2006-07 Atlanta Thrashers season

2006–07 Atlanta Thrashers 	2006–07 Atlanta Thrashers
Southeast Division Champions	Southeast Division Champions
Division 	1st Southeast
Conference 	3rd Eastern
2006–07 record 	43–28–11
Home record 	23–12–6
Road record 	20–16–5
Goals for 	246
Goals against 	245
Team information 	Team information
General Manager 	Don Waddell
Coach 	Bob Hartley
Captain 	Scott Mellanby
Alternate captains 	Niclas Havelid
Bobby Holik
Marian Hossa
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Arena 	Philips Arena
Average attendance 	16,229
Team leaders 	Team leaders
Goals 	Marian Hossa (43)
Assists 	Marian Hossa (57)
Points 	Marian Hossa (100)
Penalties in minutes 	Bobby Holik (86)
Wins 	Kari Lehtonen (34)
Goals against average 	Kari Lehtonen (2.79)
The 2006–07 Atlanta Thrashers season began with the highest expectations in franchise history, even with the offseason loss of their second leading scorer, Marc Savard to the Boston Bruins. Veteran center, Steve Rucchin, Niko Kapanen, and Jon Sim were acquired in hopes help fill the Savard loss. With NHL superstars Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk and a healthy goaltender, Kari Lehtonen, the Thrashers clinched the first playoff berth in franchise history following the Toronto Maple Leafs' 7–2 loss to the New York Rangers on April 1. The Thrashers had a highly disappointing playoff series vs. the New York Rangers, as they were swept with losses of 4–3, 2–1, 7–0, and 4–2.
 == Regular season==
=== Season standings===
Southeast Division
No.	CR	 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	GF 	GA 	Pts
1 	3 	Atlanta Thrashers 	82	43	28	11 	246	245	97
2 	7 	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	44	33	5 	253	261	93
3 	11	Carolina Hurricanes	82	40	34	8 	241	253	88
4 	12	Florida Panthers 	82	35	31	16 	247	257	86
5 	14	Washington Capitals	82	28	40	14 	235	286	70
[1]
Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
 Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
=== ] Game log===
==== October====
Record for month 8–2–3 (Home 4–1–1 Away 4–1–2)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1 	October 5 	Tampa Bay 	3 – 2	Atlanta 	SO	Lehtonen	17,269 	0–0–1 	1
2 	October 7 	Florida 	0 – 6	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	14,239 	1–0–1 	3
3 	October 9 	Atlanta 	1 – 0	Tampa Bay 	 	Lehtonen	19,817 	2–0–1 	5
4 	October 11	Boston 	1 – 4	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	12,579 	3–0–1 	7
5 	October 13	Carolina 	4 – 3	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	13,106 	3–1–1 	7
6 	October 14	Atlanta 	4 – 3	Washington 	OT	Lehtonen	11,995 	4–1–1 	9
7 	October 19	Washington	3 – 4	Atlanta 	SO	Lehtonen	12,719 	5–1–1 	11
8 	October 21	Florida 	2 – 4	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	16,178 	6–1–1 	13
9 	October 23	Atlanta 	6 – 3	Florida 	 	Lehtonen	13,102 	7–1–1 	15
10	October 25	Atlanta 	4 – 5	Carolina 	OT	Lehtonen	15,008 	7–1–2 	16
11	October 26	Atlanta 	2 – 3	Philadelphia	SO	Lehtonen	19,228 	7–1–3 	17
12	October 28	Atlanta 	5 – 4	Buffalo 	SO	Lehtonen	18,690 	8–1–3 	19
13	October 30	Atlanta 	2 – 4	Toronto 	 	Lehtonen	19,285 	8–2–3 	19
==== November====
Record for Month 8–5–1 (Home 4–3–0 Away 4–2–1)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
