2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers season

The 2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers season was the tenth season of the franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Thrashers attempted to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2006–07 season, but failed.

2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers
Division	4th Southeast
Conference	13th Eastern
2008–09 record	35–41–6
Home record	18–21–2
Road record	17–20–4
Goals for	257
Goals against	280
Team information
General manager	Don Waddell
Coach	John Anderson
Captain	Vacant (Oct.–Jan.) Ilya Kovalchuk (Jan.–Apr.)
Alternate captains	Colby Armstrong Niclas Havelid (Oct.–Mar.) Ilya Kovalchuk (Oct.–Jan.) Vyacheslav Kozlov Mathieu Schneider (Oct.–Feb.)
Arena	Philips Arena
Average attendance	Average: 14,535 Capacity: 78.4% Total: 276,166
Team leaders
Goals	Ilya Kovalchuk (43)
Assists	Todd White (49)
Points	Ilya Kovalchuk (91)
Penalty minutes	Eric Boulton (163)
Plus/minus	Rich Peverley (+14)
Wins	Kari Lehtonen (18)
Goals against average	Kari Lehtonen (3.09)
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Regular season

Divisional standings

Southeast Division

		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	y – Washington Capitals	82	50	24	8	272	245	108
2	Carolina Hurricanes	82	45	30	7	239	226	97
3	Florida Panthers	82	41	30	11	234	231	93
4	Atlanta Thrashers	82	35	41	6	257	280	76
5	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	24	40	18	210	279	66

Conference standings

Eastern Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Boston Bruins	NE	82	53	19	10	274	196	116
2	y – Washington Capitals	SE	82	50	24	8	272	245	108
3	y – New Jersey Devils	AT	82	51	27	4	244	209	106
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	45	28	9	264	239	99
5	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	44	27	11	264	238	99
6	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	45	30	7	239	226	97
7	New York Rangers	AT	82	43	30	9	210	218	95
8	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	11	249	247	93
8.5
9	Florida Panthers	SE	82	41	30	11	234	231	93
10	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	41	32	9	250	234	91
11	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	36	35	11	217	237	83
12	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	34	35	13	250	293	81
13	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	35	41	6	257	280	76
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	24	40	18	210	279	66
15	New York Islanders	AT	82	26	47	9	201	279	61

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

AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

Schedule and results

• Green background indicates win (2 points).
• Red background indicates regulation loss (0 points).
• White background indicates overtime/shootout loss (1 point).

