2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers season

The 2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers season was the 11th season of play for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise. The Thrashers failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs during the season, and at the end of the regular season, the team announced that it would not retain John Anderson as head coach. The Thrashers also promoted Don Waddell to president and Rick Dudley to general manager. Assistant coaches Randy Cunneyworth, Todd Nelson and Steve Weeks were also not retained.^[1]

2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers
Division	2nd Southeast
Conference	10th Eastern
2009–10 record	35–34–13
Home record	19–16–6
Road record	16–18–7
Goals for	234
Goals against	256
Team information
General manager	Don Waddell
Coach	John Anderson
Captain	Ilya Kovalchuk (Oct.–Feb.) Vacant (Feb.–Apr.)
Alternate captains	Colby Armstrong Zach Bogosian Ron Hainsey Vyacheslav Kozlov
Arena	Philips Arena
Average attendance	13,607 (73.4%) Total: 557,897
Team leaders
Goals	Ilya Kovalchuk (31)
Assists	Tobias Enstrom (44)
Points	Nik Antropov (67)
Penalty minutes	Eric Boulton (113)
Plus/minus	Nik Antropov (+13)
Wins	Johan Hedberg (21)
Goals against average	Johan Hedberg (2.62)
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

Off-season

With the fourth-overall pick in the Entry Draft, the Thrashers chose forward Evander Kane.

The Thrashers signed free agent forward Nik Antropov, intending to team him with Ilya Kovalchuk. The Thrashers made a trade for defenceman Pavel Kubina from the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving up Garnet Exelby in a four-player deal.

Pre-season

2010 Pre-season – Record: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 0–2–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Record 1 September 7 @ Nashville Predators 0-5 MacIntyre 0-1-0 2 September 18 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 1-2 OT Pavelec 0-1-1 3 September 21 Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 Hedberg 1-1-1 4 September 23 Nashville Predators 5-4 Pavelec 2-1-1 5 September 25 @ Carolina Hurricanes 3-4 MacIntyre 2-2-1 6 September 27 Tampa Bay Lightning 1-5 Pavelec 2-3-1

Regular season

Divisional standings

Southeast Division^[2]

		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Washington Capitals	82	54	15	13	318	233	121
2	Atlanta Thrashers	82	35	34	13	234	256	83
3	Carolina Hurricanes	82	35	37	10	230	256	80
4	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	34	36	12	217	260	80
5	Florida Panthers	82	32	37	13	208	244	77

Conference standings

Eastern Conference^[3]

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Washington Capitals	SE	82	54	15	13	318	233	121
2	y – New Jersey Devils	AT	82	48	27	7	222	191	103
3	y – Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	45	27	10	235	207	100
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	47	28	7	257	237	101
5	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	44	32	6	225	238	94
6	Boston Bruins	NE	82	39	30	13	206	200	91
7	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	41	35	6	236	225	88
8	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	39	33	10	217	223	88
8.5
9	New York Rangers	AT	82	38	33	11	222	218	87
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	35	34	13	234	256	83
11	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	35	37	10	230	256	80
12	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	34	36	12	217	260	80
13	New York Islanders	AT	82	34	37	11	222	264	79
14	Florida Panthers	SE	82	32	37	13	208	244	77
15	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	30	38	14	214	267	74

bold – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and division)