14	November 1 	Carolina 	2 – 5	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	14,277 	8–3–3 	19
15	November 3 	Atlanta 	4 – 3	Washington 	 	Hedberg 	12,834 	9–3–3 	21
16	November 4 	Atlanta 	4 – 1	NY Islanders	 	Hedberg 	12,394 	10–3–3	23
17	November 6 	Boston 	3 – 5	Atlanta 	 	Hedberg 	14,084 	11–3–3	25
18	November 8 	Ottawa 	4 – 5	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	16,253 	12–3–3	27
19	November 10	NY Rangers	5 – 2	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	18,545 	12–4–3	27
20	November 11	Atlanta 	3 – 5	Tampa Bay 	 	Lehtonen	20,034 	12–5–3	27
21	November 17	Dallas 	5 – 3	Atlanta 	 	Hedberg 	18,545 	12–6–3	27
22	November 18	Atlanta 	1 – 3	Montreal 	 	Hedberg 	21,273 	12–7–3	27
23	November 22	Atlanta 	4 – 2	Washington 	 	Hedberg 	11,284 	13–7–3	29
24	November 24	Atlanta 	2 – 3	Tampa Bay 	OT	Lehtonen	19,922 	13–7–4	30
25	November 25	Florida 	0 – 1	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	17,053 	14–7–4	32
26	November 28	Atlanta 	5 – 4	NY Rangers 	OT	Lehtonen	18,200 	15–7–4	34
27	November 30	Toronto 	0 – 5	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	15,092 	16–7–4	36
====[edit] December====
Record for Month 7–4–2 (Home 3–1–2 Away 4–3–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
28	December 2 	Atlanta 	3 – 1	Florida 	 	Lehtonen	13,333 	17–7–4 	38
29	December 5 	Atlanta 	5 – 2	Toronto 	 	Hedberg 	19,507 	18–7–4 	40
30	December 7 	Atlanta 	0 – 8	Tampa Bay 	 	Lehtonen	17,704 	18–8–4 	40
31	December 9 	Pittsburgh	4 – 3	Atlanta 	OT	Lehtonen	18,687 	18–8–5 	41
32	December 13	Anaheim 	2 – 1	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	16,028 	18–9–5 	41
33	December 15	Washington	3 – 2	Atlanta 	OT	Lehtonen	16,920 	18–9–6 	42
34	December 16	Atlanta 	0 – 6	NY Islanders	 	Hedberg 	10,452 	18–10–6	42
35	December 19	Atlanta 	4 – 3	New Jersey 	SO	Lehtonen	10,116 	19–10–6	44
36	December 21	Pittsburgh	3 – 4	Atlanta 	SO	Lehtonen	17,328 	20–10–6	46
37	December 23	New Jersey	2 – 5	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	17,548 	21–10–6	48
38	December 26	Tampa Bay 	1 – 2	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	16,356 	22–10–6	50
39	December 27	Atlanta 	4 – 2	Pittsburgh 	 	Lehtonen	17,132 	23–10–6	52
40	December 30	Atlanta 	1 – 4	Buffalo 	 	Lehtonen	18,690 	23–11–6	52
==== January====
Record for month 6–5–2 (Home 3–2–1 Away 3–3–1)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
41	January 1 	Atlanta 	3 – 2	Ottawa 	OT	Lehtonen	19,707 	24–11–6	54
42	January 2 	Atlanta 	1 – 5	Minnesota 	 	Lehtonen	18,568 	24–12–6	54
43	January 5 	Phoenix 	5 – 4	Atlanta 	OT	Hedberg 	18,545 	24–12–7	55
44	January 6 	Atlanta 	2 – 3	Washington	OT	Lehtonen	15,642 	24–12–8	56
45	January 9 	Atlanta 	2 – 4	Montreal 	 	Lehtonen	21,273 	24–13–8	56
46	January 12	Atlanta 	1 – 2	New Jersey	 	Lehtonen	13,249 	24–14–8	56
47	January 13	Atlanta 	4 – 3	Carolina 	SO	Lehtonen	18,639 	25–14–8	58
48	January 16	Los Angeles 	2 – 6	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	13,205 	26–14–8	60
49	January 18	Montreal 	4 – 1	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	14,025 	26–15–8	60
50	January 20	Atlanta 	3 – 1	NY Rangers	 	Lehtonen	18,200 	27–15–8	62
51	January 26	NY Islanders	4 – 5	Atlanta 	OT	Lehtonen	18,089 	28–15–8	64
