Thrashers Look like a Pretty Good Team... No, Really

There is no team in the NHL marred by as inappropriate a name as the Atlanta Thrashers. Over their first 10 seasons in the league, they have more accurately been thrashees.

A simple illustration of this fact: The team has earned a winning record in just three seasons and has made the playoffs only once, getting swept in the first round.

Perhaps as expected, they’ve also taken a serious spanking over the turnstiles, finding themselves in the bottom ten places in league attendance every year this decade. In their inaugural 1999-2000 season, they actually managed to place 10^th, but ticket sales have suffered an almost perpetual decline since. Attendance has dropped in each of the last four years despite two of those winning seasons during that span.

There is hope, though, that the situation isn’t irreparably damaged down South. The Thrashers may have turned a corner, with last season comprising an undeniable overall success. However, it should be taken into account that low expectations serve as a pick-me-up in the direst circumstances, which in the Thrashers’ case amounts to constant mediocrity.

"That's what you get for trading me, a better team."

The team finished over .500 with a 35-34-13 record, just five points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. More interesting to note is that after trading Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils, the Thrashers went 11-11-5, doing just as well without a legitimate superstar. And, in addition to underrated Swedes Niclas “Anti Forsberg” Bergfors and Johnny Oduya, Atlanta also got a prospect and draft picks in return. There’s no doubt about it, there’s an air of change in Atlanta. But this time it’s no New Coke... this time it’s actually for the better. The Thrashers are now free to play a team game instead of “Pass the Puck to Kovalchuk”, which, rumour has it, was about as popular in Georgia as the Thrashers themselves. Needless to say, no PS3 versions were sold.

With the ability to build a more well-rounded team, new general manager Rick Dudley wasted no time, acquiring Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Akim Aliu, Ben Eager, and Brent Sopel from the Chicago Blackhawks, who at the time were a team as desperate as a crack addict a day into his most recent bid to get clean. Dudley also signed forward Fredrik Modin and number-one goalie Chris Mason via free agency. Modin should serve more of a checking role, while Mason will help to insulate arguably the team’s most important prospect, Ondrej Pavelec.

And on Wednesday came reports that former Calgary Flame Nigel Dawes, who must have mistakenly called gm Darryl Sutter by one of his brother’s names to warrant the contract buy-out, signed a two-way deal with Atlanta. If true, Dawes constitutes a veritable steal, one that adds to an already deep group of forwards.

Perhaps the team’s biggest strength, however, is its defense, which boasts proven puck-movers in Tobias Enstrom and Ron Hainsey, the unsung Oduya and Sopel, and superstar-in-the-making Zach Bogosian.

All in all, the team is young, talented, and poised to turn at least a few heads... and this year it won’t be because of a car crash on the ice. However, despite the team having a bird for its mascot, it’s disappointing to say, but the sky won’t be the limit.

At this stage, the best the Thrashers can hope for is a playoff berth... but it is a realistic goal. So it’s time for fans in Atlanta to get all aflutter as they will likely get a chance to celebrate the team’s first-ever postseason victory this season. It’s not much, but it’s something for a team that could just as easily have been called the Trashers.