AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > April > 05 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USCan Thrashers seize the moment?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
The Stanley Cup playoffs are a great event that almost nobody — almost nobody in this country, anyway — watches. I wonder how many Atlantans will be watching the Thrashers. I wonder because this is all new, at least new for those among us who weren’t around when the Flames were based here.
The Thrashers have never played a postseason game. That changes next week. The NHL playoffs are different from the NBA’s. Any team that gets in has a realistic (as opposed to a theoretical) chance to play for the Cup. The Thrashers could surprise everyone and be playing not just next week but next month.
If that happens, Atlanta will tune in. This is, as we know, a bandwagon city. But I’m guessing the first round will get little attention from the masses because the bandwagon hasn’t really budged. Yes, there’s a core audience for hockey in this town and there always has been, but the core hasn’t expanded greatly in the eight years since the Thrashers set up shop. Part of that is their fault for not winning big enough soon enough. More of it has to do with hockey itself.
It’s a bad TV sport in an era when being good on TV is all that matters. (It’s a great in-person sport, but because television money pays so little of hockey’s overhead the teams have to charge their paying customers two arms and two legs.) The Thrashers have been good all year, but they really haven’t caught the fancy of the man/woman in the street the way the Braves did in 1991 or the way the Hawks did in 1988.
These playoffs are the Thrashers’ chance to catch hold the marketplace in a way they haven’t quite yet. They need to stick around for a while. They’re capable.
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By annie
April 5, 2007 1:52 PM | Link to this
Maybe another reason hockey has never “hit it big” in Atlanta is the way the game is marketed, packaged and sold.
It’s no longer about physical talent or a love of the sport, it’s about getting drunk and jazzed for a “kill”.
For those of us who grew up playing hockey and know and love the sport well, the idea of spending hours with a beer-soaked stinking mass screaming “kill him!” (and that’s just the lady fans, the men are even worse) every time a player is checked is really repulsive. Add to this the pounding noise, the constant flashing images and lights from the jumbotron (what happened to just sitting there watching the ice during a time out?) and the whole thing’s a nightmare.
I took my son to a Thrasher’s game a few weeks ago and will never go back. After seeing refs allowing (staged) fistfights, drunken suburbanites and foul language my son said “Mom, I thought you said hockey was a FUN sport?”
By Brad
April 5, 2007 2:25 PM | Link to this
First, for Annie I hate to tell you that is now any sport…not just hockey. That is the culture change in America where we allow people to act stupid. Let some of the morons in the high price seats get thrown out and see how they feel.
The problem with marketing hockey in Atlanta can also be partially attributed to the AJC and their shoddy coverage. Thanks Mark for acknowledging the Thrashers several days after clinching a playoff spot. Yet your counterpart clowns can write 2 articles on Billy Payne? Give me a break…get your nose out of his rear end.
The Thrashers fall under ‘Other Sports’ at the top of the page. Maybe since we are heading into a special time regarding the Playoffs you guys could highlight them a little more.
Some of your points are no doubt valid..but you guys could certainly generate more buzz with the appropriate attention on the team. The argument that hockey is a bad TV sport is really way overstated. I can also tell you that NHL playoff hockey is more exciting and intense than any other playoffs for major sports.
It is a losing battle with narrow minded people that put up the same tired arguments. But for those that choose to engage for the Thrashers playoff run you won’t be disappointed.
By GavinMcCloud
April 5, 2007 4:57 PM | Link to this
I really dont expect the Thrashers to do much in the playoffs. The Thrashers should have one of the top 3 or 4 records in the league and they keep losing to inferior teams as was the case last night when they lost to the washington capitals. The Thrashers should have easily finished with over 100 points this season and by the way how can anyone fear a team in the playoffs that has given up more goals then they have scored. The Thrashers dont scare anyone and I am not expecting much from them. The only way the Thrashers will win the stanley cup is if they get hot. When the Thrashers are hot they can beat anyone but if the thrashers are just playing their normal game, they will stumble along the way and lose games that they should win. Im not trying to put them down but they just havent impressed me lately. The Buffalo win was the only great game I saw from the thrashers in the second half of the season. They were playing strong that night and they beat the team with the best record in the conference. If the Thrashers perform like they did against Buffalo they can win Lord Stanleys cup this season with no problem. You just dont know which Thrasher team is going to show up on a given night.
