Ramsay to interview with Winnipeg
Craig Ramsay will interview for his job. The Thrashers coach said he was contacted by Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff Sunday night and told he will be a candidate for the position when the team relocates to Manitoba for next season.
Ramsay said he expected the interview to be this week.
“We are going to talk,” Ramsay told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday. “It’s weird, but it is what it is. This whole situation is a bit awkward. Kevin was good to talk to and we’ll see what we can get done.”
Ramsay has one year remaining on the contract he signed to coach the Thrashers before last season. The positions of those on Ramsay’s staff – associate coach John Torchetti, assistant Mike Stothers, video coach Tony Borgford and goaltending consultant Clint Malarchuk – are also undetermined.
The Winnipeg franchise has informed much of the Thrashers support staff that they will not be retained. Dan Marr, the Thrashers director of amateur scouting and player development, was informed Sunday that he will not be a part of the organization. Many of the positions are being filled by the staff of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, which is also owned by buyer True North Sports and Entertainment. Moose coach Claude Noel is also considered a candidate.
The Thrashers sale and relocation becomes official with the approval of the NHL’s Board of Governors meeting on June 21 in New York City.
On another note: Spent some time with Thrashers equipment manager Bobby Stewart on Monday for an upcoming story. Stewart, who spent all 12 years with the Atlanta Thrashers and 26 with the Flames in Atlanta and Calgary, would have worked his 3,000th NHL game next season. Look for the story in Sunday’s paper.
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127 comments Add your comment
News (6/13) you can use: Latest on Return of the NHL to Winnipeg | Illegal Curve Hockey
June 13th, 2011
3:03 pm
[...] Journal Constitution: Craig Ramsay will interview with Winnipeg. Should be an interesting story on Thrashers equipment manager Bobby [...]
Over it all
June 13th, 2011
3:05 pm
Lame! I wish Coach Ramsey the very best. I hope he ends up in a better situation with better ownership.
whaler8888
June 13th, 2011
3:11 pm
Really hope they keep Ramsay in place. I enjoyed his “teaching” not only the players but the fans as well. I think the Winnipeg fans would enjoy having a coach that doesn’t speak only in cliches and they certainly would enjoy the upbeat style of play Ramsay coaches. Maybe he can at least come out of this OK unlike the rest of us.
PoweRForgeD
June 13th, 2011
3:14 pm
Anyone who is offered a job with this new team and refuses will be missing out on a very exciting positive experience
Tom
June 13th, 2011
3:16 pm
It is interesting how Winnipeg is removing every remnant of the Thrashers from the map. It almost resembles the actions of the old Soviet Union… Soon the Winnipeg Jets will never have left and the Thrashers never will have existed.
Matt from MN
June 13th, 2011
3:28 pm
Damn…this stuff just makes me depressed all over again. I’m gonna go sit in a dark closet for a while now.
the third
June 13th, 2011
3:40 pm
real hockey fans would have kept DW and filled the arena for another 11 losing years. real hockey fans dont need their team to try and win.
Brendan
June 13th, 2011
4:03 pm
so does this mean the wolves will lose their NHL affiliate???
Affirmative-Action Jackson
June 13th, 2011
4:10 pm
Craig Ramsay = Token Winnipeg Interview
R. Stroz
June 13th, 2011
4:15 pm
Brendan – The Wolves have already been “dismissed.”
Time Out
June 13th, 2011
4:21 pm
I hope the Winnipeg Whatever never make the playoffs in the next 20 years. I want to see how their fan base responds.
I.C. Wiener
June 13th, 2011
4:29 pm
What happens to this blog next Tuesday, after the BoG blocks relocation?
Hey, it could happen!
Reality
June 13th, 2011
4:30 pm
Everytime one company takes over another, and this is basically what’s happening, it common to have to re-interview for your job, not weird. You have new management that Ramsay has to sell himself to, to show he’s the kind of coach they want.
Drock20j
June 13th, 2011
4:32 pm
I am just saddend thatwe in Atlanta will never have the joy of seeing #13 retired and Slava Kozlov applauded for all he did for the team.
Next Season TV
June 13th, 2011
4:54 pm
Since we will no longer have the Thrashers on FoxSports and SportsSouth, can and will FOX and the NHL allow for Preditor or Hurricane games to be broadcast in the Atlanta area?
I know Buttman is a total jerk for taking our team, but will he leave us high and dry without even a few games a year.
