Atlanta Thrashers

Did You Know?

• The first encampment that later became Atlanta was called Thrasherville, and a historical marker is located near the arena.
• The Thrashers' former ECHL affiliate, the Atlanta Gladiators, unveiled plans to take on the identity of the Thrashers for a single game on December 16, 2022.
• No. 37 was unofficially taken out of circulation after the death of Thrasher Dan Snyder in September 2003.

History

The city of Atlanta was awarded an NHL franchise on June 25, 1997, as part of a four-team tiered expansion that also included Nashville, Columbus, and St. Paul. This marked NHL hockey's return to Georgia after the Atlanta Flames had departed for Canada in 1980 to become the Calgary Flames. The nickname "Thrashers" was selected from a fan poll, after Georgia's state bird, the brown thrasher; it had been runner-up to "Flames" in the poll. Philips Arena was built on the site of the former Omni, which had been home to the Flames. The team was owned by media mogul Ted Turner, who also owned the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks. In the 1999 NHL entry draft, the Thrashers selected Patrik Stefan with the first overall pick and Luke Sellars with the 30th overall pick. The entire 1999 draft was a major disappointment, as all 11 of their draft picks were out of the NHL by the team's last season; Stefan played the most games (414) from that draft. NHL.com listed Stefan 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.

Team information

The Thrashers' jerseys featured ice blue, navy blue, red, gold, and white. In 2003, an alternate home jersey was unveiled; it became the full-time home jersey in 2006. In 2007, Reebok released new jerseys as part of the Reebok Edge Uniform System, removing waist stripes and adding piping. A third jersey, red and midnight blue with white and gold trim, was unveiled on October 10, 2008, and is often mocked as one of the worst uniforms in league history. The team's mascot was Thrash, a brown thrasher, the official state bird of Georgia.

Awards and trophies

Dany Heatley won the Calder Memorial Trophy for the 2001–02 season. Ilya Kovalchuk shared the Rocket Richard Trophy for the 2003–04 season with Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash. The Georgia's Own Credit Union 3 Stars of the Year Award was awarded annually to the Thrashers player amassing the most points throughout the season by being named as one of the three stars of each game. Recipients included Ray Ferraro, Dany Heatley, Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk, Johan Hedberg, and Ondrej Pavelec.

Media

The Atlanta Thrashers were broadcast on cable television on SportSouth and Fox Sports South. Over-the-air broadcasts aired on WUPA (1999–2004) and WPXA (2005–2007). Radio coverage included play-by-play of all games on WCNN in Atlanta, with a network of 18 stations. The radio play-by-play voice for the first season was Scott Ferrall, followed by Dan Kamal. Television play-by-play was handled by Matt McConnell (1999–2003 and 2008–2011) and JP Dellacamera (2004–2007), with colour commentary by Darren Eliot.