2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	2008–09
Year:	2008
Team:	Atlanta Thrashers
Conferencerank:	13th
Divisionrank:	4th
Record:	35–41–6
Homerecord:	18–21–2
Roadrecord:	17–20–4
Goalsfor:	257
Goalsagainst:	280
Captain:	Vacant (Oct.–Jan.) Ilya Kovalchuk (Jan.–Apr.)
Altcaptain:	Colby Armstrong Niclas Havelid (Oct.–Mar.) Ilya Kovalchuk (Oct.–Jan.) Vyacheslav Kozlov Mathieu Schneider (Oct.–Feb.)
Attendance:	Average: 14,535 Capacity: 78.4% Total: 276,166
Goalsleader:	Ilya Kovalchuk (43)
Assistsleader:	Todd White (49)
Pointsleader:	Ilya Kovalchuk (91)
Plusminusleader:	Rich Peverley (+14)
Pimleader:	Eric Boulton (163)
Winsleader:	Kari Lehtonen (18)
Gaaleader:	Kari Lehtonen (3.09)

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.

Regular season

Conference standings

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 4 - 2 10,558 September 26 4 - 9 12,526 September 28 0 - 4 17,714 October 1 4 - 1 Lehtonen 10,817 October 3 6 - 4 Hedberg 6,753 October 4 4 - 1 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 4 - 7 Lehtonen 18,545 1-0-0 2 2 October 11 2 - 3 OT Lehtonen 17,085 1-0-1 3 3 October 14 4 - 2 Lehtonen 11,843 1-1-1 3 4 October 16 1 - 0 Lehtonen 11,293 1-2-1 3 5 October 18 2 - 3 SO Lehtonen 14,091 2-2-1 5 6 October 21 2 - 3 OT Lehtonen 13,922 2-2-2 6 7 October 24 3 - 5 Lehtonen 20,066 2-3-2 6 8 October 25 4 - 5 Hedberg 16,044 2-4-2 6 9 October 28 7 - 0 Lehtonen 13,207 3-5-2 6 10 October 30 2 - 3 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 1 - 5 Hedberg 14,958 2-7-2 6 12 November 2 3 - 5 Pavelec 10,584 3-7-2 8 13 November 6 3 - 4 Pavelec 14,122 4-7-2 10 14 November 7 5 - 4 OT Hedberg 18,466 5-7-2 12 15 November 9 5 - 2 Hedberg 12,398 6-7-2 14 16 November 14 3 - 2 Atlanta Hedberg 16,128 7-7-2 16 17 November 16 3 - 4 Philadelphia Hedberg 19,437 7-8-2 16 18 November 20 3 - 2 Atlanta Pavelec 13,391 7-9-2 16 19 November 22 2 - 0 Atlanta Pavelec 15,561 7-10-2 16 20 November 25 6 - 3 Toronto Hedberg 19,297 8-10-2 18 21 November 26 3 - 5 Washington Pavelec 18,277 8-11-2 18 22 November 28 4 - 3 OT Hedberg 15,022 8-11-3 19 23 November 30 4 - 2 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 4 - 5 Hedberg 21,273 8-13-3 19 25 December 3 1 - 5 Pavelec 17,215 8-14-3 19 26 December 6 5 - 1 Hedberg 14,174 9-14-3 21 27 December 10 3 - 2 OT Hedberg 13,704 9-14-4 22 28 December 12 7 - 3 Hedberg 15,818 9-15-4 22 29 December 13 2 - 4 Hedberg 17,565 9-16-4 22 30 December 16 4 - 1 Pavelec 18,746 10-16-4 24 31 December 18 6 - 3 Pavelec 15,124 10-17-4 24 32 December 20 3 - 4 Lehtonen 14,395 11-17-4 26 33 December 22 6 - 2 Lehtonen 16,413 11-18-4 26 34 December 23 4 - 2 Hedberg 14,227 12-18-4 28 35 December 26 5 - 4 Hedberg 16,012 12-19-4 28 36 December 28 2 - 1 Lehtonen 16,835 12-20-4 28 37 December 30 3 - 4 OT Hedberg 19,260 12-20-5 29 38 December 31 1 - 3 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 3 - 4 SO Lehtonen 14,902 13-21-5 31 40 January 4 Tampa Bay 4 - 1 Lehtonen 10,750 13-22-5 31 41 January 6 1 - 3 Lehtonen 16,975 13-23-5 31 42 January 8 4 - 