The Atlanta Thrashers are going to play in Winnipeg next season, but the completion of the sale to True North Sports and Entertainment won't be complete until June 21, when the NHL's Board of Governors votes yay or nay.
Atlanta Thrashers Relocate To Winnipeg; What’s Going On With Hockey Operations?
In the meantime, as the new owners are busy selling season tickets in an attempt to prove that Winnipeg is a viable NHL market, the hockey world keeps spinning. There’s a team assembled in Atlanta and those hockey operations will be on the move to Winnipeg.
We don’t know exactly who will head up those operations, with True North’s Mark Chipman saying that he’s yet to talk with Thrashers GM Rick Dudley and that current Manitoba Moose general manager Craig Heisinger will play some role in operating the new Winnipeg NHL club.
We also don’t know exactly how the time table will work out. We’ll know before the NHL Draft on June 24 the final fate of the sale and relocation, and we’ll know before July 1 when free agency opens as well, but as of now, there’s no team name, no color scheme and no uniforms.
That begs the question, then. On June 24, when whoever the general manager is walks to the stage at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., what jersey will he have in his hand to give to the seventh overall pick? Will the Winnipeg team have something ready by then, or will they still awkwardly, technically still be called the Atlanta Thrashers?
You have to imagine things will be sorted out by then, but uh, it could be awkward if they aren’t.
For more coverage on the move of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, check SB Nation Atlanta’s massive StoryStream, as well as coverage from our Thrashers blog, Bird Watchers Anonymous.
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