THRASHERS NO MORE: WINNIPEG RESTORED

By Chris Kober
HOCKEYTALK NEWS

MAY 31, 2011 -- Fifteen years after the Winnipeg Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes, NHL hockey is returning to Manitoba. The National Hockey League announced Tuesday that the Atlanta Thrashers have been sold to Winnipeg based True North Sports and Entertainment Limited.

True North will begin operations of the team for the 2011-2012 season pending approval from the NHL’s Board of Governors on June 21. The group also owns the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and the MTS Centre where the Moose play.

“We’ve been clear from the outset that we don’t like moving franchises, we know how important a franchise is to a community,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, “That’s why with the celebration [in Winnipeg] there’s obviously regret about what’s happening in Atlanta.

“The opportunity to come back here, bring a franchise back to Canada which we know is the heart and soul of our game, is vitally important to us,” Bettman added, “and it’s something that we’re proud to do when the circumstances presented themselves.”

True North has set a goal of selling 13,000 season tickets prior to the Board of Governors’ meetings to illustrate the community’s support of NHL hockey and financial viability. The “Drive to 13,000” Campaign begins June 1 with an exclusive ticket presale to Manitoba Moose season ticket holders and continues with general public ticket sales starting Saturday, June 4.

While the target of 13,000 season tickets is not a requirement set by the league for approval and all expectations are that it will be met, Bettman was candid in saying that NHL hockey “will not work” in Winnipeg if the building is not full on a nightly basis.

Bettman also pointed to the development of Downtown Winnipeg, the post lockout Collective Bargaining Agreement, the MTS Centre and the True North ownership group as the reasons why Winnipeg’s second foray into the NHL will be more successful than its first.

True North made a presentation to the executive committee Board of Governors in 2007 on “how and why … the NHL could succeed in Manitoba,” said True North chairman Mark Chipman and the effort to bring the NHL back to Winnipeg continued through the early hours of the morning of the announcement.

Details such as the team name and colors have yet to be chosen and the focus on hockey operations will begin shortly according to Chipman.

Upon approval by the NHL Board of Governors, the franchise will continue to compete in the Eastern Conference through the 2011-2012 season while due diligence is done on realignment.

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