Nothing is official yet, but it appears inevitable that the Atlanta Thrashers will be sold to a group that will move the team to Winnipeg.
Having played in both cities, goaltender Johan Hedberg can feel the pain and frustration of the hockey fans in Atlanta and also the joy and excitement of those in Winnipeg as they wait for the final details of the sale from the Atlanta Sprit group to True North to be completed.
Hedberg played four seasons for the Thrashers and his wife and three daughters continued to live in their house in the Atlanta suburbs this past season while he was playing for the Devils. He's been there with them since the Devils' season ended and has been following the Thrashers' fate like others in the area that love hockey, hoping there was a happier ending coming.
"I think it's sad for the city." Hedberg told me today. "I believe this city can support a team and support it in a good way. Obviously, it's been some chaotic years pretty much from Day 1 with ownership not being on the same page and I think that has hurt the franchise quite a bit.
"But I also have played in Winnipeg and I know the people up there how much they love their hockey. So, if (the Thrashers move to Winnipeg) that would be a very exciting place for a team to play again."
Hedberg, who turned 38 earlier this month, played two stints in Winnipeg with the Manitoba Moose earlier in the his career (first when they were an IHL team and later after they joined the AHL). He clearly has stronger ties to Atlanta and the Thrashers, however, and said he would be sad if the team does leave.
"We've kind of made this sort of our second home for five years now and, obviously, the Thrashers were the reason we came here in the first place," Hedberg said. "I know all the people involved. I know all the people working in the front office and in hockey operations and I know a lot of the fans around. They're hard-core fans that really don't want to lose the team. So, I would have feeling of (sadness).
"There's no doubt this could be a good hockey city, but it needs to be done the right way. This ownership has never given it a chance to do that after it got off on the wrong foot."
There's plenty of blame to go around from the disjointed ownership to poor management and the resulting poor play. The Thrashers have made the playoffs only once in their 11-season history and were swept out of the first round by the Rangers in 2007. The leadership of the city and the NHL itself haven't put up much of a fight to keep the team in Atlanta either.
"I think everybody's dream would be to have solid millionaires and owners to spend a lot of money and promote it and everything, but that's not the case for every team. They don't have that luxury," Hedberg said. "In this case, they had owners that after a bit they realized they had different thoughts about things and they ended up sour. That always hanging over the team has been a distraction not so much on the ice, but for the whole organization and the franchise.
"I believe this can be a good market. It's a big market. There's tons of people from hockey places that live here. If you give it a chance to grow the grassroots and put some rinks around and really start it out from that end, it would take a while to build a solid foundation that a hockey market should have, but it could definitely happen."
Hedberg admits "it doesn't sound too positive" that the Atlanta market will ever get that chance now.
Originally Posted by Thieving Giraffe