2008–09 Game Log
Preseason: 1–5–0 (Home: 0–3–0 ; Road: 1–2–0) Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance September 25 Atlanta 4 - 2 Nashville Pavelec 10,558 September 26 Atlanta 4 - 9 St. Louis Hedberg 12,526 September 28 Atlanta 0 - 4 Detroit Lehtonen 17,714 October 1 Detroit 4 - 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 10,817 October 3 Nashville 6 - 4 Atlanta Hedberg 6,753 October 4 St. Louis 4 - 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 7,648
October: 2–6–2 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 0–3–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 1 October 10 Washington 4 - 7 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,545 1-0-0 2 2 October 11 Atlanta 2 - 3 Florida OT Lehtonen 17,085 1-0-1 3 3 October 14 Minnesota 4 - 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 11,843 1-1-1 3 4 October 16 New Jersey 1 - 0 Atlanta Lehtonen 11,293 1-2-1 3 5 October 18 Buffalo 2 - 3 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 14,091 2-2-1 5 6 October 21 Atlanta 2 - 3 Tampa Bay OT Lehtonen 13,922 2-2-2 6 7 October 24 Atlanta 3 - 5 Detroit Lehtonen 20,066 2-3-2 6 8 October 25 Atlanta 4 - 5 Boston Hedberg 16,044 2-4-2 6 9 October 28 Philadelphia 7 - 0 Atlanta Lehtonen 13,207 3-5-2 6 10 October 30 Atlanta 2 - 3 NY Rangers Lehtonen 18,200 2-6-2 6
November: 6–6–1 (Home: 3–3–1 ; Road: 3–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 11 November 1 Atlanta 1 - 5 New Jersey Hedberg 14,958 2-7-2 6 12 November 2 Florida 3 - 5 Atlanta Pavelec 10,584 3-7-2 8 13 November 6 NY Islanders 3 - 4 Atlanta Pavelec 14,122 4-7-2 10 14 November 7 Atlanta 5 - 4 Buffalo OT Hedberg 18,466 5-7-2 12 15 November 9 Atlanta 5 - 2 Carolina Hedberg 12,398 6-7-2 14 16 November 14 Carolina 3 - 2 Atlanta Hedberg 16,128 7-7-2 16 17 November 16 Atlanta 3 - 4 Philadelphia Hedberg 19,437 7-8-2 16 18 November 20 Pittsburgh 3 - 2 Atlanta Pavelec 13,391 7-9-2 16 19 November 22 Columbus 2 - 0 Atlanta Pavelec 15,561 7-10-2 16 20 November 25 Atlanta 6 - 3 Toronto Hedberg 19,297 8-10-2 18 21 November 26 Atlanta 3 - 5 Washington Pavelec 18,277 8-11-2 18 22 November 28 Nashville 4 - 3 Atlanta OT Hedberg 15,022 8-11-3 19 23 November 30 St. Louis 4 - 2 Atlanta Pavelec 14,078 8-12-3 19
December: 4–9–2 (Home: 1–5–1 ; Road: 3–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 24 December 2 Atlanta 4 - 5 Montreal Hedberg 21,273 8-13-3 19 25 December 3 Atlanta 1 - 5 Ottawa Pavelec 17,215 8-14-3 19 26 December 6 Atlanta 5 - 1 NY Islanders Hedberg 14,174 9-14-3 21 27 December 10 NY Rangers 3 - 2 Atlanta OT Hedberg 13,704 9-14-4 22 28 December 12 Boston 7 - 3 Atlanta Hedberg 15,818 9-15-4 22 29 December 13 Atlanta 2 - 4 Boston Hedberg 17,565 9-16-4 22 30 December 16 Atlanta 4 - 1 Ottawa Pavelec 18,746 10-16-4 24 31 December 18 Pittsburgh 6 - 3 Atlanta Pavelec 15,124 10-17-4 24 32 December 20 Tampa Bay 3 - 4 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,395 11-17-4 26 33 December 22 Toronto 6 - 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,413 11-18-4 26 34 December 23 Atlanta 4 - 2 NY Islanders Hedberg 14,227 12-18-4 28 35 December 26 Carolina 5 - 4 Atlanta Hedberg 16,012 12-19-4 28 36 December 28 Boston 2 - 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 16,835 12-20-4 28 37 December 30 Atlanta 3 - 4 Toronto OT Hedberg 19,260 12-20-5 29 38 December 31 Atlanta 1 - 3 Carolina Lehtonen 18,137 12-21-5 29
January: 5–8–0 (Home: 3-3–0 ; Road: 2–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 39 January 2 Vancouver 3 - 4 Atlanta SO Lehtonen 14,902 13-21-5 31 40 January 4 Tampa Bay 4 - 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 10,750 13-22-5 31 41 January 6 Atlanta 1 - 3 Pittsburgh Lehtonen 16,975 13-23-5 31 42 January 8 Atlanta 4 - 0 New Jersey Lehtonen 16,489 14-23-5 33 43 January 10 Atlanta 4 - 8 Florida Lehtonen 14,323 14-24-5 33 44 January 14 Ottawa 2 - 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,163 14-25-5 33 45 January 16 Toronto 4 - 3 Atlanta OT Lehtonen 15,619 15-25-5 35 46 January 17 Atlanta 7 - 2 Nashville Lehtonen 17,113 16-25-5 37 47 January 20 Montreal 4 - 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 13,076 17-25-5 39 48 January 21 Atlanta 3 - 5 Philadelphia Lehtonen 19,766 17-26-5 39 49 January 27 Atlanta 0 - 2 Dallas Lehtonen 16,726 17-27-5 39 50 January 29 NY Islanders 4 - 5 Atlanta Hedberg 15,200 17-28-5 39 51 January 31 Atlanta 0 - 2 Carolina Lehtonen 16,215 17-29-5 39
February: 6–5–1 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 4–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 52 February 3 Atlanta 2 - 1 NY Rangers Lehtonen 18,200 18-29-5 41 53 February 6 New Jersey 1 - 5 Atlanta Lehtonen 17,069 18-30-5 41 54 February 8 Philadelphia 2 - 3 Atlanta Hedberg 14,175 18-31-5 41 55 February 10 Atlanta 3 - 1 Tampa Bay Lehtonen 13,490 19-31-5 43 56 February 11 Chicago 1 - 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,029 19-32-5 43 57 February 15 Atlanta 8 - 4 Anaheim Lehtonen 17,228 20-32-5 45 58 February 16 Atlanta 7 - 6 Los Angeles SO Hedberg 18,118 21-32-5 47 59 February 19 Atlanta 3 - 4 Phoenix SO Lehtonen 15,341 21-32-6 48 60 February 21 Atlanta 1 - 3 San Jose Lehtonen 17,496 21-33-6 48 61 February 24 Colorado 4 - 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 12,101 22-33-6 50 62 February 26 Atlanta 3 - 4 Washington Lehtonen 18,277 22-34-6 50 63 February 28 Carolina 5 - 3 Atlanta Lehtonen 17,796 23-34-6 52
March: 9–4–0 (Home: 5–2–0 ; Road: 4–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 64 March 3 Florida 3 - 4 Atlanta Lehtonen 10,329 23-35-6 52 65 March 6 Montreal 2 - 0 Atlanta Lehtonen 14,813 24-35-6 54 66 March 8 Calgary 5 - 2 Atlanta Lehtonen 13,469 25-35-6 56 67 March 10 Atlanta 3 - 0 Colorado Lehtonen 13,608 26-35-6 58 68 March 12 Atlanta 4 - 3 Edmonton OT Hedberg 16,389 27-35-6 60 69 March 14 Atlanta 4 -3 Buffalo SO Hedberg 18,690 28-35-6 62 70 March 16 Washington 5 - 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 13,336 29-35-6 64 71 March 17 Atlanta 2 - 6 Pittsburgh Hedberg 17,088 29-36-6 64 72 March 20 Detroit 3 - 6 Atlanta Lehtonen 18,545 29-37-6 64 73 March 21 Atlanta 4 - 3 Tampa Bay SO Hedberg 15,391 30-37-6 66 74 March 24 Atlanta 3 - 6 Montreal Lehtonen 21,273 30-38-6 66 75 March 26 NY Rangers 5 - 4 Atlanta SO Hedberg 13,157 31-38-6 68 76 March 28 Ottawa 6 - 3 Atlanta Hedberg 17,053 32-38-6 70
April: 3–3–0 (Home: 2–2–0 ; Road: 1–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 77 April 1 Buffalo 2 - 3 Atlanta OT Hedberg 15,038 33-38-6 72 78 April 3 Atlanta 3 - 1 Florida Hedberg 15,945 34-38-6 74 79 April 5 Atlanta 4 - 6 Washington Hedberg 18,277 34-39-6 74 80 April 7 Washington 4 - 2 Atlanta Pavelec 16,027 34-40-6 74 81 April 9 Florida 3 - 2 Atlanta Hedberg 15,738 34-41-6 74 82 April 11 Tampa Bay 2 - 6 Atlanta Lehtonen 17,122 35-41-6 76

