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Tuesday, 31 May 2011 14:13

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Fifteen years after the Jets packed up and moved to the desert, the NHL is returning to Winnipeg.

After several weeks of negotiations, the Atlanta Spirit, the ownership group of the Thrashers, has agreed to sell the franchise to True North Sports and Entertainment, a group based in Winnipeg which has been trying to bring an NHL team back to that city.

The sale is subject to approval by the NHL board of governors June 21. That is expected to a formality.

Due to difficulties in re-organizing a new league-wide schedule, the franchise will remain in the Southeast Division for the 2011-12 season and will play in the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg. True North has not announced what the franchise will be re-named.

The NHL granted an expansion franchise to the city of Atlanta in 1997. The Thrashers began play in the 1999-2000 and have been largely unsuccessful on and off the ice. The franchise won only one Southeast Division title in 2007. That was also its only playoff appearance. It was swept in four games by the Rangers in the first round.

Off the ice, the franchise reportedly lost $130 million since 2005. Additionally, the team averaged 13,469 tickets sold last season, 28th in the league.

This will be the second time an NHL franchise has left Atlanta for a Canadian City. In 1980, the Flames departed Atlanta and moved to Calgary.

The NHL returns to Winnipeg 15 years after the Jets left and moved to Phoenix where they became the Coyotes. For several years, that franchise's difficulties led to speculation it would move back to Winnipeg.

EN Says: Why we're more than happy to see the NHL return to a place it should never leave, we feel awful for the small, but surely passionate fan base in Atlanta. There might not be a lot of Thrashers fans, but the ones who were there were surely passionate.

But the Thrashers were doomed by a lethal combination of Atlanta being a lukewarm sports market and atrocious management. While members of the Atlanta Spirit group were taking one another to court, the franchise managed one winning season in its entire history. One.

Additionally, star players were routinely shuttled out of town. Dany Heatley, Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk (right) were all traded in deals which hurt the franchise ulimately.

Regardless of the fan base, no franchise will survive with management that poor.

The franchise will be a boost in Winnipeg with an organized ownership group and a passionate, hungry fan base. True North has had a plan in place for several years and isn't entering this venture in a fog.

Additionally, the franchise has several pieces in place to be a competitive franchise on the ice. The roster has a nucleus of players all under the age of 27 in the form of Tobias Enstrom, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian.

Ultimately, this is is a good move for the NHL.

(Photo: Andy Marlin/Getty Images)

Comments (7)

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written by Alexandre Giesbrecht, May 31, 2011 - 04:08 PM

Does this mean people in Winnipeg now officially hate Kovalchuk?

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written by Sieve70, May 31, 2011 - 11:12 PM

While I know true fans of the team in Atlanta, and I am sad for them -

I can't also help being happy that the NHL City closest to my hometown is now an NHL City again!

I just hope they choose to go back to the Jets, or another name - Moose is great for the AHL, but don't know about the top league... Can't say it's worse than Ducks though!

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written by gmuny2002, June 01, 2011 - 01:42 AM

My question is; why does the NHL place franchises in warm-weather cities like Atlanta, Tampa or Miami? There are a lot more better things to do in these places than go sit inside a cold building than watch a hockey game. I can understand them having a franchise in L.A. since it is the largest city in the USA, but, Atlanta? C'mon it's been twice now!

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written by originalether, June 01, 2011 - 02:27 AM

[My question is; why does the NHL place franchises in warm-weather cities like Atlanta, Tampa or Miami?/quote]

The NHL, for better or worse, went to those cities (and others) to gain markets in different parts of the country (i.e. the south) in an effort to get a better national TV contract.

Makes sense in theory. Hard to imagine a network paying huge $$$$ for a sport where teams are located in only one-half of the country. It's debatable how much it's actually helped.

Places like Tampa and Carolina have drawn well when their team has been good. The problem, as Seth pointed out, is that the Thrashers were bad for the majority of their existence.

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written by GenoSid, June 01, 2011 - 06:42 AM

"Makes sense in theory. Hard to imagine a network paying huge $$$$ for a sport where teams are located in only one-half of the country. It's debatable how much it's actually helped."

Wow, you were so right before you were so wrong.

When I started watching hockey, the NHL was on SportsChannel. 40% of the country could not watch a hockey game if they wanted to...for pennies, no doubt.

They just signed a $200 million a year deal with NBC. That does NOT happen without a national US footprint.

And anyone who doesn't think that hockey can (done right) work EVERYWHERE is not a real hockey fan.

It's the greatest sport on Earth, remember?

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written by Boom Shaka, June 01, 2011 - 05:00 PM

Having gone through the Pens almost leaving here, I don't wish what happened to Thrasher fans on anyone and my heart goes out to them.

The silver lining of that cloud is that a HARD CORE fan base just got their team back. I think that the team will not only survive but thrive there.

Now if we can only get the Whale back!

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written by originalether, June 02, 2011 - 08:29 AM

Ah, the perils of posting at 2am. You can probably tell something was wrong when I couldn't use the quote function properly.

I suppose the correct phrase is "up for debate." Some agree with you in thinking that southern hockey is good. Others disagree 100% (granted, I think the majority of those are canadiens who think the game right now is "too soft", among other things).

Myself, I really have no idea.

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