Will Atlanta Get Another Team?

[Barclay Donaldson]

And this is where a lot of his problems started, including with his ex-wife.

I never said he wasn't eccentric or obsessive. One does not lightly get compared to Silvio Berlusconi by the media. From refusing his arguments with Gomery to the suicide of his girlfriend, he is one outrageous Québecois. However, I doubt that anyone can deny this would only support the argument that his strengthened resolve to be the pillar for a NHL Québec City team and/or Québec sovereignty, if either was acquired.

 

[razor8]

Doubt it very much. There's many places where the NHL could go. Doubt they try a third time in Atlanta.

 

[HisIceness]

What, demographics like Dallas or Houston? There is no reason that an NHL team in Atlanta can't do fine, some people's prejudices be damned. I don't think an Islanders fan is in any position to criticize another market.

Agreed. The bottom line is this, Atlanta is simply too big and growing at a high rate for the NHL to simply just ignore forever. That doesn't mean it's going to happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the owners and executives privately admit they would rather have Atlanta back (with a competent ownership group this time) than Winnipeg.

 

[Lions67]

Agreed. The bottom line is this, Atlanta is simply too big and growing at a high rate for the NHL to simply just ignore forever. That doesn't mean it's going to happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the owners and executives privately admit they would rather have Atlanta back (with a competent ownership group this time) than Winnipeg.

Yeah ok.
Winnipeg is miles ahead of anything Atlanta EVER was.
And as far as the NHL “ ignoring “ Atlanta, the NHL gave them a team...TWICE!!... how many times does the NHL have to turn their heads to a city that is clearly an AHL city at best??

 

[Jumptheshark]

3rd time the charm?

Sorry

there was barely a tear shed when the team went to the peg in the city--there was one minor get together of about 100 people in protest over it

so no


both Hartford and Quebec city put up a bigger fight then Atlanta did this last time

 

[BKIslandersFan]

3rd time the charm?

Sorry

there was barely a tear shed when the team went to the peg in the city--there was one minor get together of about 100 people in protest over it

so no


both Hartford and Quebec city put up a bigger fight then Atlanta did this last time

This is dumb, what does that prove?

Nobody came out to protest Raiders moving. I guess NFL doesn’t work in Bay AreA.

 

[TheLegend]

Yeah ok.
Winnipeg is miles ahead of anything Atlanta EVER was.
And as far as the NHL “ ignoring “ Atlanta, the NHL gave them a team...TWICE!!... how many times does the NHL have to turn their heads to a city that is clearly an AHL city at best??

Winnipeg is miles ahead because of TNSE and the Thomson family money. Without them Winnipeg might even have not been an AHL city.

Even Montréal lost a team once. And there was a brief time where they almost lost another.

It gets down to who’s willing to own a team AND put the work into making it thrive there. If you honestly believe that the clowns who bought the Thrashers off AOL/Time Warner after they got it out of Ted Turner’s hands really tried to do both of those things I have some beach front property near Tonopah Arizona I could interest you in. Comes with it’s own nuclear power plant and everything.

 

[kgboomer]

Yeah ok.
Winnipeg is miles ahead of anything Atlanta EVER was.
And as far as the NHL “ ignoring “ Atlanta, the NHL gave them a team...TWICE!!... how many times does the NHL have to turn their heads to a city that is clearly an AHL city at best??

To be fair, that's what they had with the Thrashers, an AHL team making the playoff 1 time in 11 years. Even you guys in Winnipeg were getting frustrated after missing the playoff 3 years in a row with that team.

Ownership and GM matters, see how you guys would like it with Melnyk and Dorion getting the team from Atlanta. I'm sure the good folks in Ottawa would trade with you guys without thinking about it.

 

[HisIceness]

Yeah ok.
Winnipeg is miles ahead of anything Atlanta EVER was.
And as far as the NHL “ ignoring “ Atlanta, the NHL gave them a team...TWICE!!... how many times does the NHL have to turn their heads to a city that is clearly an AHL city at best??

5. Or maybe 6. 7? Nah thats too many.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Yeah ok.
Winnipeg is miles ahead of anything Atlanta EVER was.
And as far as the NHL “ ignoring “ Atlanta, the NHL gave them a team...TWICE!!... how many times does the NHL have to turn their heads to a city that is clearly an AHL city at best??

