True North has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday at noon ET that can only mean one thing: the Atlanta Thrashers will be officially announced as relocating to Winnipeg, Manitoba for the 2011-12 NHL season and beyond. They'll presumably also announce the team's new name, which should be the Winnipeg Jets if anybody's been paying attention.
For the past few days the only question remaining has been when the deal would be announced, and now we know. We'd heard May 24 from the Globe and Mail, the 25th or 26th from Darren Dreger, as far out as Memorial Day from the Globe and Mail again and even later than that according to other outlets. June 1 finally looked to be the official day, though June 2 also lingered. And that's all just what's come out within the past week.
Other steps that must take place: the team will hold a season ticket drive to fill those MTS Centre seats, the NHL schedule needs to be wrapped up and the logistical effort of relocating a franchise must get underway. Plenty more to go in this story.
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