ATLANTA — Atlanta Thrashers fans are planning to take advantage of possibly their last opportunity to demonstrate support for the NHL to remain in Atlanta.
Thrashers fans are planning a rally before the team’s annual select-a-seat event for season-ticket holders at Philips Arena on Saturday.
Lisa Lewis, the fan club president, said Wednesday she expects a “pretty big turnout” in the rally she said is being organized by fan Jimmy Parks.
According to reports in Atlanta and Winnipeg, Thrashers owners are in negotiations with True North Sports and Entertainment, which would relocate the team to Winnipeg.
Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine is a high-profile Thrashers fan and former season-ticket holder who last month said he would like to be part of an ownership group that keeps the team in Atlanta.
Glavine said Wednesday he feared time is running out for the effort to save the team, especially after the troubled Phoenix Coyotes last week won a one-year reprieve to remain in Arizona. That development shifted Winnipeg’s focus to Atlanta.
“Based on the conversations I’ve had, off and on, I think there was always some sense that we had a little bit of time as long as Phoenix was still in the picture,” Glavine told The Associated Press. “Now that Phoenix is out of the picture, that time has kind of gone away and everything is on an accelerated path now.
“There seems to be a consensus there is going to be a team in Winnipeg. The question is who, and unfortunately the bull’s-eye seems to be on the Thrashers’ back.”