Atlanta Thrashers Moving To Winnipeg

[Blackhawks98]

No players will want to go and play in Winnipeg, and it was like that when the Jets were in the League. Yes, great fans out there and it will be media frenzy every night, but contrary to popular belief most players don't want that kind of media exposure day in and day out (answering the same repetitive questions over and over again). Like Hockey News said its a fishbowl environment for players, Winnipeg and Edmonton are PR nightmares. Impact players want to play for big markets like NY, Philly, Boston, Wash, Pitt, Chicago, Detroit, L.A., Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto. If Winnipeg gets a team there will be 28 GMs in the league that will add Winnipeg to the list of Edmonton on where to send players who are not producing on the ice.

[Wiggums5]

It's official now.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6610414

[SpreadSniper]

....

[tblues2005]

I am not shocked by this at all. I just hope it works out.

[k13]

Are they really going to be called the moose and not the Jets?

Sweet logo though.

[SpreadSniper]

no, they will not be called the Moose. They were the Minnesota Moose before they were the Winnipeg Moose, so Im assuming the name will follow the team wherever they land.

[jetsjets1028]

well i dont think theyll be the jets but goodbye hotlanta for hockey best sport in world

[jetsjets1028]

j-e-t-s for football!

[lunchbawks]

No players will want to go and play in Winnipeg, and it was like that when the Jets were in the League. Yes, great fans out there and it will be media frenzy every night, but contrary to popular belief most players don't want that kind of media exposure day in and day out (answering the same repetitive questions over and over again). Like Hockey News said its a fishbowl environment for players, Winnipeg and Edmonton are PR nightmares. Impact players want to play for big markets like NY, Philly, Boston, Wash, Pitt, Chicago, Detroit, L.A., Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto. If Winnipeg gets a team there will be 28 GMs in the league that will add Winnipeg to the list of Edmonton on where to send players who are not producing on the ice.

Great fans? Media frenzy?

Winnipeg is a sh-thole it's the mosquito capital of Canada, also running rampant with crackhead Natives.

Hamilton got dogged again

[Brock Landers]

Good for the sport to move the team to a place that appreciates it!

[beermankirk]

Hope they support the team. I think this time will be different. Back in the days of the Jets there were no regional sports networks like today. Im sure you were lucky to get 20 out of 80 games televised.

[headhunter34]

atlanta has already lost 2 hockey teams... i doubt theyll ever get one again. hockey belongs in canada

[Shaz]

No players will want to go and play in Winnipeg, and it was like that when the Jets were in the League. Yes, great fans out there and it will be media frenzy every night, but contrary to popular belief most players don't want that kind of media exposure day in and day out (answering the same repetitive questions over and over again). Like Hockey News said its a fishbowl environment for players, Winnipeg and Edmonton are PR nightmares. Impact players want to play for big markets like NY, Philly, Boston, Wash, Pitt, Chicago, Detroit, L.A., Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto. If Winnipeg gets a team there will be 28 GMs in the league that will add Winnipeg to the list of Edmonton on where to send players who are not producing on the ice.

complete bullshit.
most players who have played in Winnipeg had NO problem playing here. A number have stayed and set up roots here. Most of the negative comments coming from players are before they come here and buy into the BS that it's soooo cold and the mosquitos regularly devour small children. Just shows their ignorance IMO.

[VegasInsider]

no, they will not be called the Moose. They were the Minnesota Moose before they were the Winnipeg Moose, so Im assuming the name will follow the team wherever they land.

First reports said the Moose, but I don't think they'll settle on anything other than the Jets. Fans are too crazy about that name. It's kind of cool they'll be playing in the Eastern Conference, not sure if that's where they played before, I was too young.

[muldoon]

not sure if that's where they played before, I was too young.

And now you're too old to use wikipedia or google.

They were in the western conference (called the Campbell Conference)

[VegasInsider]

And you're the perfect age to be a douche..

After I posted, I looked it up.

[bamacards]

hope nashville flips to the east to replace atlanta

[Shaz]

Great fans? Media frenzy?

Winnipeg is a sh-thole it's the mosquito capital of Canada, also running rampant with crackhead Natives.

