The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. The city was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the league's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 season. They were members of the Southeast Division of the NHL's Eastern Conference, and played their home games at Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta.
Despite several high-level draft picks and some high-profile player acquisitions, including two first-overall selections, the Thrashers only qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs once, after winning the Southeast Division in the 2006–07 season.
In May 2011, the Thrashers were sold to Canadian-based ownership group True North Sports & Entertainment. The group moved the franchise to Winnipeg, where it became the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets (the first one moved to Phoenix in 1996 to become the Coyotes). The move, approved by the NHL on June 21, 2011, made Atlanta the first city in the NHL's modern era to lose two ice hockey teams. In both cases, the team moved from Atlanta to a Western Canadian city; the city's previous NHL team, the Atlanta Flames, moved to Calgary in 1980 to become the Calgary Flames.
History
After the departure of the International Hockey League (IHL)'s Atlanta Knights (1992–1996) to become the Quebec Rafales, the city of Atlanta was awarded an NHL franchise on June 25, 1997, as part of a four-team tiered expansion. This also included teams in Nashville, Columbus, and St. Paul, in which each new franchise would begin play as its respective new arena was completed. The birth of the new franchise marked NHL hockey's return to Georgia after the Atlanta Flames, established in 1972, departed for Canada in 1980 to become the Calgary Flames. The Flames had been the League's first foray into the southern U.S., and their move discouraged further efforts to bring NHL hockey south of Washington for another decade.
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" in the poll (as an homage to the old Atlanta Flames), and Philips Arena, the Thrashers' new home, was built on the site of the former Omni, which had been home to the Flames. By coincidence, the first encampment (circa 1839) which later became Atlanta was called Thrasherville, and a historical marker of this is located just down from the arena in front of the State Bar of Georgia (the former home of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta). The team was owned by Atlanta-based media mogul Ted Turner, who also owned Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves and the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks.
1999–2003: The early years The newly formed Thrashers selected Patrik Štefan with the first overall selection and Luke Sellars with the 30th overall pick (second pick of the second round) in the 1999 NHL entry draft. However, the entire 1999 NHL entry draft was a major disappointment for the Thrashers, as all 11 of their draft picks were out of the NHL by the team's last season; Štefan played the most games for the Thrashers (414) from that draft. Their first two picks (Štefan and Sellars) were two of the biggest disappointments in draft history; NHL.com listed Štefan as the worst first overall pick of all-time and Sellars (who played only one NHL game) as the worst 30th overall pick in NHL history. This was a surprise, as not only did the media hype Štefan as a franchise player, but hockey experts also considered then-Thrashers general manager Don Waddell to have excellent scouting ability.
The Thrashers played their first game on October 2, 1999, losing 4–1 to the New Jersey Devils. Team's Captain, Kelly Buchberger,f scored the franchise's first goal in the loss and the team finished their first season in last place in the Southeast Division with 14 wins, 61 losses (including four overtime losses), and seven ties for a total of 39 points.
Atlanta had the second overall pick in the 2000 NHL entry draft; this draft brought better results, as the player chosen with that pick, Dany Heatley, became one of the team's best players. In the 2001 draft the Thrashers had the first overall pick, taking franchise player Ilya Kovalchuk. Both Heatley and Kovalchuk played their first season in the NHL in 2001–02; both were named to the NHL All-Rookie Team and Heatley was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the League's Rookie of the Year.
The early years of the Atlanta Thrashers saw a sharp increase of hockey fans in Atlanta. Ticket sales for Thrashers games averaged at 10,000 per night, many of them being season tickets. A section of the arena was dedicated to season ticket holders that called themselves the "Nasty Nest". The "Nasty Nest" chanted and shouted at the opposing team to disrupt them. The Thrashers also had two Thrasher bird heads that faced opposite to the scoreboard. The Thrasher heads opened their beaks to reveal a flamethrower that ignited when the team scored a goal. At this time, the franchise adopted a motto "Believe in Blueland", which was often used in advertising.
At the same time, however, the Thrashers were hamstrung by Turner's reluctance to spend the money it took to make them competitive. According to veteran forward Ray Ferraro, who played for the Thrashers during their first three seasons, Waddell told him that Turner treated the Thrashers mostly as an afterthought; they were allocated whatever money was left over after Turner allocated payroll for the Braves and Hawks.
