Per Winnipeg Free Press:

True North Sports and Entertainment has told the Free Press, as of 9:45 a.m., that they have finalized the agreement to purchase the Altanta Thrashers and relocate them to Winnipeg.The deal was not finalized until sometime after 9:30 a.m. when signatures and all technicalities were put to rest.

A press conference has been called for 11 a.m. to announce the purchase of the Atlanta Thrashers — subject to NHL board of governors’ approval — and the Free Press will be there to report it live.

The Free Press learned early this morning that a deal had not been finalized but that there was enough confidence among the parties involved – True North, the NHL and Atlanta Spirit Group – to call a press conference.

Lawyers worked all night to complete the transaction prior to the announcement.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and True North partner David Thomson are en route to Winnipeg for the press conference.

The 11 a.m. conference at MTS Centre will be simulcast at The Forks — and we’ll be livestreaming it with a live blog on the Free Press website.

The league and its owners will have two matters on which to vote, now likely on June 21 in New York. They will be asked to allow True North to relocate the franchise to Winnipeg’s MTS Centre and to confirm True North as the franchise’s new owners.

When True North makes its news public today, it’s expected to announce an immediate ticket-selling campaign that will be designed to give the NHL a confident picture of the Winnipeg market, which has been without NHL hockey since 1996.

The City of Winnipeg has no plans to close down Portage & Main, due to concerns about emergency access to hospitals. Fans are encouraged to attend the celebration at The Forks, where announcements will follow the NHL announcement at 11 a.m., city events manager Kenny Boyce said.

The Winnipeg Jets, who played at the since-demolished Winnipeg Arena, joined the NHL in 1979 after seven successful years in the WHA.

Their history in the NHL was hit-and-miss and after some serious money-losing years and the desire of city and provincial governments to get out from under the losses they had agreed to cover after 1991, the team was sold in 1995 to American businessmen Richard Burke and Steven Gluckstern and moved to Phoenix in 1996.

True North has been negotiating with the Atlanta Spirit Group on the Thrashers franchise purchase since early May.

Per Globe & Mail:

An agreement to sell the National Hockey League’s Atlanta Thrashers to a Winnipeg group which plans to relocate the franchise to the Manitoba capital is done.

Sources confirmed tonight that preparations are being made for an announcement Tuesday, confirming the sale and transfer of the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and the MTS Centre arena, which would become the NHL team’s new home.

Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the National Hockey League, is expected to travel to Winnipeg to make the news official.

The announcement would end months of speculation about whether one of the NHL’s financially-troubled American sunbelt teams might move north, filling the void left when the Winnipeg Jets packed up and left for Phoenix in 1996, where they became the Coyotes.

Much of the talk this spring had centred on that failing franchise, which was bought by the league after being placed in bankruptcy by its former owner Jerry Moyes in 2009.

But sources in Winnipeg suggest that the Thrashers had in fact been the primary target of potential owners Mark Chipman and David Thomson all along, and that some months back, the NHL board of governors quietly approved the sale and transfer of the team, pending the negotiation of a purchase agreement between Atlanta Spirit LLC, the Thrashers’ owners, and True North.

In the meantime, no potential owner materialized who was prepared to keep the team in Georgia, and local governments there showed no interest in propping up the Thrashers.

“There seems to be a consensus there is going to be a team in Winnpeg,” former major league pitcher Tom Glavine, who had tried unsuccessfully to find new ownership for the hockey team in Atlanta, acknowledged last week. ““The question is who, and unfortunately the bullseye seems to be on the Thrashers’ back.”

When it appeared this spring that the Coyotes might also be in play, after a deal to sell the team to Matthew Hulsizer underwritten by a municipal bond issue fell apart in the face of political opposition from the Goldwater Institute, the Winnipeg group sought to take advantage of what suddenly seemed a buyers’ market, with two teams available and no other potential owners or relocations sites on the horizon.

After the City of Glendale agreed to cover $25-million of the Coyotes losses for the 2011-2012 season, and the NHL opted to operate the club in Arizona for at least one more year, True North’s full focus returned to Atlanta, and a deal was hammered out this week.

Even before those final negotiations took place, the potential Winnipeg owners concluded an agreement with the Manitoba government which will allow revenues from a sports bar with slot machine to be used for improvements to the arena, and to be used towards the debt service on the building.

That’s consistent with what Manitoba premier Greg Sellinger told reporters earlier this week, when he said that the provincial government had no interest in subsidizing an NHL team, but that the province had financially supported the renovation of the MTS Centre in the past, and would continue to be willing to do so.

Per AJC:

The Atlanta Spirit is in negotiations with True North Sports and Entertainment on the sale of the Thrashers which would result in relocation to Winnipeg, according to a person familiar with the NHL’s sale process.

The parties have not entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement nor has a deal been reached. It is not known how long the two sides have been negotiating. However, the fact that talks are underway could mean the Thrashers’ relocation to Manitoba perhaps as soon as next season.

