Atlanta Thrashers fans have been holding out hope for a last-minute buyer to present the Atlanta Spirit Group with a Godfather deal that would keep the team in Georgia, but it doesn't sound like mayor Kasim Reed has the same hopes. Reed was quoted by 11 Alive's Jennifer Leslie as saying, "Anytime we lose a major sports franchise, it's tough. It's going to hurt the city."
He was also quoted as adding, "But we have a lot of positive things going on in the sports franchise space that we'll be announcing soon that will offset it a bit." That leads one to presume there's been more interest in bringing a MLS team to Atlanta, since it's hard to think of what else that could mean.
Losing the Thrashers would indeed hurt the city, as it would be slightly less attractive to northern transplants, would no longer be one of the few cities with teams in each of the four biggest North American major leagues and would develop an even worse reputation as a fairweather sports town, for those who happen to care about that for some reason.
Check back with SB Nation Atlanta's frequently updated Thrashers sale StoryStream for the latest updates. For discussion, join Bird Watchers Anonymous, SB Nation's Atlanta Thrashers community or head to one of our 34 other hockey communities. For more hockey, visit SB Nation's NHL hub.