Atlanta Spirit's Spending

[Inside_Man]

How much will ownership spend on players?

Are they comfortable laying out the big bucks?

Since the Hawks and the Thrashers are owned by the same group, how the Thrashers are being managed might give some clues about Spirit's spending plans.

For you Hawks fans who don't follow the Thrashers, yesterdays' Heatley trade saw the Thrash take on an extra $4mil in salary in the deal. Their team payroll is now over $30 mil and they've yet to sign Ilya Kovulchuk. Plus, they're making a move on getting aging star Peter Bondra for a 1 year deal.

The Thrasher's payroll looks to be in the range of the top hockey teams and it now looks like Atlanta will have a serious contender this year in hockey, thanks to the Spirits willingness to spend.

This link lets you compare hockey payrolls across the NHL. The Thrashers are now spending like the big boys. They're serious about winning.

Building a hockey team is a lot different than building a basketball team. In hoops, the pieces may just not be available no matter how much dough you have. So Hawks fans need to be patient, but the Spirit ownership group showed yesterday that when the time is right, they will open their wallets.

That's good news.

[Gray Mule]

Building a team.

Not just that, building a WINNING team!

That's what caused the breakup in ownership.

Go Thrashers AND Hawks !!!!!

[delanceyj]

Now that Belkin is out, the owners are committed to building a winning team, which to me means spending money.. we shall see, but it is a plus to have Gearon Jr, a true fan, as the governer!

[Diesel]

I think they will make sound financial decisions...

Building a team yes... But they also have to conserve some money. Think about it.. With the Hawks and the Thrashers, they have guaranteed themselves to pay about 125 million.

I don't expect big signings.

I think maybe signing Lue to a decent contract, a trade like for Battie or picking up a guy like Googs/Hendu ARE our next steps.

[andycard69]

Putting a winning team on the floor will generate more money since butts are filling the seats. I think that the owners will trust thier sports people on where to spend the money and how to build a winning team.