“I have never confirmed nor denied specific parties we have been talking to in regards to a possible sale of the Thrashers,” Atlanta Spirit co-owner Bruce Levenson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday.

Confidentiality agreements are typically signed between parties in negotiations which would prohibit Atlanta Spirit ownership from identifying suitors.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, reached via e-mail, said there was “nothing I’m prepared to say at this point.” A True North Sports and Entertainment spokesperson had no comment.

According to a person familiar with the Thrashers’ situation, a meeting was held Monday between team officials and a prospective buyer interested in keeping the team in Atlanta. However the talks have not progressed and time is of the essence.

Tom Glavine, the Braves’ pitching great who has expressed interest in helping keep the Thrashers in Atlanta, said he was not part of group that met with team officials Monday.

NHL owners do not have to get league approval to identify potential buyers and work out an agreement to sell their franchise. However they would have to get permission to negotiate with a party interested in relocation. Once an agreement in principle has been reached, the league’s Board of Govenors would be asked to judge the acceptability of the new ownership.

Negotiations between the two parties have begun as the Atlanta Spirit has not found a buyer willing to purchase the Thrashers and keep the team in Atlanta.

NHL bylaws require that an owner seeking to relocate a team submit a written application to the commissioner by Jan. 1 of the year preceding the proposed move — “unless a majority of the [clubs] consents to a later filing date.” That clause and caveat leave open the question of whether a move, if a deal is reached, would be for the 2011-12 or 2012-13 season.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported Monday that the NHL is working on two schedule drafts, one with Atlanta and one with Winnipeg. Last season, the NHL released its upcoming schedule on June 22. Should a deal be completed in time for next season it might be too late for conference re-alignment.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, speaking on NHL Live radio last week, said the situation regarding franchise relocation comes down to ownership.

“It’s the reason we ended up leaving Quebec City and Winnipeg,” Bettman said. “Those teams moved when nobody wanted to own the club there anymore. If you get to that position, where somebody is not prepared to own the club anymore and you can’t find a new perspective purchaser, then you are really between a rock and a hard place.

“We know that the current ownership of the Thrashers has been trying for a long period of time to try and sell the franchise and they haven’t been able to do it. … If they can’t find local ownership, then we might all have to deal with that. But I know they have tried very hard and I assume that they continue to try very hard.”

Atlanta would be losing an NHL franchise for the second time. The city lost the Flames to Calgary in 1980. An expansion team was awarded to the city on June 25, 1997, named the Thrashers eight months later, to begin play for the 1999-2000 season.

The NHL would be returning to Winnipeg after 15 years. The Jets were relocated to Phoenix in 1996. True North is led by Winnipeg businessman Mark Chipman and billionaire David Thomson and owns Winnipeg’s arena, the MTS Centre, and the American Hockey League team that currently plays there, the Manitoba Moose.

The purchase price for an NHL franchise to relocate to Winnipeg has been reported to be as much as $170 million. The NHL would receive a relocation fee from the sale.

The Atlanta Spirit has been looking for a buyer or investors for the Thrashers for several years, although the group has only had clear ownership since December after officially buying out partner Steve Belkin. Co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. told the AJC in February that there was a ‘sense of urgency’ to find a solution for the financially struggling franchise and that relocation was a possibility. The Atlanta Spirit has reported in court documents losses of $130 million over the course of their ownership with annual losses estimated at $20 million.

Per Thrashers.NHL.com:

The Atlanta Thrashers have signed defenseman Dustin Byfuglien to a multiple-year contract extension, according to General Manager Rick Dudley.“Dustin has emerged into an elite player this season and been invaluable as a leader both on and off the ice,” said Dudley. “It was a priority to sign him and we’re looking forward to witnessing his All-Star caliber play for many years to come.”

Byfuglien, 25, leads the team and ranks fifth in the NHL among defenseman in scoring with 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists) this season while leading all league defenseman in goals. He has tallied six game-winning goals, one shy of the NHL record for a defenseman in a single season and tied the Thrashers single-game scoring record for a defensemen with four points (one goal, three assists) against Boston on Nov. 28. Byfuglien was named the NHL’s second star of the week (period ending Nov. 28) and the league’s third star for the month of November. For his efforts this season, he was also named an NHL All-Star.

The Minneapolis, Minn., native has appeared in 318 career NHL games while totaling 152 points (72 goals, 80 assists) with the Chicago Blackhawks (2005-06 to 2009-10) and Thrashers (2010-11). Last season with the Blackhawks, Byfuglien recorded 16 points (11 goals, five assists) in 22 post-season games while helping lead the team to the 2010 Stanley Cup Championship. The 6-5, 265-pound defenseman has also compiled 25 points (14 goals, 11 assists) in 39 career playoff games.

Byfuglien was acquired by the Thrashers this past offseason in a trade with Chicago on June 24, 2010. He was originally selected by the Blackhawks in the eighth round (245th overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.