Atlanta Thrashers' sale and move to Winnipeg approved by NHL; two rules tightened

The NHL's Board of Governors, meeting Tuesday in New York, approved the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to True North Sports & Entertainment Ltd., headed by Mark Chipman and David Thomson. The board also approved the immediate move of the franchise to Winnipeg, Canada, for next season.

Because of the relatively short notice of the move before the 2011-12 season, the still-unnamed team will stay in the Southeast Division next season with Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay and Washington. The schedule for next season will be released in the next few days. Realignment is expected for the 2012-13 season.

“We deeply regret that Atlanta’s ownership was unable to secure local partners after exhausting every option and alternative,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement released by the NHL.

"At the same time, we are delighted that NHL hockey is returning to Winnipeg and to a fan base that already is showing so much support for its team. We congratulate Mark Chipman, David Thomson and True North on their patience, their preparation and their professionalism, and we look forward to the start of a new era for the franchise.” 

The board also approved changes to Rule 41, which applies to boarding, and Rule 48, which relates to illegal checks to the head.

Atlanta Thrashers appear bound for Winnipeg

Winnipeg’s chances of regaining an NHL franchise appeared bleak last week when the City of Glendale, Ariz., came up with $25 million to keep the Coyotes for another season.

But the Atlanta Thrashers, long beset by ownership problems and management’s inability to put a competitive, playoff-caliber team on the ice, could be sold and moved to Winnipeg to play there as soon next season and increase the number of Canada-based franchises to seven.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the team’s owners, collectively known as the Atlanta Spirit, are in talks with a group that’s eager to buy the franchise and move it north. Here’s columnist Mark Bradley’s summation on where the Thrashers went wrong, and he makes some strong points.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported the NHL is devising two schedules for next season -- one that would have the Thrashers in Atlanta and another if the team relocates to Winnipeg, which might also result in realignment of the current divisions.

NHL won't ban all hits to the head but will focus on boarding, charging

Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday that the NHL’s general managers haven’t shown enough support for an outright ban on hits to the head but the league will continue to focus on “dangerous hits; hits when a player is vulnerable, or engaged with another player and a third player comes in, or where there is excessive force.”

Bettman made his remarks following the second day of the general managers’ meetings in Boca Raton, Fla. This year’s session has been dominated by issues related to concussions and head injuries, spurred by the emotional reaction of hockey fans, players and executives to last week’s hit by Boston’s Zdeno Chara on Montreal’s Max Pacioretty. The Canadiens forward suffered a concussion and fractured vertebra but Chara was not fined or suspended.

The hit, in which Pacioretty’s head hit an unpadded stanchion near the players’ bench, led Bettman on Monday to introduce a five-point plan that includes improving padding and replacing the unforgiving seamless glass still used in some rinks.

Sidney Crosby skates while NHL general managers discuss head injuries

Sidney Crosby skated Monday for the first time since sustaining a concussion more than two months ago, but the Pittsburgh Penguins center said he’s still not sure if or when he will be able to play this season.

“No real plan going forward,” he said in an interview on the Penguins' website.

Crosby’s skate comes on the day NHL general managers began three days of meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., with concussions and blows to the head the hottest topic.

Commissioner Gary Bettman began the proceedings by spelling out a five-point plan that includes instructing a safety engineering firm to evaluate every rink to determine if changes are needed and directing teams that have seamless glass to change to Plexiglass.

The protocol for evaluating and managing concussions has been revised, principally to have the team physician instead of the team trainer examine any player who reports any concussion symptoms.

No offense to trainers, whose quick thinking and caring have patched up many a player, but shouldn't an immediate examination by a doctor have been part of the protocol before now?

-- Helene Elliott

Photo: Sidney Crosby. Credit: David DeNoma / Reuters