City of 5 million people in the metropolitan area is AHL city at best?

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

City of 5 million people in the metropolitan area is AHL city at best?

Metro Ontario, CA is 4.5 million and I wouldn’t put anything higher than the AHL there. Sheer population size is not an argument for worthiness of a NHL team. Vegas and Québec City are certainly examples of that.

 

[stealth1]

I mentioned it before, the problems with Atlanta, Carolina and Miami has always been the transplant fans. It seems that a big part of those cities population are transplants. The problem with that is they tend to stay fans of their former home team. Which means most of the time they only go to the games that their former home team is playing.

 

[zetajerk]

I mentioned it before, the problems with Atlanta, Carolina and Miami has always been the transplant fans. It seems that a big part of those cities population are transplants. The problem with that is they tend to stay fans of their former home team. Which means most of the time they only go to the games that their former home team is playing.

And you can get around that by putting a compelling product on the ice, which is exactly what the Thrashers, Panthers, and Canes (until recently) haven't done or didn't do.

You think Nashville, Tampa, and Dallas don't have a lot of transplants?

If the local team just gets mowed down every night and is out of the playoff conversation by Christmas, why bother going unless you can see your old team and get a dose of the warm fuzzies?

 

[stealth1]

And you can get around that by putting a compelling product on the ice, which is exactly what the Thrashers, Panthers, and Canes (until recently) haven't done or didn't do.

You think Nashville, Tampa, and Dallas don't have a lot of transplants?

If the local team just gets mowed down every night and is out of the playoff conversation by Christmas, why bother going unless you can see your old team and get a dose of the warm fuzzies?

That maybe true but those transplants just become bandwagon jumpers. I can bet that once those teams drop off a bit, those transplants will go back to cheering for their former home team.

 

[zetajerk]

That maybe true but those transplants just become bandwagon jumpers. I can bet that once those teams drop off a bit, those transplants will go back to cheering for their former home team.

I don't doubt that some would tune out, but success on the ice is what establishes a fan base. How good has Dallas really been relative to their solid attendance? Tampa has been doing just fine since 05 despite a lot of bad years.

Bandwagoning is hardly a knock against a market, if it was then Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Washington should be on your shit list too.

NHL teams in the US need to compete on merit in an environment full of alternatives. Expecting tickets to magically sell themselves is a broken business model.

 

[kgboomer]

That maybe true but those transplants just become bandwagon jumpers. I can bet that once those teams drop off a bit, those transplants will go back to cheering for their former home team.

Well it's pretty much what Ottawa is too. It's going to be full for Habs and Leafs games, and half empty for the others. And it's difficult to blame Ottawa fans for not showing up for games to watch a non competitive team.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

That maybe true but those transplants just become bandwagon jumpers. I can bet that once those teams drop off a bit, those transplants will go back to cheering for their former home team.

Sure, I guess but those transplants are eventually going to have kids and these teams will the be the home team for these kids and eventually those kids are going to grow up and have kids. It takes time to build and then grow a fan base in these newer markets. It was never about planting a team somewhere and expecting them to be Montreal, Toronto or New York immediately.

 

[TheLegend]

Metro Ontario, CA is 4.5 million and I wouldn’t put anything higher than the AHL there. Sheer population size is not an argument for worthiness of a NHL team. Vegas and Québec City are certainly examples of that.

Las Vegas metro population (ie: Clark County which includes Henderson and Paradise etc.) is around 2.2 million. Kind of borderline in that respect and up until now, no other major pro franchise around..

Agree with the assessment of Ontario CA in that you can’t use population as a single factor. Population is spread too far out and you have two NHL franchises already in the vicinity.

Best example of where a small population doesn’t matter would be Winnipeg.

 

[Tawnos]

Metro Ontario, CA is 4.5 million and I wouldn’t put anything higher than the AHL there. Sheer population size is not an argument for worthiness of a NHL team. Vegas and Québec City are certainly examples of that.

There's no such thing as "Metro Ontario CA"... Ontario is part of the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA, which covers a HUGE area for an MSA. It's something like 30,000 square miles for those 4 million plus people and 150 people per square mile when you average it all out.

