Redo Part Deux?

Now that Atlanta has successfully lost not one but 2 NHL franchises, the Winnipeg folks are getting their second go round at this game. Eventually some other random city will break this viscous cycle and get a stab at the NHL, but where the dice will lie no one knows. I know, it's Canada's game and they deserve another team but there are so many issues that have to be looked it, I wouldn't be shocked if at some point in the future (not the near but the far far away future) that they pack up their bags and move again (maybe Europe? Gary Bettman help me out with your crystal ball). You have been warned, sort of long post addressing the first issues that came to mind when it was first rumored and today confirmed.

The first issue with this new team is we keep calling it various concoctions of the Winnipeg Jets and Atlanta Thrashers like this is a celebrity relationship. Winnipeg Thrashers? That's out. The name Thrashers is apparently Atlanta's to keep. The Winnipeg Jets Part Deux seems the most logical (imagine the sales for nostalgia jerseys), but the one being said in a quiet whisper is the one that makes the most sense to me: Manitoba Moose, NHL style.

Since the NHL will be taking over the Moose's home arena, the AHL Moose are now in limbo. Will they shutdown for a season, who will their parent club be, where could they relocate to? All important questions and since the Newest Shiny Toy (NST) of the NHL is offering the season ticket holders of the AHL Moose, I think it's a safe bet that they will be shutdown for a season. There's already enough AHL team issues with parent clubs with the Sabres, Amerks and Pirates drama and I'm sure throwing a displaced team with no home arena now isn't going to help. Maybe they can go to ATL and be the consolation prize for the fans that actually did care about losing a team. AHL games are much cheaper and can be loads of fun. In the end the owners of Thrashers gained them through a deal and treated them like the step-child they never wanted and never tried to market them to the people.

Side note about the AHL Sabre issue: Pegula who bought the team earlier this year wants to rejoin them with their former affiliation to the Rochester Amerks in place of their current agreement with the Portland Pirates. Unfortunately it's not as easy as just the parent clubs switching their afflictions since each farm system player is stocked by the parent clubs draft picks and under contracts. Pegula would like to actually BUY the Amerks and own them as the Lemiuex Group owns the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. As I have watched first hand players be developed and come through a solid system I can say it has lots of positives. I have seen half the current NHL roster of the Pens (minus the big guns) play here and get called up. Pretty awesome and it ties you to your team and players even more. Other than player development as a major advantage to them rejoining with the Amerks is location location location. Although Portland isn't a long flight, check a map and see how much closer Rochester is to Buffalo. Same state. You can call up a guy as the Penguins do and have him hop in a car and he's there within hours. You try arranging flights that fast. This was a massive advantage to the Penguins even fielding a team half the season.

Back to the actual topic at hand- the NST. Since I've already addressed the naming issues of NST, the next is what happens to the workers who don't want to move to the never ending winter central? From sunny, south Atlanta, Winnipeg is a hard sell and I don't foresee many people other than players packing up and moving. Plus there's this other issue of a work Visa. Yes, the team will probably help take care of those pesky papers and fees, but your moving to a different country. New weather, currency, dialect, new everything. If you have a family this is not happening unless this was dream to move to Winnipeg. Of all the places in Canada, I'm guessing Winnipeg didn't even crack the top 10 for most people. Winnipeg will gain jobs which will help boost their economy, but wasn't their economy and the weak dollar why they first fled? That arena will be filled for the first few years since season ticket holders have a contract for 3-5 years depending on tickets. Wait till after that grace period and we shall see how the NST is doing.

Lets not forget new owners will infuse new talent with new money but the core of this team is still the Thrashers and their on ice product didn't exactly fare well. Time will tell, but the economy needs to hold steady and the fans need to still support the team in 10 years even if they haven't gained any hardware. That's when we will really know if Winnipeg Part Deux works. If they do ever get uprooted again, I hope the league moves on from it's habit of Sloppy Seconds and they try a new place. I think a place where the AHL has thrived would be a good place to start or within a distance of an AHL team. Fan base is already there.

The last issue of this move I will address is where do they fit in in the already wacky alignment of divisions? Currently they will stay in the Eastern Conference Southeast Division, which since next seasons schedule is close to being completed makes sense (I think they area also holding out on seeing where the Coyotes soap opera leads to) but after that where do they fall? Western Conference Northwest Division makes the most sense which means a Western team comes East. There are various options people have been figuring out for weeks. The most logical one with the least amount of shuffling league wide would be Winnipeg goes Northwest, Colorado goes Central and Nashville goes Southeast. Although Nashville is in the Central timezone, they are rather East and this causes the least amount of feathers being ruffled. The other contenders are Detroit and Columbus.

Columbus makes sense since they are in fact the most Eastern Western team, and they could possibly form a rivalry with teams closer to them (of course their ownership issues and bleeding millions a year into a black hole make me think they are staying put since who knows what will happen). Them coming East causes lots of issues though since they are in a Northern location. Detroit will cause the same issues with moving and since they are an original 6 team and the biggest draw in the West, how do they just hop on over? They are a goldmine and have fans everywhere I doubt the league, I mean NBC, will let that happen. No more Hawks-Wings games on Sundays? Might as well rip up the shiny contract right now. Bettman will personally buy Detroit a new plane before they move East in my opinion.

Either Columbus or Detroit will take a lot of work to realign the East because every rivalry people live for would be dead. I've seen people write up scenarios where Philly and Pitt are in different divisions. Is this real? They are in the same state, each game is about who is the King of the Keystone, plus fans in Philly would riot. How about breaking up Habs and Bruins? Can't even fathom that. And what about the tri-state teams. The Islanders and Rangers are 30 miles apart and what about those Devils? They are even closer to the Rangers than the Isles are. Explain how one of those teams would be chosen as Northeast or Southeast when they can throw stones at each other and all have access to the Atlantic ocean in the flash of a an eye? You can't logically do it.

There's so many aspects to this move that will have positive and negative effects to varying degrees over the course of time. Ending this now since I'm sure I could find 10 more things if I give myself a few more minutes to think about it.

The first positive to this move for our NST is the death of their amazingly hideous wardrobe. RIP Thrashers. And leave your uniform designers wherever you found them,