2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers season

2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers
Division4th Southeast
Conference14th Eastern
2007–08 record31–34–9
Home record16–13–2
Road record13–15–2
Goals for157
Goals against191
Team information
General managerDon Waddell
CoachBob Hartley (Oct.)
Don Waddell (Oct.–Apr.) interim
CaptainBobby Holik
Alternate captainsNiclas Havelid
Marian Hossa (Oct.–Feb.)
Ilya Kovalchuk
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Mark Recchi (Feb.–Apr.)
ArenaPhilips Arena
Average attendance15,831 (85.4%)
Team leaders
GoalsIlya Kovalchuk (52)
AssistsIlya Kovalchuk (35)
PointsIlya Kovalchuk (87)
Penalty minutesEric Boulton (91)
Plus/minusColby Armstrong (+4)
Darren Haydar (+4)
WinsJohan Hedberg (13)
Kari Lehtonen (13)
Goals against averageOndrej Pavelec (3.11)

The 2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers season began on October 5, 2007. It was the Atlanta Thrashers' ninth season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Key dates prior to the start of the season:

Regular season

[edit]

Starting off 0–6–0, the Thrashers fired head coach Bob Hartley on October 17, 2007, replacing him on an interim basis with general manager Don Waddell.

On December 23, 2007, Marian Hossa scored just 19 seconds into overtime to give Atlanta a 3–2 road win over the St. Louis Blues.[1] Hossa tied Martin Erat, who also scored 15 seconds into the overtime period of the Predators' November 15, 2007, 5–4 home win over the Chicago Blackhawks, for the fastest overtime goal of the 2007–08 regular season.[2] [3][4]

Excluding six shootout goals, the Thrashers allowed 266 goals, tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the most in the NHL.[5][6]

Divisional standings

[edit]
Southeast Division
GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 y – Washington Capitals 82 43 31 8 242 231 94
2 Carolina Hurricanes 82 43 33 6 252 249 92
3 Florida Panthers 82 38 35 9 216 226 85
4 Atlanta Thrashers 82 34 40 8 216 272 76
5 Tampa Bay Lightning 82 31 42 9 223 267 71

Conference standings

[edit]
Eastern Conference
R Div GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 z – Montreal Canadiens NE 82 47 25 10 262 222 104
2 y – Pittsburgh Penguins AT 82 47 27 8 247 216 102
3 y – Washington Capitals SE 82 43 31 8 242 231 94
4 New Jersey Devils AT 82 46 29 7 206 197 99
5 New York Rangers AT 82 42 27 13 213 199 97
6 Philadelphia Flyers AT 82 42 29 11 248 233 95
7 Ottawa Senators NE 82 43 31 8 261 247 94
8 Boston Bruins NE 82 41 29 12 212 222 94
8.5
9 Carolina Hurricanes SE 82 43 33 6 252 249 92
10 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 39 31 12 255 242 90
11 Florida Panthers SE 82 38 35 9 216 226 85
12 Toronto Maple Leafs NE 82 36 35 11 231 260 83
13 New York Islanders AT 82 35 38 9 194 243 79
14 Atlanta Thrashers SE 82 34 40 8 216 272 76
15 Tampa Bay Lightning SE 82 31 42 9 223 267 71

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

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)


Schedule and results

[edit]

October

[edit]

Record: 4–8–0; Home: 1–3–0; Road: 3–5–0

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
1 October 5 Washington 3 – 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,707 0–1–0 0
2 October 6 Atlanta 2 – 5 Tampa Bay Hedberg 19,220 0–2–0 0
3 October 10 Ottawa 3 – 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 12,751 0–3–0 0
4 October 11 Atlanta 0 – 6 Buffalo Lehtonen 18,690 0–4–0 0
5 October 13 New Jersey 6 – 4 Atlanta Lehtonen 15,606 0–5–0 0
6 October 16 Atlanta 0 – 4 Philadelphia Hedberg 18,933 0–6–0 0
7 October 18 NY Rangers 3 – 5 Atlanta Hedberg 14,076 1–6–0 2
8 October 20 Atlanta 2 – 6 Tampa Bay Hedberg 19,420 1–7–0 2
9 October 23 Atlanta 5 – 4 Toronto SO Hedberg 19,210 2–7–0 4
10 October 25 Atlanta 0 – 3 Nashville Hedberg 13,383 2–8–0 4
11 October 27 Atlanta 3 – 2 Chicago Hedberg 15,789 3–8–0 6
12 October 30 Atlanta 3 – 2 Montreal SO Hedberg 21,273 4–8–0 8