The bulk of the population, which lives on the western side of the MSA, is already served by the NHL.

There are a number of reasons why the Inland Empire is a bad example to use for anything in this conversation.

Sheer population size, for an isolated MSA is definitely an argument for the worthiness of an NHL team. In fact, it's one of only 3 central pillars for the viability of a market in the US.

 

[Lt Dan]

Agreed. The bottom line is this, Atlanta is simply too big and growing at a high rate for the NHL to simply just ignore forever. That doesn't mean it's going to happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the owners and executives privately admit they would rather have Atlanta back (with a competent ownership group this time) than Winnipeg.

that would surprise me.
Remember that Fox was one of the driving forces behind Atlanta's second team, not the other owners.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Yeah ok.
Winnipeg is miles ahead of anything Atlanta EVER was.
And as far as the NHL “ ignoring “ Atlanta, the NHL gave them a team...TWICE!!... how many times does the NHL have to turn their heads to a city that is clearly an AHL city at best??

3rd time the charm?

Sorry

there was barely a tear shed when the team went to the peg in the city--there was one minor get together of about 100 people in protest over it

so no


both Hartford and Quebec city put up a bigger fight then Atlanta did this last time

Both of you go read the lengthy and oft-told story of how Atlanta 2.0 died. Here's a hint: it had much less to do with fan support and much more to do with shitty ownership.

 

[zetajerk]

You'd think Winnipeg guys would be more sympathetic towards Atlanta, but I guess that's only reserved for people who have to worry about getting snowed in for 6 months out of the year.

To keep ignoring the reality of what happened there and parroting "nO fANs" is shameful.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Metro Ontario, CA is 4.5 million and I wouldn’t put anything higher than the AHL there. Sheer population size is not an argument for worthiness of a NHL team. Vegas and Québec City are certainly examples of that.

Horrible argument. Ontario, CA is part of LA Kings/Anaheim Ducks market.

What's the nearest NHL market to Atlanta? Nashville?

If there is an ownership interested and an arena, there is NO REASON why NHL should not be looking at Atlanta again. And they already had a team twice is a lazy argument, at best.

 

[nhlfan79]

that would surprise me.
Remember that Fox was one of the driving forces behind Atlanta's second team, not the other owners.

I'm not sure what you mean here. What did Fox ever have to do with the Thrashers? The franchise was awarded to Ted Turner in 1997, who almost immediately lost control of them in the doomed AOL-Time Warner merger, and AOL-TW in turn dumped them to ASG (who included several relatives of Ted Turner) in a sweetheart deal (after AOL-TW broke an existing agreement to sell them to David McDavid, for which they were successfully sued and held liable for literally hundreds of millions of dollars in damages).

The NHL's initial thinking in awarding a franchise to the head of the Turner television network empire was eminently a good one. It just turned out that unforeseen circumstances that were completely unrelated to the hockey operations would ultimately land the team in the hands of a group of litigious morons who never wanted them in the first place.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If Atlanta does ever get another NHL franchise with a stable, committed ownership, it will be the first time in history that that's ever happened.

 

[Lt Dan]

I'm not sure what you mean here. What did Fox ever have to do with the Thrashers? The franchise was awarded to Ted Turner in 1997, who almost immediately lost control of them in the doomed AOL-Time Warner merger, and AOL-TW in turn dumped them to ASG (who included several relatives of Ted Turner) in a sweetheart deal (after AOL-TW broke an existing agreement to sell them to David McDavid, for which they were successfully sued and held liable for literally hundreds of millions of dollars in damages).

The NHL's initial thinking in awarding a franchise to the head of the Turner television network empire was eminently a good one. It just turned out that unforeseen circumstances that were completely unrelated to the hockey operations would ultimately land the team in the hands of a group of litigious morons who never wanted them in the first place.

1. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If Atlanta does ever get another NHL franchise with a stable, committed ownership, it will be the first time in history that that's ever happened

I understand the history of the thrashers. I hav . No idea what you are talking about though. Fox pushed for Atlanta more than Turner


Fox, who owned the TV rights, wanted a team in Atlanta so chunk of the US, the South, had something to watch when they ran the NHL ON FOX.

It is documented in this book

The Instigator

The Instigator
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