There was a recent opinion article published written by Ryan Lambert. Basically, he critiques True North, the Winnipeg market, and any sports fan who seems to forget the Jets are really still the Thrashers.
Well, I must disagree with much of what he said.
"For some reason, the True North people who now own the newly-moved Atlanta franchise that began playing in the NHL in 1999 are doing their damnedest to whitewash all record of the Atlanta Thrashers from memory. They did this by not only gutting the front office and coaching staff with a blowtorch, but also by repeatedly having their Twitter feed refer to the franchise's first-ever so-and-so and any such event as "history." History for the 2011 Jets, sure. Not history for the franchise."
Okay, let's stop right there. Not once does the official Twitter feed refer to the first franchise goal. Ever. This is the tweet about Postma's goal.
First goal goes to Paul Postma from the point on Jets PP.
Doesn't say first of the franchise. In fact, that post could come in mid January and still be fine. It is referring to the first goal of the game.
Maybe he meant the tweet about the first goal in the game of the split squad:
Evander Kane finishes off a great feed by Blake Wheeler for the first Jets goal.
Again, talking about the first goal for the Jets in the game. Maybe even the first as this team since being known as the Jets, which is still accurate.
And, it is history. The first time a team does something new, it's history. First goal scored in a new building. First goal scored in a building with a new name. That's history.
So let's examine something else. The gutting of the team's front office and coaching staff.
Thank God! I mean, seriously. It's not like the team was making the playoffs year after year and the staff was torn apart. It was a weak team that needed a change. There was some of that last year with new coach Craig Ramsey, but the results still fizzled in the end. And I think a large part of it was due to the front office. So hell ya, gut that. That needs a whitewashing.
Let's examine some other text from the blog post:
"The Winnipeg Free Press, ostensibly still trying to function as an objective reporter-of-the-news and not a cheerleader, couldn't contain its glee. Coverage of the successful first preseason game at MTS Centre — and again, not in team history — was frought with sappy sentimentality about the Jets "returning to the NHL" as if they ever went anywhere besides Phoenix and lethal doses of civic pride. TSN and the Associated Press has heralded the Jets' "return" as well."
What exactly would you call it if a city had an NHL team, they left, and now they have a NHL team relocate there? A return of the NHL. No one said that it was a new team, an expansion team. And why shouldn't the Winnipeg Free Press show the excitement the city clearly has? I read the Winnipeg Free Press everyday and have for weeks now and they seem fair and objective. Excited, yes. When they need to be. But have you forgotten the paper's warning about the citizens of Winnipeg turning on the Jets if they continue their Thrasher way losing?
By the way, the team executives never wanted to be called the Jets to begin with to avoid this kind of comparision (a point you left out of your article). I've already discussed that. They listened to the fans and that is what the fans wanted. Plus, they couldn't stay with the name Thrashers because ASG owned that name still. They were forced to change names and thusly start a new identity process.
What else do you want to throw up in the air hoping no one will notice?
[True North] pounced on the first available team and tried to pass it off as being in some way related to one a handful of people loved a decade and a half ago. Case in point: the bizarre debate over whether Evander Kane should be able to wear the No. 9 jersey Bobby Hull made famous in the same city. Of course he should, since this isn't the same franchise.
Yeah, that bizarre debate was amongst fans and the media. Not in the offices of the Winnipeg Jets. Why? Because they are trying to build their own identity. This is a new Jets team, not the old one.
Again, I've already talked about this.
Put yourself in True North's shoes. You buy a struggling franchise, move it to Winnipeg, and have to market it. The fans demand they be called Jets, but you don't want to be associated with the old Jets because that's a different franchise. What do you do?
All things considered, I think True North is doing a great job.
TTFN
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