Piss poor ownership killed hockey in Atlanta.

Fun fact: Bryan Little is the only remaining active player who has been drafted and played for only the Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise.....

I cringed when the footage showed them stepping on the logo... No one should ever step on the sacred logo 😒♀‍🤦

To say Heatley was never the same player after the Ottawa trade is laughable. Back to back 50 goal seasons and a trip to the Finals in 07.

They never gave the Thrashers a chance...I was a season ticket holder and the fans were great and the games were exciting....they didn’t win a lot of games but look at the Jets now - one of the best teams in hockey. Great video and on point.

To be honest, I truly believe that Atlanta should have a NHL team. I loved everything about the Thrashers. Their name, colors, logo, arena, fans, jersey, and more. But, I have to be blunt, Atlanta will probably never get an NHL team again. It failed twice already and both the Flames and the Thrashers were not successful enough to win over the locals, more or less, the owners. It’s the unfortunate reality of an NHL franchise in Atlanta

The NHL’s biggest failure over the past two to three decades so far has been expanding all over the South and Southwest but never finding a way to truly make professional hockey popular in two of North America’s largest markets in those areas: Atlanta and Houston.

From the early-mid 2000's, you couldn't give away tickets with a steak dinner and 5 star hotel suite to Blackhawks, Penguins or Capitals games. So yes, proper management and ownership that gave a damn could have kept the Thrashers alive and well for years to come.

Ownership completely screwed up the Thrashers. I loved them when they were around and still have an Ilya Kovalchuk Thrashers Jersey to this day. If the Atlanta Spirit has cared even a little bit more about the team, the team could have survived and still be around today. Arizona (then called Phoenix) should have been the ones to move. It makes me inexplicably angry how Bettman and the NHL didn’t even try to save the Thrashers, but will go to the ends of the earth to protect and save Arizona, Carolina, and Florida. Thrashers should still be around today, but the NHL will never give Atlanta a third chance.

As an Atlanta resident, this was great! Thank you for this :) I really hope the NHL gives us another chance and finds a more worthy owner to either award an expansion franchise or send an existing franchise back here.

My heart :(

Chicago’s turn around began when their notoriously frugal owner died and his son took over and changed things for the better.

As a Jets fan I would super happy we came back but I also felt bad on the Thrashers that looked like they could’ve had potential. The only way Atlanta would even come close to getting a hockey team back was if Thrashers 2.0 was owned by either Arthur Blank or the fans.

Well, we do have a hockey team in Atlanta. It's called the Gladiators and they play in the ECHL.

In 1995, Winnipeg held a rally to save the Jets. It drew 35,000 people. In 2011, Atlanta had a similar rally to drive season ticket sales and save the Thrashers. It drew 200 people. Winnipeg has averaged 15,005 (100% capacity at the MTS center) or better every season they have been back in the NHL, regardless of Standings. The Best season for attendance in Atlanta was just under 93% attendance (Inaugural Season) and averaged around 80% for the remaining ten years (Less than the MTS center holds at capacity). Also, average ticket prices for the Thrashers peaked at about 48-49 dollars per seat, where as the Jets average ticket prices have topped 100 dollars and are usually double that of the Thrashers. As for TV deals, while Atlanta can be a great TV market, for hockey it just wasn't. Rogers deal for Winnipeg's (and all other Canadian teams) far outweighs the deals people were offering for Atlanta. However, the real kicker is, Winnipeg has made money, every season they have existed, and their immediate revenue went up 35% in the year of the relocation. Add in bad ownership and the Thrashers were always doomed and Winnipeg is just a better hockey market.

6:11 - I couldn't disagree more. GB will do anything to save a franchise. The ONLY reason the coyotes are still in Phoenix is they always had potential owners showing interest. The NHL even ran the the team for a while because they had prospective ownership. The same could not be said about Atlanta. Even the last owners of the team wanted nothing to do with hockey, in fact, the purchase that included the hockey team, the resale value of that said hockey team was considered and factored in before making the deal. There were no other prospective owners in Atlanta. Only one, that was in Winnipeg. The NHL had already committed to running the Phoenix franchise before the Atlanta franchise was considered to be "in trouble". The NHL, from it's own by-laws, could not run a second team as they would be like a single owner of two different teams. If the city of Glendale had it's act together and not scared off more than half the potential ownership groups in Phoenix, rest-assurured, the NHL would've taken over the Thrashers until a viable owner or ownership group was found to keep the team in Atlanta. It was just horrible timing. If the events involving the Thrashers happened a season or two sooner, or later, and the Atlanta Thrashers would still exist.

