2006–07 Atlanta Thrashers season

The 2006–07 Atlanta Thrashers season began with the highest expectations in franchise history, even with the off-season loss of their second-leading scorer, Marc Savard, to the Boston Bruins. Veteran centers Steve Rucchin, Niko Kapanen and Jon Sim were acquired in hopes help fill the loss of Savard. 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 against the New York Rangers, as they were upset in a 4-game sweep with losses of 4–3, 2–1, 7–0, and 4–2.

2006–07 Atlanta Thrashers
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
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
Goals	Marian Hossa (43)
Assists	Marian Hossa (57)
Points	Marian Hossa (100)
Penalty minutes	Bobby Holik (86)
Wins	Kari Lehtonen (34)
Goals against average	Kari Lehtonen (2.79)
← 2005–06 2007–08 →

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.

Eastern Conference^[2]

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	P - Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	53	22	7	308	242	113
2	Y - New Jersey Devils	AT	82	49	24	9	216	201	107
3	Y - Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	43	28	11	246	245	97
4	X - Ottawa Senators	NE	82	48	25	9	288	222	105
5	X - Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	47	24	11	277	246	105
6	X - New York Rangers	AT	82	42	30	10	242	216	94
7	X - Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	44	33	5	253	261	93
8	X - New York Islanders	AT	82	40	30	12	248	240	92
8.5
9	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	40	31	11	258	269	91
10	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	42	34	6	245	256	90
11	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	40	34	8	241	253	88
12	Florida Panthers	SE	82	35	31	16	247	257	86
13	Boston Bruins	NE	82	35	41	6	219	289	76
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	28	40	14	235	286	70
15	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	22	48	12	214	303	56

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

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	5 – 2	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

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
Pascal 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

^[3]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = 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.^[4] 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 Colts (OHL)
2	43	Riley Holzapfel (C)	Canada	Atlanta Thrashers	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
3	80	Michael Forney (LW)	United States	Atlanta Thrashers (from Edmonton)	Thief River Falls High School (USHS–MS)
5	135	Alex Kangas (G)	United States	Buffalo Sabres	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
6	165	Jonas Enlund (C)	Finland	Atlanta Thrashers	HIFK Jr. (Finland)
7	195	Jesse Martin (C)	Canada	Atlanta Thrashers	Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL)
7	200	Arturs Kulda (D)	Latvia	Atlanta Thrashers (from Edmonton)	CSKA Moscow (RSL)
7	210	Will O'Neill (D)	United States	Atlanta Thrashers (from Dallas)	Tabor Academy (USHS–MA)

External links

• Official site of the Atlanta Thrashers

See also

• 2006–07 NHL Season

References

• Game log: Atlanta Thrashers game log on espn.com
• Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com
• Player Stats: Atlanta Thrashers 2006-07 Reg. Season Stats on espn.com
• Draft Picks: 2006 NHL Entry Draft

1. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
2. "2006–2007 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
3. "2006-07 Atlanta Thrashers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
4. 2006 Thrashers Draft Central [1] Archived 2006-06-12 at archive.today - accessed January 4, 2007