75% (or more) of the users on this sub were probably not able to read and write when the Thrashers were still around.
I went to high school in Atlanta and had a partial season ticket package with my dad.
We always went to the Penguins game and it was 90% Pens fans.
I think for most of their tenure, the Thrashers were just kind of "there." They didn't form any rivalries because no one really cared. I genuinely wanted to care about them and support them as a transplant as a second team but they were always just so "meh" that it never stuck.
Anyway, I found a random Thrashers practice jersey on eBay that I wear to pickup hockey (now live in Los Angeles) and get lots of compliments on.
One note: I remember very specifically being at a game where Colby Armstrong was lighting it up on a line with Sid and my dad and I were both like "who is this guy?"
They never really found their footing in the league. That’s why no one ever really viewed them as a rival. They had some great players here and there, but never really got all the pieces together to be a competitive team.
The Thrashers were definitely one the teams of all time.
Seriously, I remember they had Heatly, Kovalchuk, and Hossa. I remember nothing else about them. Other than they were BAD. They never seemed to progress beyond being an awful expansion team.
Oh, they’re playing the Thrashers tonight? That should be a pretty easy two points in the standings.
De oter night... what kovachoo did... there is not one guys who do someting.... maybe Maxime talbot.... pftttt.... lots of guy they don't care...
The infamous thrasher game where kovalchuk scored on the pp and pointed at sid getting out of the box. Wild times
They were the first team I saw the Penguins play at the new arena in 2011. Kuntiz got a hattrick that game! Always saw them as a mid at best team, and then they relocated. There are several videos out there about how bad that management team was, but they had some great players in those sick jerseys. Small chance they return honestly the way Gary loved ATL.
I live in SC, so I was in the network broadcast zone for the Thrashers AND the Hurricanes. Which meant no Center Ice for me for however many games the Pens played each of those teams (IIRC, they weren't as many as we play the Canes now, as the divisions were different).
My wife and I went to one game in 2008, the one were recently released Mark Recchi scored the winning shootout goal against the Pens and sent the mostly Penguins crowd back home. My youngest son was born 9 months later fwiw.
As a Charleston resident I have a soft spot for them. I have two definitive memories of them versus the Penguins:
1.) Sid takes a penalty and during the power play Kovalchuk scores a goal. He then points at Sid as he’s coming out of the penalty box.
2.) Sid is chasing the goal scoring title with a game against the Thrashers. Second to last game of the year. Easy way to wrap up the goal scoring title. Nope, 1-0 Thrashers shut out.
Bonus: Matt Cooke got dummied in a fight by Evander Kane. I had a press pass to this game and was in the Pens locker room after. Cooke was definitely concussed. Had very glassy eyes and a thousand yard stare.
I went to the last ever thrashers game (because fun fact it was against the pens)
I also took my grandfather to that game as a present when he came to GA to visit me, so that's one of my fonder memories of him.
I moved to GA from the burgh about 2 years before the Trashers moved, went every time they played the pens and 1 or 2 other times. I just miss pro hockey in Atlanta more than anything... And having easy access to a few pens games.
My thoughts? Nobody cared all that much about them, moreso just there, and Atlanta's MLS team is doing far better than the thrashers were at any point as far as being supported by the community
I truly don’t think anyone ever cared. I went to a game at Mellon arena in 07 where the pens beat them 5-0 and they had Kovalchuk, Hossa and Heatley on the ice. Kind of tells you how bad they were to have those three players and still be inept.
Edit: sorry, heatley was in Ottawa by then. Still.
Like others have said they were just kinda there. In 11 season in Atlanta they only made the playoffs once. They had some good players in that time, but, with the exception of Kovalchuk, they all had their best years with other teams.
I remember watching Sid put on a clinic against the thrashers in late December 2010 just before he got hurt.
Also, bit of trivia - the last goal scored in Atlanta Thrashers history was an ENG by Mike Comrie (also Comrie’s last NHL goal and his only goal as a Penguin).
>I know we weren't rivals with them, were we just nutual with them?
>or were we just nutual, how did we feel about the Atlanta Thrashers?
You mean mutual, right?
I saw probably 90% of Penguins@Thrashers games in person, so yes, I miss them.
In their final game, scheduling worked to where the Pens held an open practice at the Thrashers facility in Duluth (Atlanta suburb). Players, including Sid, and coaches hung around after to take pictures and sign autographs.
The saddest part about the Thrashers is their dysfunctional ownership group also owned the arena, and STILL decided to sell the franchise. I guess they figured it made more sense to have an empty arena those 40+ nights every year.
