A better option for the NHL: contraction or moving franchises?

Posted Feb 17th 2009 3:12PM by Mark Fightmaster

Fresh off my pilgrimage to Columbus to watch my Blue Jackets last night, I am greeted by the spectre of the Kansas City Scouts, the Cleveland Barons (in red), or the Utah Grizzlies (not the team's regular unis ... I hope) joining the National Hockey League. Why? It seems that the Atlanta Thrashers may be on the move (which is a shame for the city that once boasted the Atlanta Flames.

According to this article from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, ownership problems are making the possibility of a second team leaving Atlanta a distinct probability. In fact, this article, from the Toronto Sun, ranks Atlanta as one of the NHL's most vulnerable teams. However, the article notest that the Thrashers (and five others) are vulnerable to contraction - but what about moving?

The NHL took a chance back in 1999 when it awarded Atlanta a new franchise, presumably to make up for the Flames moving to Calgary. However, they were sending a traditionally Canadian/Northern U.S. sport into the Great South to share the spotlight with the Falcons, Hawks, and the Braves. I contend that Atlanta was destined to fail. Of course, the rest of the list from the Toronto article shows the major problem with recent NHL expansion - the desire to get into the south and try to win over more fans. The Florida Panthers (who have one of the great play-by-play guys in the league, Gary Moller), the Phoenix Coyotes, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Nashville Predators all join the Thrashers as teams in trouble, all south of the Mason-Dixon line.

That is one problem with the recent expansion in the NHL, the other problem is that the league tried to infiltrate markets with other successful, more high-profile sports. Let's take a look at the Columbus Blue Jackets. The only sport this team has to contend with is anything related to the Ohio State University, which is mainly football.

Ultimately, we will see the Thrashers move, it was pre-ordained when the league expanded to Atlanta. Will they be contracted? Nope. They will become the Kansas City Scouts, where the league won't have to compete with any other professional teams (and yes, I know the Royals and Chiefs are in Kansas City).

Tags: NHL, NHL franchises, NhlFranchises

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-17-2009 @ 5:41PM

rpgpa said...

I have a better idea for the thrashers,coyotes,panthers,preds. How bout this thing in sports called winning. Not perpetually being mediocre like the jackets. How bout making the playoffs or being really bad so you can get a marquee player. See what happened in wash? Seriously they should fill up Winnipeg and Quebec City with relocations first

2-18-2009 @ 5:12PM

mzscarlet47 said...

From a die-hard Thrasher fan, and yes, there are some of us in Atlanta, we are going to really hate it when the Thrashers leave, but given the current state of the economy, the court squabbles over ownership and the crappy product the Thrashers organization has put on the ice, it is certainly understandable. The Thrashers have a very dedicated fan base, but even those of us who have stood by this franchise since its inception have lost faith. We just simply cannot afford to spend our hard earned money for such a lousy performance night after night after night. And when we keep getting beat, it just ceases to be fun anymore!