're still all chanting "1940."

It's heresy, but NYC is a nothing hockey town. The Isles were always a toy for well-heeled Long Islanders, the Devils are for Swamp Staters who can't accept their spritual Jerusalem is Philly. The Rags are for a handful of old guys who hang out in Penn Station and smell like Stan Fischler's socks. Take them out of the World's Most Famous Arena and they are the Hartford Whalers. :)
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

NMU8405 said:
From Rotoworld: The Atlanta Spirit, who own the Thrashers, are reportedly in negotiations with True North Entertainment and Sports.
If the Thrashers are sold to True North, they will likely move the team to Winnipeg. The Atlanta Spirit desperately want to sell the Thrashers, but they might still be able to find a buyer that's interested in keeping the team in Atlanta. A group of investors that includes Tom Glavine is believed to be interested in buying the team, but it's not clear if they're a serious contender. We'll keep you posted.

The Fourth Period Magazine is reporting that a deal is close to getting done. Take that for what its worth.
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I hope they move. Combined the fact that Atlanta is a bad sports town and hockey is ignored there.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

I find this song appropriate for the Thrashers.

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1BFPt001PYU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

Biddco said:
I hope they move. Combined the fact that Atlanta is a bad sports town and hockey is ignored there.
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It never helped that the owners spent six years in lawsuits just to buy out one of the owners shares. The Atlanta Spirit group never opened up their wallets to help support the team, and in an era of ceiling caps/salary floors, they *just* met the salary floor so they could receive the league's refund (revenue sharing equivalent).

When the owners DID realize they needed to spend a few bucks it was already too late. They offered armored trucks to Kovalchuk in an effort to keep their "star" in house. They handcuffed Don Waddell into running the team like a basketball team (which, is the complete backwards way of running a hockey team). You don't pick one star guy and fill the remaining roles with scrubs. You need to build a team.

The Gwinnett Gladiators were great with developing ATL draft picks into AHL players. From their, they worked on their game and learned a winning mentality in an effort to develop into NHL'ers. It's once they got to ATL that they fell apart. How many former Thrashers prospects are still playing in the NHL once they got out from ATL? Garnett Exelby (Blackhawks), Curtis Foster (Edmonton), Braydon Coburn (Philly), Joey Crabb (Toronto), Chris Kunitz (Pittsburgh), Kari Lehtonen (Dallas).

I will admit that for every one of the above names, there were at least FIVE Michael Garnett's, Stephen Baby's, Patrik Stefan's, and Jimmy Sharrow's.


Hockey wasn't ignored. It was on life support as soon as Ted Turner sold the team to the Atlanta Spirit Group.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

Kepler said:
[T]he Devils are for Swamp Staters who can't accept their spritual Jerusalem is Philly.
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Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA. We are NOT Philly sports fans in my neck of the Garden State.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

hockeyplayer1015 said:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/br...gotiating-for-Thrashers-report-121898789.html

NHL will come up with 2 seperate schedule drafts.. one including Atlanta, one including Winnepeg.
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So, with Alanta to Winnipeg, that would likely mean that Winnipeg is put in the Northwest division of the Western Conference, Minnesota slides over to the Central Division, and then Nashville heads over to the Eastern Conference to fill in Atlanta's old spot in the southeast.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

bigmrg74 said:
So, with Alanta to Winnipeg, that would likely mean that Winnipeg is put in the Northwest division of the Western Conference, Minnesota slides over to the Central Division, and then Nashville heads over to the Eastern Conference to fill in Atlanta's old spot in the southeast.
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FWIW, discussion is that, for '11-'12 anyway, divisions would remain the same (Winnipeg would be in the SE), then they would re-do divisions for '12-'13 (since there really isn't time to hash realignment out). Really, all that would be at issue for two different schedules is travel.

Also, here's today's early development in this whole bizarre situation:

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/...jon-bruckheimer-thrashers-owners.html?ana=twt
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

At least that ownership group would have a clue on how to market the game to the massively high percentage of African Americans in Atlanta. That's been one of the 588 failures Atlanta Spirit has had.
 
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