Off Topic » NBA team that has struggled to draw fans

ATLANTA -- Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin is joining the Atlanta Hawks ownership group, which hopes he can raise the profile of an NBA team that has struggled to draw fans or lure big-name free agents. The Hawks announced late Sunday that Koonin would take an ownership stake, serve as chief executive officer, oversee all business operations and represent the ownership at league functions. Koonin comes to the Hawks after 14 years with Turner Entertainment Networks, where in his most recent role he led the division that included TNT, TBS, TruTV and Turner Classic Movies. He previously spent more than a decade as a marketing executive at Coca-Cola. "Steve Koonins reputation as a game changer in both marketing and media makes him the ideal leader to usher the Atlanta Hawks into a new era," said Bruce Levenson, the teams majority owner. "He has created a legacy as an expert in sports marketing, television, branding and digital media." The Hawks clinched their seventh straight playoff appearance this past weekend but perennially rank among the worst teams in attendance. The team is hoping Koonin can change that after his stint at Turner, where he was involved in programming and media rights acquisition with both the NBA and the NCAA. At Coca-Cola, he served as vice-president of sports and entertainment marketing. Koonin is a lifelong resident of Atlanta, headquarters of Turner and Coca-Cola. "My family has been a part of this city for nearly a century," Koonin said in a statement. "We have a lot of work to do, but I believe my professional experience, my passion for this team and the NBA, as well as the Hawks great existing executive talent ... make this organizations future very bright." Under general manager Danny Ferry and first-year coach Mike Budenholzer, the Hawks are in the midst of a major rebuilding effort. Only two players, centre Al Horford and point guard Jeff Teague, have been with the team longer than two years -- and Horford missed most of this season with an injury. Koonins focus will be off the court. Heading into its final home game Monday night, the Hawks were averaging crowds of 14,400 a game -- 28th out of 30 NBA teams. The actual turnouts are generally much lower, with thousands of empty seats a trademark of games at Philips Arena, where capacity was actually reduced by curtaining a section of seats at the top of the upper deck. Over the past decade, the team has never ranked higher than 18th in attendance and is largely overlooked in a market that also has the NFL, Major League Baseball and a passion for college football. "I have known Steve for more than two decades and based both on firsthand experience and his stellar record of accomplishments," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "He is one of the very best executives and creative minds in the entertainment industry." 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Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (4) – He had a strong game Sunday; was very good in tight with big saves on Crosby, Malkin and Neal in-crease.Thomas Vanek broke out of his scoring slump with the Montreal Canadiens in a big way. The Habs hope their recently-acquired winger can stay hot on Thursday night in a home matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Catch the action on TSN Habs starting at 7:30pm et/ 4:30pm pt. The Canadiens acquired Vanek from the New York Islanders prior to the trade deadline in an effort to upgrade their offense for a playoff push. However, Vanek failed to score a goal in his first five games with Montreal, held to just a single assist. The two-time 40-goal scorer finally broke out in Tuesdays big 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche, netting a hat trick to spoil Patrick Roys return to Montreal. Roy made his first appearance in Montreal as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche and received a warm reception early in the game before Vanek stole the show. "It was unbelievable," Vanek said of his three-goal night. "This place is electric." Brandon Prust had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who have won three in a row. Travis Moen and Dale Weise also lit the lamp, while Carey Price made 25 saves. Prust will sit out tonights contest with an upper-body injury after skating for only 10 minutes at Thursdays morning skate. Ryan White draws into the lineup in his place. Montreals current win streak has it tied for second place with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division with 83 points. That is three ahead of the fourth-place Toronto Maple Leafs. Columbus is also pushing for a plaayoff bid as it sits two points behind the New York Rangers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.dddddddddddd The Blue Jackets are also even with the Washington Capitals with 76 points, but have two games in hand to hold the current tiebreaker for the second wild card position in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets were riding a seven-game point streak going into Tuesdays home matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes and fell in defeat 3-1. Columbus was nearly shut out before Boone Jenner lit the lamp with 50 seconds to go, deflecting Ryan Johansens shot past Carolina goaltender Anton Khudobin. Still, the Blue Jackets fell to 6-1-1 in their last eight games. Sergei Bobrovsky gave up three goals on 20 shots through two periods, while Curtis McElhinney did not face a shot in the third period during his relief appearance. Columbus outshot Carolina 19-0 in the third period. "We attempted 79 (shots) -- 47 were on net," said Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards. "It seemed like we had some quality chances. We hit a couple posts. We had our opportunities." The Blue Jackets activated forward Jared Boll from injured reserve on Wednesday. He had missed the past 45 games due to a torn ankle tendon suffered in late November. The 27-year-old scored one goal and racked up 38 penalty minutes in 21 games before suffering the injury. The Blue Jackets have lost both of their previous meetings with the Canadiens this season, including a 5-3 loss in Montreal on Oct. 17. ' ' '