November

[edit]

Record: 7–5–0; Home: 3–3–0; Road: 4–2–0

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
13 November 1 Atlanta 4 – 6 Ottawa Pavelec 18,538 4–9–0 8
14 November 3 Atlanta 6 – 4 Tampa Bay Pavelec 19,155 5–9–0 10
15 November 6 Washington 1 – 2 Atlanta OT Pavelec 15,530 6–9–0 12
16 November 9 Atlanta 4 – 1 Florida Pavelec 14,268 7–9–0 14
17 November 10 Carolina 5 – 3 Atlanta Pavelec 18,545 7–10–0 14
18 November 13 Florida 2 – 3 Atlanta OT Hedberg 12,599 8–10–0 16
19 November 16 Atlanta 3 – 0 Carolina Hedberg 14,632 9–10–0 18
20 November 19 Tampa Bay 3 – 4 Atlanta OT Hedberg 13,419 10–10–0 20
21 November 21 Atlanta 5 – 1 Washington Hedberg 11,669 11–10–0 22
22 November 23 New Jersey 3 – 0 Atlanta Hedberg 18,545 11–11–0 22
23 November 24 Atlanta 0 – 5 Pittsburgh Pavelec 17,132 11–12–0 22
24 November 29 Toronto 4 – 2 Atlanta Hedberg 14,031 11–13–0 22

December

[edit]

Record: 8–7–1; Home: 6–3–0; Road: 2–4–1

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
25 December 1 Atlanta 4 – 0 NY Islanders Lehtonen 15,355 12–13–0 24
26 December 2 Atlanta 2 – 3 New Jersey SO Hedberg 14,978 12–13–1 25
27 December 5 NY Islanders 3 – 4 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 14,018 13–13–1 27
28 December 7 NY Rangers 2 – 4 Atlanta Hedberg 18,204 14–13–1 29
29 December 8 Atlanta 3 – 6 Washington Lehtonen 14,014 14–14–1 29
30 December 12 Boston 5 – 3 Atlanta Hedberg 14,265 14–15–1 29
31 December 14 Toronto 4 – 0 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,424 14–16–1 29
32 December 15 Atlanta 3 – 7 Ottawa Hedberg 20,082 14–17–1 29
33 December 18 Tampa Bay 2 – 6 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,060 15–17–1 31
34 December 20 Ottawa 2 – 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,085 16–17–1 33
35 December 22 Montreal 2 – 3 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 17,153 17–17–1 35
36 December 23 Atlanta 3 – 2 St. Louis OT Lehtonen 17,731 18–17–1 37
37 December 26 Atlanta 0 – 2 Columbus Lehtonen 15,726 18–18–1 37
38 December 27 Florida 5 – 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,080 18–19–1 37
39 December 29 Boston 0 – 5 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,545 19–19–1 39
40 December 31 Atlanta 2 – 5 Boston Lehtonen 17,565 19–20–1 39

January

[edit]

Record: 5–4–3; Home: 3–2–2; Road: 2–2–1

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
41 January 2 Atlanta 5 – 4 Carolina OT Hedberg 13,506 20–20–1 41
42 January 4 Carolina 4 – 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,097 20–21–1 41
43 January 6 Buffalo 2 – 5 Atlanta Hedberg 15,213 21–21–1 43
44 January 8 Philadelphia 4 – 1 Atlanta Hedberg 13,047 21–22–1 43
45 January 10 Florida 3 – 2 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 14,805 21–22–2 44
46 January 12 Pittsburgh 2 – 3 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 18,545 22–22–2 46
47 January 15 Atlanta 5 – 1 Detroit Lehtonen 17,408 23–22–2 48
48 January 17 Montreal 3 – 2 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 16,181 23–22–3 49
49 January 18 Atlanta 1 – 10 Buffalo Hedberg 18,690 23–23–3 49
50 January 20 Edmonton 4 – 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,683 23–24–3 49
51 January 22 Atlanta 0 – 4 NY Rangers Lehtonen 18,200 23–25–3 49
52 January 24 Atlanta 1 – 2 NY Rangers SO Hedberg 18,200 23–25–4 50
53 January 30 Pittsburgh 1 – 4 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,070 24–25–4 52