0 Lehtonen 16,489 14-23-5 33 43 January 10 4 - 8 Lehtonen 14,323 14-24-5 33 44 January 14 2 - 3 Lehtonen 14,163 14-25-5 33 45 January 16 4 - 3 OT Lehtonen 15,619 15-25-5 35 46 January 17 7 - 2 Lehtonen 17,113 16-25-5 37 47 January 20 4 - 2 Lehtonen 13,076 17-25-5 39 48 January 21 3 - 5 Lehtonen 19,766 17-26-5 39 49 January 27 0 - 2 Lehtonen 16,726 17-27-5 39 50 January 29 4 - 5 Hedberg 15,200 17-28-5 39 51 January 31 0 - 2 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 2 - 1 Lehtonen 18,200 18-29-5 41 53 February 6 1 - 5 Lehtonen 17,069 18-30-5 41 54 February 8 2 - 3 Hedberg 14,175 18-31-5 41 55 February 10 3 - 1 Lehtonen 13,490 19-31-5 43 56 February 11 1 - 3 Lehtonen 14,029 19-32-5 43 57 February 15 8 - 4 Lehtonen 17,228 20-32-5 45 58 February 16 7 - 6 SO Hedberg 18,118 21-32-5 47 59 February 19 3 - 4 SO Lehtonen 15,341 21-32-6 48 60 February 21 1 - 3 Lehtonen 17,496 21-33-6 48 61 February 24 4 - 3 Lehtonen 12,101 22-33-6 50 62 February 26 3 - 4 Lehtonen 18,277 22-34-6 50 63 February 28 5 - 3 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 3 - 4 Lehtonen 10,329 23-35-6 52 65 March 6 2 - 0 Lehtonen 14,813 24-35-6 54 66 March 8 5 - 2 Lehtonen 13,469 25-35-6 56 67 March 10 3 - 0 Lehtonen 13,608 26-35-6 58 68 March 12 4 - 3 OT Hedberg 16,389 27-35-6 60 69 March 14 4 -3 SO Hedberg 18,690 28-35-6 62 70 March 16 5 - 1 Lehtonen 13,336 29-35-6 64 71 March 17 2 - 6 Hedberg 17,088 29-36-6 64 72 March 20 3 - 6 Lehtonen 18,545 29-37-6 64 73 March 21 4 - 3 SO Hedberg 15,391 30-37-6 66 74 March 24 3 - 6 Lehtonen 21,273 30-38-6 66 75 March 26 5 - 4 SO Hedberg 13,157 31-38-6 68 76 March 28 6 - 3 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 2 - 3 OT Hedberg 15,038 33-38-6 72 78 April 3 3 - 1 Hedberg 15,945 34-38-6 74 79 April 5 4 - 6 Hedberg 18,277 34-39-6 74 80 April 7 4 - 2 Pavelec 16,027 34-40-6 74 81 April 9 3 - 2 Hedberg 15,738 34-41-6 74 82 April 11 2 - 6 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

Goaltenders

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

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
	1st NHL Game	October 10, 2008
	200th NHL Game	October 10, 2008
	300th NHL Game	October 11, 2008
	1st NHL Game	October 14, 2008
	1,200th NHL Game	October 14, 2008
	300th NHL Game	October 16, 2008
	500th NHL Game	November 2, 2008
	1st NHL Hat Trick	December 26, 2008
	200th NHL Game	March 16, 2009
	100 NHL Point	March 24, 2009

Transactions

Trades

Date
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 New team New Jersey Devils Tampa Bay Lightning Vancouver Canucks

Claimed from waivers

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		(D)		Peterborough Petes (OHL)
1	29 (from Pittsburgh)		(C)		St. Catharines Falcons (GOJHL)
3	64	Danick Paquette	(RW)		Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL)
4	94		(RW)		U.S. National Team Development Program (NAHL)
5	124		(LW)		Frölunda HC (Sweden Jr.)
6	154		(G)		Mississauga St. Michael's Majors (OHL)
7	184	Zach Redmond	(D)		Ferris State University (CCHA)

See also

• 2008–09 NHL season