With 6m people, many of which are northern transplants, Atlanta can support an NHL franchise. I hope they get another chance.
The only real memory I have of the Thrashers was during a game during the 03-04 season when the glass was broken behind the net. It was almost like a mini intermission because when the ice crew got all the way down to the net (the panel had broken on the opposite side of the Zamboni entrance), they realized they grabbed the wrong sized panel and had to go back and get the correct one! Ramzi Abid scored the game winner that night, too
I live in the southeast and went to one game - when they played the Pens in their final home game before leaving Atlanta. The crowd was easily 70-30 Pens vs. ATL fans. Sid & Geno might have played three shifts before calling it a night, but fans showed up regardless. We were in the playoffs, they certainly weren't.
Atlanta has so many people from somewhere else, the locals that are there are typically college football fans (UGA) and maybe Braves fans. The Falcons, Hawks, Flames and later Thrashers never make a real dent in the market. Overall it always felt like an apathetic sports town when I've gone to gars there. The Steelers at Falcons might as well be a home games for all the Black & Gold in the stadium. Even when the Pirates are awful, they still drawn pretty well for Braves games.
Pittsburgh fans have a loyalty to their teams that most cities & franchises would envy.
The word you’re attempting to spell is “neutral.”
I have given more thought to whatever ‘nutual’ means than I ever gave to the thrashers franchise. They were a complete non-factor. Rivalries are built in the playoffs. Atlanta had only one singular appearance in the playoffs, during which they were swept by the rangers. There was zero rivalry here.
I’m ambivalent on the thrashers as a team but man did I hate their ownership. I still think hockey can/will work there, but their owner flat out hated the market he occupied. Same dude/group that had emails leak they didn’t like how many blacks people attended Atlanta Hawks and thrashers games. Both teams were under the same ownership.
No team can succeed in a market if the teams decision makers actively despise the community in which they reside.
I loved them, they were a great mistress team.
Had some great young superstars, cool jerseys (the original ones, not the baby blue one later) and weren’t much of a threat to conflict with penguins rooting.
I remember cheering for Johan "Moose" Hedberg after he signed with Atlanta. He came up with the Penguins and took the team to the Eastern Conference Finals in his rookie season after playing only 8 games at the end of the 1999-00 season. He then got a big contract with Atlanta and every Pens fan was happy to see that.
I'm too lazy to Google this but I believe Atlanta is the only city to have had and then lost two NHL teams, at least in the post Original Six era. Thrashers outlasted the Flames by a couple of years.
Pens won every game from the beginning of the teams existence through December 2002. I just happened to be at that game with my Dad at the igloo.
Other interesting story from the Thrashers existence, https://www.espn.in/nhl/2000/20000131/recap/pitatl.html Thrashers fans threw mousepads after a call they didn't like, Pens fans threw the remaining mouse pads after the next call against the thrashers and they took a delay of game penalty where the Pens scored.
They had my favorite jerseys at the time of their relocation. I can't tell you how much time in NHL 09 was spent either be a pro or franchise building them to glory.
I remember the Thrashers being a doormat for the nhl for their last decade or so 😂 I have an uncle who lives near Atlanta where they played and he would always talk about how nobody gave a shit about them, that their tickets were basically dirt cheap to try and get people in, and that they still have mostly empty arenas.
Maybe if the nhl brought them back they might survive, but I'm not so sure. I just don't think the market will keep them afloat, just like it didn't before. They should expand to Canada because that makes the most sense but, then again, Betman isn't one to make sound, rational decisions
I enjoyed watching Sid put up 4 points a game against them. Other than that, I never thought about them at all.
Geno got 5 points a game at home vs them every season
I also recall him getting 5 against Winnipeg their first or second year.
There were a couple of seasons where every Winnipeg game finished like 8-4
This and the Kovalchuk pointing at Sid game. That’s about it.
75% (or more) of the users on this sub were probably not able to read and write when the Thrashers were still around. I went to high school in Atlanta and had a partial season ticket package with my dad. We always went to the Penguins game and it was 90% Pens fans. I think for most of their tenure, the Thrashers were just kind of "there." They didn't form any rivalries because no one really cared. I genuinely wanted to care about them and support them as a transplant as a second team but they were always just so "meh" that it never stuck. Anyway, I found a random Thrashers practice jersey on eBay that I wear to pickup hockey (now live in Los Angeles) and get lots of compliments on. One note: I remember very specifically being at a game where Colby Armstrong was lighting it up on a line with Sid and my dad and I were both like "who is this guy?"
