NHL to Atlanta odds just increased significantly

[AKL]

Los Angeles doesn't support hockey, really.

Yeah, move the Kings

 

[kingsholygrail]

must be true, false sellout rates, absolute sham of a team, get them out of California ASAP.

Yeah, move the Kings

They can move them to Atlanta after the 3rd team fails.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Houston and Atlanta are the two largest markets without NHL teams. There is no way the league isn’t going to keep trying.

Says it all really. The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Got this! Atlanta Thrashers: 2003/04 Alternate Logo CCM Jersey (S/M) | Nicepant

 

[cowboy82nd]

I’m on the younger side but what happened with Atlanta the second time that owners pushed them away? I do think Atlanta can support a team as population and sponsorship is there. The question is the fan support there?

Yes, the ownership group that bought the team from Ted Turner, only did so because it was a package deal to get the Atlanta Hawks and Phillips Arena. Included in the deal with the Thrashers, the NHL told the ownership group that they could not sell the NHL franchise for I think 6 or 7 years. (The NHL knew that the ownership group only wanted the Hawks and the arena but Turner wanted out and it was a package deal).

The new ownership said all the right things at first about how they are committed to Atlanta and bringing a championship here. But is was all talk (at least for the hockey team). They were rumors about an internal cap, which was verified in the court documents. The also were fighting among themselves which led to lawsuits against each other. Anyway, rumors started flying around the the group was looking to sell the Thrashers. There was a couple of local ownership groups interested. Including one with Tom Glavine. The former Atlanta Brave who was also drafted by the L.A. Kings in the 1984 draft. When the local ownership group spoke with the Atlanta Spirit (current owners of the Thrashers) they were told that they would sell them the Thrashers, but they could not play in Phillips Arena. Being that new owners weren't ready for this (trying to find a new place to play and possibility of building a new arena), the team was sold to True North with no problems.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

34 is greater than 32 — The Fourth Period

David Pagnotta talks expansion (Utah, Atanta, KC, Houston & more), the Coyotes, and trade chatter.

www.thefourthperiod.com

Further confirmation of how close we are!!

All good signs...lots of smoke:

If Utah is Team 33, Atlanta is poised to be Team 34. There is a strong prospective ownership group in place, and they have the land to build a state-of-the-art facility and overall entertainment district. In fact, there seem to be options in both Forsyth County and Fulton County.

With Utah leading the pack, expect to hear more about Atlanta later this season. And with Utah and Atlanta next in line, groups in other markets have also expressed interest in varying degrees.

All of this to say, interest in the NHL is at a major high and that’s great news for everyone involved. My read: The timeline to 34 is between one-to-three years.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Ugh.

32 is enough, we don't need more teams.

 

[nhlfan79]

Just bookmarked the page so I can just copy/paste. Well done

And to think I never mentioned anything about the Dany Heatley tragedy and fallout, the tragically comic fax machine race to object to an appraiser's valuation of Spirit's assets, or Spirit's lawsuit against King & Spalding lawfirm for allegedly botching their buyout of Steve Belkin, all of which are actually necessary to telling the complete story.

Then there's the purely petty stuff, like not even locally televising a third of the games, never upgrading broadcasts to HD, even though the Hawks who played in the same arena were shown in HD, letting the arena itself fall into a state of basic disrepair, etc.

All good signs...lots of smoke:

I wonder what he means by mentioning Fulton County. As I understand it, the North Point Mall option is all but dead.

 

[nhlfan79]

The great irony from this sidetracked discussion is that LA's attendance is currently in the middle of the pack (14th), despite being the second largest city in the country. The two other California teams are both in the bottom six.

 

[CasusBelli]

“This time will be different.”

“Third times a charm.”

We seriously doing this again?

