WINNIPEG,Manitoba- The prairies are alive with the sounds of hockey, fifteen years after the Winnipeg Jets left town for Phoenix it looks as if the Atlanta Thrashers will be filling the NHL void in Winnipeg. Sources report that Mark Chipman is in Atlanta this weekend to work on a deal with the Atlanta Spirit Group (ASG).
Chipman and his partner in the deal David Thompson who is the seventeenth richest man in the world, are looking to spend $170 million dollars on buying the Thrashers from ASG, the reported sale price of $110 Million for the team is true but most people leave out the fact that True North Sports & Entertainment will have to pay the National Hockey League a $60 million team transfer fee. Although I can not 100 percent confirm the sale and deal is final, I can not deny the fact that the deal is going ahead, but before the Winnipeg group get thier hopes to high yes there is another group that is looking into buying the Atlanta team and they want to keep the team in Atlanta, this would be the option that the NHL would like to see happen, as Gary Bettman NHL commissioner stated on his weekly NHL Radio show. Winnipeg however, is on the fast track and will more than likely end up with a team before other Canadian cities like Quebec City and this is why, Winnipeg has the MTS Centre, a 15,000 seat arena in downtown Winnipeg. If the Thrashers decide that they are going to the Peg, then it will be a plug and play transfer, meaning that the team can pick up and move and play in Winnipeg next week if they wanted too. Winnipeg has a population of roughly 691,000 people, sounds small but the projected growth is amazing in a four-year census report, Canada estimates a population of 721,000 is possible for Winnipeg. Roughly 62,000 people have moved to Winnipeg since the Jets left town fifteen years ago, which works in Winnipeg’s favour because 62,000 people can fill the MTS Centre four times. Winnipeg would need only 660,000 people to sell out all 41 home games, meaning 31,000 people can’t see a game. The Winnipeg economy has been expanding into the billions of dollars and the average salary has gone up as well, meaning there is more money to go around and support a winning team.
The Atlanta fans are not mad at the Thrasher team for not making the playoffs, they are very mad at the ownership group for not putting a winning team on the ice. The Chipman group leading True North Sports & Entertainment have done a decent job year after year to put a product on the ice that they can be proud of and that can win. True, in fifteen years the Moose have not won a championship but they have at least won division titles and made an appearance in the finals. Winnipeg may hit their first snag right there, it is going to be harder to attract a star hockey player to a small market Canadian team in a smaller city that may not be a yearly championship contender which is the problem in Atlanta for ASG. Mark Chipman and his ownership group will have their work cut out for them when it comes time to attract stars and or get bigger stars to stay with the team once they move. The move may still be a while from finalization but when the ASG purchased the Atlanta Hawks the papers were signed 368 times and filled four binders that were four inches thick.
Winnipeg looks forward to welcoming back the NHL.
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