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True North buys Thrashers, set to move to Winnipeg

W

Wordplay

Golden Member
TSN reports:

Fifteen years after the departure of the Jets, the city of Winnipeg has arrived at a triumphant moment that many thought would never come.
NHL hockey is returning to the Manitoba capital.
The True North Sports and Entertainment group announced on Tuesday that they have completed a deal to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers and move them to Winnipeg in time for the 2011-12 season.
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Still needs Board of Governors approval on both the sale and relocation.
 
CZroe said:
If they do, do you think ATL would name their next hockey team "Thrashers?" they kinda have a bird theme going (Hawks, Thrashers, Falcons).
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I hope they don't get another team.

Also Buttmunch didn't seem to happy in the press conference announcing the deal.
 
CZroe said:
If they do, do you think ATL would name their next hockey team "Thrashers?" they kinda have a bird theme going (Hawks, Thrashers, Falcons).
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That would be their third NHL franchise. I'm pretty sure Atlanta has shown that they don't care much about hockey. I doubt they'll get another team anytime soon.
 
Atlanta had a hockey team??

Hopefully all the hockey teams in warm places leave for Canada and I never have to hear about hockey ever again.
 
Blackjack200 said:
I still don't understand how a city of 700,000 people is going to support an NHL franchise.
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They're expecting for the entire surrounding area (i.e. province of Manitoba) to support it. Still pretty small, but the prairies are kinda growing...
 
Wordplay said:
It didn't work last time because of the weak Canadian dollar and lack of interest for a new arena.
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I guess we'll see. It seems like they have a pretty nice building.

IndyColtsFan said:
Think about the NBA -- they have roughly the same number of games and you see cities like Oklahoma City and Memphis supporting franchises.
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Yeah, I don't know much about the NBA or follow it that closely, but I was surprised to see NBA teams in those cities.
 
Blackjack200 said:
Rubbish. No current NHL city has fewer people in its metropolitan area.
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Carolina (Greensboro) is 714k according to wolfram alpha.

Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa are all 1M and they do just fine.

Canadian city + former NHL city + strong CAD + revenue sharing safety net = win for the Winnipeg franchise.
 
NoCreativity said:
Also good to see the Wings might get a chance to move to Eastern conference.
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I think they have said that this won't happen. I think the reason given was they don't want to have 5/6 of the original 6 in the eastern conference and split the rivalries that are currently there (CHI, COL). I don't think it's all that good of a reason, but I don't think Detroit is moving to the east.
 
Man, this is weird. I grew up a Jets fan living in Winnipeg, but converted to the Canucks when I moved out here and the Jets were moved to Phoenix. I kind of hope they don't get to name them the Jets as I would feel a bit conflicted if they did since the name still resonates with me. If that happens I may need to practice some sport bigomy and bust out my old Hawerchuk jersey. :hmm:

At least they will be in the East for the time being, so it would be a bit easier to cheer for both.

KT
 
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