Eastern Conference - Southeast Division
Atlanta Thrashers
| Team's name: Atlanta Thrashers Conference: Eastern Division: Southeast  Location: Atlanta, Georgia Nickname: Thrashers Mascot: Thrash Team Colors: Ice Blue, Bronze, Gold, Copper, Midnight Blue and White Joined the Conference: 1999 General Manager: Don Waddell Hockey Head Coach: Don Waddell (interim) Hockey Stadium: Philips Arena Current Capacity: 18,729 First Year of Hockey: 1999 Team Titles: Stanley Cup: none Conference Champs: none Division Championships: 2006-07 |
The Atlanta Thrashers are members of the NHL’s Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. A very recent franchise, the team played its first season in 1999 after the city of Atlanta was granted an expansion team two years earlier.
The Thrashers were extremely unfortunate in their first draft picks; only one of the eleven players chosen continues to play professional hockey. The team bottomed out the division in its first season.
In the following years, however, better draft picks led to improvements. By the 2003-04 season, the Thrashers were on the verge of the playoffs, finishing second in their division. The addition of veteran players after the 2004-05 lockout improved the team’s prospects even more, but still the Thrashers did not see the postseason.
Finally, in 2006-07, with superstars like Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk, the Thrashers moved into the Stanley Cup quarterfinals at third seed. Despite the presence of experienced players, the Thrashers did not last in the playoffs; they were swept in four games by the New York Rangers in the first round.
In April of 2007, Scott Mellanby, the team’s captain, announced his retirement, while coach Bob Hartley was fired for a 0-6 start. The Thrashers hired Don Waddell as head coach, but the Thrashers only managed a 0.500 season with 34 wins and 34 losses, falling back to fourth place in their division.
The next year proved no better for the Atlanta team. The Thrashers fell below 0.500 with 35 wins and 41 losses and only 76 points for the regular season.
The team is managed by Don Waddell and coached by John Anderson.
Atlanta Thrashers Current Roster
| Centers | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 10 | Bryan Little | 21 | 5-10 | 190 | R |
| 11 | Eric Perrin | 33 | 5-9 | 176 | L |
| 47 | Rich Peverley | 26 | 6-0 | 185 | R |
| 19 | Marty Reasoner | 32 | 6-1 | 200 | L |
| 23 | Jim Slater | 26 | 6-0 | 190 | L |
| 49 | Colin Stuart | 26 | 6-2 | 205 | L |
| 12 | Todd White | 33 | 5-10 | 193 | L |
| Left Wings | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 36 | Eric Boulton | 32 | 6-1 | 220 | L |
| 17 | Ilya Kovalchuk | 26 | 6-1 | 225 | R |
| 13 | Slava Kozlov | 36 | 5-10 | 190 | L |
| Right Wings | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 20 | Colby Armstrong | 26 | 6-2 | 190 | R |
| 27 | Chris Thorburn | 25 | 6-3 | 225 | R |
| Defense | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 4 | Zach Bogosian | 18 | 6-2 | 197 | R |
| 39 | Tobias Enstrom | 24 | 5-10 | 174 | L |
| 2 | Garnet Exelby | 27 | 6-1 | 215 | L |
| 6 | Ron Hainsey | 28 | 6-3 | 211 | L |
| 7 | Nathan Oystrick | 26 | 6-0 | 215 | L |
| 25 | Anssi Salmela | 24 | 6-0 | 189 | L |
| 48 | Boris Valabik | 23 | 6-7 | 240 | L |
| Goalies | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 1 | Johan Hedberg | 35 | 6-0 | 185 | L |
| 32 | Kari Lehtonen | 25 | 6-4 | 200 | L |
| 31 | Ondrej Pavelec | 21 | 6-2 | 177 | L |