2011 NHL Offseason: Why Fans Are Not to Blame for the Atlanta Thrashers' Demise

With all the buzz surrounding the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers and a possible move to Winnipeg, Canada, the time is right to look at the state of affairs in Georgia, USA, after 11 years of professional hockey.

The Thrashers, who began play as an expansion franchise in 1999, were planned to be a rebirth of hockey in Atlanta. After the Atlanta Flames left the city for Calgary, Canada, in 1980, hockey's popularity in the region gradually disappeared. The Flames were a strong franchise, but failed to win a playoff series—yet by the end of the 1980s they had given Calgary its first Stanley Cup in 1989.

What went on in the Atlanta Thrashers organization to create this dire situation? Why is the NHL community running rampant over speculation that Atlanta will lose its second NHL franchise?

Poor Drafting

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ATLANTA - JANUARY 24: Patrik Stefan #27 of the Atlanta Thrashers skates against the Boston Bruins at Philips Arena on January 24, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Bruins won 3-2. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

The Thrashers should be icing one of the strongest rosters in the NHL right about now, yet year-in-year-out, the franchise finds themselves watching their rivals contend for the Cup. With the exception of Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk, the Atlanta Thrashers have drafted like chickens with their heads cut off.

Not every draft pick will be surefire superstar, but looking at the track round of the Thrashers scouting team is just appalling. 

First of all, in the 1999 NHL Draft (Atlanta's first draft in their franchise history), management selected Patrik Stefan first overall and then Luke Sellers. Sellers, chosen thirtieth overall, played exactly one NHL game in his career and was one of the biggest NHL draft busts in the last decade. 

Stefan was a different story. He was given every opportunity to expand on his skills and become the face of the franchise—until the coaching staff realized he just wasn't that good to begin with. Although the 1999 class was weak (the Sedin Twins are really the only players taken in the first round to have risen to their all star potential), Stefan's selection should have been a sign of what was to come.

While the Thrashers followed up the 1999 blunder with Heatley in 2000 Kovalchuk in 2001, their early round picks in the years that followed a pattern similar to the mistakes of the 1999 draft.

Two of their picks, Alex Bourret (16th overall) and Daultan Leveille (29th overall), played no NHL games in their careers. 

The finger here is pointed at GM Don Waddell and his scouting staff. The Thrashers missed out on some amazing talent that came through the NHL Draft in the 2000s, and now management is left to stare at the mess of a roster they've compiled over the past eleven seasons. Now the one playoff franchise appearance doesn't seem so hard to understand, right?

Lack of Coaching Consistency

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ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 15: Atlanta Thrashers head coach Craig Ramsay looks on from the bench against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on October 15, 2010 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Good coaching is the backbone of an NHL organization. The league's top contenders always have motivating head coaches and a wealth of assistants to get the most out of their roster.

Unfortunately, someone forgot to explain that to the Atlanta Thrashers.

Since the 1999-2000 season, the team has gone through a staggering four head coaches and is currently working with number five, Craig Ramsay. That's an average of about two seasons per coach. In today's NHL that number is just ridiculous.

Granted, some head coaches are more effective than others, but time needs to be given to a coach to groom the roster in the way that he and his staff see fit. Wins may not always arrive in the first year, but it's tough to implement a system and expect results while players are still adjusting to a new style, just look at Barry Trotz's tenure in Nashville for a crash course in expansion franchise coaching. 

The problem is, the Thrashers got themselves into such a mess by firing coaches in the midst of the team's freefall into the NHL basement, winning was the only thing ownership could care about. No time was available be spent on designing a type of hockey meant to clash against divisional powers like the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals.

The fans and management wanted success and did not understand the long road it would take to get there.

Had the Thrashers stuck with coaches long enough for the players to build relationships with their bench boss, things may have turned out differently for the troubled Southeast division franchise.

Strange Marketing Tactics

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NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 07: Andrew Ladd #16 of the Atlanta Thrashers celebrates his goal against the New York Rangers during their game on April 7, 2011 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

In a non-traditional hockey market, the only thing a team can hope for, besides wins, is to create a unique fan experience that will entice a fervent fanbase. The Thrashers hoped to sellout games based on the premise of being able to watch hockey, typically a sport played in the more Northern areas of the USA and Canada, in the warm Atlanta climate. 