February

[edit]

Record: 4–6–2; Home: 3–3–0; Road: 1–4–2

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
54 February 1 Buffalo 4 – 5 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 17,064 25–25–4 54
55 February 2 Atlanta 2 – 0 Washington Lehtonen 26–25–4 56
56 February 5 Philadelphia 3 – 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 15,082 26–26–4 56
57 February 7 Vancouver 2 – 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,813 26–27–4 56
58 February 9 Tampa Bay 1 – 2 Atlanta OT Lehtonen 18,879 27–27–4 58
59 February 13 Washington 2 – 3 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 15,285 28–27–4 60
60 February 15 Atlanta 4 – 3 New Jersey SO Hedberg 14,475 29–27–4 62
61 February 16 Atlanta 1 – 4 NY Islanders Lehtonen 16,234 29–28–4 62
62 February 21 Atlanta 3 – 5 Carolina Lehtonen 13,548 29–29–4 62
63 February 23 Atlanta 1 – 3 Toronto Lehtonen 19,390 29–30–4 62
64 February 26 Atlanta 1 – 5 Montreal Lehtonen 21,273 29–31–4 62
65 February 28 NY Islanders 5 – 4 Atlanta OT Lehtonen 16,332 29–31–5 63

March

[edit]

Record:2–4–2; Home:2–3–0; Road:0–1–3

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
66 March 1 Atlanta 2 – 3 Boston OT Hedberg 17,565 29–31–6 64
67 March 2 Atlanta 2 – 3 Pittsburgh SO Lehtonen 17,132 29–31–7 65
68 March 5 Carolina 6 – 3 Atlanta Hedberg 13,032 29–32–7 65
69 March 7 Minnesota 2 – 3 Atlanta SO Hedberg 18,709 30–32–7 67
70 March 8 Atlanta 2 – 3 Florida OT Lehtonen 16,614 30–32–8 68
71 March 11 Colorado 5 – 2 Atlanta Hedberg 14,089 30–33–8 69
72 March 13 Calgary 4 – 6 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,244 31–33–8 70
73 March 14 Atlanta 1 – 4 Washington Lehtonen 18,208 31–34–8 70
74 March 16 Atlanta 1 – 3 Florida Hedberg 15,704 31–35–8 70
75 March 18 Atlanta 2 – 3 Philadelphia Lehtonen 19,564 31–36–8 70
76 March 19 Carolina 5 – 3 Atlanta Hedberg 13,251 31–37–8 70
77 March 21 Washington 5 – 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,562 31–38–8 70
78 March 27 Atlanta 3 - 2 Florida 32–38–8 72
79 March 28 Atlanta 1 - 7 Carolina 32–39–8 72
80 March 31 Atlanta 2 - 0 Tampa Bay 33–39–8 74

April

[edit]

Record:1-1-0; Home:1-1-0; Road:0-0-0

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
81 April 1 Florida 3 - 2 Atlanta 33–40–8 74
82 April 5 Tampa Bay 1 - 4 Atlanta 34–40–8 76

Playoffs

[edit]

A year after winning the Southeast Division, the Thrashers failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Skaters

[edit]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

    Regular season  
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Ilya Kovalchuk 79 52 35 87 52
Marian Hossa 60 26 22 48 30
Eric Perrin 81 12 33 45 26
Vyacheslav Kozlov 82 17 24 41 26
Mark Recchi 53 12 28 40 20
Tobias Enstrom 82 5 33 38 42
Todd White 74 14 23 37 36
Bobby Holik 82 15 19 34 90
Chris Thorburn 73 5 13 18 92
Bryan Little 48 6 10 16 18
Pascal Dupuis 62 10 5 15 24
Niclas Havelid 81 1 10 11 42
Jim Slater 69 8 5 13 41
Colby Armstrong 18 4 7 11 6
Ken Klee 72 1 9 10 60
Eric Boulton 74 4 5 9 127
Alexei Zhitnik 65 3 5 8 58
Darren Haydar 16 1 7 8 2
Garnet Exelby 79 2 5 7 85
Steve McCarthy 55 1 6 7 48
Joel Kwiatkowski 18 0 5 5 20
Colin Stuart 18 3 2 5 6
Brad Larsen 62 1 3 4 12
Erik Christensen 10 2 2 4 2
Brett Sterling 13 1 2 3 14
Mark Popovic 33 0 2 2 10
Jordan Smotherman 2 1 1 2 0
Kevin Doell 8 0 1 1 4
Boris Valabik 7 0 0 0 42

