The owners of the Atlanta Thrashers claimed Friday to have lost more than $130 million since 2005 and at least another $50 million on the plummeting value of the NHL franchise because of a bitter dispute that ruined their plans to sell the team. The ownership group, known as Atlanta Spirit, revealed its financial woes in a lawsuit against one of the city's most prominent law firms, claiming faulty legal work is largely to blame for its predicament. The lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court claims the owners have been negotiating to sell the Thrashers over the last six years, only to be thwarted by a contentious split with Boston-based co-owner Steve Belkin. That legal tussle was finally settled in December when his shares were bought out. The team's remaining owners contend that the dispute would have ended in August 2005 if the Atlanta law firm King & Spalding hadn't negotiated a "fatally flawed contract." The suit claims the firm's attorneys doled out advice that was "poorly considered, self-interested and, in many cases, blatantly wrong." It's the latest round of courtroom wrangling involving the Atlanta Spirit, the seven-man group that owns the Thrashers, the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and the operating rights to the Philips Arena where the two teams play. Co-owner Michael Gearon said in a statement that the lawsuit will have no effect on either of the teams. Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6046305