I do not get VS TV.
Anybody have a thought?
Buttman Returns
June 13th, 2011
4:58 pm
Who wants to watch hockey after this atrocity? Hopefully, they won’t show hockey in this market again, not even on NBC, until Bettman chokes on a hockey puck.
ATL Observer
June 13th, 2011
5:01 pm
@Next Season TV, there’s no definites, but there’s been rumors that the Preds are hoping to get FSS to broadcast some of their games in the Atlanta market. Given the proximity of that team compared to any others, that would be the most logical fit for GA hockey fans.
Time Out
June 13th, 2011
5:02 pm
If I were Ramer, I would go back to Boston. This franchise has a black cloud over it.
Time Out
June 13th, 2011
5:04 pm
Next Season TV: I am with Buttman Returns, time to bag the NHL. Screw the whole league and ASG too.
East Point Bob
June 13th, 2011
5:16 pm
Phoenix is sold next season, It comes here, Problem solved !
Bettman the Moron
June 13th, 2011
5:21 pm
Tom…so true….despite all the “poor little Winnipeg” garbage, they have been very quick to wipe out any remnant of OUR team…the Thrashers. Dear Winnipegers…news flash….the Jets now play in Phoenix.
Time Out – Amen…..their little market lost a team once, won’t take long to happen again, especially once Bettman the Moron figures out that TV revenue from 750,000 people won’t pay for his kid’s college educations.
Buttman Returns – LOL….I’m with ya…screw the NHL and Bettman the Moron. This is why the NHL will always be a fringe league, promoting unknown outposts like Winnipeg while ignoring major markets like Atlanta….the NHL could have worked here if the NHL had even spent five minutes trying to make it work. This market was ignored, Bettman the Moron spent all his time clamoring in Phoenix, and this is what we get.
sisu
June 13th, 2011
5:27 pm
so the vote seems to be a formality…I think it is really arrogant of the new possible owners to act like the whole thing has been decided. I would not expect much from group that was willing to cheat or steal to get a team in their minor league arena.
Hope Ramsey decides to go elsewhere, but then again he could just retire?
Mr. Vivlamore, no interviews or stories from the ASG? Or did AJC back off after they had their witch hunt went sour? http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2009/05/20090518/Opinion/In-Rush-To-The-Web-Newspapers-Must-Not-Forsake-Standards.aspx
whatsthat
June 13th, 2011
5:37 pm
You mean Atlanta had a hockey team. See Ya
Buzzeng
June 13th, 2011
5:40 pm
Time Out made the right call – let’s see how the all the Winnipeg fans are in 11 years with one playoff series and no wins. Then we can talk.
Tom Lysiak
June 13th, 2011
5:45 pm
Yeah, I wonder who will get the job, Rammer or Noel? Guess we’ll see if the owner or the new GM is really running things…..
HotRod Hockey
June 13th, 2011
6:15 pm
No one from the staff got offered a job. The coach is the only one to get a interview. Whoever is coach, I do not care. If this team does well up there it will make ASG wonder what could have been. With no basketball or hockey that arena will be empty. ASG is going to wonder around with a thumb up there rear wishing they should have keep hockey here. Good luck in Canada and to whoever coaches the team, I wish you the best of luck.
Brendan
June 13th, 2011
6:23 pm
R.Stroz, that was a different Brendan than me. I knew, eventually, there’d be another to come to these boards.
My comment is … why should Ramsay, who is under contract, have to interview for the job to which he has been appointed? I mean, they eithe retain him, as the contract stipulates, or they fire him, and hire someone else. I think it’s a bit funny that Kevin Chevaldayoff was in the Wolves, (Thrashers affiliate,) but was not given a chance to be GM of the Thrashers. Bygones, as we say.
Brendan
June 13th, 2011
6:24 pm
Hallelujah! Dan Marr is finally out of a job. He and Waddell will probably find a home somewhere in the AHL.
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June 13th, 2011
6:51 pm
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Atlanta Flames Fan
June 13th, 2011
7:04 pm
The NHL is dead to me. For the first time in over 40 years, I am not watching the Stanley Cup Finals.
Time Out
June 13th, 2011
8:27 pm
One good thing…I won’t have to watch that piece of crap flower play of the Thrashers.