Goaltenders

[edit]

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season  
Player GP TOI W L OT GA SO SV% GAA
Kari Lehtonen 48 2707 17 22 5 131 4 .916 2.90
Johan Hedberg 36 1927 14 15 3 111 1 .892 3.46
Ondrej Pavelec 7 347 3 3 0 18 0 .905 3.11

Awards and records

[edit]

Records

[edit]

Milestones

[edit]
Regular season
Player Milestone Reached
Tobias Enstrom 1st NHL game October 5, 2007
Bryan Little 1st NHL game
1st NHL goal
1st NHL point		 October 5, 2007
Brett Sterling 1st NHL game October 5, 2007
Tobias Enstrom 1st NHL assist
1st NHL point		 October 6, 2007
Darren Haydar 1st NHL goal
1st NHL assist
1st NHL point		 October 13, 2007
Bryan Little 1st NHL assist October 13, 2007
Brett Sterling 1st NHL assist
1st NHL point		 October 13, 2007
Ken Klee 800th NHL PIM October 16, 2007
Ondrej Pavelec 1st NHL game October 20, 2007
Brett Sterling 1st NHL goal October 20, 2007
Tobias Enstrom 1st NHL goal October 23, 2007
Ken Klee 800th NHL game October 25, 2007
Ilya Kovalchuk 400th NHL game November 1, 2007
Ondrej Pavelec 1st NHL win November 3, 2007
Eric Perrin 100th NHL game November 3, 2007
Todd White 100th NHL goal November 6, 2007

Transactions

[edit]

The Thrashers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

[edit]
June 26, 2007
 To St. Louis Blues
Keith Tkachuk
conditional 4th round pick in 2008 		To Atlanta Thrashers
conditional 1st round pick in 2008
December 8, 2007
 To Atlanta Thrashers
Mark Recchi 		Claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh Penguins
February 26, 2008
 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Marian Hossa
Pascal Dupuis 		To Atlanta Thrashers
Colby Armstrong
Erik Christensen
Angelo Esposito
2008 1st round pick (Daultan Leveille)

Free agents

[edit]
Player Former team Contract terms
Todd White Minnesota Wild 4 years, $9.5 million
Eric Perrin Tampa Bay Lightning 2 years, $1.15. million
Ken Klee Colorado Avalanche 2 years, $2.5 million
Alexandre Giroux Washington Capitals 2 years, $925,000
Player New team
Jon Sim New York Islanders
Greg de Vries Nashville Predators
Eric Belanger Minnesota Wild
Shane Hnidy Anaheim Ducks
Derek MacKenzie Columbus Blue Jackets
Andy Sutton New York Islanders

Draft picks

[edit]

Atlanta's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio.[7]

Round # Player Position Nationality College/junior/club team (league)
3 67 Spencer Machacek Right wing  Canada Vancouver Giants (WHL)
4 115 Niclas Lucenius Center  Finland Tappara (Finland)
6 175 John Albert Center  United States U.S. National Team Development Program (NAHL)
7 205 Paul Postma Defense  Canada Swift Current Broncos (WHL)

Atlanta will pick third in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings, after failing to move up in the draft lottery. The Thrashers will also have the first round pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins, received in the trade for Marian Hossa.[8]

Farm teams

[edit]

American Hockey League

[edit]

The Chicago Wolves are the Thrashers American Hockey League affiliate for the 2007–08 AHL season

ECHL

[edit]

The Gwinnett Gladiators are the Thrashers ECHL affiliate.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Atlanta Thrashers at St. Louis Blues Box Score — December 23, 2007".
  2. ^ "2007-08 NHL Schedule and Results".
  3. ^ "Chicago Blackhawks at Nashville Predators Box Score — November 15, 2007".
  4. ^ http://ww.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2008_games.html[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "2007-08 NHL Summary".
  6. ^ "2007-08 NHL Schedule and Results".
  7. ^ 2007 NHL Entry Draft Results nhl.com [dead link]
  8. ^ Thrashers Acquire Armstrong, Erik Christensen, 2008 1st Round Selection and Angelo Esposito for Hossa and Dupuis Archived 2008-04-03 at the Wayback Machine
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2007–08_Atlanta_Thrashers_season&oldid=1253699155"