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

And to think I never mentioned anything about the Dany Heatley tragedy and fallout, the tragically comic fax machine race to object to an appraiser's valuation of Spirit's assets, or Spirit's lawsuit against King & Spalding lawfirm for allegedly botching their buyout of Steve Belkin, all of which are actually necessary to telling the complete story.

Then there's the purely petty stuff, like not even locally televising a third of the games, never upgrading broadcasts to HD, even though the Hawks who played in the same arena were shown in HD, letting the arena itself fall into a state of basic disrepair, etc.

Yeah, good points. It was just one thing after another.

I wonder what he means by mentioning Fulton County. As I understand it, the North Point Mall option is all but dead.

I was wondering as well. My guess is that he's just thinking of State Farm. I can't imagine he has any inside source on any project outside of the Gathering.

 

[nhlfan79]

I don't know why, but I felt like this picture (and link to the related AJC article) should be part of this discussion somehow, for anyone who doesn't believe me about how toxic Atlanta Spirit was to anything it touched.

GDPR Support

www.ajc.com

 

[DaPhazz]

Here we go with another soulless NHL organization

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Here we go with another soulless NHL organization

 

[StickShift]

I am surprised how pessimistic everyone is about expansion to Atlanta when the NHL has just hit two straight homeruns with Vegas and Seattle.

The NHL has done its homework on having solid ownership, buildings, operations, and fanbases for these new teams. It's night and day compared to the 2000s expansion teams. I don't think they would be going down this path if they didn't have a foundation equally as strong as Seattle or Vegas.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Here we go with another soulless NHL organization

As opposed to one of the traditional but perennial bottom-feeder NHL organizations?

 

[VaCaps Fan]

A Carolina or Washington rivalry would be great.

 

[dj4aces]

A Carolina or Washington rivalry would be great.

Back in the days of the Southeast Division, there was a bit of a rivalry with the Caps. I could see that returning. Though, I don't know if the Caps' fans felt the same, but I recall some rivalry vibes amongst some Thrashers fans for the Caps.

 

[DaPhazz]

As opposed to one of the traditional but perennial bottom-feeder NHL organizations?

Which is normal when your organization doesn't relocate everytime it rebuilds.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Back in the days of the Southeast Division, there was a bit of a rivalry with the Caps. I could see that returning. Though, I don't know if the Caps' fans felt the same, but I recall some rivalry vibes amongst some Thrashers fans for the Caps.

I vaguely remember that back in the day. Ovi vs. Kovy was great.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Which is normal when your organization doesn't relocate everytime it rebuilds.

The Thrashers only made the playoffs once in their entire existence, and got swept. There was never a rebuild or it was a constant rebuild...however you want to look at it.

 

[DaPhazz]

The Thrashers only made the playoffs once in their entire existence, and got swept. There was never a rebuild or it was a constant rebuild...however you want to look at it.

So, you're saying they relocated because they sucked too much and no one gave a shit?

All in for Salt Lake City tho!

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

So, you're saying they relocated because they sucked too much and no one gave a shit?

All in for Salt Lake City tho!

Nope...saying that ownership outwardly didn't want the team, sued eachother, kept the team at the cap floor, and as soon as they were legally able, sold the team.

There's 30 pages discussing this stuff...are you reading any of it??

 

[MikeK]

A lot has changed since the last try. I think the NHL has learned a lot with the recent success of both Vegas and Seattle. They need to start with the correct ownership group. A group who are in it for the long haul. Then they need to get the arena right. They need to have a pro hockey quality arena. Anything less will destroy the atmosphere and the hype.

If they can get the right ownership in place, as well as the right venue, I think an Atlanta team would work. They certainly have the market size to support a team. They just need to go in with eyes open and not try and fool anyone. Get the right pieces in place.

Bettman didn't seem to interested in expansion at this point when he talked about it last weekend so I doubt anything is on the horizon. Probably more wishful thinking by die hard fans more than anything.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Which is normal when your organization doesn't relocate everytime it rebuilds.

Decades-long "rebuilds"