Being in Atlanta the day the Thrashers were sold to True North Sports and Entertainment and it was announced the team would be moved to Winnipeg was one of those days you really appreciate. I learned a lot about people and, as usual, a lot about myself.
For the record I did run into fans who were truly upset… distraught over losing their team. Yet there was always that seed of doubt. Something that as you travel in the U.S. in far too many places occurs. Fans consider hockey a novelty and not what most Canadians feel which is a must-have.
I heard the cries of the Thrashers Fan Club president Lisa Lewis — she couldn’t even talk after the announcement — a person in sincere pain. Yet one young lady who just steps away from Philips Arena said it all to me in one fell swoop.
“I’m sad,” she said. “Sad to think others in the U.S. seeing us lose a sports franchise. What will they think? Yeah, I’ll miss hockey, but then again I’m part of the problem because I just didn’t go to the games.”
Some like co-owner Michael Gearon, who invested in the Thrashers in 2004 was exhausted. Exhausted trying to keep a hockey team in place not too many people really wanted.
His emotions overwhelmed him as well on Tuesday. Yet for him and others in the Atlanta Spirit organization, the dollars lost simply didn’t make business sense.
For most people in Atlanta, hockey just wasn’t important enough. That won’t be the case in Winnipeg.
Growing up in Manitoba I saw my dad and his pals drive almost four hours to Winnipeg and back after the game to see their beloved Jets. When they left my father was silent. Something that spoke louder than any words could.
Yes, NHL Hockey is back where it belongs… Winnipeg and Canada. Nothing makes you realize it more than spending a ridiculously hot two days in Atlanta, Georgia.