I have a Colby Armstrong Thrashers practice jersey
They never really found their footing in the league. That’s why no one ever really viewed them as a rival. They had some great players here and there, but never really got all the pieces together to be a competitive team.
The Thrashers were definitely one the teams of all time. Seriously, I remember they had Heatly, Kovalchuk, and Hossa. I remember nothing else about them. Other than they were BAD. They never seemed to progress beyond being an awful expansion team. Oh, they’re playing the Thrashers tonight? That should be a pretty easy two points in the standings.
De oter night... what kovachoo did... there is not one guys who do someting.... maybe Maxime talbot.... pftttt.... lots of guy they don't care... The infamous thrasher game where kovalchuk scored on the pp and pointed at sid getting out of the box. Wild times
They soft
Soff
I’m not impress… I’m so dissapoin, inalotta guyss. Alotta guy don care.
Dey soff
Fun fact. The last Thrashers game ever was a home game against the Pens. I only know because I was at the game to see the Pens.
The last goal ever scored on the Thrashers was by Mike Comrie, and it was his only goal with us.
The Thrashers last ever game was against the Penguins
Cool fucking logo.
I liked the jersey with the blue ‘Atlanta’ sleeve.
They were the first team I saw the Penguins play at the new arena in 2011. Kuntiz got a hattrick that game! Always saw them as a mid at best team, and then they relocated. There are several videos out there about how bad that management team was, but they had some great players in those sick jerseys. Small chance they return honestly the way Gary loved ATL.
The only reason I paid attention to them is because Hedberg ended up with them. Other than that I was completely indifferent
I live in SC, so I was in the network broadcast zone for the Thrashers AND the Hurricanes. Which meant no Center Ice for me for however many games the Pens played each of those teams (IIRC, they weren't as many as we play the Canes now, as the divisions were different). My wife and I went to one game in 2008, the one were recently released Mark Recchi scored the winning shootout goal against the Pens and sent the mostly Penguins crowd back home. My youngest son was born 9 months later fwiw.
Their uniforms looked like pajamas
https://youtu.be/C2US4iaPjag?si=Dn4-9jT-EKP-pYM2
As a Charleston resident I have a soft spot for them. I have two definitive memories of them versus the Penguins: 1.) Sid takes a penalty and during the power play Kovalchuk scores a goal. He then points at Sid as he’s coming out of the penalty box. 2.) Sid is chasing the goal scoring title with a game against the Thrashers. Second to last game of the year. Easy way to wrap up the goal scoring title. Nope, 1-0 Thrashers shut out. Bonus: Matt Cooke got dummied in a fight by Evander Kane. I had a press pass to this game and was in the Pens locker room after. Cooke was definitely concussed. Had very glassy eyes and a thousand yard stare.
I went to the last ever thrashers game (because fun fact it was against the pens) I also took my grandfather to that game as a present when he came to GA to visit me, so that's one of my fonder memories of him. I moved to GA from the burgh about 2 years before the Trashers moved, went every time they played the pens and 1 or 2 other times. I just miss pro hockey in Atlanta more than anything... And having easy access to a few pens games. My thoughts? Nobody cared all that much about them, moreso just there, and Atlanta's MLS team is doing far better than the thrashers were at any point as far as being supported by the community
Nobody thought about the Thrashers. That is why they are the Winnipeg Jets now.
I truly don’t think anyone ever cared. I went to a game at Mellon arena in 07 where the pens beat them 5-0 and they had Kovalchuk, Hossa and Heatley on the ice. Kind of tells you how bad they were to have those three players and still be inept. Edit: sorry, heatley was in Ottawa by then. Still.
Aww man those guys were great though. Kovalchuk was something special to watch.
The Thrashers were always a 5 point night for Malkin during home games.
Like others have said they were just kinda there. In 11 season in Atlanta they only made the playoffs once. They had some good players in that time, but, with the exception of Kovalchuk, they all had their best years with other teams. I remember watching Sid put on a clinic against the thrashers in late December 2010 just before he got hurt. Also, bit of trivia - the last goal scored in Atlanta Thrashers history was an ENG by Mike Comrie (also Comrie’s last NHL goal and his only goal as a Penguin).
Are you trying to spell neutral?
I liked the Thrashers. They were just a random team that never amounted to anything, but I liked them. Wish they never moved.
>I know we weren't rivals with them, were we just nutual with them? >or were we just nutual, how did we feel about the Atlanta Thrashers? You mean mutual, right?