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

Game log

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

2009–10 Game Log
October: 5–4–1 (Home: 1–3-0; Road: 4–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 1 October 3 Tampa Bay Lightning 3-6 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 18,545 1-0-0 2 2 October 8 Atlanta Thrashers 4-2 St. Louis Blues Pavelec 19,150 2-0-0 4 3 October 10 Atlanta Thrashers 2-4 Ottawa Senators Pavelec 19,360 2-1-0 4 4 October 16 Atlanta Thrashers 4-2 New Jersey Devils Pavelec 14,187 3-1-0 6 5 October 17 Atlanta Thrashers 4-2 Buffalo Sabres Hedberg 18,690 4-1-0 8 6 October 20 Atlanta Thrashers 1-2 Montreal Canadiens SO Pavelec 21,273 4-1-1 9 7 October 22 Washington Capitals 5-4 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 13,192 4-2-1 9 8 October 24 San Jose Sharks 4-3 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 14,945 4-3-1 9 9 October 29 Washington Capitals 4-3 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 12,893 4-4-1 9 10 October 31 Atlanta Thrashers 3–1 Ottawa Senators Pavelec 17,297 5-4-1 11
November: 9–3–2 (Home: 5–2–2; Road: 4–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 11 November 3 Atlanta Thrashers 5-4 Montreal Canadiens Pavelec 21,273 6-4-1 13 12 November 5 Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 10,878 6-5-1 13 13 November 7 Atlanta Thrashers 3-6 New York Islanders Pavelec 14,119 6-6-1 13 14 November 8 St. Louis Blues 2-3 Atlanta Thrashers SO Hedberg 10,904 7-6-1 15 15 November 12 Atlanta Thrashers 5-3 New York Rangers Hedberg 18,200 8-6-1 17 16 November 13 Los Angeles Kings 0-7 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 15,638 9-6-1 19 17 November 15 Edmonton Oilers 2-3 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 11,091 10-6-1 21 18 November 19 Boston Bruins 4-3 Atlanta Thrashers SO Pavelec 12,112 10-6-2 22 19 November 21 Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 17,588 10-7-2 22 20 November 22 Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 Atlanta Thrashers OT Pavelec 13,342 10-7-3 23 21 November 25 Atlanta Thrashers 2-0 Detroit Red Wings Pavelec 19,751 11-7-3 25 22 November 27 Atlanta Thrashers 6-4 Carolina Hurricanes Pavelec 14,463 12-7-3 27 23 November 28 Philadelphia Flyers 0-1 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 16,018 13-7-3 29 24 November 30 Florida Panthers 3-4 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 10,310 14-7-3 31
December: 4–10–1 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 2–8–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 25 December 3 New York Islanders 4-1 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 11,704 14-8-3 31 26 December 5 Atlanta Thrashers 2-1 Florida Panthers SO Hedberg 13,291 15-8-3 33 27 December 7 Atlanta Thrashers 2-5 Toronto Maple Leafs Pavelec 19,050 15-9-3 33 28 December 9 Atlanta Thrashers 1-3 Calgary Flames Hedberg 19,289 15-10-3 33 29 December 10 Atlanta Thrashers 2-4 Vancouver Canucks Pavelec 18,810 15-11-3 33 30 December 12 Montreal Canadiens 3-4 Atlanta Thrashers OT Hedberg 16,616 16-11-3 35 31 December 14 Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 New York Rangers SO Hedberg 18,200 17-11-3 37 32 December 16 Atlanta Thrashers 3-4 Florida Panthers Hedberg 11,672 17-12-3 37 33 December 17 Dallas Stars 5-6 Atlanta Thrashers OT Pavelec 11,957 18-12-3 39 34 December 19 New Jersey Devils 5-4 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 14,616 18-13-3 39 35 December 21 Montreal Canadiens 4-3 Atlanta Thrashers OT Hedberg 15,075 18-13-4 40 36 December 23 Atlanta Thrashers 4-6 Boston Bruins Hedberg 17,565 18-14-4 40 37 December 26 Atlanta Thrashers 3-4 Tampa Bay Lightning Pavelec 15,437 18-15-4 40 38 December 28 Atlanta Thrashers 2-3 New Jersey Devils Hedberg 17,024 18-16-4 40 39 December 30 Atlanta Thrashers 0-4 Boston Bruins Pavelec 17,565 18-17-4 40
January: 6–5–4 (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 2–3–3) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 40 January 1 Atlanta Thrashers 3-4 Buffalo Sabres OT Hedberg 18,690 18-17-5 41 41 January 2 Atlanta Thrashers 5-6 New York Islanders SO Hedberg 12,824 18-17-6 42 42 January 5 Atlanta Thrashers 2-5 Pittsburgh Penguins Pavelec 17,049 18-18-6 42 43 January 7 New York Rangers 1-2 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 9,179 19-18-6 44 44 January 9 Washington Capitals 8-1 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 16,767 19-19-6 44 45 January 12 Ottawa Senators 1-6 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 10,017 20-19-6 46 46 January 14 Buffalo Sabres 2-1 Atlanta Thrashers OT Pavelec 11,313 20-19-7 47 47 January 16 Atlanta Thrashers 5-3 Carolina Hurricanes Pavelec 14,812 21-19-7 49 48 January 18 Atlanta Thrashers 0-1 Florida Panthers Hedberg 11,818 21-20-7 49 49 January 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 3-4 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 10,208 22-20-7 51 50 January 21 Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 10,472 22-21-7 51 51 January 23 Atlanta Thrashers 2-1 Tampa Bay Lightning SO Hedberg 16,212 22-21-8 52 52 January 26 Anaheim Ducks 1-2 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 12,984 23-21-8 54 53 January 28 Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 Philadelphia Flyers Hedberg 19,611 24-21-8 56 54 January 30 Atlanta Thrashers 3-4 Nashville Predators Hedberg 16,646 24-22-8 56
February: 2–2–2 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 1–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 55 February 2 Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 11,390 24-23-8 56 56 February 5 Atlanta Thrashers 2-5 Washington Capitals Pavelec 18,277 24-24-8 56 57 February 6 Florida Panthers 2-4 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 16,743 25-24-8 58 58 February 10 Atlanta Thrashers 3-4 Colorado Avalanche OT Hedberg 11,644 25-24-9 59 59 February 12 Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 Minnesota Wild Hedberg 18,257 26-24-9 61 60 February 13 Atlanta Thrashers 4-5 Chicago Blackhawks SO Pavelec 22,275 26-24-10 62
March: 8–7–2 (Home: 5–5–2; Road: 3–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 61 March 2 Florida Panthers 2-4 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 13,818 27-24-10 64 62 March 4 New York Islanders 3-6 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 14,776 28-24-10 66 63 March 6 Atlanta Thrashers 2-6 Tampa Bay Lightning Hedberg 19,926 28-25-10 66 64 March 7 Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 Atlanta Thrashers Pavelec 15,306 28-26-10 66 65 March 9 Nashville Predators 2-1 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 11,106 28-27-10 66 66 March 11 Atlanta Thrashers 1-2 Columbus Blue Jackets Hedberg 13,459 28-28-10 66 67 March 12 New York Rangers 5-2 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 15,571 28-29-10 66 68 March 14 Phoenix Coyotes 3-2 Atlanta Thrashers SO Pavelec 15,914 28-29-11 67 69 March 16 Buffalo Sabres 3-4 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 12,540 29-29-11 69 70 March 18 Ottawa Senators 3-6 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 12,718 30-29-11 71 71 March 20 Philadelphia Flyers 2-5 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 17,024 31-29-11 73 72 March 21 Atlanta Thrashers 3-1 Philadelphia Flyers Pavelec 19,575 32-29-11 75 73 March 23 Boston Bruins 4-0 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 14,042 32-30-11 75 74 March 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 Atlanta Thrashers OT Pavelec 14,148 32-30-12 76 75 March 27 Atlanta Thrashers 4-0 Carolina Hurricanes Hedberg 16,108 33-30-12 78 76 March 29 Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 13,440 33-31-12 78 77 March 30 Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 Toronto Maple Leafs Pavelec 19,079 34-31-12 80
April: 1–3–1 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 78 April 1 Atlanta Thrashers 1-2 Washington Capitals Pavelec 18,277 34-32-12 80 79 April 3 Atlanta Thrashers 3-4 Pittsburgh Penguins OT Hedberg 17,047 34-32-13 81 80 April 6 New Jersey Devils 3-0 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 12,038 34-33-13 81 81 April 9 Atlanta Thrashers 2-5 Washington Capitals Pavelec 18,277 34-34-13 81 82 April 10 Pittsburgh Penguins 0-1 Atlanta Thrashers Hedberg 18,959 35-34-13 83

