Are the Jets coming back? Will the NHL finally return to Canada? Did Bettman finally admit that hockey won't work in the South? Oritt Blum is here to break down a possible relocation that could send shockwaves through the NHLAlthough ESPN.com reported that no official deal has been made, True North, the group negotiating to bring a team over the border, confirmed that talks are in the works with the group that currently owns the Atlanta Thrashers. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was vague about the possibility of the move.
“I can tell you with certainty that there is no deal for this team to move. Am I predicting that there will never be or that there won’t be at some point in time? No, I’m not saying there is or there isn’t,” he announced on his weekly radio show.
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| Gary Bettman, vague? Never. |
One of Atlanta’s main owners, Bruce Levenson, has been unsuccessfully searching for a buyer for the past two years who would keep the team in its current city. Atlanta has been in this position before, in 1980, when the Calgary Flames moved to Alberta. Then again, is it really worth keeping a team whose average attendance this season, 13, 469, was ranked 28th out of the 30 teams in the NHL?