Record vs. Opponents

Team	Points	Record
New Jersey*	106	1–3–0
NY Islanders	61	3–1–0
NY Rangers	95	2–1–1
Philadelphia	99	0–4–0
Pittsburgh	99	0–4–0
Boston*	116	0–4–0
Buffalo	91	4–0–0
Montreal	93	2–2–0
Ottawa	83	2–2–0
Toronto	81	2–1–1
Carolina	97	3–3–0
Florida	93	2–3–1
Tampa Bay	66	4–1–1
Washington*	108	2–4–0
Chicago	104	0–1–0
Columbus	92	0–1–0
Detroit*	112	0–2–0
Nashville	88	1–0–1
St. Louis	92	0–1–0
Calgary	98	1–0–0
Colorado	69	2–0–0
Edmonton	85	1–0–0
Minnesota	89	0–1–0
Vancouver*	100	1–0–0
Anaheim	91	1–0–0
Dallas	83	0–1–0
Los Angeles	79	1–0–0
Phoenix	79	0–0–1
San Jose*	117	0–1–0

Notes: * denotes division winner; teams in bold are in the Southeast Division; teams in italics qualified for the playoffs; points refer to the points achieved by the team whom the Thrashers played against

  = Member of the Atlantic Division
  = Member of the Northeast Division
  = Member of the Southeast Division
  = Member of the Central Division
  = Member of the Northeast Division
  = Member of the Pacific Division

Playoffs

The Atlanta Thrashers failed to qualify for the 2009 NHL Playoffs.