By RedandBlackAttack
April 6, 2007 11:28 AM | Link to this
How about giving the Thrashers some positive press that will inspire? Anyone can jump on the negative bandwagon. The Thrashers are the only team in Atlanta going to the playoffs right now. No other team from Atlanta has been to the playoffs since the Braves in October 2005.
This is the Thrashers first time to the playoffs and they are now first in their division. It is time to pump up the volume and root the Thrashers on through the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. Go Blue!! Go Thrashers!!!
By Rawhide
April 6, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this
I think Mark addresses an interesting point:
OK,….so the Thrashers made the playoffs. This IS a good thing, but let’s be honest, the average sports dolt who wears his baseball cap backwards and dons the jersey of, (insert name of ‘hip-today’ football player), still thinks EVERYBODY makes the playoffs in the NHL. The same dolt right now is more interested in articles about who is or is not going to coach UK basketball and what’s going on at UGa’s spring football.
What will it take to make the ‘average’ sports fan take an interest in the Thrashers??? Well, winning is a good start.
Making the playoffs was the MINIMUM the Thrashers could do to be considered a success this season. But to expand the fan base, the team must go above and beyond minimum requirements.
Winning the division goes at least one step beyond the minimum. Getting into AT LEAST the second round even better, (oh, and I think we cannot do the latter without first doing the former).
The other challenge the Thrashers have to deal with is that Atlanta is still not a “hot-bed” for hockey at ALL levels.
I mean, when the Falcons and Braves came to Atlanta in the mid-60s, the sports were played at the youth, high school and college levels. The sports were a “given” in the community.
Baskeball much the same. Put an AVERAGE team on the court with a 50-50 chance of making the playoffs and Philips would be PACKED almost every Hawks game.
But even winning does not put us on the same footing as the traditional hockey towns. That takes the most precious of commodities: Time.
My kids are the first in my family to be born AND raised in the Atlanta area. They play ice hockey. As the years go by, the Thrasher do better and better, more kids will play the sport,…..play it in high school and then even college. These are the dyed-in-the-wool type of fans that cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, NY, etc. have today. Most of the Bluelanders hail from these parts. It is only natural given the fact that so many from there are relocating here and out west.
What we are doing in Blueland today is laying the foundation of the tradition and,….hopefully,….winning atmosphere of NHL hockey in the south.
When our kids take their kids to Thrashers games and start telling stories about how “grandad” took me to go see the very first playoff game,…and to watch Marian Hossa,….and Kari Leghtonin when he first came into the league,….and we watched Kovy match up with Crosby and Ovechkin…….that’s when we become a “HOCKEY” town.
GO THRASHERS!!! RAIN DOWN ON THE HURRICANES AND STEAL THE THUNDER AWAY FROM TAMPA BAY!!!!!!
By caveman22
April 6, 2007 2:22 PM | Link to this
Rollin Rollin Rollin Rawhiiiiiiiiide
where you been man?? I thought maybe you had move on down the trail..
Annie — what do you mean “staged” fistfights, this ain’t rasslin’… And don’t pretend like you don’t hear all the crap at any sports venue. If that was your first experience than I and sorry that you were “offended” but I find it hard to believe a grown woman with kids in Atlanta, or anywhere else, is caught by surprise by any of this. If you are the kind of fan who wants to just “sit there and watch the ice” you can do that at home. It’s our American right to go over the top in support of our Thrashers. (I don’t have anything in writing but I’m going with that premise) If you need peace and quiet stay home!! We have been waiting for a playoff game for 25 years and I’m not about to let it pass without completely going NUTS for my team and in the meantime potentially embarassing myself and attending a confession right after the game. And I’m not even Catholic. Say 2 “Our Fathers and 1 “kick some a$$ Thrashers” and I’m ready to go.
Rawhide — correct me if I’m wrong.
By Rawhide
April 6, 2007 2:43 PM | Link to this
Caveman,….been with the family down at the lakehouse in Florida for a few days of spring break R&R, got back Wednesday afternoon,…rested and ready to do battle down at Philips during Thrashers spring hockey.
I’ve taken my little tax-exemptions to hockey games since 2000 when they were 8 and 7,…..never had issues with them and other fans. It is what it is,….never felt the need to shelter them from the world.
One of the proudest moments I’ve had as a dad was last year when my youngest son started up the goalie chant when we were playing the Panthers.
I can still hear the little guy,…”Luongo,…LUONGO,……YOU SUCK!!” - I’m still wiping a tear from my eye! They grow up so fast!