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Nik Antropov 76 24 43 67 13 44 Maxim Afinogenov 82 24 37 61 -17 46 Ilya Kovalchuk‡ 49 31 27 58 1 45 Rich Peverley 82 22 33 55 -14 36 Tobias Enstrom 82 6 44 50 -5 30 Pavel Kubina 76 6 32 38 0 66 Bryan Little 79 13 21 34 -6 20 Colby Armstrong 79 15 14 29 6 61 Vyacheslav Kozlov 55 8 18 26 -15 33 Todd White 65 7 19 26 -11 24 Ron Hainsey 80 5 21 26 -6 39 Evander Kane 66 14 12 26 2 62 Zach Bogosian 81 10 13 23 -18 61 Jim Slater 61 11 7 18 1 60 Marty Reasoner 80 4 13 17 -3 24 Niclas Bergfors† 27 8 9 17 -3 0 Chris Thorburn 76 4 9 13 6 89 Johnny Oduya† 27 1 8 9 6 12 Clarke MacArthur† 21 3 6 9 -2 2 Eric Boulton 62 2 6 8 -1 113 Christoph Schubert 47 2 5 7 -6 69 Evgeny Artyukhin† 17 5 2 7 -4 31 Anssi Salmela‡ 29 1 4 5 4 22 Mark Popovic 37 2 2 4 0 10 Boris Valabik 23 0 2 2 2 36 Tim Stapleton 6 2 0 2 1 2 Arturs Kulda 4 0 2 2 2 2 Chris Chelios 7 0 0 0 -2 0

