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. They were eliminated from the playoffs on April 18, being swept by the Rangers in four straight games in the quarterfinals.

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)
Plus/minus	Marian Hossa (+18)
Wins	Kari Lehtonen (34)
Goals against average	Kari Lehtonen (2.79)

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

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

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

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. The Thrashers had a highly disappointing playoff series against the New York Rangers, as they were upset in a four-game sweep with losses of 4–3, 2–1, 7–0, and 4–2.

Schedule and results

Regular season

2006–07 regular season
October: 8–2–3 (home: 4–1–1; road: 4–1–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 1 October 5 Tampa Bay 3 – 2 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 17,269 0–0–1 1 Recap 2 October 7 Florida 0 – 6 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,239 1–0–1 3 Recap 3 October 9 Atlanta 1 – 0 Tampa Bay Lehtonen 19,817 2–0–1 5 Recap 4 October 11 Boston 1 – 4 Atlanta Lehtonen 12,579 3–0–1 7 Recap 5 October 13 Carolina 4 – 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 13,106 3–1–1 7 Recap 6 October 14 Atlanta 4 – 3 Washington OT Lehtonen 11,995 4–1–1 9 Recap 7 October 19 Washington 3 – 4 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 12,719 5–1–1 11 Recap 8 October 21 Florida 2 – 4 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,178 6–1–1 13 Recap 9 October 23 Atlanta 6 – 3 Florida Lehtonen 13,102 7–1–1 15 Recap 10 October 25 Atlanta 4 – 5 Carolina OT Lehtonen 15,008 7–1–2 16 Recap 11 October 26 Atlanta 2 – 3 Philadelphia SO Lehtonen 19,228 7–1–3 17 Recap 12 October 28 Atlanta 5 – 4 Buffalo SO Lehtonen 18,690 8–1–3 19 Recap 13 October 30 Atlanta 2 – 4 Toronto Lehtonen 19,285 8–2–3 19 Recap
November: 8–5–1 (home: 4–3–0; road: 4–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 14 November 1 Carolina 5 – 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,277 8–3–3 19 Recap 15 November 3 Atlanta 4 – 3 Washington Hedberg 12,834 9–3–3 21 Recap 16 November 4 Atlanta 4 – 1 NY Islanders Hedberg 12,394 10–3–3 23 Recap 17 November 6 Boston 3 – 5 Atlanta Hedberg 14,084 11–3–3 25 Recap 18 November 8 Ottawa 4 – 5 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,253 12–3–3 27 Recap 19 November 10 NY Rangers 5 – 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,545 12–4–3 27 Recap 20 November 11 Atlanta 3 – 5 Tampa Bay Lehtonen 20,034 12–5–3 27 Recap 21 November 17 Dallas 5 – 3 Atlanta Hedberg 18,545 12–6–3 27 Recap 22 November 18 Atlanta 1 – 3 Montreal Hedberg 21,273 12–7–3 27 Recap 23 November 22 Atlanta 4 – 2 Washington Hedberg 11,284 13–7–3 29 Recap 24 November 24 Atlanta 2 – 3 Tampa Bay OT Lehtonen 19,922 13–7–4 30 Recap 25 November 25 Florida 0 – 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 17,053 14–7–4 32 Recap 26 November 28 Atlanta 5 – 4 NY Rangers OT Lehtonen 18,200 15–7–4 34 Recap 27 November 30 Toronto 0 – 5 Atlanta Lehtonen 15,092 16–7–4 36 Recap
December: 7–4–2 (home: 3–1–2; road: 4–3–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 28 December 2 Atlanta 3 – 1 Florida Lehtonen 13,333 17–7–4 38 Recap 29 December 5 Atlanta 5 – 2 Toronto Hedberg 19,507 18–7–4 40 Recap 30 December 7 Atlanta 0 – 8 Tampa Bay Lehtonen 17,704 18–8–4 40 Recap 31 December 9 Pittsburgh 4 – 3 Atlanta OT Lehtonen 18,687 18–8–5 41 Recap 32 December 13 Anaheim 2 – 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,028 18–9–5 41 Recap 33 December 15 Washington 3 – 2 Atlanta OT Lehtonen 16,920 18–9–6 42 Recap 34 December 16 Atlanta 0 – 6 NY Islanders Hedberg 10,452 18–10–6 42 Recap 35 December 19 Atlanta 4 – 3 New Jersey SO Lehtonen 10,116 19–10–6 44 Recap 36 December 21 Pittsburgh 3 – 4 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 17,328 20–10–6 46 Recap 37 December 23 New Jersey 2 – 5 Atlanta Lehtonen 17,548 21–10–6 48 Recap 38 December 26 Tampa Bay 1 – 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,356 22–10–6 50 Recap 39 December 27 Atlanta 4 – 2 Pittsburgh Lehtonen 17,132 23–10–6 52 Recap 40 December 30 Atlanta 1 – 4 Buffalo Lehtonen 18,690 23–11–6 52 Recap