I attend a Southern Baptist church,…but come hockey time, I pay hommage to the Hockey Gods and pray for Thrashers victories, (and since they are Canadian,….placing back-bacon and Molson Lite on the alter helps too)! If throwing in a few Hail Marys helps, I’m game!
“Watch the ice”???? OK, when you watch the games on TV, do you wanna just stare at snow on the tube during intermissions????
IT’S A HOCKEY GAME FOR CRYIN’ OUT LOUD!!!! Fans there are passinate, loud, knowledgable of the game and don’t hold anything back.
Maybe Annie should just stick to taking her little one to baseball games where she can relax and not worry about ANYONE getting overly excited.
(Annie, get your GUUUuuu-uh-un,…she’s gone electric,…..Annie,…Get your GUUUUuu-uh-un,…THAT’S unexpected,….Annie,..Annie,…)….
By caveman22
April 6, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this
Actually Rawhide uhhhhhhhhh……… I go to a lot of baseball games too and I pretty much do the same crap there. So baseball might not be good either. I’m thinking that a good curling match would incite the proper level of boredom and whogivesaf$#k attitude that would be suitable for her viewing pleasure.
I’ll never forget the first Flames game I went to at the OMNI. I screamed out something like “kick his butt” and my dad look at me for a second and the pride just welled up in his eyes……….sniff sniff
good times !!!
By Rawhide
April 6, 2007 3:15 PM | Link to this
Speaking of The Hockey Gods,…I think they are smiling on us.
Have you checked on the chill in the air the past few days?????? Have you seen what it’s gonna be like Saturday night????? Temps on their way down to something like the mid 20s overnight????
AHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………hockey weather!
Too bad we won’t be in line for a Michael Jackson Forcast, (tonight, it will be in the teens)……….
By Rawhide
April 6, 2007 3:16 PM | Link to this
Annie, there is always Disney on Ice.
By caveman22
April 6, 2007 3:23 PM | Link to this
You know, all in all I can really understand and sympathize with Little Orphan Annie and I feel her pain in this, it does sadden me in a spiritual way that blah blah blah blah blah…………….
BEAT HIS A$$ CKUK!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, I tried. It’s just the way I roll.
By JohnnySlapstick
April 6, 2007 4:33 PM | Link to this
The Thrashers are going to win the stanley cup championship this year. If the thrashers can pull that off, which they will, it will be considered one of the greatest accomplishments in all of sports history. When you consider that year before last we lost Danny Heatley who is one of the best star players in the game of hockey today and instead of getting worse, we became better and found a way to win a stanley cup championship. What a fantastic story line if we can pull it off. I realize that this is the first appearance by a Thrasher team at Phillips arena, but Phillips arena could become the home of the world champion stanley cup thrashers if the Thrashers play championship quality hockey in the playoffs as they did during the regular season. Go Thrashers!
By Thrash
April 6, 2007 5:17 PM | Link to this
Thrashers will win the Stanley Cup before the Hawks will win the NBA title. Gee, after saying that, it sounds really stupid, like it doesn’t need saying.
By snoman
April 6, 2007 5:58 PM | Link to this
Great comments Brad!! The AJC has never embraced the Thrashers or the NHL. This is a major problem for the sport to grow with the “average fan”. M. Bradley can assist by following the team more closely and getting them on the front page, just don’t bring T. Moore with you - he would not understand…..
By Paul
April 6, 2007 7:16 PM | Link to this
Annie, do us a favor and dont go to any more games. Thank you. Whoever said the Thrashers should be leading the league doesnt have a clue. They have played over their heads to be where they are. They have a weak defense and are able to be pushed around. I do agree they will go out quickly unless Lehtonen gets on absolute fire. I am just estatic they have made the playoffs.
By SUPPORTER FROM THE ATL
April 6, 2007 7:36 PM | Link to this
IF WE CAN CONTROL THE REBOUNDS CLOSE TO THE NET, AND KEEP THE OPPOSITION FROM GETTING INSIDE POSITION. THE TRASHERS MUST TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL GOAL SCORING CHANCES AND PENALTY SITUATIONS!!!! THEN THE STANLEY CUP MAY BE THEIRS??
By Rawhide
April 6, 2007 8:45 PM | Link to this
Florida is up 4-0 in the first.
WHOOOOOoooooooo-BABY!!!!
By Mark
April 7, 2007 12:22 AM | Link to this
We’re Champs…Annie, hide yuor children…