NHL Hockey thread

[katmai]

The Atlanta Thrashers are not moving to Winnipeg -- yet.

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that no deal has been completed to sell and relocate the Thrashers, contrary to a published report.

"It's simply not true, it's not a done deal," a source from True North -- the group negotiating with the Thrashers to bring the team to Winnipeg -- told ESPN.com.

A source at True North did, however, confirm to ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun Thursday night that negotiations are ongoing with the Thrashers.

[Barrister]

The Atlanta Thrashers are not moving to Winnipeg -- yet.

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that no deal has been completed to sell and relocate the Thrashers, contrary to a published report.

"It's simply not true, it's not a done deal," a source from True North -- the group negotiating with the Thrashers to bring the team to Winnipeg -- told ESPN.com.

A source at True North did, however, confirm to ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun Thursday night that negotiations are ongoing with the Thrashers.

And you believe that?  You're so niave...

[katmai]

I believe ESPN over some hack from canuckle land

[Barrister]

I believe ESPN over some hack from canuckle land

Dude - just stop digging that grave.  I like you - I hate to see you make such a fool of yourself.

Damn - I wish I was in Winnipeg right now - surprising to me the party sounds like it is going strong at Portage & Main.

[katmai]

The Atlanta Thrashers haven't reached an agreement to be sold and relocated to Canada, the team's president, National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman and the group seeking to buy the franchise said.

Terms of a sale to Winnipeg, Manitoba-based True North Sports & Entertainment have been completed and will be announced on May 24, the Toronto Globe & Mail reported last night, citing people it didn't identify.

"There is no deal to move the club anywhere right now," Bettman said in an interview in Tampa, Florida, before last night's playoff game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins. "There's really nothing to report."

The Thrashers will only move if no owner can be found to keep the team in Georgia's capital city, Bettman has said.

"Not true," Thrashers President Don Waddell said in an e- mail about the Globe & Mail report.

[katmai]

Only chumps ATM are poor Winnipeg fans who are celebrating

[Barrister]

Of course Bettman is going to deny it - right up until the moment he announces it.

[Barrister]

Let me go on record - there are probably 10x more people, if not 100x more people, who are at Portage & Main right now at an impromptu rally, than there are at the pre-planned Save the Thrashers rally on Saturday.

[Barrister]

And 1290 Winnipeg has stopped their broadcast.

My only worry is that Count Bettman is so upset over the story being leaked he delays the official announcement.

[katmai]

Yeah I'm sure that every other outlet than the G&M says there is no deal has nothing to do with it.

[Barrister]

Yeah I'm sure that every other outlet than the G&M says there is no deal has nothing to do with it.

The hole you're standing in is already up to your neck - why do you keep digging?

This is going to happen.  You should believe in Barrister.   I have not lead you astray these past five years.  The NHL will return to Winnipeg.

[katmai]

If Barrister would stop talking about himself in 3rd person and have a credible report I would congratulate him on NHL coming back to the Prairies. 

[katmai]

Thrashers to Winnipeg complete? Depends on who you ask
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Postmedia News 
Andrew Ladd of the Atlanta Thrashers celebrates a goal against the Ottawa Senators on March 27, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. Photographed by:
Bruce Bennett, Getty Images
Negotiations to bring the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg are ongoing, but contrary to a Toronto newspaper report on Thursday night, multiple sources are indicating a deal is not done yet.

The Globe and Mail is claiming that an agreement to sell the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment of Winnipeg has been completed, and that the team will move into the MTS Centre in the Manitoba capital.

However, True North says the report is not accurate. A high ranking True North official involved in negotiations to buy the Thrashers would not say any more.

Later Thursday night, TSN reported as well that the deal was not completed as significant issues still needed to be addressed.

According to the Globe, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will travel to Winnipeg on Tuesday to make the official announcement. TSN reports that the commissioner has made no such plans.

ESPN.com and USA Today also both reported Thursday night that no deal was in place.

Sources close to the deal say progress has been made and a deal could be reached in the coming days but nothing has been signed.

Earlier Thursday on his weekly radio show, Bettman said no deal was in place, but he did not rule out relocation unless someone steps forward to but the club and keep it in Atlanta.

"We get reports, speculation, that the team's gone. And there's no deal," Bettman said. "I can tell you that with certainty that there is no deal for this team to move. Am I predicting that there will never be or that there won't be at some point in time? No, I'm not saying there is or there isn't."

If an announcement confirming the sale is eventually made, it would bring to a close months of speculation and innuendo that Winnipeg — without an NHL team since 1996 — would land one of the troubled Southern U.S. teams.

Much of that speculation surrounded the financially troubled Phoenix Coyotes, but after the City of Glendale stepped in and covered $25 million US of the Coyotes losses for the 2011-12 season, the NHL decided to give the franchise another season in Arizona.

Earlier Thursday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was reporting that the hunt for a buyer to purchase the Thrashers and keep them in Atlanta had narrowed down to one. The newspaper also reported that True North was still in the picture but neither group had entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Atlanta Spirit — owners of the Thrashers.

© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

[CountDeMoney]

If Barrister would stop talking about himself in 3rd person and have a credible report I would congratulate him on NHL coming back to the Prairies.

But katmai, this entire development can affect the lives of DOZENS of hockey fans across the continent!

[Josephus]

I'm just a tingling...

I love how excited the Winnipeg sports guys are

See this is the kind of excitement and enthusiasm crap teams like Tampa and Atlanta do not have.

The only problem is that BB IS the Winnipeg sports guys. All of them.