This idea failed because of a series of odd marketing strategies meant to increase ticket sales and build a frenzy around a poorly performing franchise.

Two examples come to mind, the first being in 2008. As management attempted to rechristen the Phillips Arena "Blueland" during home games, the Thrashers unveiled their new third jersey.

It was red! What kind of plan is that? The home jerseys were blue, so why then introduce red as a team colour (adding to the visual mess of powder blue, navy blue, gold and white) and expect fans to purchase the new jersey to wear to home games? If anything, this created a confusing scenario for Thrashers fans, just what exactly are the team's colours?

Look around at the NHL's strongest franchises, with the exception of the Canucks, these teams keep their colours year after year and know not to mess with a good thing. The Detroit Red Wings, for example, have had the same logo, colours and more or less jersey style their entire existence. Their fans identify with that winged wheel more so than any Thrashers marketer can ever understand. 

Finally, in 2010 came the infamous pretend arrest of the Thrashers mascot, Thrash, by local Atlanta police. Thrash was charged with grand theft after stealing a zamboni from the practice rink. All this was meant to increase fan awareness and attendance?

Evidently not, seeing as the Thrashers were ranked near the bottom of the attendance list last season. At least the rest of the league got a good laugh out of the situation though, right?

Inability to Keep Good Players Around

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ATLANTA - FEBRUARY 06: Ilya Kovalchuk #17 of the Atlanta Thrashers takes the shot against the New Jersey Devils on February 6, 2009 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Franchise players help teams to create winning rosters and aid management in attracting sellout crowds. 

The Atlanta Thrashers have drafted two of the game's most interesting players at some point in their history, Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley, and lost them. In addition, the franchise has had dozens of good players leave for other teams and become great players, like goalie Kari Lehtonen.

Kovalchuk may have a reputation for being a whiny, spoiled superstar, but he did play great hockey while in Atlanta. The GM and his scouting staff failed to find the missing links to put great defensemen, goaltending and forwards around the Russian skater.

Frustrated and embarrassed by seemingly routine season failures, Kovalchuk departed to the New Jersey Devils in 2010 where he his now famously underachieving and collecting one of the league's biggest paycheques.

Heatley was a different story, and therefore the blame does not rest on GM Waddell's shoulders as much as with the Kovalchuk debacle. After killing teammate Dan Snyder in a drunk driving accident, Heatley felt the pressure of the local fanbase. Snyder was a fan favourite and respectable NHLer, and Heatley repeatedly had to explain to the press just how guilt-ridden he was over the events.

Heatley asked for a trade in 2005 and after a stint with the Ottawa Senators, he is now skating alongside Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks.

The list really goes on from there. Kari Lehtonen (as mentioned above), Marian Hossa, Clarke MacArthur, and Mark Recchi are just some of the big names that have passed through the Thrashers organization. Can you imagine a team with those players on its roster, in a addition to current players like Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd and Evander Kane?

They could fight for divisional supremacy and possibly challenge for a Stanley Cup, no?

The State of Affairs in Atlanta

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ATLANTA, GA - MAY 21: A sign displayed outside Philips Arena urges to 'Ground the Jets...Save the Birds' as fans hold a rally to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta at Philips Arena on May 21, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. It has been reported the Thrashers may r

All these things contribute to the way things are in Atlanta in May 2011. The ownership group, the Atlanta Spirit Group, is fed up with the lack of sellouts, a weak on-ice product and numerous excuses by the team's top brass. 

With Winnipeg-based True North Sports and Entertainment making a bid to buy the Thrashers and relocate the team to the Canadian city, it is no wonder why fans and analysts everywhere are betting on the possibility of a seventh Canadian team by the start of the 2011 season. 

The Atlanta Thrashers have had plenty of chances to be a successful team in the NHL, and they have wasted almost all of them. All that is left now is to sit around and examine the remains of NHL hockey's second Atlanta franchise.