Well done, Alyssa Hope! Hockey "flamed" out for a second time in Atlanta.

It took me a while to figure out that the Philips Arena poles spell “Atlanta”

Being a long time Thrashers fan. I always hated Atlanta Spirit mainly because they really didn't do anything good with the team, they left it to die and instead looked towards the Hawks instead. I personally still think 11 years later the franchise would still be around if TW didn't sell it.

I planned to be happy today...

As a former resident of Blueland, I hope that the Hawks NEVER win a championship. Plus the Atlanta market currently has FIVE major league franchises, as you forget about the NLL’s Georgia Swarm, which moved to Atlanta’s Northern Suburbs in 2016, and ended the 22 year championship drought in 2017, the year before the Atlanta United got their championship in 2018.

In the words of Don Cherry, it's a graveyard for hockey

Having lived in Atlanta when it happened. The Atlanta Spirit ownership group was unbelievably terrible. They were cheap and didn't invest in really either the Hawks or Thrashers. Yes, they paid attention to the Hawks more but they didn't build anything. When Ilya was traded the city knew the ownership was not serious about contending.

It's a shame that Atlanta doesn't have a NHL team...I saw the Flames in my youth...never was a fan cause I live in Montreal but still...you should never lose a franchise...I know believe me...we've lost the Expos in MLB

Bring back the Thrashers

Kovalchuk leaving was the final nail in the coffin

Multiple bad owners,with the last group focusing on the Hawks, horrible General Manager that the ownership wouldn’t fire, a city government who could care less, players who blamed the fans for their poor performance, and a league commissioner looking for an excuse to appease Canada, without losing his pet project the Coyotes.

Atlanta was and never will be a hockey town. It’s a black city that loves football basketball and baseball in that order.

One main reason of attendance isn't too PC to point out, but another reason is Atlanta fans are pretty fair weather which didn't help I had season tix and saw this 1st hand. GREAT video btw!

They could have 2% of a market of 6 million potential fans, or 99+% of a market of 800,000 potential fans. That was what doomed them: a city where hockey is a distraction vs one where it's the major religion.

As a Georgia native I’ll tell you what happened. The only thing people in Georgia care about is college football.

Alyssa, I thank you for your efforts in assembling this video. It's really a shame the Thrashers didn't survive.

Ottawa senators is also poorly managed I really hope they don't have the same fate as the Thrashers.

Been deep dived by THG. It was ownership. Other teams go through worse attendance. Attendance had started to go up as the team started winning more games. Ownership just weren't interested.

Oduya: Oh-Do-ya

Rip thrashers😭 at least we still have the gladiators, junior, and youth teams for kids like me to go to:)

Instead of comparing the ownership to Chicago, should have compared to the success of Nashville

Great piece. Only issue is the end when comparing a traditional, Original 6 market in Chicago, to a 2nd attempt market in Atlanta.

Up until the hawks made it into the playoffs the thrashers consistently had better attendance. Just another reason management can be blamed for the failure of the thrashers

This is a fair assessment. Too often, people ignorant of the situation lay the blame on the fans and the city. Truth is that Atlanta Spirit Group wanted to sell the team right off the bat, but they got so wrapped in suing each other over basketball operations that they couldn't until the lawsuits were completed. Once they did, the team went to the highest bidder, regardless of it was local in Atlanta or (obviously) not. Atlanta CAN support a hockey team, but the town has been very unlucky with owners twice. I doubt there will be a third chance any time soon.

I grew up in Atlanta. Atlanta is not a hockey city. I watched three teams leave, the Flames, the Knights, and the Thrashers.

I really hate the argument that if the team sucks people won't show up. Your market needs to be strong enough in the worst of times. If you can't support a team while your losing then you don't deserve it. You can't ride band wagon jumpers all the time. Not every team is going to be successful.

Sad when a team leaves a city... however despite its smaller population Winnipeg is a much stronger hockey market.

Quebec City also deserves to have their team back.

Atlanta needs a 3rd chance for sure

I would’ve given Arizona coyotes to Winnipeg in a heartbeat

I live just out side of Atlanta, the people are not NHL people. They are just NFL and a college football city, anything after that is maybe ok if the tickets are cheap.

We should get a team in Augusta. Georgia and South Carolina fans would both love it

I heard that the Atlanta Spirit Group wanted the Thrashers out of Philips Arena. Which pretty much killed the idea of any local group in Atlanta buying the team(Tom Glavine was rumored to be putting a group together to keep them in Atlanta).

