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Thrashers fans nervously await their team’s uncertain future

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When the Phoenix Coyotes were bounced from the playoffs, there seemed to be two major reactionary forces on Twitter: those who mocked the expected death of that franchise and those who were appalled by those jokers. However you may feel about the situation, the Coyotes sale/lack thereof receives a lot of attention. The league itself has done so much to keep the team in Glendale one can almost imagine NHL executives crab-walking into meetings.

Yet it seems like the other non-traditional, in-peril market receives little of the same attention. The Atlanta Thrashers franchise is seen to some as a “Plan B” for True North and the hockey-hungry Winnipeg market, but what about the Atlanta market and Thrashers fans?

Sure, there’s some validity to the notion that it’s a bit sadder to see a hockey market fail twice*, but there seems to be a perception that a possible Thrashers move is being met with a yawn. (At least compared to the outright desperation the league is showing regarding a Coyotes relocation.)

Of course, an Atlanta Thrashers move is far from certain. In fact, as anxious as the Winnipeg market is to bring back the NHL, it’s tough to think that a sale can be completed with enough time for everything to be ready by the 2011-12 season.

Either way, the Thrashers fan base is understandably uncomfortable about the situation. Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shared some of their thoughts in this story.

“Many of us fans watched as Gary Bettman saved struggling franchises in Nashville and Tampa over the past several years,” season-ticket holder Tony L. Blair, an attorney who lives in Lawrenceville, said by email. “We continue to watch the league go to extraordinary lengths to save what many feel is a lost cause, that being the Phoenix Coyotes. Yet, many Thrashers fans are distressed by what appears to be on the surface the lack of the same commitment toward the Atlanta market.”

Blair added: “We as Thrasher fans must ask, where is the justice in this? Are we not deserving [of] the same devotion and loyalty as other troubled franchises? This very question, I think, is the lynchpin of the entire episode. I think it comes down to, will the league give up the market?

“If yes, we lose the team. If not, then there is an opportunity for transition to new ownership who will, I believe, excite the current fan base and hopefully re-energize the local hockey community.”


Blair is probably right when he says that, on a surface level, there seems to be a lack of commitment to keeping the Thrashers in Atlanta. It’s important to note that perception isn’t always reality in these cases; the league might just seem like it doesn’t care quite as much about avoiding the Thrashers’ relocation.

While that planned $25 million payment from the City of Glendale essentially puts the Coyotes’ countdown on “pause,” the Thrashers situation is on fast-forward. We’ll keep you updated whether the Atlanta Spirit group is forced to stick with the team for longer than expected, a new local ownership group keeps the team in Atlanta or True North brings them to Winnipeg.

*As you may know, the Atlanta Flames fled Georgia to become the Calgary Flames.