Goaltenders

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

Regular season
Player GP TOI W L OT GA GAA SA Sv% SO G A PIM Johan Hedberg 47 2632 21 16 6 115 2.62 1355 .915 3 0 1 6 Ondrej Pavelec 42 2317 14 18 7 127 3.29 1353 .906 2 0 1 0

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

Awards and records

Records

Player	Record (Amount)	Achieved
Tobias Enstrom	Most assist by a defenseman in franchise history (83)	December 19, 2009
	Most points in franchise history by a defenseman in a single season (40)	January 5, 2010
	Most points by a defenseman in franchise history (108)	January 16, 2010
	Most assists in franchise history by a defenseman in a single season (35)	January 26, 2010
Eric Boulton	Most penalty minutes in franchise history (536)	March 20, 2010

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Evander Kane	1st Career NHL Game 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point	October 3, 2009
Evander Kane	1st Career NHL Goal	October 8, 2009
Ilya Kovalchuk	300th career NHL Goal
Colby Armstrong	150th career NHL point
Chris Thorburn	200th career NHL game	October 16, 2009
Ron Hainsey	100th career NHL assist	October 29, 2009
Mark Popovic	1st career NHL Goal	November 3, 2009
Pavel Kubina	100th career NHL Goal	November 7, 2009
Ondrej Pavelec	1st career NHL shutout	November 13, 2009
Mark Popovic	1st career NHL goal
Todd White	600th Career NHL game	December 12, 2009
Eric Boulton	1,000th Career NHL PIM
Maxim Afinogenov	600th Career NHL Game	December 14, 2009
Christoph Schubert	300th Career NHL Game	December 21, 2009
Tobias Enstrom	200th Career NHL Game	December 23, 2009
	100th career NHL point	December 28, 2009
Ilya Kovalchuk	600th career NHL point	January 1, 2010
Ondrej Pavelec	1st career NHL point	January 12, 2010
Eric Boulton	1st career NHL power play goal
Todd White	200th game as a Thrasher
Jim Slater	300th career NHL game	January 16, 2010
Nik Antropov	200th career NHL assist	January 30, 2010
Pavel Kubina	800th career NHL game	February 2, 2010
Marty Reasoner	600th career NHL game	February 5, 2010
Johan Hedberg	50th win as a Thrasher	February 12, 2010
Rich Peverley	100th career NHL point	March 2, 2010
Tobias Enstrom	100th career NHL assist	March 18, 2010

Awards

Regular Season
Player	Award	Awarded
Ilya Kovalchuk[4]	NHL Second Star of the Week	November 16, 2009

Transactions

The Thrashers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2009–10 season.

