Anson Carter wants a team.
The road to landing a National Hockey League expansion franchise in the Atlanta market seems to be filled with potholes and gravel. There is a group in Alpharetta led by Vernon Krause that has an arena plan but Krause hasn’t shown if he can afford an NHL franchise. Seven miles away in South Forsyth, there is an arena plan but no real ownership group and then there is Anson Carter, a former NHL player, who has a piece of the Double A level ECHL Atlanta Gladiators franchise. That team plays its games in Duluth, Georgia which is about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta. The Alpharetta and South Forsyth arena plans are about 30 miles north of Atlanta. The NHL’s Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly was angered by Krause because of an email that leaked that the Krause group was ready to make a serious presentation to the league. Generally, leagues want prospective owners to stay quiet.
But Daly has brought up Carter and in fact has positive thoughts about him and a group that he might have ready to bid for an NHL expansion franchise. “Anson still has an interest in having a franchise in Atlanta. He’s kind of broken with the Alpharetta group, which he was championing before. He has indicated he has adequate financing, which he showed some evidence of, but he hasn’t chosen a location,” said Daly. “He’s committed it’s going to be a better location than either Alpharetta or The Gathering.” Carter’s group is looking at some site north of Atlanta. Daly doesn’t seem to be impressed with the Alpharetta or South Forsyth locations. Downtown Atlanta has hosted two NHL franchises, the Flames between 1972 and 1980 and the Thrashers between 1999 through 2011. The Flames ownership had money woes and the Thrashers had a series of bad owners. Both franchises moved to Canada.
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