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Atlanta Thrashers

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The Atlanta Thrashers are a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Atlanta Thrashers
File:Atlanta Thrashers.gif
ConferenceEastern
DivisionSoutheast
Founded1999
HistoryAtlanta Thrashers
1999 - present
Home arenaPhilips Arena
CityAtlanta, Georgia
Team colorsIce Blue, Navy Blue, Red, and Gold
MediaSportSouth
WCNN (680 AM)
Owner(s)Atlanta Spirit, LLC
General managerDon Waddell
Head coachBob Hartley
CaptainScott Mellanby
Minor league affiliatesChicago Wolves (AHL)
Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL)
Stanley CupsNone
Conference championshipsNone
Division championshipsNone

Franchise history

Atlanta was awarded an NHL franchise in 1997 to replace the Atlanta Flames, who departed for Calgary in 1980 and became the Calgary Flames.

The nickname "Thrashers", after Georgia's state bird, the brown thrasher, was selected from a fan poll. "Thrashers" had actually been runner-up to "Flames" for Atlanta's first NHL team, and Philips Arena, the Thrashers' new home, was built on the site of the former Omni, which had been home to the Atlanta Flames.

The newly-formed Thrashers selected Patrik Stefan with the first overall selection in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. They played their first game on October 2, 1999, losing 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils. Captain Kelly Buchberger scored the franchise's first goal in the loss.

In September 2003, the team was sold to a group of executives by Time Warner, along with the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks. That same month brought tragedy as star forward Dany Heatley crashed his Ferrari in a one-car accident that seriously injured him and killed Thrashers center Dan Snyder, who was a passenger in the car. The Thrashers dedicated their 2003-04 NHL season in Snyder's memory. Thrashers players wore black patches with Snyder's number, 37, on their jerseys. It greatly diminished the popularity of Heatley among Atlanta in general, and led to his request of a trade in August 2005.

The Thrashers have never made the playoffs in their short history. Their best complete season was in 2005-06, when they missed the playoffs by two points.

2003-04 season recap

Led by captain Shawn McEachern, and with the memory of Dan Snyder on their mind, the Thrashers jumped quickly out of the gates with some notable highlights. Super offenseman Ilya Kovalchuk scored eight goals in the first seven games, including two hat tricks, one in a 7-2 rout of the Chicago Blackhawks and another in a come-from-behind victory against the Nashville Predators. Those comeback victories became a reoccuring sight throughout the season, including shocking upsets against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins, and the Ottawa Senators, as well as wins from games against the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Islanders.

Eleven games into the season, the Thrashers were alone in first place atop the NHL. Although they continued to play well, they could not keep up with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the eventual Stanley Cup champions, or other teams in the league. The absence of Dany Heatley and a lack of depth started to appear. Boxing Day 2003 marked both a bright and dark day for the Thrash. On that day, Dany Heatley skated for the first time since his car accident with Dan Snyder, but it also marked the last win for the Thrashers before an extended losing streak. From December 28 to February 11 the Thrashers went a dismal 1-17-3. However, fans were entertained regardless of the team's struggles. Kovalchuk became only the second Thrashers' player to score in the NHL All-Star Game (after Heatley), an exciting overtime loss to the Red Wings occurred on New Year's Eve, Randy Robitaille broke Brian Boucher's shutout streak, Dany Heatley eventually returned to game action, and a twelve-man brawl against the Edmonton Oilers took place. The losing streak finally ended with a 4-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks.

While the Thrashers' playoff hopes were done for the year, they still played on and ended up finishing second in the Southeast Division and tenth in the Eastern Conference, only a handful of wins away from the playoffs. Ilya Kovalchuk ended up tying for the league lead in goals (41) with Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash. Goaltender Kari Lehtonen started his NHL career with four wins in four starts, including one shutout.

2005-06 season recap

Before the start of the 2005-06 season, the Thrashers picked up many veteran players in the hopes of making the playoffs for the first time. They signed Mike Dunham, Peter Bondra, Bobby Holik, Jaroslav Modry, and Scott Mellanby. They traded Dany Heatley on August 23, 2005 to the Ottawa Senators in a blockbuster deal for forward Marian Hossa and defenseman Greg de Vries.

The 2005-06 season saw the Thrashers win a club-record 41 games, even with numerous goaltending injuries. Only a few minutes into the first game of the season, goaltender Kari Lehtonen pulled his groin, an injury that would keep him out for a good portion of the season. Veteran backup Mike Dunham stepped in, but also promptly injured himself only a few games later; this left only prospects Michael Garnett and Adam Berkhoel to mind the nets. Journeyman goalie Steve Shields was signed, but he, too, was injured within ten games. On April 6, Lehtonen was run into by Tampa Bay Lightning player Chris Dingman, injuring him yet again. The remainder of the season was left to veteran Mike Dunham. Michael Garnett was injured in a game against Washington. Dunham, who had started the game but was relieved by the young rookie after poor play, was forced back into action in the third period.

