Will Atlanta Get Another Team?

[zetajerk]

not quite Atlanta has lost 2 teams Quebec lost 1, not the same

nice try though

The Bulldogs?

 

[Terry Yake]

no they won't

would the NHL really consider expanding beyond Seattle and 32 teams? that would be a very dumb idea

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

As someone that lives east of Atlanta I am going to say No we will not, the NHL will likely expand to Seattle and after that I imagine they're done. The only possibility would be a team relocating here(Both the Braves and Hawks came from other cities) but even then there would have to be a new arena in place because Philips I think is out of the equation now with the renovations that are/will be taking place. I think the best the ATL area can hope for is maybe an AHL franchise playing in the suburbs.

I don't think they are done at 32, it will be a while before they go to team 33, but the NHL LOVES money and we all know this, so if somebody comes in with enough money the NHL will listen, it might be 15 years before it happens but it will happen again.

Huston, Kansas City, and of course Quebec all want teams

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

If it were to happen, it wouldn't happen for a super long time. I'm talking 50-80 years tops.

But the long answer, NEVER!

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

The Bulldogs?

Ya I am not going to count a team that existed in 1917, the NHL was barely the NHL at that point.

Stop trying to twist the narrative the situations in Quebec and Atlanta are not the same

Atlanta has had 2 legitimate shots at the NHL and failed both times, the 2nd time because the fans simply did no give a f*** about hockey.

Quebec lost their team not because of fan support but because the Canadian dollar was at something like 66 cents US.

 

[zetajerk]

Ya I am not going to count a team that existed in 1917, the NHL was barely the NHL at that point.

Stop trying to twist the narrative the situations in Quebec and Atlanta are not the same

Atlanta has had 2 legitimate shots at the NHL and failed both times, the 2nd time because the fans simply did no give a **** about hockey.

Quebec lost their team not because of fan support but because the Canadian dollar was at something like 66 cents US.

Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel good about yourself. Atlanta Spirit Group thanks you. You're not that special.

 

[pucky]

The Thrashers owners didn't want to interest the fans and wanted them gone! It was not the fans fault, but whatever helps you feel good about yourself. Get that through your head. You and people of your "hockey region" are not that special that only you can appreciate hockey.

Tampa is a first class organization with a fantastic owner, great arena location, great management, past success to draw upon, and knows how to market. The Panthers have none of that, so it's no wonder they struggle.

Though, I wouldn't blame hockey fans in Atlanta if they never want the NHL back. With "fans" like you and a community that relished their demise so much, that's not a crowd worth anyone's time.

Bettman: "Welcome back to the NHL, Atlanta! Yeah, they all still hate you...."

Blah, blah,.... the issue is that the owners et al. have to market and struggle to increase interest. Those are the facts. If there is enough interest in hockey in Atlanta, they would have a team. They don't.

There's no comparison to Quebec no matter how many teams Quebec (City) has lost. None.

 

[Peiskos]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't JUST 300 people show up to the rally to save the Thrashers? I remember reading numerous articles stating that and you can still find them online.

 

[NSHPreds1835]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't JUST 300 people show up to the rally to save the Thrashers? I remember reading numerous articles stating that and you can still find them online.

I don't think it was really a "Save The Thrashers" rally but more of a Thrashers fanclub gathering. I think at that point everyone saw the writing on the wall, plus it was summer and most of your hockey fans don't actually live in the city and aren't going to drive downtown for something like that. I could just as easily point to the 2 sellout playoff games to say that interest was there.

 

[zetajerk]

Blah, blah,.... the issue is that the owners et al. have to market and struggle to increase interest. Those are the facts. If there is enough interest in hockey in Atlanta, they would have a team. They don't.

There's no comparison to Quebec no matter how many teams Quebec (City) has lost. None.

Yeah, and so would Hartford. I had a great time at the Canes game last night btw.

Atlanta Spirit Group did not want to own the Thrashers and took measures to ensure that they wouldn't be viable. This is well documented and not up for debate. You can keep belittling the hockey fans there and insisting they suck to make yourself feel good. To that I'll say one more time: You're not that special.

 

[Hockeyholic]

What about the NHL in San Diego?

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

What about the NHL in San Diego?

what does San Diego have to do with anything, when Anaheim controls the tenant there cityswiper

 

[Hockeyholic]

what does San Diego have to do with anything, when Anaheim controls the tenant there cityswiper

I'm wondering what people would think of a team in San Diego. But, I do think Atlanta would sellout every game, including a wait list, if the team was a cup contender.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'm wondering what people would think of a team in San Diego. But, I do think Atlanta would sellout every game, including a wait list, if the team was a cup contender.

never happen as long as Anaheim owns the tenant there....

 

[HisIceness]

What about the NHL in San Diego?

Think after Seattle, Houston is the next city on the NHLs radar. Even Austin is probably more intriguing to the league than San Diego.

San Diego has never struck me as an indoor sports kind of town. The city has some of the best weather around and people like to be outdoors. That isn't to say they wouldn't support an NHL/NBA team if the opportunity came, but if the NFL were to come back I think they'd be fine with being an NFL/MLB city.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Austin will never be on the NHL Radar as long as Dallas has its affiliate there in Cedar Park.... just as Minnesota did with the Aeros once Watson was bought out of that partnership.

 

[Major4Boarding]

Let's steer this back to the original topic of Atlanta please

 

[Dirty Old Man]

The Bulldogs?

Zing!

 

[pucky]

Yeah, and so would Hartford. I had a great time at the Canes game last night btw.

