Music: {allcanada} Return of NHL hits Winnipeg in wallet

WINNIPEG - When the Winnipeg Jets left in the spring of 1996, Mark Chipman admitted it was the worst thing, but also the right thing.

Within all the disappointment and frustration, there was also the realization on his part that the "economics of the city and the NHL were no longer compatible."

Fifteen years later, a whopping 5,510 days since the lights went out at the old Winnipeg Arena, Chipman has brought the NHL back to town - or at least he is just that close to bringing it back.

In the wee hours of the morning Tuesday, he finally completed a purchase agreement to bring the Atlanta Thrashers to the Manitoba capital, firmly believing that this time the time is right.

But before he and business partner David Thomson write any cheques, the message was made abundantly clear that first it is time for the fans to start writing theirs.

The deal, in the end, is still conditional upon the approval of the NHL board of governors on June 21. It is an approval commissioner Gary Bettman knows he has, but both the league and Chipman and his True North ownership group kick started a ticket drive by reminding the community that the approval isn't there yet.

Meaning, there are tickets to be sold and a message to be delivered.

"We are back in a place we wish we never left in 1996," said Bettman, adding "buying 13,000 season tickets is the best message you can send to the NHL board of governors.

"It won't work well here unless it's sold out every night."

And so, the Drive to 13,000 begins.

Over the next 21 days, before the board meets in New York, the goal is to sell 13,000 season-ticket packages, to help convince both Chipman and the league that this time it really is right - although we all know the team is heading to Winnipeg, regardless.

It is hard to fathom the response won't be there - "I have no reservations in the community's ability to satisfy the NHL," said Chipman - but now the people have to put up the money to drive home the point.

It is not a light commitment, either.

Tickets range from a high of $129 to a low of $39. There are seven different prices averaging $82, which is considerably higher than the league average of roughly $65. For the top two prices, the commitment is for five years. For the next three price ranges, it is for fours years and, with the last two, it is three years, though there is a guarantee the price will not increase by more than three per cent in any year.

But let's do the math.

For that top ticket, the price of a season ticket is $5,805. Multiply that by five years and add a second ticket and it is a commitment of a minimum $58,050 with potential increases each year. There are ways to transfer the ticket and it doesn't have to all be paid up front (there are even monthly payment plans), but it's not an insignificant amount.

Now, there are obviously six other price ranges, but you get the point. The economy of Winnipeg is better, the economy of the NHL is better, but this isn't the AHL, either. Chipman was clear to point out this market drive wasn't imposed by the league, but rather it's something they jointly wanted to see.

"I'm not going to contemplate that 13,000 won't be sold," said Bettman, when asked what happens if the response isn't there. "But like I said, it won't work if the building isn't full."

Is there a number that could scuttle a possible deal? Perhaps. But like we said, it's hard to fathom the market won't respond and it is even harder to see Chipman walking away after 15 years of pursuing a dream. He just wants to make sure he has a fighting chance of making it work.

It was obviously a special and emotional day for Chipman who, in many ways, started the drive to get the NHL back to Winnipeg the day it left. He bought an IHL team, which later merged into the AHL and he ran it like an NHL team. He did the improbable and got a major-league arena built, then he went about cultivating a relationship with Bettman.

All the while he played by Bettman's rules, kept things private and was there when the NHL needed a group - not once, but twice - to step up and force the issue in Phoenix, a battle the league didn't want to lose.

Finally, Chipman was rewarded with his team.

So presuming the ticket drive is a success, will the return to Winnipeg be a success?

Short term, it is guaranteed. They have a rink, they have an NHL-styled organization in place, the Canadian dollar is strong, there is some cost certainty and revenue sharing within the NHL's economy and there is rabid interest - or so we believe, pending the completion of the ticket drive.

Beyond those first three or four years, being a small market, it has the potential to be a problem again in five or so years. Success longer term will depend on whatever the new collective bargaining agreement brings, that the Canadian dollar remain strong and, ultimately, that the franchise puts a winner on the ice. And maybe it depends on Winnipeg actually being a different and better market now.

They have purchased a young team that appears to be on the rise. Whether general manager Rick Dudley continues to run the show will be determined soon, but there was not a commitment Tuesday. But good management is going to be crucial, especially for a small market, budget team.

As for whether all of this signifies that Bettman's expansion into the sun belt is a failure, specifically the return to Atlanta, well, it has now failed there twice. But you could safely argue that the ownership and the failure to put a winning team on the ice failed the market more than the market failed the team.

Or perhaps it is a little of both.

It's ironic, of course, that a franchise that got a second chance and failed, moves back to a market that is getting its second chance - and is being encouraged to pony up to show that it won't fail again.