Hamilton got dogged again

Prime example of ignoranouses spouting out crap they know nothing about. I've been to Hamilton. You really think you've got something over Winnipeg? I guess some people need to dis others, whether it's the place they live, or something else in order to justify their sorry lots in life, or make up for their own personal shortcomings, possibly their intelligence, or their physical attributes.
Bottom line is the NHL is back in a market that will embrace and appreciate the team. No problem with support. Having a strong team support in a Canadian market and eliminating a weak one that was loosing money is good for the entire league.

[muldoon]

And you're the perfect age to be a douche..

After I posted, I looked it up.

How's that quest to be a kinder gentler poster/air bettor working out for ya?

[goduke]

I'm surprised atlanta can hold any pro franchise with how fairweather their fans are. You have to be the best every year or theyll drop you. They had a couple good teams with kovalchuk and hossa but couldnt sell out playoff games. Typical atlanta fan base

[Greekster]

lol im from Toronto and I am Canes fan and go all the way back to the Whalers days. Cant be a Leafs fan - they just suck ballz.

I get the whole American dollar and shitty arena and poor ownership in the past. But if you're gonna sell yourself as a hockey market, then at least sell the place out especially for a Canadian city.

Winnipeg didn't do that last time and nobody in the business community stepped up from what I remember. Hopefully its different this time.

[Shaz]

People from Winnipeg make it sound like their team was stolen from them.

Winnipeg couldn't sell out a 15,000 person stadium when tickets were $40 and lost their team in the first place because they didn't support it. I wonder how big the base is that will pay $80 for cheap seats and $200 for lower bowl if the franchise sucks for 4-5 years straight again.

Uh, I think your confusing genuine dissappointment and desire to have an NHL team with "stolen". What does that even mean? Who made that claim? Just a strange thing to say.
For those that don't know, the old arena was originally made to seat around 10,000 people. When the Jets joined the NHL, it was expanded by around 5,000 seats. IMO, they should have built a new arena then, instead of trying to make something out of a pretty crappy building. If you ever sat in the new section, you would understand why no one wanted to be up there. None the less, they averaged around 13,000, meaning that 3,000 of the expanded 5,000 crappy seats were mostly occupied. Not too shabby, considering the team was setting records as one of the worst teams in sports history.
I'd like to see how many fans would continue to shell out for tickets in the newer markets if their teams had similar records for that many years.

[muldoon]

Uh, I think your confusing genuine dissappointment and desire to have an NHL team with "stolen". What does that even mean? Who made that claim? Just a strange thing to say.
For those that don't know, the old arena was originally made to seat around 10,000 people. When the Jets joined the NHL, it was expanded by around 5,000 seats. IMO, they should have built a new arena then, instead of trying to make something out of a pretty crappy building. If you ever sat in the new section, you would understand why no one wanted to be up there. None the less, they averaged around 13,000, meaning that 3,000 of the expanded 5,000 crappy seats were mostly occupied. Not too shabby, considering the team was setting records as one of the worst teams in sports history.
I'd like to see how many fans would continue to shell out for tickets in the newer markets if their teams had similar records for that many years.

Do a google search for winnipeg jets stolen. You'll see I didn't come up with this sentiment on my own.

My point was partially the same as yours. Will Winnipeg fans still be around in 5-10 years if they continue the franchise tradition of sucking ass (especially come playoff time)

[jollyoscars]

im happy for winnipeg! get u sum!

[aggieshawn]

just read an interesting blog report that the new team name of the winnipeg team will most likely be the manatoba moose. True north sports has apparently spent a lot of resources promoting the moose brand and they will keep the same name/jerseys/logo as the ahl franchise.

http://www.sportslogos.net/blog/2011...ot-jets-in-12/

zero chance they are called the moose. 0%

[Shaz]

Do a google search for winnipeg jets stolen. You'll see I didn't come up with this sentiment on my own.

My point was partially the same as yours. Will Winnipeg fans still be around in 5-10 years if they continue the franchise tradition of sucking ass (especially come playoff time)

Well, living through those days when we were trying to keep the Jets in the city, I don't think the general sentiment was that they were being stolen. But there certainly were a lot of things going on that made it difficult to keep the team. But fan support was not one of them. Given a new building that is owned by the team owners who have other financial interests in the area that will benifit from the NHL being there, bodes well for the long term outlook.
We will be tested on this very soon. We need to sell 13,000 season tickets with a guarantee of keeping them for up to 5 years. I don't think any city in NHL history has ever been asked to do that.
Any bets anyone??

[aggieshawn]

go jets, go jets, go jets.