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The Atlanta Thrashers are a National Hockey League team based at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Franchise historyThe Atlanta Thrashers are one of the NHL's newest teams. Atlanta was awarded a NHL franchise in 1997 to replace the Atlanta Flames which departed for Calgary in 1980 and became the Calgary Flames. The newly-formed Thrashers selected Patrik Stefan with their first number one draft pick in 1999. They played their first game on October 2, 1999, losing 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils. In September 2003 the team was sold to a group of executives by Time Warner, along with the Atlanta Hawks professional basketball team, with which the Thrashers share the arena. That same month brought tragedy as star forward Dany Heatley crashed his Ferrari in a one-car accident that seriously injured Heatly and killed Thrashers center Dan Snyder, who was a passenger in the car. The Thrashers dedicated their 2003-2004 season to Snyder's memory. Thrashers players wore black patches with Snyder's number, 37, on their jerseys during the season. The Thrashers have never made the playoffs in their short history. Their best season was 2003-2004, where out of 83 games, they won 33, lost 37, tied 8 and had overtime losses in 4 games. The Thrashers play in the Southeast Division of NHL's Eastern Conference. They are currently coached by Bob Hartley. The team name and logo come from the brown thrasher, the state bird of Georgia. 2003-2004 Season RecapThe 2003-2004 season was the Thrashers most successful. 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 8 goals in the first 7 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. Come from behind victories became a standard site 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, among others. Eleven games into the season, the Thrashers were alone in first place atop the NHL. Although they continued to play well, they couldn’t keep up with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the future Stanley Cup champions, or other teams in the league. The lack of Dany Heatley and depth in general started showing. December 26, 2003 marked both a bright and dark day for the Thrashers. 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 28th to February 11th the Thrashers had a dismal 17 losses and 3 ties, with only 1 win. However it wasn’t all bad: during that time Ilya Kovalchuk became only the second Thrashers to score in the NHL All-Star Game, an exciting overtime loss to the Red Wings on New Years Eve, Ronald Petrovicky breaking Brian Boucher’s shootout streak, Dany Heatley’s return to the ice, and an all-out brawl against the Edmonton Oilers. The streak finally ended with a 4-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks. While clearly the Thrashers playoffs hopes were done for that year, they still played on and ended up finishing 2nd in the Southeast Division and 10th in the Eastern Conference, only a handful of wins away from the playoffs. Ilya Kovalchuk ended up tying for the league lead in goals with 41. Kari Lehtonen started a certainly glorious NHL career with 4 wins and 4 starts, including one shutout. Despite the tragedy of Dan Snyder, the Thrashers pushed on and ended up doing relatively well, and their future certainly looks bright. Season-by-season
Players of Note
Hall of Famers: none Current stars: Not to be forgotten:
Retired Numbers:
External LinksAtlanta Thrashers official web site (http://www.atlantathrashers.com/) Popular Thrashers Message Boards (http://forums.smirkinchicken.com/forum.php?forumid=1)
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