The long-lost Atlanta Thrashers jerseys are making a glorious return. The Atlanta Gladiators will wear the powder blue unis against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits as part of “Thrashers Night” on Saturday, March 2 at Gas South Arena.
The Gladiators are the ECHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators and the Milwaukee Admirals. They are Atlanta’s lone professional hockey team.
In promotion of the game, Gladiators players modeled Thrashers hats in the photos. The team is offering a limited-edition Thrashers puck to fans who buy a special ticket package.
The Gladiators put on a similar promotional evening in 2022, where they wore Thrashers jerseys, hosted mascot “Thrash”, and even auctioned jerseys off at the end of the game. For the event, the team made Thrashers T-shirts, pucks, and rally towels.
The Thrashers left Atlanta in 2011 just 12 years after the expansion team was founded in 1999. While the team sported legendary players like Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley, the Thrashers only made one playoff appearance and were ultimately deemed a financial liability for its owners in the Atlanta Spirit Group. They were sold to the True North Group and became the Winnipeg Jets.
Prior to that, the city had the “Atlanta Flames,” an NHL team that played in Atlanta from 1972-1980 before being relocated to Calgary. Despite the failure of the two teams, love for the Thrashers brand remains.
Now, this begs the question: How does a team get the rights to wear a spoken-for logo? The Thrashers logo is currently owned by the NHL. Per a report from ESPN, the Gladiators submitted a plan and got approval from the NHL for their first Thrashers Night in 2022 after an approximately five-month wait.
Atlanta is currently in the market for yet another NHL team, after their first two attempts failed. The proposed “Gathering at South Forsyth” is an entertainment hub to be built in North Atlanta, with a planned 18,500-seat arena, and is set to be finished in 2033.
New video:
Renderings for The Gathering at South Forsyth looks incredible – long way to go.. but…… if you build it…. pic.twitter.com/THN5LzZeyL
— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) April 25, 2023
“I think some of the challenges that we’ve seen in the past in Atlanta can be overcome,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN.
Honoring a team that moved or disbanded is not uncommon in hockey. The Carolina Hurricanes honor the Hartford Whalers, the team they replaced in 1997. On February 10, the Canes wore white and green Whalers jerseys and had a visit from mascot “Pucky the Whale.”