52	January 28	Philadelphia	2 – 1	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	18,598 	28–16–8	64
53	January 30	New Jersey 	4 – 5	Atlanta 	SO	Lehtonen	12,162 	29–16–8	66
==== February====
Record for month 3–7–2 (Home 0–3–2 Away 3–4–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
54	February 1 	NY Islanders	5 – 2	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	13,543 	29–17–8 	66
55	February 3 	Philadelphia	5 – 2	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	18,622 	29–18–8 	66
56	February 6 	Buffalo 	4 – 3	Atlanta 	SO	Lehtonen	17,881 	29–18–9 	67
57	February 8 	Atlanta 	6 – 3	Colorado 	 	Lehtonen	17,428 	30–18–9 	69
58	February 10	Atlanta 	2 – 3	Vancouver	 	Lehtonen	18,630 	30–19–9 	69
59	February 11	Atlanta 	1 – 5	Edmonton 	 	Hedberg 	16,839 	30–20–9 	69
60	February 13	Atlanta 	1 – 4	Calgary 	 	Lehtonen	19,289 	30–21–9 	69
61	February 17	Atlanta 	3 – 5	Ottawa 	 	Lehtonen	19,881 	30–22–9 	69
62	February 20	Atlanta 	3 – 1	Carolina 	 	Hedberg 	16,228 	31–22–9 	71
63	February 22	Tampa Bay 	5 – 4	Atlanta 	OT	Hedberg 	16,032 	31–22–10	72
64	February 24	Carolina 	4 – 1	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	18,774 	31–23–10	72
65	February 26	Atlanta 	3 – 2	Boston 	 	Lehtonen	16,417 	32–23–10	74
==== March====
Record for month 9–4–1 (Home 8–1–0 Away 1–3–1)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
66	March 2 	Ottawa 	2 – 4	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	16,190 	33–23–10	76
67	March 4 	Carolina 	1 – 3	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	17,783 	34–23–10	78
68	March 6 	Florida 	2 – 4	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	12,566 	35–23–10	80
69	March 8 	Montreal 	2 – 6	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	14,528 	36–23–10	82
70	March 10	Atlanta 	2 – 3	Florida 	 	Lehtonen	17,927 	36–24–10	82
71	March 12	Washington	2 – 4	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	14,041 	37–24–10	84
72	March 15	Atlanta 	2 – 3	Philadelphia	 	Lehtonen	19,122 	37–25–10	84
73	March 16	NY Rangers	1 – 2	Atlanta 	OT	Hedberg 	18,457 	38–25–10	86
74	March 18	Buffalo 	3 – 4	Atlanta 	OT	Lehtonen	18,602 	39–25–10	88
75	March 22	San Jose 	5 – 1	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	16,367 	39–26–10	88
76	March 24	Atlanta 	1 – 2	Pittsburgh 	 	Lehtonen	17,132 	39–27–10	88
77	March 28	Atlanta 	2 – 3	Florida 	SO	Lehtonen	12,864 	39–27–11	89
78	March 29	Toronto 	2 – 3	Atlanta 	OT	Hedberg 	17,062 	40–27–11	91
79	March 31	Atlanta 	3 – 2	Boston 	 	Lehtonen	16,218 	41–27–11	93
==== April====
Record for month 2–1–0 (Home 1–1–0 Away 1–0–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
80	April 4	Washington	3 – 2	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	18,783 	41–28–11	93
81	April 6	Atlanta 	4 – 1	Carolina	 	Hedberg 	17,158 	42–28–11	95
82	April 7	Tampa Bay 	2 – 3	Atlanta 	SO	Lehtonen	18,756 	43–28–11	97
== Playoffs==
The Thrashers qualified for the post-season for the first time in franchise history, while also capturing their first Southeast Division championship. Atlanta headed into the playoffs as the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference. They were eliminated from the playoffs on April 18, being swept by the New York Rangers in four straight games in the Quarter-finals.
=== Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: versus NY Rangers (6)===
New York Rangers win series 4–0
Game	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1 	April 12	NY Rangers	4 – 3	Atlanta 	 	Lehtonen	18,857 	0–1
2 	April 14	NY Rangers	2 – 1	Atlanta 	 	Hedberg 	18,803 	0–2
3 	April 17	Atlanta 	0 – 7	NY Rangers	 	Lehtonen	18,200 	0–3
4 	April 18	Atlanta 	2 – 4	NY Rangers	 	Hedberg 	18,200 	0–4
== Player stats==
=== Regular season===
;Scoring
Player 	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Marian Hossa 	RW 	82	43	57	100	49 	18 	17 	3 	5
Vyacheslav Kozlov	LW 	81	28	52	80 	36 	9 	8 	0 	8
Ilya Kovalchuk 	LW 	82	42	34	76 	66 	-2 	18 	0 	7
Scott Mellanby 	RW 	69	12	24	36 	63 	-9 	5 	0 	2
Jon Sim 	LW 	77	17	12	29 	60 	-1 	2 	0 	1
Bobby Holik 	C 	82	11	18	29 	86 	-3 	2 	1 	1
Glen Metropolit 	C 	57	12	16	28 	20 	9 	4 	0 	2
Greg de Vries 	D 	82	3 	21	24 	66 	-3 	0 	0 	0
Steve Rucchin 	C 	47	5 	16	21 	14 	-4 	1 	0 	1
Niclas Havelid 	D 	77	3 	18	21 	52 	-2 	1 	0 	1
Jim Slater 	C 	74	5 	14	19 	62 	8 	0 	0 	2
Steve McCarthy 	D 	46	4 	12	16 	24 	4 	3 	0 	0
Andy Sutton 	D 	55	2 	14	16 	76 	6 	0 	1 	0
Eric Belanger 	C 	24	9 	6 	15 	12 	0 	1 	0 	0
Keith Tkachuk 	LW 	18	7 	8 	15 	34 	8 	2 	0 	3
Alexei Zhitnik 	D 	18	2 	12	14 	14 	4 	2 	0 	1
Brad Larsen 	LW 	72	7 	6 	13 	39 	-11	0 	2 	0
J.P. Vigier 	RW 	72	5 	8 	13 	27 	0 	0 	0 	0
Niko Kapanen 	C 	60	4 	9 	13 	20 	-12	1 	0 	0
Shane Hnidy 	D 	72	5 	7 	12 	63 	15 	0 	1 	1
Vitaly Vishnevski	D 	52	3 	9 	12 	31 	-5 	0 	0 	0
Garnet Exelby 	D 	58	2 	8 	10 	56 	2 	0 	1 	0
Eric Boulton 	LW 	45	3 	4 	7 	49 	2 	0 	0 	0
lPascal Dupuis 	LW 	17	3 	2 	5 	4 	-6 	0 	0 	1
Jason Krog 	C 	14	1 	3 	4 	6 	3 	0 	0 	0
Braydon Coburn 	D 	29	0 	4 	4 	30 	1 	0 	0 	0
Denis Hamel 	LW 	3 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Johan Hedberg 	G 	21	0 	1 	1 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
Kari Lehtonen 	G 	68	0 	1 	1 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
Mark Popovic 	D 	3 	0 	1 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
Darren Haydar 	RW 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Derek MacKenzie 	C 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player 	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T/OT	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
Kari Lehtonen	3934	68	34	24	9 	183	2.79	4 	2075	1892	.912
Johan Hedberg	1057	21	9 	4 	2 	51 	2.89	0 	500 	449 	.898
Team: 	4991	82	43	28	11 	234	2.81	4 	2575	2341	.909
=== Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player 	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Pascal Dupuis 	LW 	4 	1	2	3 	4 	0 	0 	0
Keith Tkachuk 	LW 	4 	1	2	3 	12 	0 	0 	0
Ilya Kovalchuk 	LW 	4 	1	1	2 	19 	0 	0 	0
Niclas Havelid 	D 	4 	0	2	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
Brad Larsen 	LW 	4 	0	2	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
Eric Belanger 	C 	4 	1	0	1 	12 	1 	0 	0
Greg de Vries 	D 	4 	1	0	1 	4 	0 	0 	0
Shane Hnidy 	D 	4 	1	0	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
Bobby Holik 	C 	4 	0	1	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
Marian Hossa 	RW 	4 	0	1	1 	6 	0 	0 	0
Eric Boulton 	LW 	4 	0	0	0 	24 	0 	0 	0
