Even up to the final moments in the sad history of the Atlanta Thrashers, the Atlanta Spirit ownership seemingly didn’t care very much about their employees.
As all of the Canadian press gleefully leaked the news that the Thrashers were about to bolt town to the Canadian prairies, the only folks not to get official word were the poor Thrashers employees and players, who were forced to get their news from Twitter, player's agents and television and radio.
Yes, folks, even down to the bitter final moments before the “Asset Purchase Agreement” was finalized, the Atlanta Sprit was treating their employees much like they’ve treated their fans – very badly.
There has been some speculation that the NHL was calling the shots and that the Spirit may have not been able to leak the news to their employees early that morning. That wouldn’t shock me. If NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is cowardly enough to break his “covenant with fans” in the sake of convenience, the NHL commish would just as likely break his bond with employees – the lifeblood of his business that make his sport what it is.
But if I owned the Thrashers, there’s absolutely no amount of money that would stop me from taking care of my employees and players first. I wouldn’t care about leaks. I wouldn’t even care about a few million bucks.
The cat was already out of the bag. The Canadian rumor mill was rampant with speculation of Thomson newspaper employees getting on planes, of Winnipeg newspapermen reporting on every little detail of preparations. Everyone in the connected Reuters/Thomson conglomerate that has a stranglehold on half of the Canadian press was clearly in the loop as were the well-connected folks at TSN and the rest of the Canadian press.
Thrashers players and employees were not.
That’s just beyond shameful.
But what do you expect from the National Hockey League, a fledgling wannabe major league sport that acts more like a minor league one. A league filled with a few powerful governors who can dictate agendas and get off on pushing the little guys around.
And what do you expect from the Atlanta Spirit, an organization that has been as duplicitous to fans as they have been their employees and each other.
Yes, that same ownership group that even Ilya Kovalchuk ripped in the Russian press.
“We managed to get into the playoffs only once,” the former Thrashers star told sports.ru in an article translated to English. “I do not remember any other achievements. In my opinion, their main problem is the owner of the club. There never was a man who truly loved and understood hockey. It is hard to achieve something with such people.”
How absurd did it get for Thrashers employees on Tuesday? One poor Atlanta Spirit salesperson was still hawking tickets to a caller from Yahoo Sports! one hour before a formal announcement about the fate of the Thrashers.
By the time employees were told around mid-day Tuesday, co-owner Michael Gearon elected to openly weep in an interview with John Kincade on “680 The Fan.” He left the dirty work of telling his troops to others. Granted, he openly lamented that decision on the radio. I’m sorry, but Gearon should have gotten his own house in order before dealing with the media. Period.
It’s the right thing to do.
But no one in this saga except for True North Sports and Entertainment in Winnipeg has done the right thing. Not NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Not Bruce Levenson. Not Michael Gearon. Not Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Not Georgia Governor Nahthan Deal. No one.
So how could anyone possibly expect anything less from this group of unscrupulous businessmen in the Atlanta Spirit and the NHL? Shame on you guys.
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