Deal to move Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg appears imminent

[.infamous]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-sp-0520-newswire-20110520,0,5175007.story

latimes.com
NEWSWIRE
Deal to move Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg appears imminent
Newspaper report says a deal has been reached between NHL club's current owner, Atlanta Spirit, and would-be owner True North Sports and Entertainment.

Staff and wire reports

8:58 PM PDT, May 19, 2011

The sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to a group seeking to bring the NHL back to Winnipeg appeared imminent Thursday after Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported that an agreement had been reached between the Thrashers' current owner, Atlanta Spirit, and would-be owner True North Sports and Entertainment.

The Globe and Mail said the league will confirm the sale and franchise transfer Tuesday. The newspaper is owned by David Thomsen, who is also a key figure in the True North group.

However, the Winnipeg Free Press quoted a "high-ranking True North official" as saying the Globe and Mail story was inaccurate but quoted other unnamed sources as saying a deal could be reached in the coming days.

Winnipeg lost the Jets to Phoenix in 1996 but has since built a new arena in hopes of luring an NHL team. The Phoenix Coyotes appeared headed there until the city of Glendale, Ariz., last week agreed to pay the NHL $25 million to keep the Coyotes for the 2011-12 season.

— Helene Elliott

Damn that was out of nowhere. Well there you go Winnipeg haha.

 

[playmaker7]

This dude literally went out and asked who'd be willing to buy the team

He didn't give a fuck anymore

 

[snipezo]

Wow. That came outta nowhere. They better name it the Jets lol.

 

[Phil The Thrill]

Wow. Completely unexpected. They better be called the Jets and have a similar uniform scheme.

 

[LeafsFan4Life]

It didn't really come out of nowhere. It's been talked about for a while that if the Coyotes weren't moving to Winnipeg, the Thrashers would instead.

 

[TTN2810]

Yeah, the Thrashers is all that's talked about here for the past month.
And they already said they won't be the Jets.
And they're pretty sure they'll be called the Manitoba ________ instead of Winnipeg.
For you Americans, Manitoba is the province Winnipeg is in.

 

[Phil The Thrill]

Yeah, the Thrashers is all that's talked about here for the past month.
And they already said they won't be the Jets.
And they're pretty sure they'll be called the Manitoba ________ instead of Winnipeg.
For you Americans, Manitoba is the province Winnipeg is in.

Damn, that sucks.

Lmfao at that last part.

 

[The Guid]

I know what Manitoba is and could care less lol. That is fucking BS though, Jets or bust.

 

[footballplaya52]

i like the thrashers jerseys, thats why i wish pheonix would move.

 

[The Guid]

While Atlanta was probably moving eventually, this is unfair to the Thrashers. I think the only reason they're moving, and not Phoenix, is because Gary Bettman can't swallow his pride and admit his mistake of moving the team to Phoenix in the first place. So, instead of moving back, he'll continue to funnel money into a lost cause.

 

[Mr.Baller]

I saw on some sites that its confirmed ATL to WINNIPEG

 

[sheed]

11 am Central time announcement. Now official. Pending NHL B of G approval, Thrashers moving to Winnipeg.

Team will play out of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference for one year before NHL realignment kicks in.

Do not believe any firm decision has been made on the name of the team but ownership appears to prefer moving away from the name Jets.

From Bob McKenzie's Twitter. http://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie

 

[Mr.Baller]

Its a done deal yeah man new team in Canada ! You guys could go on tsn.ca live to watch the announcement .

 

[Phil The Thrill]

So happy about this. I'm not a fan of them playing out of the southeast, but that is something that can be solved later.

 

[Oiler35]

The NHL announced the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to the True North Sports and Entertainment. The sale will still be pending NHL Board of Governors approval, which should occur on June 21.

 

[Mooche]

Partied like a motherfucker.

 

[The Guid]

Young fans want the Jets,old fans want the Jets,NHL players want the Jets, media wants the Jets, therefore team will be called Polar Bears

 

[TTN2810]

lol wheres that quote from?
quite humerous.

I think I'd rather the Polar Bears. Just cause I hate the old Jets jerseys. Unless we re-did them with a darker blue and make them kinda like the team USA olympic jerseys from a few years ago.
But I think we could get an awesome logo and color scheme with the polar bears and get some awesome modern looking unis.

 

[The Guid]

Some Gary Bettman parody twitter account lol

 

[dh1333]

WINNIPEG -- The owners of Winnipeg's new NHL team say they have sold more than 4,000 season tickets in just over a day.

The as-yet unnamed team wants to sell 13,000 season tickets before the June 21 NHL board of governors meeting where the Atlanta Thrashers move to Winnipeg will be approved.

The count, which is updated each afternoon on the team's website, shows 4,170 have been sold.

Currently, only season ticket holders for the AHL Manitoba Moose are getting a chance to secure between four and eight seats each.

There are about 2,000 Moose fans who had season seats.

Tickets go on sale to everyone on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the MTS Centre, where the team will play, is getting a sneak peak at its NHL future, or make that the past.

"Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story" is shooting a sequel and using the arena to recreate a 1979 NHL game between the Boston Bruins and Colorado Rockies, two teams Cherry coached.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=367682