Garnet Exelby 	D 	4 	0	0	0 	6 	0 	0 	0
Johan Hedberg 	G 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Vyacheslav Kozlov	LW 	4 	0	0	0 	6 	0 	0 	0
Kari Lehtonen 	G 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Scott Mellanby 	RW 	4 	0	0	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
Jon Sim 	LW 	4 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Jim Slater 	C 	4 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
Andy Sutton 	D 	4 	0	0	0 	10 	0 	0 	0
Alexei Zhitnik 	D 	4 	0	0	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player 	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
Johan Hedberg	117	2 	0	2	5 	2.56	0 	69 	64 	.928
Kari Lehtonen	118	2 	0	2	11	5.59	0 	73 	62 	.849
Team: 	235	4 	0	4	16	4.09	0 	142	126	.887
Note:
:Pos = Position; GP = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
:Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;
== Transactions==
==== Trades====
June 24, 2006 	To Dallas Stars----
Jaroslav Modry
Patrik Stefan	To Atlanta Thrashers----
Niko Kapanen
7th round pick in 2006
February 1, 2007 	To Tampa Bay Lightning----
Kyle Wanvig
Stephen Baby	To Atlanta Thrashers----
Andy Delmore
Andre Deveaux
February 10, 2007	To Nashville Predators----
Vitali Vishnevski	To Atlanta Thrashers----
Eric Belanger
February 24, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers----
Braydon Coburn	To Atlanta Thrashers----
Alexei Zhitnik
February 25, 2007	To St. Louis Blues----
Glen Metropolit
1st round pick in 2007
3rd round pick in 2007
2nd round pick in 2008
Conditional 1st round pick in 2008
(if Tkachuk re-signs)	To Atlanta Thrashers----
Keith Tkachuk
February 27, 2007	To New York Rangers----
Alex Bourret
3rd round pick in 2007	To Atlanta Thrashers----
Pascal Dupuis
==== Free agents acquired====
Player 	Former Team
F Jon Sim 	Florida Panthers
G Johan Hedberg 	Dallas Stars
F Steve Rucchin 	New York Rangers
F Glen Metropolit	HC Lugano (Swiss-A League)
==== Free agents lost====
Player 	Current Team
G Mike Dunham 	New York Islanders
F Marc Savard 	Boston Bruins
F Peter Bondra 	Chicago Blackhawks
F Ronald Petrovicky	Pittsburgh Penguins
F Ramzi Abid 	Nashville Predators
==== Waiver losses====
Player 	Current Team
F Jason Krog 	New York Rangers
F Denis Hamel	Philadelphia Flyers
=== Draft picks===
Atlanta's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.[3] The Atlanta had the 12th overall draft pick in the 2005–06 NHL season.
Round	# 	Player 	Nationality 	NHL Team 	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	12 	Bryan Little (C) 	Canada 	Atlanta Thrashers 	Barrie (OHL)
2 	43 	Riley Holzapfel (C)	Canada 	Atlanta Thrashers 	Moose Jaw (WHL)
3 	80 	Michael Forney (LW)	United States	Atlanta Thrashers (from Edmonton)	Thief River Falls (MSHSL)
5 	135	Alex Kangas (G) 	United States	Buffalo Sabres 	Sioux Falls (USHL)
6 	165	Jonas Enlund (C) 	Finland 	Atlanta Thrashers 	IFK Jr. Finland
7 	195	Jesse Martin (C) 	Canada 	Atlanta Thrashers 	Spruce Grove (AJHL)
7 	200	Arturs Kulda (D) 	Latvia 	Atlanta Thrashers (from Edmonton)	HC CSKA Moscow (Russian Super League)
7 	210	Will O'Neill (D) 	United States	Atlanta Thrashers (from Dallas) 	Tabor Academy (NEPSAC)
Category:Atlanta Thrashers seasons