Atlanta to Winnipeg

Just some points to make based on listening to the hockey experts and fans calling in for the last couple of hours on NHL Home Ice on my XM radio.

• The Thrashers fans are saying they supported the team as well as could be expected given the fact they never had a winner to support.
• I'm sure ownership was disappointed with declining season ticket sales.  The Thrasher season ticket holders are saying, "Why buy season tickets when you could get the seat next to yours for half price whenever you wanted to go to a game."
• The Thrashers fans point out that ownership didn't keep their best players -- Kovalchuk, Heatley, Marc Savard, et al -- nor obviously spent the money for good supporting players.
• The Thrashers never won a playoff game in their existence.
• The Thrashers were owned by the same owners of the Atlanta Hawks, who Thrasher fans contend was the team the owners really cared about.

Given the above points and others I may be missing or forgetting, it is easy to be sympathetic toward Thrashers fans.  I'd also make this point in their support:  Consistently competitive teams bring fans to games, no matter where.  Could we be talking about the Sharks moving from San Jose if they haven't had good ownership and player personnel people keeping that team competitive?  Probably.  Look at the city of Toronto as another comparison.  Toronto is an enormous city with great sports fans.  The Blue Jays were the first franchise to hit four million fans in a season, this in a stadium that holds just over 50,000.  Now after 15 years of mediocrity, the Blue Jays draw about 20,000 a game.

So their points are well taken and we'll never know how good a hockey town Atlanta could have been but this very large point also needs to be considered:  They have had 20 years of excellent, competitive and championship baseball in Atlanta but I don't think it's unfair to say the region is still fairly apathetic toward the Braves.

On a side note:  It was mentioned that Winnipeg getting an NHL team is great for the fans of that area as well as fans of other small Canadian NHL markets.  Why?  The point was made that if a team had gone to Hamilton, apparently a high revenue market, it could serve to drive up player salaries and put the Winnipegs of the NHL in profit peril all over again.  I just found that interesting.

PS:  This move makes my ticket stub from seeing the Thrashers play the Bruins in 2007 a lot cooler.