The Atlanta Thrashers Fly To Winnipeg

Jeez…that’s even more of a shocker, to tell you the truth. Granted, the media had been talking about it for a while now, but the media conjures up lots of stories, most of which are not true. And I must say, I’m not the least bit happy with the NHL’s decision to relocate the Thrashers to Winnipeg, for numerous reasons.

I only have one true concern with the decision to relocate the Thrashers at all, and that’s because the NHL didn’t even give them a chance to succeed. Phoenix struggled in the gate for years because they never had a winning product. Once they made the playoffs last season (and this season), they sold out. Atlanta has made the playoffs once, and had just two home games (both of which sold out). The Thrashers have never had a good team, and because of that, struggled at the gate.

Guess what, folks, the Philadelphia Flyers, one of the most valuable hockey teams in the world, lost money the year they missed the playoffs in 2006-07. That’s right! Their attendance plummeted and their accounting books had large, red numbers in it.

However, if the NHL truly believes that Atlanta isn’t a viable market, then so be it. However, as the old saying goes, “fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” The NHL screwed up the first time they were in Atlanta with the Flames. Okay. Mistakes happen. The second time the NHL ventured into Georgia? Same result. God help the league if they decide to go back within the next 20 years.

But now onto my feelings on Winnipeg. If anyone has ever read the book “Thin Ice,” you’ll know everything about the Winnipeg Jets of the ’80s and ’90s. Jim Silver, a then-member of the group trying to make hockey in Winnipeg work, outlines every problem and the ultimate downfall of the Jets hockey club. Of course, the problems with the Canadian dollar and the lack of prospective owner have been fixed. The dollar is now healthy, and there is obviously an prospective owner (who will soon own the franchise). However, there are numerous other problems that have not been fixed, and will continue to burden the team until their eventual departure from the city (you heard it here first).

The first is that of the MTS Centre, Winnipeg’s arena. It holds 15,015 fans for hockey games. That means, if Winnipeg sells out every game, they would rank 24th in league attendance (based on this season’s numbers). That doesn’t sound like an NHL-worthy arena. In 1967, the NHL enforced the rule that new arenas had to have at least 12,500 seats. That was back when players didn’t even make $500,000 in their careers. Now, players can’t make less than that in a season.

The second problem is the city itself. Winnipeg was, and still is, one of the poorest cities in Canada. People stopped going to games in the 1990s because they could no longer afford to go to an NHL game. Granted, salaries are a bit higher now. But to take your kid to an NHL game, with parking, food, and whatnot, it costs at least $200. How many Winnipeggers, many of whom live from paycheck to paycheck, will spent that much money more than once per season, if that at all?

I can’t imagine they are going to have that many season ticket holders. And as a Hall-of-Fame builder once said to me, there are three things you need to have financial success in the NHL: season tickets, season tickets, and season tickets. Winnipeg may sell out for the first year, and possibly the second and third years. But what happens when the team continues to struggle and fans decide they don’t want to dish out that kind of money anymore?

What happens when True North decides they’re sick of losing millions, and wants to dump the team? Is the NHL going to take over the franchise as they’ve done with Phoenix? I can’t imagine so.

In addition to the fact that the government announced they would refuse to put out money to support an NHL franchise. Once again, why would the NHL move to a city where there is little to no support by the people that run the place?

I’m not saying they should have stayed in Atlanta, and I’m not saying that they were wrong to do so. I’m just saying it’s a bit odd that they picked Winnipeg after hockey failed so miserably there just 15 years ago.

Plus, why did the NHL buy Phoenix and refuse to allow them to move, but when Atlanta had owner problems, they pulled the plug as quick as possible?