Marcel Comeau was named director of amateur scouting for the Thrashers, on July 9, 2003, and stayed in the role until the team was sold.
2003–2005: The Atlanta Spirit years and the NHL lockout Turner stepped down as vice chairman of AOL Time Warner, parent company of Turner's Turner Broadcasting System, in 2003. A year later, AOL Time Warner sold both teams to Atlanta Spirit, LLC, a group consisting of businessmen based both in Atlanta and elsewhere.
It later emerged that Atlanta Spirit almost immediately put the Thrashers on the market, which only came to light after one of a myriad of lawsuits involving the consortium.
Tragedy struck the team just eight days after the sale, as star forward Dany Heatley crashed his Ferrari in a one-car accident that seriously injured both himself and Thrashers center Dan Snyder. Heatley suffered a broken jaw and arm, a sprained wrist and a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL); Snyder died five days later due to septic shock from his injuries. The Thrashers dedicated their entire 2003–04 season to Snyder's memory, and Thrashers players wore black patches with Snyder's number, 37, on their jerseys for the season. Heatley's blood alcohol content was below the legal limit, but his combination of speeding (he was driving an estimated 80 miles per hour) and recklessness led to criminal charges, which were later dropped. He eventually received three years' probation and community service.
Led by captain Shawn McEachern, the Thrashers jumped quickly out of the gate 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, as Atlanta pulled off stunning upsets over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators, as well as wins against the Los Angeles Kings and New York Islanders.
Eleven games into the season, the Thrashers were in first place in the Southeast Division and 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. Boxing Day of 2003 marked both a bright and dark day for the Thrashers. 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 2003, to February 11, 2004, the team went with a dismal 2–16–3 record. Kovalchuk became only the second Thrashers' player to score in the NHL All-Star Game after Heatley.
While the Thrashers' playoff hopes were done for the year, they finished second in the Southeast Division to Tampa Bay and tenth in the Eastern Conference, only a handful of wins away from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Kovalchuk tied for the league lead in goals (41) with the Calgary Flames' Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Goaltender Kari Lehtonen began his NHL career with four wins in four starts, including one shutout.
2005–06: Post-lockout Before the start of the 2005–06 season, the Thrashers signed several NHL veterans in the hopes of making the playoffs, including forwards Bobby Holík and Scott Mellanby, defenseman Jaroslav Modrý and goaltender Mike Dunham. At the same time, however, they lost one of their brightest stars, as Heatley requested a trade in an attempt to leave behind memories of his tragic 2003 car accident. He was eventually swapped to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Marián Hossa (a four-time 30-goal scorer at the time of the trade) and 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, Kari 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 netminder, stepped in, but also promptly injured himself only a few games later; this left only prospects Michael Garnett and Adam Berkhoel to tend goal. Journeyman goaltender Steve Shields was signed, but he too was injured within 10 games. On April 6, 2006, 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.
2006–07: Brief success and only playoff appearance
The Thrashers' 2006–07 season began with the highest expectations in franchise history, even after the team's second-leading scorer, Marc Savard, departed as a free agent for the Boston Bruins. Veteran centers Steve Rucchin and Niko Kapanen, and winger Jon Sim were acquired in an effort to make up for the Savard loss. With NHL superstars Marián Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk, as well as a healthy goaltender in Kari Lehtonen, the Thrashers clinched their first (and only) playoff berth, winning the Southeast Division title with 43 wins and claiming the third seed in the conference and home-ice advantage in the first round of the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs. However, they were eliminated from the playoffs on April 18, 2007, being swept by the New York Rangers in four straight games in the conference quarterfinals.
This season was the highest attended the Thrashers ever had, with every home playoff game sold out as well as the season opening and closing games. The team was gaining attention within the league for their playoff debut, and team popularity within Atlanta reached an all-time high. Atlanta-based hip hop artist Lil Jon publicly showed his support for the team, posing for a picture with the Stanley Cup while wearing a Thrashers jersey. After this season, the Thrashers' ticket sales would start dwindling due to the housing market crash of 2008, and a stale economy in Atlanta. It did not help matters that the great majority of Thrashers fans lived in Atlanta's northern suburbs, and were not willing to brave Atlanta's infamous traffic to go to games at Philips Arena.
2007–2010: Struggles