ATLANTA (STATS) - Though its been more than three decades, Joe Watkinsstill bleeds red.Atlanta Flames red, to Premier Bobby Orr Jersey be precise.Watkins is president - for life, he proudly points out - of the AtlantaFlames Fan Club, a group of 14 destined to keep the memory of the of the NHLsfirst foray into the southern United States alive.A Dallas native, Watkins discovered hockey on national television in the1970s during a lull between NFL, college football and college basketball games.                                                                                                                                                              His wife, Betsy, is originally from Philadelphia, but wasnt exposed Cam Neely Jersey Yellow tohockey until she moved to the south and met friends who were season-ticketholders. Shes long been impressed with the speed, agility and determination ofthe players, but theres one other facet of the game she enjoys.You cant run out of bounds, she said.In 1980, the Flames were sold and moved to Calgary, Alberta. In June, it wasdeja vu all over again as the Atlanta Thrashers were sold and moved to Winnipeg,Manitoba.Maybe they thought someone would step up and buy Authentic Bobby Orr Jersey the team, Joe said.No one came forward to make even a last-ditch attempt.Over the last 35 years, nine NHL franchises have relocated. Atlanta, though,is the only city to lose a team twice.In 1971, the NHL awarded a franchise to Atlanta to begin play the followingyear with the New York Islanders.New York City had long been a hockey hotbed with the Rangers and Americans,who folded after World War II. Putting a team in the rapidly expanding LongIsland suburbs to occupy a new arena while keeping a maverick league at bay wasa no-brainer.Atlanta, though, was a bit of an odd choice for a pro hockey team, despitethe fact the league had taken chances in nontraditional markets. When the NHLgrew from the Original Six to 12 teams in 1967, the West Coast was representedfor the first time in Los Angeles and Oakland.Playing in the Bobby Orr Jersey Black brand-new Omni, the Flames forged a 1-1 tie with Buffalo intheir home debut on Oct. 14, 1972, helping start a successful season by anexpansion clubs standards.Behind names like Robby Leiter and Larry Romanchych, Atlanta managed 25 winsand 15 ties in 78 games. That was good for seventh in the West Division, astunning 17 points ahead of the last-place California Golden Seals.Though the Flames never hoisted Premier Marc Savard Jersey a Stanley Cup while in Hotlanta, they becameimpressively consistent. From 1976-80, Atlanta finished with between 80 and 90points, and reached the playoffs each season.The club was equally predictable in the postseason - but for all the wrongreasons. Atlanta recorded five straight opening-round defeats while compiling a2-11 record.By 1980, attendance was falling and Cam Neely Official Jersey the Flames were losing prime home datesto the NBAs Hawks. The club was quickly sold for $16 million and moved nearly2,400 miles northwest Tim Thomas Jersey White to the Canadian Rockies.It was sort of like losing a member of your family, Watkins said. You putblood, sweat and tears in them.To their credit, the Calgary Flames remember their roots. Assistant captainswear a miniature Atlanta logo on their jerseys in place of the standard A.Calgarians Bruins Marc Savard Premier Jersey also got one thing Atlanta never had - a Stanley Cup celebration.Less than a decade after resettling, the Flames David Krejci Jersey Yellow won their only title by stunningthe vaunted Canadiens in 1989 at the Montreal Forum.The 1990s saw nine expansion hockey clubs, including two in Florida andthree Patrice Bergeron Jersey White in other southern locales, established to help grow the Nathan Horton Jersey Black sport.Atlanta was back on the NHL map.Fresh off hosting the Summer Olympics the previous year, the city was givena team in 1997 to start play two seasons later.It was great, recalled Betsy Watkins. We were energized. There was awhole big jersey ceremony in Centennial Park. We were jazzed.But she was also a realist: We knew they werent going to have a good teamthe first season.The Watkinses were season-ticket holders for that inaugural 1999-00campaign, in which the Thrashers managed just 39 points. Still, they ranked 11thin home attendance at just over Tim Thomas Jersey Yellow 17,200 per game - about 1,350 short of capacity.They proved to Terry O'Reilly Official Jersey be a better draw that season than Original Six clubs Boston andChicago, and faded dynasties in Edmonton and Long Island.But the honeymoon didnt last. Though the Thrashers lasted longer than theirpredecessors, not many in Atlanta bothered to watch after the glow of the newteam wore off.They failed to finish higher than 21st in home attendance and saw more andmore fans stay away each season after their only playoff appearance in 2007;fittingly, a first-round sweep. Last season, the team fell to 28th out of 30 NHLteams with an average attendance of David Krejci Jersey Black less Premier Nathan Horton Jersey than 13,500. By comparison, thetop-ranked Blackhawks drew almost 21,500 per game.Poor drafting didnt help matters either. Patrik Stefan, picked firstoverall in 1999, was a bust.  