Last Rites for the Thrashers (?)

Today is the day that we find out the fate of the Atlanta Thrashers.  As you may (or may not) have read in some of my posts, I talk about some of the reasons for the Thrashers' failure in Atlanta.  I can assure that the picture above has nothing to do with it, or for that matter, it has absolutely nothing to do with this piece, I just wanted an excuse to post that picture.  Back to the topic at hand, I won't rehash any of what I said in my previous pieces as to why the Thrashers may soon become property of an ownership group in Winnipeg that will bring the team back to the city that lost its Jets in 1996.  However, what can be said is that though the number of fans who attended the games in Atlanta were less than all but two teams this season, you cannot expect fans to get behind a team if the ownership doesn't care about the team, and that is exactly why the Thrashers' run in the NHL was pretty much a disaster from the start.  With the exception of the 2006-07 season, the Thrashers hadn't experienced much success when it comes to even making the playoffs.  Sure, the fans deserve some blame, namely the ones who didn't show up to the games, but the reality is that the onus falls on ownership failing to give the fans a reason to come out to games.  Carolina, Nashville, and Tampa Bay have all given fans reasons to care about their teams.  What was Atlanta's pitch to get fans out to games?  Can't think of one?  Neither can I, and now, the sad saga of the Atlanta Thrashers is almost certain to be buried with the likes of the Kansas City Scouts, Colorado Rockies, California Golden Seals, Atlanta Flames, and the Cleveland Barons as teams that failed to get fans in a ten year period, or thereabouts.

Update: the official announcement of the fate of the Thrashers won't be today, according to sources.  Official word has been pushed back to a date yet to be determined.

Kansas City Scouts

Ever wonder why Kansas City has had trouble as far as attracting a pro hockey team? Whether it was the Penguins back in 2005 before they reached an agreement for a new arena in Pittsburgh or the Predators, who may still be a reality if ownership follows through (this also goes for the Islanders), Kansas City just simply cannot get a hockey team. When they have had a hockey team, they fail after a specific period of time, whether the reason is the league folding (the Blades of the IHL), or just being set up to fail (Outlaws of the UHL), the city just simply has some hard luck with hockey teams.

Now, the failures haven't been limited to just hockey, with the Athletics calling Kansas City home before leaving for Oakland in baseball and the Kings moving to Sacramento in basketball. However, no pro team failure looms larger than the NHL team that the city had called the Scouts. That team lasted only two years (1974-1976) before moving to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies. Of course, that incarnation didn't last long either before moving to New Jersey to become the Devils. Poor attendance and poor on-ice performance were cited as the biggest reasons for the failed stint in the NHL pool for Kansas City. However, one could surmise that the jerseys that the team wore were an ugly combination of the primary colors. Now, look at the jersey and ask yourself if the combination would have benefitted from one less color. Perhaps, but that's a moot point now, as the Scouts are merely a footnote in the now-New Jersey Devils history.