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Thrashers updates: Press conference to come soon, realignment might wait until 2012

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Again, it seems like it’s just a matter of time until the Atlanta Thrashers will relocate to Winnipeg. Still, there are some details to hash out. Here are some hazy updates about the situation from Tuesday’s round of news.


  • There are differing viewpoints regarding the date for an official announcement about the relocation.

On one hand, Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said that an announcement should come before the end of this week. Meanwhile, The Globe & Mail - aka the Canadian newspaper that originally indicated an announcement would be made today - indicated that an announcement might not be made until Memorial Day (Monday, May 30). It might seem like a formality, but scheduling reasons add urgency to the proceedings.


  • Speaking of which, SB Nation Atlanta indicates that the NHL might not realign its divisions until the 2012-13 season. That might make sense if it takes a while to hash out the smaller details of the Thrashers-to-Winnipeg deal, but it might also make it a tough season for the “Winnipeg Thrashers” and the rest of the Southeast Division.

Dirk Hoag of On the Forecheck compared the combined travel distance teams went through during the 2010-11 season versus what it would have been like if Atlanta’s games were played in Winnipeg instead. Hoag found that the “Winnipeg Thrashers” would have traveled about 66,300 miles instead of 44,000 in the same schedule, which would be 10,000 more than any team went through in the previous three seasons.

While the NHL’s schedule makers will likely attempt to ease some of their traveling burden for the 2011-12 season, the relocated Thrashers team could have the deck stacked against them in a serious way. One could imagine some lengthy road trips through the Southeast Division to at least limit the amount of times they need to make those big trips.

If you want to read more on the subject of realignment, check out PHT’s take along with which team our readers think might find themselves in a new division once realignment takes place.
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Naturally, we’ll keep you up to date regarding all the pertinent issues surrounding the likely relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers. Stay tuned.