Atlanta Spirit Group did not want to own the Thrashers and took measures to ensure that they wouldn't be viable. This is well documented and not up for debate. You can keep belittling the hockey fans there and insisting they suck to make yourself feel good. To that I'll say one more time: You're not that special.

So what? What does that have to do with anything? You had fun at a game, so what?

But, do you really want to add Carolina to this discussion?:
Hurricanes attendance drops by more than 10,000 after one game - Sportsnet.ca
Attendance discussion
https://thehockeywriters.com/carolina-hurricanes-attendance-winning-help/

If you want to 'stick your foot in your mouth,' be my guest....makes no difference to me. LOL.

Ooops...on-topic... like I said, I don't think the NHL risks another issue going back to Atlanta any time soon.

 

[Jeffrey93]

no they won't

would the NHL really consider expanding beyond Seattle and 32 teams? that would be a very dumb idea

Why?

I see no reason why bringing KC & Houston into the West and Hamilton & Quebec into the East.....along with either Atlanta or Hartford in the East and San Diego or Portland in the West would be an issue.

From what I've seen and what every player both current and former says, the talent level has never been higher....it's almost too high. A first line can't take advantage of a 4th line like they used to be able to.....the 4th line is too good.

The NHL could support 38 to 40 teams I think. The issue is......you have the 6-8 markets I mentioned, but there are current markets that are shaky. So you need to leave them somewhere to go.

The 'relocation options' would be the last group I mentioned.....as those markets probably wouldn't get the big expansion fees anyway.

This would put us back to every team not hosting every team every year though. Which I'm fine with.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Why?

I see no reason why bringing KC & Houston into the West and Hamilton & Quebec into the East.....along with either Atlanta or Hartford in the East and San Diego or Portland in the West would be an issue.

From what I've seen and what every player both current and former says, the talent level has never been higher....it's almost too high. A first line can't take advantage of a 4th line like they used to be able to.....the 4th line is too good.

The NHL could support 38 t0 40 teams I think. The issue is......you have the 6-8 markets I mentioned, but there are current markets that are shaky. So you need to leave them somewhere to go.

The 'relocation options' would be the last group I mentioned.....as those markets probably wouldn't get the big expansion fees anyway.

This would put us back to every team not hosting every team every year though. Which I'm fine with.

false...

it's more than that...

you have to add the same number of teams to the other two leagues that feed into the NHL, Jeffrey.....

why does Vegas right now have no ECHL franchise and they barely got Chicago inked as the AHL franchise basically helping St. Louis out of that contract while ceding the 31st franchise to Colorado to promote Colorado's ECHL franchise to AHL Status... frankly, the ECHL is a crossroads right now as they've never gotten to 30 or 31 stable franchises and leadership is now in question as McKenna is leaving effective at the end of this current season....there has been questions as to whether Toronto will return to St. John's whether it's 2018/19 or 2019/20, and even if that happens that league is 2 franchises short, depending on who buys the Eagles current franchise once they move to the AHL.... THEN YOU'RE STILL AT 29, NOT 31. I just don't see 2 new ownerships wanting to get a pro hockey team, and then finding a city/arena and then running into issues that MacDonald and Stanford have gotten into where there's no idea if the existing tenant will vacate an existing contract.

 

[LordNeverLose]

Having lived in Atlanta for about a decade, I don't see it working out in the near-ish future (next 20 years or so). I love Atlanta, don't get me wrong, but it just doesn't work logistically.

Atlanta does have a decent enough amount of hockey fans, but the problem is location. You'd 100% need to have a new arena since Phillips doesn't work for a number of reasons. Besides the new renovations that have been discussed already, you'd need to put the stadium somewhere on the north side of the city to have a chance. The vast majority of the potential fanbase lives in either the north part of town (Buckhead area) or the northern suburbs. And with Atlanta traffic, not enough people are going to be willing to spend an hour+ in the car each way on a weekday.

If they did build a new stadium on the north-side, like the Braves just did, it would be possible, but I seriously doubt the city will ever build a stadium specially for a hockey team, and it wouldn't make sense to build the Hawks a new stadium on the north side. To be blunt (and not PC), the city is very segregated geographically. The north side is white (hockey fans) and the south side is black (NBA fans). There isn't a large enough hockey fanbase to generate a push for a hockey-specific stadium, so the NHL team would need to share space with the NBA team, and an NHL team located downtown wouldn't do much better than the Thrashers did, even with good ownership.

 

[These Are The Days]

I pray to God no. Seattle is the logical choice of today's NHL expansion for a thousand reasons that we don't need to rehash. But I'll be damned if Atlanta gets a 3rd team before Quebec City gets the Nords back. If the NHL is to expand or relocate within any Eastern Conference markets then they need to become the new priority. It's time for the NHL to make the easy decision here in regards to an Eastern team

 

[NSHPreds1835]

so the NHL team would need to share space with the NBA team, and an NHL team located downtown wouldn't do much better than the Thrashers did, even with good ownership.

I disagree with this. The Knights did fine playing in the exact same location and sharing a building with the Hawks.

 

[Gnashville]

Atlanta’s issue is they have no arena and no one willing to build one. So it’s not going to happen anytime soon. A$G poisoned the well and wanted the fans to support NBA basketball instead of NHL hockey.
That franchise had bad ownership, bad drafting, bad teams and the fans continued to go to games. Now the Atlanta NBA team is barely supported (dead last in attendance) and just exists as a team like 25 other NBA teams with little to no hope of winning and drawing flies.

Bashing the Thrasher fans which supported terrible owners and teams accomplishes nothing except it fills the need that some fans have to feel superior over others. Atlanta fans continue to support the Jets and regularly come to Nashville Predators games to cheer for them.