January: 6–5–2 (home: 3–2–1; road: 3–3–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 41 January 1 Atlanta 3 – 2 Ottawa OT Lehtonen 19,707 24–11–6 54 Recap 42 January 2 Atlanta 1 – 5 Minnesota Lehtonen 18,568 24–12–6 54 Recap 43 January 5 Phoenix 5 – 4 Atlanta OT Hedberg 18,545 24–12–7 55 Recap 44 January 6 Atlanta 2 – 3 Washington OT Lehtonen 15,642 24–12–8 56 Recap 45 January 9 Atlanta 2 – 4 Montreal Lehtonen 21,273 24–13–8 56 Recap 46 January 12 Atlanta 1 – 2 New Jersey Lehtonen 13,249 24–14–8 56 Recap 47 January 13 Atlanta 4 – 3 Carolina SO Lehtonen 18,639 25–14–8 58 Recap 48 January 16 Los Angeles 2 – 6 Atlanta Lehtonen 13,205 26–14–8 60 Recap 49 January 18 Montreal 4 – 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,025 26–15–8 60 Recap 50 January 20 Atlanta 3 – 1 NY Rangers Lehtonen 18,200 27–15–8 62 Recap 51 January 26 NY Islanders 4 – 5 Atlanta OT Lehtonen 18,089 28–15–8 64 Recap 52 January 28 Philadelphia 2 – 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,598 28–16–8 64 Recap 53 January 30 New Jersey 4 – 5 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 12,162 29–16–8 66 Recap
February: 3–7–2 (home: 0–3–2; road: 3–4–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 54 February 1 NY Islanders 5 – 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 13,543 29–17–8 66 Recap 55 February 3 Philadelphia 5 – 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,622 29–18–8 66 Recap 56 February 6 Buffalo 4 – 3 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 17,881 29–18–9 67 Recap 57 February 8 Atlanta 6 – 3 Colorado Lehtonen 17,428 30–18–9 69 Recap 58 February 10 Atlanta 2 – 3 Vancouver Lehtonen 18,630 30–19–9 69 Recap 59 February 11 Atlanta 1 – 5 Edmonton Hedberg 16,839 30–20–9 69 Recap 60 February 13 Atlanta 1 – 4 Calgary Lehtonen 19,289 30–21–9 69 Recap 61 February 17 Atlanta 3 – 5 Ottawa Lehtonen 19,881 30–22–9 69 Recap 62 February 20 Atlanta 3 – 1 Carolina Hedberg 16,228 31–22–9 71 Recap 63 February 22 Tampa Bay 5 – 4 Atlanta OT Hedberg 16,032 31–22–10 72 Recap 64 February 24 Carolina 4 – 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,774 31–23–10 72 Recap 65 February 26 Atlanta 3 – 2 Boston Lehtonen 16,417 32–23–10 74 Recap
March: 9–4–1 (home: 8–1–0; road: 1–3–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 66 March 2 Ottawa 2 – 4 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,190 33–23–10 76 Recap 67 March 4 Carolina 1 – 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 17,783 34–23–10 78 Recap 68 March 6 Florida 2 – 4 Atlanta Lehtonen 12,566 35–23–10 80 Recap 69 March 8 Montreal 2 – 6 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,528 36–23–10 82 Recap 70 March 10 Atlanta 2 – 3 Florida Lehtonen 17,927 36–24–10 82 Recap 71 March 12 Washington 2 – 4 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,041 37–24–10 84 Recap 72 March 15 Atlanta 2 – 3 Philadelphia Lehtonen 19,122 37–25–10 84 Recap 73 March 16 NY Rangers 1 – 2 Atlanta OT Hedberg 18,457 38–25–10 86 Recap 74 March 18 Buffalo 3 – 4 Atlanta OT Lehtonen 18,602 39–25–10 88 Recap 75 March 22 San Jose 5 – 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,367 39–26–10 88 Recap 76 March 24 Atlanta 1 – 2 Pittsburgh Lehtonen 17,132 39–27–10 88 Recap 77 March 28 Atlanta 2 – 3 Florida SO Lehtonen 12,864 39–27–11 89 Recap 78 March 29 Toronto 2 – 3 Atlanta OT Hedberg 17,062 40–27–11 91 Recap 79 March 31 Atlanta 3 – 2 Boston Lehtonen 16,218 41–27–11 93 Recap
April: 2–1–0 (home: 1–1–0; road: 1–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 80 April 4 Washington 3 – 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,783 41–28–11 93 Recap 81 April 6 Atlanta 4 – 1 Carolina Hedberg 17,158 42–28–11 95 Recap 82 April 7 Tampa Bay 2 – 3 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 18,756 43–28–11 97 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

2007 Stanley Cup playoffs
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (6) New York Rangers – Rangers win 4–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 12 NY Rangers 4 – 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,857 0–1 Recap 2 April 14 NY Rangers 2 – 1 Atlanta Hedberg 18,803 0–2 Recap 3 April 17 Atlanta 0 – 7 NY Rangers Lehtonen 18,200 0–3 Recap 4 April 18 Atlanta 2 – 4 NY Rangers Hedberg 18,200 0–4 Recap
Legend:   Win   Loss

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

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. Atlanta had the 12th overall draft pick.

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)

See also

• 2006–07 NHL Season