Kari Lehtonen(notes) never lived up to being the secondselection in 2002 and was shipped to Dallas in 2010.Budding superstar Dany Heatley(notes) never recovered from the car accident thatkilled teammate Dan Snyder, and Ilya Kovalchuk(notes) and Marian Hossa(notes) werent givenmuch to work with and eventually headed elsewhere.Watkins blames Atlanta Spirit, LLC. The ownership group that bought theThrashers, Hawks and Philips Arena in 2004, was beset by infighting resulting ina high-profile lawsuit and the buyout of Marc Savard Official Jersey a top-ranking member.When Atlanta Spirit came in, we never got the sense that they wanted tomake the team work in Atlanta, she said, adding that rumors of the teamsdemise began almost immediately after they took over.Rumors became facts last month when the club was sold for $170 million,including a $60 million relocation Authentic Milan Lucic Jersey fee.Atlanta Bruins Milan Lucic Authentic Jersey mayor Kasim Reed issued a one-paragraph statement regarding theexcitement and competitive spirit (the Thrashers) brought to the city.Essentially, thank you and good-bye.Fans in Canadas heartland know the heartbreak of a team leaving. Winnipeglost the Jets in 1996 when they moved to Bruins Cam Neely Authentic Jersey the desert, resurfacing as the PhoenixCoyotes.Peter Authentic Zdeno Chara Jersey Aiello, now a Winnipeg pharmacist, was 18 when that happened.The last two years of the Jets was a very sad period, he said. Thevarious rallies had all ages turn out, and I can recall a lot of sad, cryingfaces mixed in with the fans cheering Go Jets Go! and singing O, Canada.There was always a belief, perhaps a romantic notion, that with the Coyotesstruggles to gain a foothold among fans and their inability to Patrice Bergeron Jersey Yellow secure stableownership, they would one day return home.Instead, Winnipeggers this fall will watch the new Jets, a team with limitedtalent in former Stanley Cup winners Andrew Ladd(notes) and Dustin Byfuglien(notes), andbudding stars Evander Kane(notes) and Tobias Enstrom(notes).Theyll also guarantee sellout crowds for years to come, quelling anotherbelief that Winnipeg is too small-market.Manitobas entire population is roughly 1.24 million, compared to 5.72million in Atlantas metropolitan region. However, all 13,000 season ticketswith commitments ranging from three to five years were quickly sold.I have never seen such excitement, and the fanfare far exceeds what Ithought it would be, said Aiello, himself a new season-ticket holder.For Eric Fehr(notes), taking the next step of his NHL career in Winnipeg, ratherthan Atlanta, represents more than an unexpected surprise.Its also a chance to play closer to home.Fehr Bruins Cam Neely Premier Jersey was born and raised in Winkler, about 80 miles southwest of the Jetsnew home, the MTS Centre. He stayed in the province to play junior hockey inBrandon, where he was a two-time 50-goal scorer with the Wheat Milan Lucic Jersey Black Kings Premier Ray Bourque Jersey beforebeing drafted 18th overall by the Capitals in 2003.Fehrs best NHL season came in 2009-10, when he scored 21 goals in 69 gamesfor the Presidents Trophy winners. However, on a team with star Alexander Semin(notes)and steady veteran Mike Knuble(notes) entrenched at right wing, combined with Fehrsinjury history, Washington appeared to have little use for him.He found out about a trade to Winnipeg between holes Premier Zdeno Chara Jersey of a charity golf eventon July 8 in his hometown. Originally caught off-guard, Fehrs surprise hasquickly been replaced with excitement.With the whole team coming back now, family and friends were saying howcool it would be to come play in Winnipeg, and you dont think its going to bea possibility, and all of a Authentic Ray Bourque Jersey sudden its happened, he said. My world has beenkind of flipped upside down now.While the NHL will be back in the Peg this fall, Joe and Betsy Watkins willhave to be content traveling some 30 miles from their home in Avondale Estates,Ga., to get their fix with the Gwinnett Gladiators of the East Coast HockeyLeague, the Authentic Nathan Horton Jersey sports answer to Double-A baseball.Any hockey is better than no hockey, he explained.Joe will continue to watch the NHL, Nathan Horton Jersey Green but dont expect him to be a fan of thenew Jets. Though hes president-for-life of the Atlanta Flames fan club, he alsoturned his back on what they became.Its the Calgary Flames, not the Atlanta Flames, he said with a touch ofdefiance in his voice. Its your team, Bobby Orr Jersey White not my team.That doesnt mean hes given up on the league again coming back to thePeachtree City.When Winnipeg flames out, we might get them back, or when (Phoenix) flamesout, he said. Somebody will buy them.Somebody? Perhaps. Somebody from Atlanta? Unlikely.Until then, however, Watkins can help keep the memory of two NHL teamsalive.Andy Lefkowitz is a writer for STATS LLC. He can be reached
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)The Anaheim Ducks have agreed to a three-yearcontract with center Andrew Cogliano(notes), avoiding arbitration with their offseasonacquisition.The Ducks announced the deal Tuesday.                                                                                                                                                            Anaheim acquired Cogliano from Edmonton last week for a second-round draftchoice in 2013.The speedy forward had 11 goals and 24 assists while playing in all 82 gamesfor the Oilers last season. The former University of Michigan player didnt missa game in his first four NHL seasons with Edmonton, scoring Bruins Terry O'Reilly Authentic Jersey 146 points.