Atlanta moving to the AHL?

[axecrew]

but it's been well established tht Carolina essentially owns tht territory through the Everblades, Royals, good luck attempting to force them out of tht market.

I'm a little confused....did something happen to change world geography? If Carolina owns that area now does that mean that the Miami Dolphins now play in Miami Carolina??? And since we already have a North AND South Carolina...is the area that used to be Georgia and Florida now called Souther Carolina or maybe Even More South Carolina??? And even more important...is there now only 49 states?? Is it kinda like when Pluto became a non-planet recognizing only 8 of them now...and what happens to all of those American flags that have been bought with 50 stars on them, Can we trade them in for the new 49 star flag? Or do we wait until P.R. becomes a state and then we have our 50 again? Or do we just get a refund? And most important of all when did this happen...was there an email or memo that i missed? If not, then ,why didn't I get it? And FINALLY I want to thank HUTCH for pointing this out as I would've never even known had it not been for his thoughtfulness in pointing this out in his post...So Thanks Hutch!!!!

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

How hard can it possibly be to "force them out" when its widely known that the team and arena are both for sale? Forcing them out is as simple as it gets.

They are still for sale? They were a couple years ago. Thought that was taken off the table though?

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

They supported the Flames just fine, never mind the revisionist history that gets thrown around everywhere. The biggest relocation tragedy that the NHL ever saw. I'm 100% serious.

It was hard for Atlanta to support the Thrashers when their owners where actively sabotaging them.

If Time Warner had rejected AOL's attempt to buy them out things might have been different.

Financial losses from the AOL merger forced TW to sell off several assets in the previous decade, and continuing into this one (you notice that despite "Time" being part of the company name that Time's magazine empire is no longer part of the company). The Thrashers were one of these assets sold off (as part of a package with the Hawks and the arena).

So, you can say the AOL-Time Warner merger put forth into motion the series of events that led to the demise of the Thrashers. If the merger never happened, Time Warner still might be a big force in sports ownership today, and we might have seen NHL games on Turner networks (likely TBS, since they would have wanted something to replace their NBA rights) starting in 2005 rather than the move to OLN which evolved into NBCSN. NHL national cable ratings took a huge hit after the move to OLN, but they have been recovering over the years as the channel evolved into NBCSN. The network at different points tried to acquire partial MLB and NFL rights, but the NHL remains their only big 4 sports contract.

On the other hand, if the Thrashers hadn't flown the coop (get the joke?), the Blue Jackets and Red Wings would still be stuck in the Western Conference. The only way the NHL was gonna move both teams east is if an existing Eastern team moved out of the Eastern Time Zone, a condition fulfilled with the Thrashers becoming the Winnipeg Jets.

 

[adsfan]

In Milwaukee..

Sorry, I haven't been on here recently.

It was a charity game. Upstairs seats were $3, with $2 of that going to Children's Hospital. The giant check said $28,100.

A nasty little snow storm made it very slippery on the roads. The official attendance was just over 14K, but the real number of fans was 10-12K.

 

[ColHockey40]

Hockey is definitely not dead in Atlanta, I'm up there nearly 2-3 times a week for hockey games, and I miss going up there to see my Flames play the Thrashers once a year.

 

[GKJ]

Atlanta is a major hub as well, a reason why the AHL is willing to have Charlotte in the Western Conference. You can get to and from anywhere from Atlanta.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Atlanta is the most overrated sports market in america. They couldn't even sell out braves home playoff games in the glory years.

 

[BigMac1212]

Will this Atlanta team play in Philips Arena or where the Gladiators play?

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Will this Atlanta team play in Philips Arena or where the Gladiators play?

There won't be one, you won't have to worry lol

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Will this Atlanta team play in Philips Arena or where the Gladiators play?

Doubtful you'd see Atlanta, Gladiators or not, step up without losing the ECHL Gladiators and they'd have to buy an existing license of a existing team a la CDS to Kahn aka Albany to Charlotte.

 

[beenhereandthere]

Why would the Blackhawks move their AHL team from their back yard to Atlanta

Makes sense actually since Chicago is probably the most popular NHL team now around Atlanta.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

That may be (I don't know), and the Hawks do love expanding their market footprint, but that being said.... they've got an easy, nearby, and willing partner in Rockford. I don't see that changing barring the arena situation going belly up, in which case I'd expect them to try to get their ECHL team in Indianapolis to buy the rights to the team or to try to get the Peoria Rivermen to jump up from the SPHL to the AHL (or ECHL if the Indy team jumps up as well). Don't see Atlanta happening with the Hawks so long as Rockford, Indianapolis, and Peoria exist. All make more sense from a logistics and reliable market standpoint.

 

[axecrew]

That may be (I don't know), and the Hawks do love expanding their market footprint, but that being said.... they've got an easy, nearby, and willing partner in Rockford. I don't see that changing barring the arena situation going belly up, in which case I'd expect them to try to get their ECHL team in Indianapolis to buy the rights to the team or to try to get the Peoria Rivermen to jump up from the SPHL to the AHL (or ECHL if the Indy team jumps up as well). Don't see Atlanta happening with the Hawks so long as Rockford, Indianapolis, and Peoria exist. All make more sense from a logistics and reliable market standpoint.

Especially since the hawks are in Indy now and were there for many years back in the 90's as their primary affiliate.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

Especially since the hawks are in Indy now and were there for many years back in the 90's as their primary affiliate.

C'mon axe, you know nothing about the Hawks. I bet you don't even know who my favorite hawks player of all time is.

Think about this, This is Rockford we're talking about. If they did not have a hockey team for that arena, what else do you think goes in that arena? Hockey is the majority of their events and if they lose hockey, its not like there are a whole lot of acts clamoring to go to Rockford's 5k seat arena when there are college towns close (Madison, Beloit, etc.) and Chicago and the western burbs.

Would they get another team? probably but its not like there is a league with 4 or 5 other tams in close proximity, except maybe the USHL.

 

[axecrew]

C'mon axe, you know nothing about the Hawks. I bet you don't even know who my favorite hawks player of all time is.

Think about this, This is Rockford we're talking about. If they did not have a hockey team for that arena, what else do you think goes in that arena? Hockey is the majority of their events and if they lose hockey, its not like there are a whole lot of acts clamoring to go to Rockford's 5k seat arena when there are college towns close (Madison, Beloit, etc.) and Chicago and the western burbs.

Would they get another team? probably but its not like there is a league with 4 or 5 other tams in close proximity, except maybe the USHL.

Your favorite hawk of all time is.....Ben Simon

 

[Tommy Hawk]

Your favorite hawk of all time is.....Ben Simon

Favorite draftee!!

 

[axecrew]

Favorite draftee!!

That counts right???

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

If a guy doesn't play for a team that drafts him then, no.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

That counts right???

In our world? Yes it does!!!