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Thrashers fans rallying to save team
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ATLANTA - With Winnipeg's mayor saying a move was just "a matter of time," the fate of the Atlanta Thrashers remained uncertain Friday as fans planned a possible last-ditch effort to show support for the NHL team.

A rally was scheduled for today outside Philips Arena in conjunction with a select-a-seat event for current and prospective season-ticket holders, scheduled to go on as planned despite the franchise's cloudy future.

There was no way of knowing if a strong turnout would have any impact on reported negotiations between the Thrashers ownership and Winnipeg-based True North Sports and Entertainment, though NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said on his weekly radio show that "it will be interesting to see how many people show up."

A Facebook page named "Keep the Thrashers in Atlanta" urged fans to turned up at the noontime rally, which will be held in a gritty parking area known as "The Gulch."

"Bring everyone you know! Even if they just want to party with people! We need a HUGE crowd! KEEP OUR THRASHERS IN ATLANTA!!" the organizer of the page wrote.

Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said Friday a deal to move the Thrashers to Winnipeg was inevitable. The Canadian city lost its NHL team in 1996 when the Jets moved to Phoenix and were renamed the Coyotes.

It looked as though the Coyotes, now owned by the league because of financial troubles, might be moving back to Winnipeg. But last week, officials in suburban Glendale, Ariz., agreed to a $25 million subsidy for the upcoming season, saving the Coyotes while they try to finalize new ownership.

That turned the focus to the Thrashers.

"I do believe this will happen and it's long overdue," Katz said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

The Thrashers owners, known as Atlanta Spirit, claim $130 million in losses since 2005 and have made it clear they no longer want the NHL team, which has made the playoffs only once in 11 seasons and ranked 28th out of 30 teams in attendance this year.

While the preference is to find new ownership that would keep the team in Atlanta, no one has come forward with a legitimate offer.

"Nothing new," co-owner Bruce Levenson said Friday in an email to The Associated Press.

NHL officials also were tightlipped.

"No concrete developments at this point," deputy commissioner Bill Daly wrote in an email to the AP. "Won't comment on likelihood or things that might flow from agreement unless or until its reached."

True North reportedly is willing to pay $110 million for the team and another $60 million to the league as a relocation fee.

 

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Thrashers headed to Canada after team's sale
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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.