The NHL acknowledged and approved the relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to the city of Winnipeg for next season. Atlanta had previously lost the Flames back in the 80s when they relocated to Calgary. Winnipeg has been without a team since 1996, when the team was moved to Phoenix, now known as the Phoenix Coyotes. Ironically, Phoenix has been under the gun to either find a buyer to finance the team, or be relocated, possibly right back up to Canada.
The new team in Winnipeg (not sure of the team name) will play out of Manitoba at the MTS Centre, where the AHL team the Manitoba Moose currently play. The arena holds roughly 15,000 people, a small venue compared to other NHL teams, but even if it sells out every game, will still draw larger crowds than what Atlanta was bringing to the Thrashers' games.
The NHL has received numerous attempts from both Winnipeg and Quebec to bring back hockey to those cities and it seemed that it would come down to either Phoenix or Atlanta to be the ones to go and once the Coyotes found a backer to pay the $25 million in losses, the relocation fell squarely on the shoulders of Atlanta.
Atlanta has never been known as a hot-bed for hockey, but rather just an overall great sports city. A main reason for the NHL to place the Thrashers in Atlanta during the 2000 expansion class. But, when you compare the Thrashers attendance to the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, the crowds and atmosphere at the hockey games are nothing. In some duel NBA and NHL cities, hockey has become the major sport in those cities, including Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Detroit.
So Atlanta has been stripped of their hockey privileges for a second time now. Who knows, maybe the third time is the charm?
* All photos courtesy of Google Images*
No comments:
Post a Comment