By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Thrashers drop fourth straight
Placeholder Image

RALEIGH, N.C. — Cam Ward made 19 saves for his second shutout in two weeks, and Matt Cullen had a goal and an assist for the second straight game in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.

Mullen and Ray Whitney scored during a dominating first period, and the Hurricanes held on for their fourth win in five games while sending the Thrashers to their fourth straight loss.

With a sweep of struggling Southeast Division rivals Tampa Bay and Atlanta, the Hurricanes moved back into second place — one point ahead of Florida — in the division. Now Carolina heads to the West Coast for game against Vancouver, San Jose and Phoenix.

Ward, making his 16th straight start, finished with his third shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. He blanked Toronto 2-0 on Jan. 19 and, in his last game, shut out the Lightning over the final two periods.

Atlanta’s Kari Lehtonen made 38 saves and kept his team in the game with several spectacular stops. But he was under siege all night for the Thrashers, who couldn’t get anything going offensively. They were held to four shots in both the first and third periods, and have scored a total seven goals during their four-game slide.

They have lost three straight to Carolina — all in the two months since coach Paul Maurice was rehired by the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes held a 40-19 shots advantage and were the aggressors all night long — even when the Thrashers were on the power play. After not scoring a short-handed goal during their first 49 games, they now have done it in each of their last two outings.

Cullen took his turn to score short-handed midway through the first — and midway through a tripping penalty to Eric Staal — when he put the Hurricanes up 1-0. He took a feed near center ice from Chad LaRose — who scored a short-handed goal two nights earlier — and skated in alone on Lehtonen, beating the Atlanta goalie with a high wrist shot for his 12th goal.

Later in the period, Whitney stretched the lead to two on a set play in which he took a pass from Cullen in open ice and deked Lehtonen before sliding the puck through his legs for his 16th goal.

Community Events
Thrashers headed to Canada after team's sale
Placeholder Image

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The wait is over for Winnipeg hockey fans.

For Atlanta, it means saying goodbye to another NHL team.

True North Sports and Entertainment scheduled a news conference Tuesday at Winnipeg's MTS Centre to make "a significant community announcement."

True North has been in negotiations with the owners of the Atlanta Thrashers to buy the NHL team and move it to Winnipeg. The deal is reportedly worth $170 million, which includes a $60 million relocation fee that would be split by the rest of the league.

Winnipeg has been without NHL hockey since the Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996. The Thrashers entered the league three years later as an expansion franchise, but ownership problems, a losing team and dwindling attendance doomed the club. The team ranked 28th out of 30 teams this year with an average attendance of less than 14,000.

Assuming the deal goes through - it still must be approved by the other owners - Atlanta would become the first city in the NHL's modern era to lose two teams.
The Flames moved to Calgary in 1980 after eight seasons in Atlanta.

True North was making its announcement one day before the start of the Stanley Cup final, which begins Wednesday in Vancouver between the Canucks and the Boston Bruins.
While there was no prohibition on announcing major news during that series, the league preferred to get the Thrashers' sale off its plate before opening its signature event.

For weeks, the two sides had been working through complex legal details on the sale and relocation of the team, while leaving open the possibility that a local buyer would emerge late in the process. No one ever came forward with a serious offer, according to the Thrashers' ownership group, Atlanta Spirit, and the city's mayor, Kasim Reed.

"It is going to hurt the city but we will withstand it just fine and we will get through it," Reed said.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said on his weekly radio show that the inability to find an owner who wanted to keep the team in Atlanta was a barrier the league couldn't overcome.

"It would be one of those head scratchers where you say, 'Look at all of this great corporate opportunity, look at all of this grass roots hockey, why doesn't somebody want to own a team here?'" Bettman said. "And that would be a difficult, but unfortunate, situation to be dealing with if it has reached, or does reach, that point."

Bettman was asked if Atlanta had hopes of landing another NHL team if it lost its second franchise.

"The prospect of leaving Atlanta isn't something that I'm particularly fond of," he said. "So I can't even contemplate the notion of what would happen after that in terms of coming back. We respect the importance of Atlanta as a city. It's a big market, but this is a franchise that's got a problem in that market."

Team president Don Waddell says there remains some hope for a late development until a sale is made official and approved by the NHL board of governors, which is scheduled to meet June 21 in New York. But considering Atlanta Spirit, which also owns the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and the operating rights to Philips Arena, has been trying for years to sell the hockey team, that seems highly unlikely.

Also, any potential owner would have to agree to become a tenant at Philips Arena, a major stumbling block because it would cut into potential revenue from sources such as concessions, parking, luxury suites and other events.

"Ownership still is committed to selling at a greatly reduced price to anyone committed to Atlanta," Waddell said.