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Shrapnel – 6/1/2011

As we discussed yesterday, the Thrashers were officially sold to True North yesterday, toppling dominoes that will fall throughout this season.

One of the most obvious is that the guys at Bird Watchers Anonymous are out of business, aside from sweeping up the floors, and looking back at how everything went down. You could do a lot worse than dropping by and offering your sympathy.

Not surprisingly, the early coverage from the Dispatch on this issue is that Jackets’ fans should be afraid of what this means for Columbus. I’m not so sure about that. Is it a wakeup call that, yes, if the buyers are motivated and the NHL wants to, they can move a team very quickly? Yes. But Columbus is not Atlanta – and the ownership couldn’t be more different.

(Oh, and classy move trying to sell Thrashers season tickets an hour before announcing the team was sold. I get that there’s a level of “business as usual” in these situations, but ownership with even an iota of tact would have informed their people that morning and changed the operating plan, not waited for them to find out on the news.)

Over at TMM, Jeff has reactions to the move and potential realignment, which will be the next issue to tie up everyone’s attention while this season plays out, as the Jackets, the Predators, and the Red Wings have all stated that they’d rather enjoy playing in the East. Martini Hockey also put his $.02 in as well. Go have a look.

With all this going on, you’d almost forget that Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is this evening! Joe over at PHT suggests the best plan for the Bruins is to try and play like Nashville, while Canucks fans are snapping up tickets on both coasts.

In news of another team disappearing, the Lewiston MAINEiacs of the QMJHL (that league’s only American team) have been in trouble for some time, financially – and they’ve officially been bought by the league, who intends to disperse the players throughout other Q teams. Jackets’ prospect Michael Chaput is one of those who will be on the move as a result.

Meanwhile, Ryan Johansen is getting some love in Sweden? Why not. (Translated article)

Congratulations to former Jacket Kevin Dineen, who was named the new head coach of the Florida Panthers yesterday. I wish you one year of success, and then many years of stubborn frustration after the Jackets move into the Eastern Conference. Which….is about par for the course for Panthers head coaches, actually.

The Other Paper’s Steph Greegor had a chat with Jared Boll, and also did a video blog where he answered your questions on Twitter from last week. Her next guest this offseason? Derek Dorsett.

Over at Bluejackets.com, they’ve also sat down with the video camera, this time talking to R.J. Umberger about his plans for the offseason.

So what’s the first challenge for True North and the May or May Not Be Called The Jets? Selling 13,000 season tickets…oh, and then re-signing their Captain.

We’ll have more for you later today, and we’ll be back if any news warrants!