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Atlanta Thrashers

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Atlanta Thrashers
File:Atlanta Thrashers.gif
ConferenceEastern
DivisionSoutheast
Founded1999
HistoryAtlanta Thrashers
1999 - present
Home arenaPhilips Arena
CityAtlanta, Georgia
Team colorsMidnight Blue, Bronze, Gold, Copper, Ice Blue, and White
MediaSportSouth
WCNN (680 AM)
Owner(s)Atlanta Spirit, LLC (Bruce Levenson, managing partner)
General managerUnited States Don Waddell
Head coachCanada Bob Hartley
CaptainCanada Scott Mellanby
Minor league affiliatesChicago Wolves (AHL)
Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL)
Stanley CupsNone
Conference championshipsNone
Division championships2006-07

"Thrashers" redirects here. For the Neil Young song, see Thrashers (song).

The Atlanta Thrashers are a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL). Their home arena is Philips Arena.

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 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 eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the New Jersey Devils. Captain Kelly Buchberger scored the franchise's first goal in the loss.

On September 21, 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 just five days later, star forward Dany Heatley crashed his Ferrari in a one-car accident that seriously injured him (broken jaw and arm, sprained wrist and gouged elbow among others) and killed Thrashers center Dan Snyder, who succumbed to a massive head injury after six days comatose, and was a passenger in the car. The Thrashers dedicated their 2003-04 NHL season in Snyder's memory. Heatley's blood alcohol content was far below the legal limit, but his combination of speeding (he was driving an estimated 80 miles per hour) and recklessness led to criminal charges (eventually settled with three years' probation and a penalty of community service).

Thrashers players wore black patches with Snyder's number, 37, on their jerseys. Atlanta Hockey fans unilateraly supported and embraced Dany Heatley in the aftermath of this tragic event, as did Snyder's family. At the end of the season, Heatley requested a trade for personal reasons. Heatley was traded to Ottawa in a move that brought Marian Hossa, a four-time 30 goal scorer at the time of the trade, to Atlanta. At the end of the 06-07 season, Hossa had made his mark as the first Thrasher to score 100 points in one season, eclipsing Ilya Kovalchuk's franchise record of 98 points.

The Thrashers clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in team history in the 2006-2007 season, while also capturing the first division championship in franchise history.

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. 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 recurring 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 both the Southeast Division 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 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, Heatley skated for the first time since his car accident with 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 Detroit 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. 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, Lehtonen pulled his groin, an injury that would keep him out for a good portion of the season. Veteran backup Mike Dunham, an experienced number-one net minder, 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's Chris Dingman, injuring him yet again. The remainder of the season was left to Dunham. Garnett was injured in a game against the Washington Capitals. 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.

Recent

For a complete overview of the Thrashers 2006-07 season, click here.

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.

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).

Jerseys

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 February 6, 2007.[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 82 43 28 — 11 97 246 245 1st, Southeast Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Rangers)
Totals 573 204 286 45 39 492 1535 1937 9359 —
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 March 19, 2007. [1]

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
1 Sweden Johan Hedberg L 2006 Leksand, Sweden
32 Finland Kari Lehtonen L 2002 Helsinki, Finland
Defensemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
2 Canada Garnet Exelby L 1999 Craik, Saskatchewan
5 Canada Steve McCarthy L 2006 Trail, British Columbia
7 Canada Greg de Vries L 2005 Sundridge, Ontario
25 Canada Andy Sutton L 2002 Kingston, Ontario
28 Sweden Niclas Havelid - A L 2004 Stockholm, Sweden
34 Canada Shane Hnidy R 2005 Neepawa, Manitoba
77 Russia Alexei Zhitnik L 2007 Kiev, U.S.S.R.
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
8 United States Keith Tkachuk C L 2007 Melrose, Massachusetts
9 Canada Pascal Dupuis LW L 2007 Laval, Quebec
11 Canada J.P. Vigier RW R 2001 Notre Dame de Lourdes, Manitoba
13 Russia Vyacheslav Kozlov - A LW L 2002 Voskresensk, U.S.S.R.
14 Canada Jon Sim RW L 2006 New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
16 Czech Republic Bobby Holik - A C R 2005 Jihlava, Czechoslovakia
17 Russia Ilya Kovalchuk LW R 2001 Tver, U.S.S.R.
18 Slovakia Marian Hossa - A RW L 2005 Stara Lubovna, Czechoslovakia
19 Canada Scott Mellanby - C RW R 2004 Montreal, Quebec
20 Canada Steve Rucchin (IR) C L 2006 Thunder Bay, Ontario
21 Canada Derek MacKenzie C L 1999 Sudbury, Ontario
22 Canada Eric Belanger C L 2007 Sherbrooke, Quebec
23 United States Jim Slater C/LW L 2002 Petoskey, Michigan
29 Canada Brad Larsen LW L 2004 Nakusp, British Columbia
36 Canada Eric Boulton LW L 2005 Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • To see the Thrashers' player pages, click here.

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 387 202 177 379 .97
Vyacheslav Kozlov* LW 318 94 179 273 .85
Marc Savard C 184 63 133 196 1.07
Marian Hossa* RW 162 82 110 192 1.18
Dany Heatley RW 190 80 101 181 .95
Patrik Stefan C 413 59 118 177 .43
Ray Ferraro C 223 56 91 147 .66
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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