I've commented on this in a few places but one thing I'll add here since I don't see it in most comments on this video: 1) If the *general* value of a generic NHL franchise matched that of a NBA franchise, the Flames would still be in Atlanta, let alone the Thrashers. The proof of that is the Hawks in the 70s had attendance that often as bad (or worse) than the Flames but were never in danger of moving. Fast forward to now: Forbes put the lowest value of a NBA franchise as $1.3B. You can have terrible attendance but your cut of the TV contract soothes things, 2) the Thrashers were never bonded to the arena. If they have a bond, they're not too much different than the Florida Panthers, because the arena has always been a money-making asset.

Dany Heatley was never the same after? His BEST seasons were after that in Ottawa loll

Bettman refused to let the Coyotes go because he will never admit when he’s wrong.

I watch the Preds now, but I always dream that the Thrashers will come back to the ATL somehow. It’s a pipe dream, I know.

Great vid Alyssa!! Enjoyed it very much.... When i did my vid on them i coudlnt find any clips of the team so this was awesome.....

Yes, it could’ve definitely been possible to keep the franchise in Atlanta. Then, the Columbus Blue Jackets would’ve remained in the Western Conference, while the Thrashers would’ve stayed East.

Was barely aware that this team existed as I paid no attention to hockey during this time period. Given the size of Atlanta, there should be a NHL team there.

anyone remember that time Dany Heatley killed his teammate and his only punishment was getting taken off the cover of the video game?

How the hell did Heatley avoid prison time by getting off with reckless driving, DUI.... oh and VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER!? Who was his lawyer, Johnny Cochran?

Well done Alyssa - very informative.

I went to one of their games towards the end of their last year in town. It was basically a Red Wings home game.

They day the Thrashers announced they were moving to Winnipeg, the 24-hour sports talk radio station in Atlanta did dot have a single caller phone in to talk about it. That is very telling.

As an ex Thrashers fan this is all too familiar... and maybe everybody else didn’t see it coming but everyone here in Atlanta saw the writing on the wall. By the way, as far as Kovalchuk goes we traded him because he was a diva, a horrible teammate, cancer to the locker room, stayed on the ice as long as he wanted and basically demanded a trade or else he would just leave and sign with another team and we’d get nothing in return. Plus Johnny Oduya wasn’t the worst certainly not as good as Kovalchuk but better than nothing. P.S it’s oh-doo-yuh not oh-doy-uh 😜

A metro area with 6 million, fast growing, diverse, young. Vs a metro of 1 million, slow growing, mostly white, aging. No wonder NHL is a distant 4th place in North American sports

🤔🏒🥅 - Atlanta Flames - Atlanta Thrashers - Atlanta Gladiators There's only 1 sport in Atlanta & Georgia...COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

This hurt to watch as a once diehard thrashers fan. They really got screwed by owners they really did have fan support lowkey

Appreciate the video. Don Waddell was far from a perfect GM but he also made the best of some bad situations. When Danny Heatley wanted out of Atlanta, Waddell managed to get Marian Hossa and Greg DeVries out of it. Kovalchuk wasn't gong to re-sign in Atlanta, so Don's hand was forced to get what he could for a player that everybody knew was going to leave The Thrashers.

Gary Bettman is strange in moving teams in 1996 Winnipeg had 50,000 fans to stop the move at a rally he said not enough fan base to stay they moved to Phoenix. when Phoenix wanted to move only 100 fans showed up to the rally to stop the move and he said to much fan base in Phoenix to move the team

“Major Soccer League” 🧐

It sucks because they won’t give them a 3rd chance. They just won’t get it.

Bad Ownership = Bad Team of the owners don't care we don't care.

I disagree with when you said that after the accident Danny Heatley was never the same player. His best two seasons came after he left the Thrashers and joined the Senators where he had 50 goals and over 100 points in back to back seasons. He did fall off towards the end of his career but still played his best hockey after he left the Thrashers.

The loss of the team was 100% on the dipshit owners. The Capitals, Blackhawks and Penguins struggled for years on the ice and in the stands, but their eventual rise above it all shows competent ownership and management very likely would have kept the Thrashers alive for years to come.

Atlanta, Georgia. The only southeastern United States city to lose its hockey franchise to two western Canadian cities.

