Ilya Kovalchuk Trade Would Underscore Failure in Atlanta, but Who's at Fault?

When it was first announced that Atlanta was to have an NHL franchise, there were no shortage of those who scoffed at the idea of ice hockey in a southern, subtropical climate.

Despite the doubters, the team flirted with marginal success, drafting talented players and, eventually, made the playoffs.

However, the price of operating quickly outran the amount of money paid to watch them, and after several years of hope, NHL hockey in Atlanta looked all but dead.

That's why, in 1980, the Atlanta Flames were relocated to Calgary, Alberta.

Yes, hockey in Atlanta has been tried before, and it failed.

Ten years ago, Hotlanta got another shot at NHL hockey as the Thrashers began their inaugural season in 1999.

However, it doesn't appear that the Thrashers are going to be any more successful than the Flames were (to be fair, the Flames were actually much better, getting to the playoffs six out of eight seasons compared to the Thrasher's one appearance in 10).

Though no official bidding has begun, it is all but certain that Atlanta will trade sniper Ilya Kovalchuk at or before the Mar. 3 trade deadline.

Drafted first overall by Atlanta in 2001, Kovalchuk has emerged as one of the most electrifying goal-scorers in the league over the last decade and a prototypical superstar of the "new" NHL.

However, like former teammate Dany Heatley, and the man for which he was traded, Marian Hossa, Kovalchuk is rumored to be yet another phenomenal talent on his way out of Atlanta.

His rumored asking price of $10 million/10 years is apparently too steep for GM Don Waddell (and any GM with a brain, mark my words, Kovy will sign with a contender for far less than this). 

And, despite Atlanta being the only NHL team for which he has ever played, not to mention the fact he's the team's captain, Kovalchuk isn't interested in taking a "home town discount" to stay.

The inability to hold on to star talent, let alone build around them, underscores what has largely been another failure for the NHL in Atlanta.

Hockey, apparently, has no place in the land of Coca-Cola.

This begs the question, why?

There's a few possible culprits here.

The first, may simply be the city itself. 

This is not to say anything bad about the fine people of Atlanta; however, unlike virtually every city in Canada and the Northeastern United States, ice hockey has never been a part of the culture there.

Little Atlantians, by and large, do not grow up dreaming to be Stanley Cup champions. 

Georgia State University or Moorehouse College don't have NCAA ice hockey teams the city rallies around.

The climate doesn't allow for ponds (or swamps as the case may be) to be frozen over for months at a time, begging to be put to use as hockey rinks.

Still, the same can be said of places like San Jose, Anaheim, or North Carolina, teams that all have solid fan bases and, with the exception of San Jose, have won a Stanley Cup.

Management, and the poor practice thereof, maybe another reason the Atlanta Thrashers appear destined for the history books.

Just two years ago, right around this time, the same conversations about Atlanta negotiating with a star player that clearly had no interest in staying were popping up.

Back then, it was Marian Hossa, who was eventually traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Reports from Waddell's office on the Hossa situation were the same as they are now with Kovalchuk, "we're not pursuing a trade, we are working towards re-signing him."

Sure you are.

This most recent mess with Kovalchuk is hardly surprising given Waddell's track record of losing his best players, placing little focus on building a solid defensive corps and even less focus on securing a top-flight goalie.

Fans of the team (there are a few) have even taken to circulating online petitions asking for Waddell's resignations from the team.

If you went to any NHL management team worth its salt and asked them if they could build a winner out of players like Heatley, Hossa, Kovalchuk, and lest we forget, Marc Savard they'd most likely laugh at the obviousness of the question. 

Of course they could.

If and (more likely) when Waddell leaves the Thrashers, his record there will not bode well for his chances of managing another NHL team in his career.

Still, this is as non-traditional a hockey market as you could get, and no players are exactly demanding a trade to Atlanta. 

Additionally, Waddell was coming in with great credentials, having just won a Stanley Cup as an assistant GM with the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.  Waddell, at the time was considered a great choice for GM.

So, it could be that Waddell had the odds stacked against him from the start.

Actually, he did, and thus ends our game of Clue.

It was Commissioner Bettman, in Atlanta, with the expansion plan!

Despite the average Atlantian having no knowledge, let alone love, of ice hockey, and a suspect GM, the Atlanta Thrashers are a team that were forced into existence by a commissioner hell-bent on expansion as a way to grow the game.

Never mind that there were not petitions 10,000 names strong in Atlanta asking for a hockey team, and never mind that he had an exact blueprint for what not to do in the form of the failed Atlanta Flames franchise, Bettman was sure that hockey in Atlanta was going to succeed.

In fact, Atlanta was one of the primary reasons for the lockout.

Bettman used teams like at Atlanta, Nashville and Phoenix as reasons why the league needed to shut down for an entire year while they righted the economic ship.

The hard cap that Bettman fought for and eventually won, was supposed to help teams in small, non-traditional markets just like Atlanta remain competitive in their ability to retain talent, acquire free-agents and build strong, contending teams.

It was supposed to ensure that Atlanta would not lose talent like Kovalchuk to big market teams just looking to add to their already awe inspiring roster.

Five years later what do we have? The Chicago Blackhawks looking to add Ilya Kovalchuk to their already awe inspiring roster.

Stories like Heatley, Hossa, and now, Kovalchuk were written in the stars from the moment the franchise became a reality.

The failure of Atlanta to build a successful franchise is more Gary Bettman's fault than anyone else's.

His obsession to force a square peg into a round hole through expansion has produced nothing but broken promises, dashed hopes and case studies of how not to run a business.

One thing is clear, Ilya Kovalchuk wants out of Atlanta.  Were it not for Gary Bettman, he never would have been there in the first place.