OT: Thrashers to Winnipeg complete

Submitted by Mr Mackey on

According to ESPN, the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to a group in Winnipeg has been completed.

Welcome back to the NHL, Winnipeg Jets!

Commence the discussion of conference alignment - will Winnipeg somehow still be in the East, or will Nashville take it's place? Pretty hard to imagine the Wings moving East, although that would be a dream come true.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6610414

EDIT: TSN is broadcasting the press conference here: http://www.tsn.ca/ 

 

 

Fhshockey112002

May 31st, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^

Currently the Phoenix franchise owns the rights, however the NHL currently owns Phoenix.  So I believe True North should have no problem buying the rights from Phoenix.  I do know there are plenty of hockey shops in Winnipeg that are selling Jets jerseys, shirts, etc. in the belief that the jets would be the team name upon return.

I don't know if the Wings will go East but any realignment where we get to play other Original 6 teams, and teams like Phily and Pittsburgh more than once every other year at home I am all for.

jmblue

May 31st, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^

I hope they can make it this time.  The cap and stronger Canadian dollar help but still, it could be tight financially in a market of 700K, especially after the novelty of having a team again wears off.  

jmblue

May 31st, 2011 at 4:32 PM ^

There are only eight home games in the NFL, and they're all on the weekend, outside in the fall.  People from all over Wisconsin (not to mention surrounding states) make pilgrimmages to GB to go to those games.

There are 41 home games in the NHL, during the dead of winter, many of them on weeknights.  You can't realistically draw from as large a radius as a football team can.  Your fanbase has to come from the immediate area.  Some analysts believe the minimum metro population necessary to sustain an NHL franchise is 1 million - if it's a hockey-crazy area.  Winnipeg will put that to the test.  I hope they succeed.

GOBLUE4EVR

May 31st, 2011 at 12:15 PM ^

moves to the east it should be the wings or the blue jackets as they are the only teams in eastern time zone, nashville is in the central time zone. its going to come down to an owners vote on who moves and i'm pretty sure that the owners in the western conference aren't going to want to give up the guaranteed sell out that the wings bring with them...

blacknblue

May 31st, 2011 at 12:16 PM ^

in terms of realignment would probably be to do a complete realignment and make to separate leagues similar to baseball and football. This way everybody gets fairly screwed at some point while playing outside of their division.

Mr Mackey

May 31st, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^

It just feels right for them to be in Winnipeg. I'm interning down in Atlanta for the summer, and most of the people here couldn't care less about hockey. The people that do care about hockey are usually from elsewhere, and therefore root for different teams. I have yet to meet a die-hard Thrashers fan. Winnipeg deserves hockey. Hope they survive this time.

davking1980

May 31st, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^

Nashville is in Central Time Zone, the better fit geographically is Nashville moving to the Southeast. 

I don't think you'll see the Wings moving east, leaving only one original 6 team in the West (Chicago).  My guess of the most likely moves are moving Nashville to the Southeast, Winnipeg moving to the Northwest with the other Canadian teams + Colorado and Minnesota moving to the Central.

Hopefully, the NHL uses this as the time to examine the schedule as well and change it so that each team plays the other at least once every year.  It's ludicrous that it takes 4-6 years to get to see some teams/players from the opposite conference.

jmblue

May 31st, 2011 at 1:00 PM ^

Even if an annoying person came up with the idea, I think it's interesting.  It would be like a traveling trophy. College sports have them.  Why not the pros?  If nothing else, it could at least compel the NHL to protect the season series among all six.

J. Lichty

May 31st, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^

look forward to those playoff white outs in Winnipeg again .  IIRC, Winnipeg originated this now oft-copied playoff fan tradition. 

The Manitoba Moose appear to be good luck to a city's prospects for an NHL team.  They moved from St. Paul to Winnipeg and now both are back in the NHL.  Follow the Moose to see where the NHL will end up next, I guess.

