It’s highly unlikely that the Thrashers would be moved or sold. Atlanta Spirit own the Thrashers, the Hawks, and Philips Arena which is one of the most profitable concert venues in North America plus having the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream play there as well. There are not enough major concert tours to make up for the loss of trying to fill the arena for the 41 dates the Thrashers hold. 

The only way I could see the team sold, is if there is a contract stipulation that keeps the Thrashers in Atlanta, and playing in Philips Arena.

Posted by blankspace6 from Atlanta on 10/28/08 at 02:04 PM ET

Nashville’s problems are well documented what with minority owner Boots Del Biaggio in bankruptcy and the principal owners said to be in default on some of their obligations

Ah, it wouldn’t be a “NHL teams in trouble” article without the Preds mentioned. And the above quote is all that is from the article about the Preds. I could see why we’d be in the sub-head. A whole sentence.

You stay classy, Jim Kelly.

Posted by PredNeck from Hicktown on 10/28/08 at 02:15 PM ET

@PredNeck: I don’t see what you’re talking about. When I click through to the Sportsnet article, Nashville *not* mentioned in any headline or subhead. The ones I see are “Who says Buffalo’s dull?” and “With Gary Bettman a guest at the HSBC Arena on Monday, there were quite the fireworks, in more ways than one.”

Which one are you referring to?

Posted by Josh from Montreal on 10/28/08 at 02:37 PM ET

I can’t imagine why these teams are not lining up to sell to Basille. I would not want to be the guy left holding a horrible franchise in a horrible town in a horrible economic depression.

Posted by kevin from boston on 10/28/08 at 03:00 PM ET

All he’s doing is pandering to his readers. No need to take much of it seriously.

Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 10/28/08 at 05:04 PM ET

Wow predneck, I didn’t know the entire world revolved around you. Maybe they put that in the sub-head because it gives readers an idea of what the article is about and not to insult your team, which by the way should be included in any list of “NHL teams in trouble”.

Anyway, I’m watching the Flyers @ Atlanta game right now and it looks like there are more empty seats than filled seats in the lower section.

Also, looking at attendence numbers of the last couple years, I a couple that are worrisome. The Devils are the ones that really stand out to me. They won a cup a couple years ago, they are good every year, and this season they are actually exciting to watch, and still only fill up 84% of their new arena.
There is no reason the Devils shouldn’t fill that arena every night, any idea on what the problem is there?

Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 10/28/08 at 06:42 PM ET

Kevin -

To be fair, someone from PIT has no business pointing fingers at franchises that can’t sell tickets… it was only what, 3 years ago that it described the Penguins perfectly?

As for the Devils, the problem is their market can’t support them.  Plain and simple.  The Islanders, Rangers, AND Flyers all have fanbases right in their backyard.

Posted by Primis on 10/28/08 at 08:16 PM ET

Anyway, I’m watching the Flyers @ Atlanta game right now and it looks like there are more empty seats than filled seats in the lower section.

The season ticket holders are pissed, the owners raised ticket prices despite a poor product last season, and many fans - STH or not - are staying away in droves due to the fact that Don Waddell is still the general manager.

I would have thought someone from Pittsburgh would have their own ticket sales issue fresh on their minds, but it appears some fans have forgotten already.

Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 10/28/08 at 08:23 PM ET

Primis, the pens didn’t sell tickets for like 2 seasons, other than that they’ve had over 90% ticket sales for about 20 years.
So yeah, pens fans can indeed talk shit.
How do you know Detroit fans wouldn’t do the same thing? They were lucky enough to never have to find out. They’ve never had to dump their entire roster and tell the fans that Rico Fatah is the teams future.

Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 10/29/08 at 10:08 AM ET

Oh Kevin, give it up. Every franchise has had their dark days. Look back to the early days of Steve Yzerman: how many playoff series was Detroit winning then?

Posted by Josh from Montreal on 10/29/08 at 10:10 AM ET

Thats kind of my point dumbass. I was objectively talking hockey in my first two posts and then Primis brings up a ridiculously stupid fact that can actually describe every team in the NHL just because he hates pittsburgh.

Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 10/29/08 at 11:35 AM ET

Actually, *dumbass*, if you reread your comment, you’ll see that you wrote Detroit was “lucky enough to never have to find out. They’ve never had to dump their entire roster and tell the fans that Rico Fatah is the teams future”, which to me implies that Detroit has somehow never had to deal with lousy seasons and a hopeless-looking roster.

And my point is that they have, dumbass.

It’s rude posters like you that drive good people away from discussing things on blogs. Chill out.

Posted by Josh from Montreal on 10/29/08 at 11:38 AM ET