Calgary Flames Fan from Calgary
June 13th, 2011
9:10 pm
I know you hockey fans in Atlanta are not happy about losing the Thrashers but you had a chance to pony up and buy tickets when the team was in dire straits. Don’t whine you lost the team fair and square.
Michael
June 13th, 2011
9:50 pm
Yeah, no we had plenty of time. yep because it’s our job to put something worth seeing on the ice. It’s our job to make trades,draft picks, and hire and fire the staff when need be.
It ALL boils down to ownership and marketing that’s it. The die hard fans will go until ownership burns them like they did and with what little marketing we had its amazing people still came. who wants to see a team lose? certainly not someone who’s being introduced to the sport and never seen an NHL game before.
Curly
June 13th, 2011
10:10 pm
Ramsay has no choice. He is under contract for one more year. He can’t choose to go elsewhere until he has been released.
No matter. I won’t be watching next year. Time to move on.
Jason
June 13th, 2011
10:53 pm
Did always find it interesting that there have been other markets (Nashville comes to mind specifically) where a team was possibly going to move but ownership/NHL came in and said “If we sell 12,000 season tickets for next year” then the team will stay here. Heck, even in Winnipeg, the mandate came down, “We need to sell 13,000 season tickets.”
That statement was never made in public by anyone in Atlanta, whether ownership, Bettman, Daly, etc. Hmm….
jeddiel
June 14th, 2011
12:39 am
@Jason – Your fanbase wasn’t the issue in Atlanta, it was the indifferent ownership in ASG. A season ticket march wasn’t going to solve the long term problems existing with the team. Been there, done that!
Cornbread
June 14th, 2011
12:47 am
Imagine if all this was happening right now in Atlanta. It is all we fans have asked for over the past 12 years, new committed owner, new managers, new players, new hope…
Never ever got close to that chance. To Hell with the NHL.
Acerman
June 14th, 2011
3:03 am
It takes 28 posts until somebody expressed his appreciation for the dismissal of Marr? Of course, it comes from one of the better posters here. Getting rid of Marr is a HUGE step in the right direction.
So far, Chipman and Thomson are practicing what I preached since 2004.
Acerman
June 14th, 2011
3:40 am
One week until the vote. It’s gonna end three years of pain & misery for me. Oh joy!
Responsible Journalist
June 14th, 2011
6:21 am
ah here we go again, canadians telling us to spend money on an inferior product. Okay, I am selling a car that doesn’t run, I want you to purchase it for the price of a brand new one. Does that make sense? Use that canadian education and some sort of logic before you lose this argument. Enjoy your expensive ticket prices, especially when you find out how bad the team is. Pay to watch the great Tim Stapleton, because once the honeymoon period is over, you’ll complain also if your “team” was run the way ours was. It’s asinine to blame fans who didn’t support a losing team under putrid ownership. Like I said, go buy a car that doesn’t run if you manage to disagree and then come back here and explain your logic.
I wouldn’t put a dime in the pocket of the ASG and those that did were fools. The NHL doesn’t get a pass either, it’s difficult to support them, I haven’t watched a minute of the Cup Final.
As for the firings, they were expected and some of them should have been made by the Thrashers. Big mistake in firing Dudley however, they seem to be softly trying to let Rammer go, the players love Rammer, that firing won’t go over well. I’ll be glad when every good “Thrasher” player is off Winnipeg’s roster. They don’t deserve them.
Dwayne
June 14th, 2011
8:06 am
Tiny Tim will thrive in the new coaches system, NHL will have to un-retire number 99.
Time Out
June 14th, 2011
9:55 am
No way these clowns in Winnipeg would support a loser over 11 years. They don’t have the money for it. In hindsight we will be thanking the NHL for moving this loser of a franchise out of Atlanta. They needed to take ASG with them. Tiny Tim and A Stew to the rescue.
Cartman
June 14th, 2011
10:21 am
LOL. You guys have been watching South Park too much… “Blame Canada” LOL
It is not Winnipeg’s fault you lost your team. Winnipeg didn’t approach the NHL and say ” We want the Thrashers!”. No! It was the NHL that approached Winnipeg to see if TNSE would take a team off the hands of ASG ( because they never wanted to own a team ) and the NHL ( because they didn’t want to be stuck owning another team while they still own the Coyotes ).