Realignment:  Not sure who moves East, but likely means that Minnesota into the Central where it belongs and Winnepeg to the Northwest with Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.   Would like to see Columbus or Nashville move and see the wings, hawks, blues and wild reunited in a nod to the old Norris div.

Wolverine318

May 31st, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^

There needs to be a complete reallignment of the league. The Wings belong in the East. However, there are rivalries that need to be retained such as with the Hawks. Secondly, the competive balance is completely off at the moment. The Central is a death trap with the Preds, Wings, and Hawks all in the single division. Then you have the NW division which is a complete joke outside of Vancouver. 

Yinka Double Dare

May 31st, 2011 at 12:49 PM ^

Rather sad that Atlanta loses their team when Phoenix, who were the Jets in the first place, get propped up by the NHL to stay where they are.  The Jets should be moving back to Winnipeg, not the Thrashers.

Sgt. Wolverine

May 31st, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^

a franchise that has yet to turn a profit in 15 years in Phoenix.  I'm okay with the city maybe trying to entice a buyer, but I don't understand why the city should pump money into a perpetually money-losing business.

Of course, I wish there were more privately-financed stadiums and arenas, so I'm a little strange.

jcgold

May 31st, 2011 at 5:19 PM ^

The city of glendale has been bending over backwards to keep the NHL in a new building that would otherise sit empty.

No one wanted to own a team in a city without any hockey culture in a building where they have second priority in regards to scheduling and revenue.  The city wasn't willing to put up for the team's losses.

The situations are vastly different, despite the fact that both teams have struggled with attendance.  The Yotes will stay because the city paid.  Hopefully this Winnipeg thing ends any future relocation.

Wolverine318

May 31st, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^

Atlanta was #2 on the overall loses next Phoenix. One of the two teams had to move. Phoenix is still without an owner with Glendale subsidizing the team for one more season without an owner. Quebec City,  Hamilton, or even a second team in Toronto should get the yotes soon. 

I don't feel sorrry at all. This is the second time hockey has failed in Atlanta. My wife and I fight all the time about the viability of hockey in the south. I firmly believe it takes a special ownership and community demographics for hockey to succeed in southern American communities. Carolina and Dallas succeed becuase they have great ownership, early success to sustain a season ticket base, and a large upper middle class to upper class population. Hockey is a nice sport. I am fine with that realization. It is difficult to attract the lower middle class to lower class population that makes up a large portion of the fan bases of the NBA, MLB, and NFL. Hockey is an expensive sport. I was lucky to be raised in a northern community where I could play hockey on a frozen lake in the winter without having to invest in ice time and team dues. Southern cities do not have this advantage to drum up hockey interest in families. It is basically a catch-22 for southen cities. 

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

May 31st, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^

Any realignment won't come til after next season:

But the NHL will not realign its divisions for the 2011-12 season, meaning Winnipeg will play in the Southeast, a league source confirmed to LeBrun.

I guess that makes sense since schedules are already more or less done and there's a lot of other things that rely on the NHL schedule.  Still going to be kind of a silly year.

Wolverine In Exile

May 31st, 2011 at 1:44 PM ^

for a while has been reporting that if the Atlanta to winnipeg went through, True North sports wants to call them "Manitoba" something to emphasize it's the province's team, not just Winnipeg's.

meghan

May 31st, 2011 at 3:44 PM ^

Which I think would probably be a pretty cool jersey.  Unless they go all Bullwinkle on it. 

In any event, glad to see the team in Winnipeg.  I live in NC and, while the Hurricanes' fans do a nice job, hockey just doesn't feel right here.

UMQuadz05

May 31st, 2011 at 1:54 PM ^

1.  Good.  The more teams that get moved from indifferent sunbelt cities back to places that care about hockey, the better.

2. Getting the "Jets" name could be harder than you think.  See my avatar?  A lot of people wanted that team to be called Philadelphia Athletic*.  However, the Oakland A's still own the name, sell throwback gear, and told the team "no way". 

 

*which would have been awesome.