Winnipeg cheers return of NHL

No Warranty

Scammer hater
<div>A deal has been reached to bring a National Hockey League team back to Winnipeg for the first time since 1996.

A deal to move the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers to the Manitoba capital was announced Tuesday at press conference at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

The team will play in the 2011-12 season.

"Today, on behalf of my family, our partner David Thomson, and our entire organization, I am excited beyond words to announce our purchase of the Atlanta Thrashers," said Mark Chipman, chairman of True North Sports and Entertainment Ltd.

As soon as the announcement was made by Chipman, thousands of fans shouted, cheered, clapped, whistled, popped champagne and sang the Stompin' Tom Connors anthem The Hockey Song at two main party places in the city: the famous intersection of Portage and Main, and The Forks marketplace.

Portage and Main was shut down to traffic for a couple of hours as an estimated 1,000 people gathered there.

"NHL, welcome home. It's great to have you back here, it's great to have you back here where you belong," said a beaming Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger at the press conference.

"We missed you and we're going to make it work forever now that you're back."

The sale price was not released, however numerous reports leading up to the announcement have pegged it at $170 million, including a $60 million relocation fee.

"It's a fantastic day for the city and I'm hoping, you know, for decades on, everybody will get to experience the NHL and the economic impact and the wonderful pride that comes with being a city that has the best of the best," said Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz.

While the NHL's return will have obvious economic benefits, that's not all it offers, he said.

"One thing that you can't measure is the feeling, the wonderful feeling that Winnipeggers and Manitobans will have today with the return of the NHL after a 15-year absence," Katz said.

Winnipeg has been without NHL hockey since the Jets moved to Phoenix and were renamed the Coyotes in 1996.

"In the spring of 1995, I was very fortunate to become closely involved in community efforts to save the NHL team. I came away from that experience with a deep sense of disappointment, but also the realization that our lack of success was not anyone's fault," Chipman said at the press conference.

"Rather, after 17 years [of hockey in Winnipeg], the economics of our city and the NHL were no longer compatible."

But all of that has changed now, with a stronger Canadian dollar, a new arena, a booming Manitoba economy and an NHL salary cap, say those involved in the deal and others, like Katz and Selinger.

"It is clear that times have changed for Winnipeg as an NHL market. And this is a wonderful time to add a club to Canada," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

"As we have said repeatedly, we don't like to move franchises. But sometimes, even if it has been 14 years since the last time we moved a franchise, sometimes we simply have no choice as was the case back in '96 when the Jets left Winnipeg.

"So to be able to come back to, if you will, right a wrong, that's always an extraordinary thing. It's nice to be back in Winnipeg after all these years."

Former Jets centreman Thomas Steen, ranked in a 2005 article in the National Post as the second-greatest player in the history of the franchise, after Dale Hawerchuk, was beaming from ear-to-ear at the news.

"It's been a long time since I've felt this joy, that's for sure. Today, I'm just going to enjoy."

Chipman cautioned that even though the deal has been completed, it must still receive approval from the NHL board of governors. That could come at a June 21 meeting.

"Our spirit is back," said Braden Hill, decked out in a Jets jersey and hockey helmet, a Canadian flag draped on his back like a cape.

"Our city lost it 15 years ago. Now it's back."

Fan Jason Loewen said the Jets' departure "was like part of our heart was taken out."

"So now, it's correcting a wrong. Hockey is a big part of life here."

Canadian billionaire David Thomson, co-owner of the new team, travelled to Winnipeg from Toronto on Tuesday morning, as did Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly.

True North has been in negotiations with Atlanta Spirit, the owners of the Thrashers, for a number of weeks.

Bettman said the ink is still drying, noting negotiations were still ongoing as of 4:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday.

Organizers said ticket prices will range from $39 to $129 per game, and a drive to sell 13,000 season tickets would start this week.

"Selling 13,000 season tickets will send a message to the NHL board of governors," Bettman said. "And, to be candid, this isn't going to work very well unless this building is sold out every night."
Congratulations from PM

Immediately following the announcement, a statement was issued by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
 
Top