Team colors and mascot

File:Atlanta Thrashers.gif

The team unveiled their official team logo simultaneously in a live Internet launch (an NHL first) and at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Jerseys

File:Atlanta alternate.gif
Introduced in 2003 as an alternate, the team has since made it their official home jersey (2006- present).
File:Atlanta Home uniforms.gif
Away jersey (1999-2003); home jersey (2003-06).
File:Atlanta Road uniforms.gif
Home jersey (1999-2003); current away (2003- present).

The current team colors are ice blue, navy blue, red, and gold. In 2003, the NHL decided to switch home and road jerseys[1].

Mascot

Thrash, a Brown Thrasher

Statistics and records

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of October 16, 2006. [2]

Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs
1999-00 82 14 57 7 4 39 170 313 1422 5th, Southeast Did not qualify
2000-01 82 23 45 12 2 60 211 289 1500 4th, Southeast Did not qualify
2001-02 82 19 47 11 5 54 187 288 1290 5th, Southeast Did not qualify
2002-03 82 31 39 7 5 74 226 284 1253 3rd, Southeast Did not qualify
2003-04 82 33 37 8 4 78 214 243 1505 2nd, Southeast Did not qualify
2004-051 — — — — — — — — — — —
2005-062 82 41 33 — 8 90 281 275 1318 3rd, Southeast Did not qualify
2006-07 8 7 1 — 3 17 40 27 145 1st, Southeast
Totals 498 166 259 45 31 408 1321 1714 8411 — —
1 Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
2 As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games tied after regulation will be decided in a shootout; SOL (Shootout losses) will be recorded as OTL in the standings.

Individual records

Regular season

Current roster

As of October 26, 2006. [1]

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
1   Johan Hedberg L 2006 Leksand, Sweden
32   Kari Lehtonen L 2002 Helsinki, Finland
40   Fred Brathwaite L 2006 Ottawa, Ontario
Defensemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
2   Garnet Exelby L 1999 Craik, Saskatchewan
3   Vitaly Vishnevski L 2006 Kharkiv, U.S.S.R.
5   Steve McCarthy L 2006 Trail, British Columbia
7   Greg de Vries L 2005 Sundridge, Ontario
25   Andy Sutton L 2002 Kingston, Ontario
28   Niclas Havelid - A L 2004 Stockholm, Sweden
34   Shane Hnidy R 2005 Neepawa, Manitoba
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
9   Glen Metropolit C L 2006 Toronto, Ontario
11   J.P. Vigier RW R 2001 Notre Dame de Lourdes, Manitoba
13   Vyacheslav Kozlov - A LW L 2002 Voskresensk, U.S.S.R.
14   Jon Sim RW L 2006 New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
16   Bobby Holik - A C R 2005 Jihlava, Czechoslovakia
17   Ilya Kovalchuk LW R 2001 Tver, U.S.S.R.
18   Marian Hossa - A RW L 2005 Stara Lubovna, Czechoslovakia
19   Scott Mellanby - C RW R 2004 Montreal, Quebec
20   Steve Rucchin C L 2006 Thunder Bay, Ontario
23   Jim Slater C L 2002 Petoskey, Michigan
29   Brad Larsen LW L 2004 Nakusp, British Columbia
36   Eric Boulton LW L 2005 Halifax, Nova Scotia
39   Niko Kapanen C L 2006 Hämeenlinna, Finland

Team captains

Hall of Famers

  • None

Retired numbers

First-round draft picks

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Thrashers player

Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Ilya Kovalchuk* LW 317 168 151 319 1.01
Vyacheslav Kozlov* RW 248 69 137 206 .83
Marc Savard C 184 63 133 196 1.07
Dany Heatley LW 190 80 101 181 .95
Patrik Stefan C 413 59 118 177 .43
Ray Ferraro C 223 56 91 147 .66
Marian Hossa* RW 92 49 60 109 1.18
Andrew Brunette LW 158 38 71 109 .69
Yannick Tremblay D 300 33 74 107 .36
Frantisek Kaberle D 272 20 82 102 .38

NHL awards and trophies

Calder Memorial Trophy

Rocket Richard Trophy

Media

The Atlanta Thrashers are broadcast on cable television on SportSouth, which is available in many Deep South states. Until October 13, 2006, SportSouth was known as Turner South. In 2006-07, the channel will broadcast about 75% of the team's schedule. Outside of the league's contract with NBC, the team has no broadcast (over-the-air) TV contract; thus, games are only available on television to fans with cable or satellite.

Radio coverage includes play-by-play of all games on 680 The Fan -- an AM sports station in Atlanta. The station is the flagship of a network that includes 18 stations. Most are in Georgia, but there are two affiliates in South Carolina and one in Scottsboro, Alabama.

References

  1. ^ Karol, Kristofer (January 27, 2003). "NHL 'quacked' up with hockey jersey switch". State News. Retrieved 2006-08-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Hockeydb.com, Atlanta Thrashers season statistics and records.

See also
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