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Ilya Kovalchuk 79 43 48 91 -12 50 Vyacheslav Kozlov 82 26 50 76 -14 44 Todd White 82 22 51 73 -9 24 Bryan Little 79 31 20 51 -5 24 Colby Armstrong 82 22 18 40 +5 75 Ron Hainsey 81 6 33 39 -16 32 Rich Peverley† 39 13 22 35 +16 18 Tobias Enstrom 82 5 27 32 +14 52 Marty Reasoner 79 14 16 30 +11 36 Eric Perrin 78 7 16 23 -2 36 Erik Christensen‡ 47 5 14 19 -7 14 Zach Bogosian 47 9 10 19 +11 47 Jason Williams‡ 41 7 11 18 -9 8 Jim Slater 60 8 10 18 0 52 Niclas Havelid‡ 63 2 13 15 +4 42 Mathieu Schneider‡ 44 4 11 15 -10 50 Chris Thorburn 82 7 8 15 -10 104 Eric Boulton 76 3 10 13 -3 176 Nathan Oystrick 53 4 8 12 -2 50 Joey Crabb 29 4 5 9 -2 28 Colin Stuart 33 5 3 8 +3 18 Garnet Exelby 59 0 7 7 -2 120 Boris Valabik 50 0 5 5 -14 132 Anssi Salmela† 9 1 2 3 0 2 Joe Motzko 6 1 0 1 +1 0 Brett Sterling 6 1 0 1 -3 2 Scott Lehman 1 0 0 0 0 0 Clay Wilson† 2 0 0 0 -1 0 Jordan LaVallee 2 0 0 0 -1 0 Grant Lewis 1 0 0 0 0 0 Spencer Machacek 2 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders

Regular season
Player GP Min W L OT GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO Kari Lehtonen 46 2624 19 22 3 134 3.06 1498 1364 .911 3 Johan Hedberg 33 1716 13 12 3 100 3.49 875 775 .886 0 Ondrej Pavelec 12 599 3 7 0 36 3.60 301 265 .880 0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Thrashers. Stats reflect season totals.
^‡Traded mid-season
underline/italics denotes franchise record

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;

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Zach Bogosian	1st NHL Game	October 10, 2008
Colby Armstrong	200th NHL Game	October 10, 2008
Garnet Exelby	300th NHL Game	October 11, 2008
Nathan Oystrick	1st NHL Game	October 14, 2008
Mathieu Schneider	1,200th NHL Game	October 14, 2008
Jason Williams	300th NHL Game	October 16, 2008
Todd White	500th NHL Game	November 2, 2008
Bryan Little	1st NHL Hat Trick	December 26, 2008
Kari Lehtonen	200th NHL Game	March 16, 2009
Eric Perrin	100 NHL Point	March 24, 2009

Transactions

Trades

Date	Details
September 26, 2008	To Anaheim Ducks Ken Klee Brad Larsen Chad Painchaud	To Atlanta Thrashers Mathieu Schneider
January 13, 2009	To New York Islanders Junior Lessard	To Atlanta Thrashers Brett Skinner
January 14, 2009	To Columbus Blue Jackets Jason Williams	To Atlanta Thrashers Clay Wilson 6th-round pick in 2009 – David Pacan
February 16, 2009	To Montreal Canadiens Mathieu Schneider Conditional pick in 2009 (condition satisfied) – Joonas Nattinen	To Atlanta Thrashers 2nd-round pick in 2009 – Jeremy Morin 3rd-round pick in 2010 – Julian Melchiori
March 2, 2009	To New Jersey Devils Niclas Havelid Myles Stoesz	To Atlanta Thrashers Anssi Salmela

Free agents

Player Former team Contract Terms

Player New team Bobby Holik New Jersey Devils Mark Recchi[citation needed] Tampa Bay Lightning Jason Krog Vancouver Canucks

Claimed from waivers

Player Former team Date claimed off waivers Rich Peverley Nashville Predators January 10, 2009

Draft picks

Atlanta's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	3	Zach Bogosian	(D)	United States	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
1	29 (from Pittsburgh)	Daultan Leveille	(C)	Canada	St. Catharines Falcons (GOJHL)
3	64	Danick Paquette	(RW)	Canada	Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL)
4	94	Vinny Saponari	(RW)	United States	U.S. National Team Development Program (NAHL)
5	124	Nicklas Lasu	(LW)	Sweden	Frölunda HC (Sweden Jr.)
6	154	Chris Carrozzi	(G)	Canada	Mississauga St. Michael's Majors (OHL)
7	184	Zach Redmond	(D)	United States	Ferris State University (CCHA)

See also

• 2008–09 NHL season

References