Trades

Date	Details
June 27, 2009	To Los Angeles Kings 4th-round pick (95th overall) in 2009	To Atlanta Thrashers 4th-round pick (117th overall) in 2009 4th-round pick (120th overall) in 2009 7th-round pick (203rd overall) in 2009
June 27, 2009	To Chicago Blackhawks 6th-round pick (177th overall) in 2009	To Atlanta Thrashers 5th-round pick in 2010
July 1, 2009[5]	To Toronto Maple Leafs Garnet Exelby Colin Stuart	To Atlanta Thrashers Pavel Kubina Tim Stapleton
September 24, 2009[6]	To Anaheim Ducks Future considerations	To Atlanta Thrashers Steve McCarthy
October 8, 2009[7]	To Columbus Blue Jackets Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman	To Atlanta Thrashers Future considerations
February 4, 2010[8]	To New Jersey Devils Ilya Kovalchuk Anssi Salmela 2nd-round pick in 2010	To Atlanta Thrashers Johnny Oduya Niclas Bergfors Patrice Cormier 1st-round pick in 2010 2nd-round pick in 2010
February 9, 2010[9]	To Dallas Stars Kari Lehtonen	To Atlanta Thrashers Ivan Vishnevskiy 4th-round pick in 2010
March 1, 2010[10]	To Anaheim Ducks Nathan Oystrick Conditional pick in 2011[a]	To Atlanta Thrashers Evgeny Artyukhin
March 1, 2010[11]	To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2010 4th-round pick in 2010	To Atlanta Thrashers Clarke MacArthur

Condition not satisfied. Free agents acquired Player Former team Contract terms Nik Antropov[12] New York Rangers 4 years, $16 million Joel Kwiatkowski[13] Severstal Cherepovets undisclosed Jason Krog[14] Manitoba Moose undisclosed Drew MacIntyre[15] Milwaukee Admirals undisclosed Peter Mannino[16] New York Islanders undisclosed Anthony Stewart[17] Florida Panthers undisclosed Noah Welch[18] Tampa Bay Lightning undisclosed Josh Gratton[19] Philadelphia Flyers undisclosed Michael Vernace[20] Colorado Avalanche undisclosed Mark Popovic[21] SKA Saint Petersburg undisclosed Maxim Afinogenov[22] Buffalo Sabres 1 year, $800,000 Chris Chelios[23] Detroit Red Wings undisclosed

Free agents lost Player New team Contract terms Clay Wilson[24] Florida Panthers 2 years

Claimed via waivers Player Former team Date claimed off waivers Christoph Schubert[25] Ottawa Senators October 2, 2009

Lost via waivers Player New team Date claimed off waivers

Player signings Player Contract terms Anssi Salmela[26] 2 years, $1.225 million Marty Reasoner[27] 2 years, $2.3 million Andrew Kozek[28] undisclosed Rylan Kaip[29] undisclosed Chris Thorburn[30] 2 years, $1.32 million Joey Crabb[31] undisclosed Nathan Oystrick[32] undisclosed Jim Slater[33] 1 year, $800,000 Kari Lehtonen[34] 1 year, $3 million Colby Armstrong[35] 2 years, $2.4 million Scott Lehman[36] undisclosed Grant Lewis[37] undisclosed Tim Stapleton[38] undisclosed Evander Kane[39] undisclosed Boris Valabik[40] 2 years, $1.525 million Michael Forney[41] multi-year contract Rich Peverley[42] 2 years, $2.6 million contract extension

Draft picks

Atlanta's picks at the 2009 NHL entry draft in Montreal, Quebec.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	4	Evander Kane	(C)	Canada	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
2	34	Carl Klingberg	(F)	Sweden	Frolunda HC (J20 SuperElit)
2	45 (from Anaheim via Washington and Montreal)	Jeremy Morin	(LW)	United States	U.S. National Team Development Program (USHL)
4	117 (from San Jose via Los Angeles)	Eddie Pasquale	(G)	Canada	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
4	120 (from Detroit via Los Angeles)	Ben Chiarot	(D)	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
5	125	Cody Sol	(D)	Canada	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
6	155	Jimmy Bubnick	(C)	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
7	185	Levko Koper	(LW)	Canada	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
7	203 (from Vancouver via Los Angeles)	Jordan Samuels-Thomas	(LW)	United States	Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)

See also

• 2009–10 NHL season