It doesn’t matter if it an NHL team or a MCDonalds….. if NOBODY wants to own it, it either moves or folds. How hard is this for you rednecks to understand? The NHL doesn’t really want to go to Winnipeg, but right now, its the only city that could take a team on this short notice and have it up and running for next season. Yup, Canada stole your team.. LOLOLOLOL
wpg fan
June 14th, 2011
1:26 pm
To “Time Out” and the rest of you negative posters who are ragging on Wpg, I would love for you to come and see what a hockey market actually looks like. I think then you would have a better appreciation for the difference in markets. True North has already proven to be a credible ownership group that has the long-term feasibility figured out, so please quit writing about how “we’ll see in 10 years”, it only makes you look like spoiled children.
If you’ve been following the story closely you would realize that the players are all looking forward to playing in front of a crazy-packed house with fans who will love them and stick with them—–win or lose.
Dwayne
June 14th, 2011
1:27 pm
Hey Fat Ass Cartman (lol…kidding) Us rednecks understand, we all know yall didn’t steal the team. Even tho some posters say that, they are just trying to yank your chain. You have a commited owner, that is more than we ever had, and yall fired Don Wadell, that is worth a season ticket in itself. Good luck to yall, I will pull for most of the ex Thrashers to do well.
DWTOO
June 14th, 2011
1:59 pm
To all of you perusing this blog – you’re not telling us anything we didn’t already know. We’re not the hockey hot bed you are. However, if the ownership were committed to putting a good team on the ice Atlanta would have had respectable attendance. Folks here aren’t going to support mediocrity (and I wonder why I did for all these years)and fork over good money for a bad product. Until the last three seasons (when the payroll was the league’s lowest and promotions non-existant) attendance was good. We set the record for first year attendance and sellouts. All it takes is work, which the ASG wouldn’t put forth. If you don’t like what you read please stick to your home paper and leave us alone.
Time Out
June 14th, 2011
2:54 pm
To wpg fan: If you don’t like it, don’t read it. I know what the history is you moron. As the rest of us here in Atlanta are saying: you are not adding anything to the conversation.
Responsible Journalist
June 14th, 2011
3:19 pm
Go to Winnipeg? Like most NHL players I think I’ll pass. I know what frozen tundra looks like and it shows again that the internet has barely reached Canada when you insinuate Atlanta is nothing but rednecks. Think Lil John and Ludacris types, idiot. That’s Atlanta. They blind you with their teeth whereas rednecks have none. Both are better than snow Mexicans who thrive in your tundra however, those “new fans” anticipating Anthony Stewart not scoring for half a season. Like I said, enjoy it, enjoy those prices to watch mostly AHL’ers. Winnipeg is suddenly a hockey market? How have they proved that? So far Winnipeg has had a billionare overpay for a mediocre hockey team, put it in an AHL arena, fire a good GM in place of an unproven one at the NHL level, sell tickets to people who normally watch the snow fall for fun and of whom will be mad when your new favorite team isn’t called what you want it to be called. It hasn’t worked there yet, don’t put the cart before the horse or the eskimo before the igloo or whatever y’all say there.
Please...blame yourself as well.
June 14th, 2011
3:56 pm
@ Responsible Journalist. Like most NHL players they are from Canada so I am not so sure you will be right on that account.
Also use that American education of yours and come to terms that if you do not spend $$ to support a team win/lose then you run the risk of losing themin the long run. Bad ownership or not some of the blame can be put on the fans for not going to the games and supporting the team…which is why a local buyer could not be found as the market was not there for them. Argue that is you must but the evidence speaks for it self.
Be mad as losing your team sucks, but quit blaming others when you had a part in this as well. As for the rest of your comments…well they just reeks of bitterness, ignorance and contempt.
Wpg fan
June 14th, 2011
4:20 pm
Really “Time Out”? Please tell me why I am a moron…you seem to want to surround yourself with only like-minded people…like the racist “Responsible Journalist”?…I am adding to the conversation. You may not like it or want to hear it, but that means nothing with regards to the validity of my statements.
Yes, it is too bad your ownership group did not do a better job at promoting the game…or a better job in hiring better hockey people…those are all things that I feel bad for the hockey fans of Atlanta for. No fault of the fans for sure.
But do you not see that in the Winnipeg market there is no need to market the game…b/c it IS the game. And if there are hockey decisions that do not work, there will be a massive amount of public pressure to make it right, and a public pressure that is hockey knowledgeable.
If you want to add to the conversation yourself, add something other than calling people names….it does not look good on you or the people you are representing.