I miss the Thrashers!! So sad they are no longer in the ATL. Can’t BELIEVE the ATL has been through TWO NHL teams!! Just UNBELIEVABLE!! I’m glad I got to see them play in person!! 😭👍🏻 🏒

Great video. Loved it

The Thrashers came to Winnipeg with guys who should have never been given contracts with money or term. Took a few years to trade/release some contracts.

I can answer this very easily. I am a lifelong Atlanta sports fan for many years. The Thrashers had the worst ownership in the history of professional sports. That is not hyperbole. These clowns refused to spend any money on the team except for one season. What happened that one season? We made our only playoff appearance. We had two superstar players we drafted and could have built a dynasty around. Fans were into this team. But the ownership happened. They wouldn't spend money and let our players walk out the door. They tried to sell the Hawks, the arena and Thrashers to a California Cuban American who didn't have the money for all three. So these idiots intentionally broke the NHL rules to sell the team out of market. There were over two dozen local groups that desperately tried to keep the team here. But no, couldn't have that because the potential owner couldn't afford them. So they screwed the fans by selling the team out of market. The Cuban American owner didn't have the money all along and the NBA killed that sale. The Hawks were eventually sold to someone else but the damage was done. Our Thrashers were stolen from us by terrible owners and that commissioner from hell that allowed this to happen. Oh! He did get something from it. He forced the new Jets to pay an extra 60 million or so as a penalty for burning Atlanta fans to the ground and salting the god damn earth on the way out. I still hope we fans who got stabbed in the back finally get NHL back here in Atlanta with an ownership group that's actually fucking competent.

Loved the Thrashers and I know hockey can work in the southeast, but bad luck really struck Atlanta and It was a shame because the franchise was finally turning a corner and had a solid prospect pool. Winnipeg deserves their team, but It shouldn't have been at the cost of the Thrashers

Every level of that organization stunk. Bad players, bad coaches, bad scouts, bad GMs, bad presidents, bad owners, bad marketing. Unless you just liked hockey with no likelihood of seeing a winning team, why would you become interested in the Thrashers? I also thought it was interesting on a surface level that they seemed to be trying to bring in black players: Byufglien, Oduya, and Kane. It appeared they were trying to cater to their black population, but I really don’t think any black people give 2 shits about that, especially if the team stinks.

FULL of Hockey fans...LOL

I got choked up watching this. They did us so dirty.

I know a ton of people here who want the Thrashers back, even though it was never pushed here the city still remembers

I think it was completely possible for the NHL to keep the Thrashers where they are. They had potential, as they had a fan base. I think of this as the NHLs version of the SuperSonics, despite the Whalers maybe wanting that. With that said, Winnipeg still deserved the return of the Jets, Atlanta deserves the return of the Thrashers, and Quebec deserves the return of the Nordiques.

What happened? They keep putting NHL teams in Atlanta, that’s what happened .. horrible sports town.

What a great name for a NHL hockey team. "Atlanta Thrashers"

You're right about winning teams getting fans. I think Bettman's answer to this problem was really the new expansion draft. The NHL requires a full rink before they'll put a new team in the league, and they promise a powerful expansion draft, that can set the team up for success right from the start. So maybe it's too late for the Thrashers, but Bettman may have made up for it?

Hey Bettman, put another team in Atlanta, then they can finally have strike three! 😂😂😂

Before you blame Betman, pleas note that the owners wanted out at any price, and a buyer in Atlanta could not be found.

Well maybe the almost completely empty arena was a factor too...and that's a problem that you don't have in Winnipeg so far.

The demise of the Atlanta thrashers was a true tragedy and one that certainly did not need to happen. Management is solely to blame for the collapse of this once great club.

As is currently seen in NC, It was NOT Don Waddel , but the owners .......

Hockey belongs where the fans live. Sports are too commercialized and everything is based on TV markets and advertising. We live and breathe hockey in Canada. There should be as many Canadian teams as US.

I always wondered what happened thanks for the info :)

I sure do Miss Atlanta. They used to be the Chicago Wolves affiliate and I really loved the Thrashers as a Wolves fan.

I heard rumors of them moving all the way back to 2008 or so. When I got into NHL hockey in 2009-2010, everyone and their mother was saying they were on the way out. Sad, but not unnoticed.

Go jets go!

I wanna see an Atlanta team again

Hockey is growing in Georgia! ECHL Boston affiliate, the Gladiators, have a great venue, a somewhat competitive team, and a hardcore group of fans! The Thrashers will fly again one day!

Gladiators are Atlanta’s team now

Getting the NHL back in Winnipeg was the right choice however moving Atlanta was wrong. Should have been Florida or Arizona