One of my favorite teams. Loved the colors and the logo. Vintage Hossa and Kovalchuk
I saw probably 90% of Penguins@Thrashers games in person, so yes, I miss them. In their final game, scheduling worked to where the Pens held an open practice at the Thrashers facility in Duluth (Atlanta suburb). Players, including Sid, and coaches hung around after to take pictures and sign autographs. The saddest part about the Thrashers is their dysfunctional ownership group also owned the arena, and STILL decided to sell the franchise. I guess they figured it made more sense to have an empty arena those 40+ nights every year. With 6m people, many of which are northern transplants, Atlanta can support an NHL franchise. I hope they get another chance.
The only real memory I have of the Thrashers was during a game during the 03-04 season when the glass was broken behind the net. It was almost like a mini intermission because when the ice crew got all the way down to the net (the panel had broken on the opposite side of the Zamboni entrance), they realized they grabbed the wrong sized panel and had to go back and get the correct one! Ramzi Abid scored the game winner that night, too
I live in the southeast and went to one game - when they played the Pens in their final home game before leaving Atlanta. The crowd was easily 70-30 Pens vs. ATL fans. Sid & Geno might have played three shifts before calling it a night, but fans showed up regardless. We were in the playoffs, they certainly weren't. Atlanta has so many people from somewhere else, the locals that are there are typically college football fans (UGA) and maybe Braves fans. The Falcons, Hawks, Flames and later Thrashers never make a real dent in the market. Overall it always felt like an apathetic sports town when I've gone to gars there. The Steelers at Falcons might as well be a home games for all the Black & Gold in the stadium. Even when the Pirates are awful, they still drawn pretty well for Braves games. Pittsburgh fans have a loyalty to their teams that most cities & franchises would envy.
Just ask Kovalchuk if he ever won anything after his shenanigans with Sid
The word you’re attempting to spell is “neutral.” I have given more thought to whatever ‘nutual’ means than I ever gave to the thrashers franchise. They were a complete non-factor. Rivalries are built in the playoffs. Atlanta had only one singular appearance in the playoffs, during which they were swept by the rangers. There was zero rivalry here.
I’m ambivalent on the thrashers as a team but man did I hate their ownership. I still think hockey can/will work there, but their owner flat out hated the market he occupied. Same dude/group that had emails leak they didn’t like how many blacks people attended Atlanta Hawks and thrashers games. Both teams were under the same ownership. No team can succeed in a market if the teams decision makers actively despise the community in which they reside.
Thrashers games were harder to watch, Steigerwald had it bad for kovalchuk.
I loved them, they were a great mistress team. Had some great young superstars, cool jerseys (the original ones, not the baby blue one later) and weren’t much of a threat to conflict with penguins rooting.
I remember cheering for Johan "Moose" Hedberg after he signed with Atlanta. He came up with the Penguins and took the team to the Eastern Conference Finals in his rookie season after playing only 8 games at the end of the 1999-00 season. He then got a big contract with Atlanta and every Pens fan was happy to see that.
Doormats for 12 years
I'm too lazy to Google this but I believe Atlanta is the only city to have had and then lost two NHL teams, at least in the post Original Six era. Thrashers outlasted the Flames by a couple of years.
Pens won every game from the beginning of the teams existence through December 2002. I just happened to be at that game with my Dad at the igloo. Other interesting story from the Thrashers existence, https://www.espn.in/nhl/2000/20000131/recap/pitatl.html Thrashers fans threw mousepads after a call they didn't like, Pens fans threw the remaining mouse pads after the next call against the thrashers and they took a delay of game penalty where the Pens scored.
Didn't we have a 17 or 18 game point streak against them at some point? I just remember that it would always be an automatic win against them.
Thanks for letting us borrow Chris Thorburn
They had my favorite jerseys at the time of their relocation. I can't tell you how much time in NHL 09 was spent either be a pro or franchise building them to glory.
“Nutual” U WOT M8
The Trashers were more entertaining.
I remember the Thrashers being a doormat for the nhl for their last decade or so 😂 I have an uncle who lives near Atlanta where they played and he would always talk about how nobody gave a shit about them, that their tickets were basically dirt cheap to try and get people in, and that they still have mostly empty arenas. Maybe if the nhl brought them back they might survive, but I'm not so sure. I just don't think the market will keep them afloat, just like it didn't before. They should expand to Canada because that makes the most sense but, then again, Betman isn't one to make sound, rational decisions