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semin-rules
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1915 Posts |
 Posted - 05/31/2011 : 09:29:11
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It's official !!
Gary Bettman just made it official and the Thrashers have been sold to Winnipeg.
And will be playing in the NHL next season !!
It has been 15 years and it has finally happened !
Everyone, thoughts, feelings, reactions!?
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Edited by - semin-rules on 05/31/2011 09:37:50
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99pickles
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
671 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2011 : 09:40:12
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I am frickin' thrilled!! I never would have predicted this even just a couple years ago!
Now we just need to send Florida (or any failing franchise) to Quebec and we can consider this experiment done with!
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nuxfan
PickupHockey All-Star
3670 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2011 : 10:01:26
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this has been in the works for so long, I think everyone has gotten used to it already.
The only question now is, how do the divisions/conferences re-balance, if at all this season? |
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Guest8570
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Posted - 05/31/2011 : 10:33:27
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It's been hoped for "for so long now" but it hasn't been serious until the last few months. Remember, Phoenix was also supposed to be selling and moving..and Nashville.
Here: "In February 2011 majority owner Michael Gearon has stated that the team is seeking new investors. Recently, filmmaker and Atlanta native Stephen Rollins has publicly stated he has interest in purchasing the franchise to keep them in Atlanta."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Thrashers
The activity in the last few weeks has made the Winnipeg group obviously forthcoming, but a couple years ago it would have been quite prescient for someone to firmly predict this specific scenario amidst the handful of money-losing U.S. teams, versus the number of NHL-Starved Canadian markets. |
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99pickles
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
671 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2011 : 10:39:48
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Just for fun, here's their e-mail blast to fans:
May 31, 2011
Earlier today, we, along with our partners, signed an asset purchase agreement to sell the Atlanta Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment. If ratified by the NHL, Commissioner Bettman and the league's Board of Governors, this will result in the relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, Canada beginning with the 2011-2012 season.
It's extremely disappointing to all of us that it became necessary after all other options were exhausted. We want to express my gratitude to you, the fans, for the years of dedication you have offered to the Atlanta Thrashers.
As many of you know, for some time we have been seeking a buyer for the team or a partner willing to join with us in continuing to fund the team. We hired an investment banking firm to seek out potential investors with the express goal of finding someone who would keep the team here in Atlanta. In recent months, we openly indicated a growing urgency to secure assistance in off-setting our operating losses in hopes that our public plea would produce investors which, to that point, had eluded us.
After extensive effort, nobody has come forward. As a result, we had no choice but to explore the investment option presented to us by the NHL in the form of True North Sports and Entertainment.
Relocation of the Thrashers is not the outcome that any of us ultimately wanted. We knew when we purchased the club in 2004, that professional sports teams are seldom, if ever, money-making investments but rather vital community assets. We believed in the overall impact that the team had on the sports landscape of Atlanta, and over the past seven years, invested a significant amount of money into what we felt was an integral piece of the greater metropolitan Atlanta area. We are truly grateful to have been a part of this city's professional hockey history, to have made an indelible impact on the community through our players' outreach, our organization's activities and our foundation's donations, and most of all, to have been a part of paying tribute to you, our fans, each and every time our team stepped on the ice.
Thank you for the opportunity to be entertained, thrilled and inspired alongside you by Atlanta Thrashers hockey. None of this would have been possible without your support.
Sincerely,
Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon |
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impropriety
Top Prospect
Canada
78 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2011 : 10:47:12
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I'm not 'used to it'. I just got back to the office from the press conference at MTS Centre, and I couldn't be happier. I'm going to go drop my car off at home after work, then I'm heading to The Forks where the real party will be.
Today is a great day for Winnipeg. |
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leigh
Moderator
Canada
1755 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2011 : 13:38:42
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Hey congrats to all of Winnipeg and all the Peg fans here on PickupHockey.com!  Now get ready for an ass-kicking at the hands of my Flames! 
Let the trash talk begin.... |
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freddyboy
Rookie
Canada
218 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2011 : 14:50:31
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quote:
Originally posted by leigh
Hey congrats to all of Winnipeg and all the Peg fans here on PickupHockey.com! Now get ready for an ass-kicking at the hands of my Flames!
Let the trash talk begin....
i heard they are going to be in the south east for 1 season, so they will play the flmaes once maybe twice only Leigh
As for the winnipeg, it's just great! fans there deserves an other chances
Hopefully Quebec city will have one soon (if the stupid politics can stay out)
P.S. another cash cow for the NHL
joe is a god, if u dont agree....i dont care |
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sahis34
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
591 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2011 : 14:59:36
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| It's relocation relocation relocation |
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spade632
Rookie
Canada
247 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2011 : 05:51:57
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It's great to see the NHL back in Winnipeg! Awesome day for Winnipeg and hockey fans across Canada. Next stop - Quebec!
But, is it just me or was Gary Bettman the only guy not smiling in Winnipeg yesterday? Granted, he said the NHL is back in a city it wishes it had never left but then turns around and says "Frankly, it won't work bery well unless you sell out every night."
While it's true that Winnipeg will have to move large amounts of tickets, I can't recall any other expansion / re-located franchise getting the same "warning" on Day One.
I think Gary's just got a bruised ego because this is the first of his "American Dream" teams to fall.
Last, but not least, while I'm very happy to see hockey back in Winnipeg I do feel bad for the fans who support(ed) Atlanta and now find themselves without a team. That's never a fun prospect. |
Edited by - spade632 on 06/01/2011 06:02:57 |
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n/a
deleted
4809 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2011 : 05:41:03
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I hope everyone has seen the movie "Groundhog Day" - if you haven't, go rent it, it's Bill Murray at his finest.
In Groundhog Day, remember where it's one of the last scenes, and after repeating the same day literally thousands of times by that point, Bill Murray wakes up after his best every most fulfilling day, and wakes up to find a girl still by his side, and the radio alarm clock morning show guys are saying something he hasn't heard before, and Bill Murray says . . .
" . . . something is different."
"Different is GOOD!"
That's how I feel.
Different is good! I love how different this is than before . . . The Count saying nice things about WInnipeg . . . a team moving from a failing american franchise to a hockey-loving country and region . . . NHL officials actually admitting that a club was losing money . . . and now, no more need for the Make it 7 Campaign.
Let's Make It 8! Bring on the Coyotes to Toronto for a second team! 
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
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Winnipeg's Team Is Back !!! 
