Ben Jerrell, born and reared in Atlanta, was at Philips Arena on Friday night because he loves hockey more than anything. That would apparently include financial solvency.
Before Friday night's Thrashers game, the first home game since co-owner Michael Gearon said the team may have to be moved if the financially strapped Atlanta Spirit ownership group can't find a buyer or an additional investor to keep the team in Atlanta, Jerrell bought his friend a $96 Thrashers jersey. He did it despite not having the cash flow to warrant such a purchase. He recently lost his job as an auto-shop manager.
"If we're going to keep hockey in Atlanta, it's my responsibility to do my part, to be here," said Jerrell, a 28-year-old Atlanta resident.
There is no telling how many Thrashers fans, if any, stayed away from Philips on Friday out of recent frustration with the team or ownership group. However, a crowd described as standard in number and energy level -- about half full and a supportive vibe -- came to cheer for the Thrashers (as well as the visiting Florida Panthers), if not the team's ownership.
"For me, I know when I come my money is going to the owners," said Daniel Green, known better to Thrashers fans as "Cup Guy" for the tin-foil Stanley Cup he has brought to games for five years. Sitting in the CNN Center before the game with his father-in-law, Bob Dunning, Green said he thinks of it as paying for his team.
Before the game, activity in the gift shop bustled. Walk-up ticket sales was the same as normal, a clerk said. The team was cheered when it took the ice and killed its first penalty. For at least the fans in the building, the Spirit's continued missteps were not enough to sway their loyalties.
"We don’t want ‘em to leave," said Keith Elrod, who was taking his 6-year-old son Ian to his first game. "Hockey's not a Southern sport, but I want it here."
About 90 minutes before the game started, fans congregated outside the Taco Mac next to the arena, talking about the team's woeful history and their hope in a Friday report on ajc.com that two potential buyers had surfaced. They gathered at the suggestion of Chris Ciovacco, a diehard fan who created the website keepthethrashers.com to stir interest in fans who want to find an owner who will keep the team in Atlanta.
"This is enough reason why they can't leave," Abeed Bawa told the circle of fans, pulling back the left sleeve of his crimson Thrashers jersey to reveal a tattoo of the Thrashers logo on his upper arm. Bawa was hopeful that a buyer will be found, saving him from becoming an object lesson in why one should not get tattoos of Sun Belt-based NHL teams.
"I know something will happen," he said. "This asset is too valuable to lose."
For the record, Bawa was referring to the team, not his arm.
Seated in the front row of his 200-level section, Jason Palmer's sign voiced his hopes for the future of team ownership. It listed Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Atlanta Spirit Group on the left-hand side of his poster. Red checks filled in the boxes next to Egypt and Tunisia, where regimes have already fallen. The boxes next to Libya and Atlanta Spirit Group were still open. Palmer described himself as typically being "anti-sign," but was compelled.
"I'm not here to protest. I'm here to watch hockey," Palmer said. "But I might as well as show how I feel."
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