2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers season

National Hockey League team season March 2026 August 2023 NHL 2008–09 2008 Atlanta Thrashers Eastern 13th Southeast 4th 35–41–6 18–21–2 17–20–4 257 280 Don Waddell John Anderson Vacant (Oct.–Jan.)Ilya Kovalchuk (Jan.–Apr.) Colby ArmstrongNiclas Havelid (Oct.–Mar.) Ilya Kovalchuk (Oct.–Jan.)Vyacheslav KozlovMathieu Schneider (Oct.–Feb.) Philips Arena Average: 14,535Capacity: 78.4%Total: 276,166 Ilya Kovalchuk (43) Todd White (51) Ilya Kovalchuk (91) Rich Peverley (+14) Eric Boulton (163) Kari Lehtonen (18) Kari Lehtonen (3.09) The 2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers season was the 26th season of play for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 22, 1979, and 34th season for the organization overall. The Thrashers attempted to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2006–07 season, but failed to qualify. 2 Regular season Divisional standings ATL Conference standings ATL 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 Pavelec14,122 4-7-210 14 November 7 Atlanta 5 - 4 Buffalo OTHedberg18,466 5-7-212 15 November 9 Atlanta 5 - 2 Carolina Hedberg12,398 6-7-214 16 November 14 Carolina 3 - 2 Atlanta Hedberg16,1287-7-216 17 November 16 Atlanta 3 - 4 Philadelphia Hedberg19,4377-8-216 18 November 20 Pittsburgh 3 - 2 Atlanta Pavelec13,3917-9-216 19 November 22 Columbus 2 - 0 Atlanta Pavelec15,5617-10-216 20 November 25 Atlanta 6 - 3 Toronto Hedberg19,2978-10-218 21 November 26 Atlanta 3 - 5 Washington Pavelec18,2778-11-218 22 November 28 Nashville 4 - 3 Atlanta OTHedberg15,0228-11-319 23 November 30 St. Louis 4 - 2 Atlanta Pavelec14,0788-12-319 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 21,2738-13-3 19 25 December 3 Atlanta 1 - 5 Ottawa Pavelec 17,215 8-14-319 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 Hedberg17,565 9-16-4 22 30 December 16 Atlanta 4 - 1 Ottawa Pavelec18,746 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 16,41311-18-4 26 34 December 23 Atlanta 4 - 2 NY Islanders Hedberg 14,22712-18-4 28 35 December 26 Carolina 5 - 4 Atlanta Hedberg16,01212-19-4 28 36 December 28 Boston 2 - 1 Atlanta Lehtonen16,835 12-20-428 37 December 30 Atlanta 3 - 4 Toronto OT Hedberg 19,260 12-20-5 29 38 December 31 Atlanta 1 - 3 Carolina Lehtonen 18,13712-21-5 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 Bay4 - 1 Atlanta Lehtonen 10,750 13-22-5 31 41 January 6 Atlanta 1 - 3 Pittsburgh Lehtonen 16,97513-23-5 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 #F48686 = Member of the Atlantic Division #DDDDFF = Member of the Northeast Division #DDFFDD = Member of the Southeast Division #FFEECC = Member of the Central Division #FFDDDD = Member of the Northeast Division #FFFFDD = 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 ice hockey 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 Tobias Enström 82 5 27 32 +14 52 Marty Reasoner 79 14 16 30 +11 36 Eric Perrin Éric 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 Jason Williams (ice hockey)‡ 41 7 11 18 -9 8 Jim Slater Jim Slater (ice hockey) 60 8 10 18 0 52 Niclas Havelid Niclas Hävelid‡ 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 Colin Stuart (ice hockey) 33 5 3 8 +3 18 Garnet Exelby 59 0 7 7 -2 120 Boris Valabik Boris Valábik 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 Kari Lehtonen 46 2624 19 22 3 134 3.06 1498 1364 .911 3 Johan Hedberg Johan Hedberg 33 1716 13 12 3 100 3.49 875 775 .886 0 Ondrej Pavelec Ondřej 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 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 DateDetails September 26, 2008 To Anaheim Ducks Ken KleeBrad LarsenChad 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 Wilson6th-round pick in 2009 – David Pacan February 16, 2009 To Montreal Canadiens Mathieu SchneiderConditional pick in 2009 (condition satisfied) – Joonas Nattinen To Atlanta Thrashers 2nd-round pick in 2009 – Jeremy Morin3rd-round pick in 2010 – Julian Melchiori March 2, 2009 To New Jersey Devils Niclas HavelidMyles Stoesz To Atlanta Thrashers Anssi Salmela Free agents Player Former team Contract Terms Player New team Bobby Holik New Jersey Devils Mark RecchiJanuary 2024 Original cite was deleted per WP:URLREQ#Canoe.ca 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) Peterborough Petes (OHL) 1 29 (from Pittsburgh) Daultan Leveille (C) St. Catharines Falcons (GOJHL) 3 64 Danick Paquette (RW) Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL) 4 94 Vinny Saponari (RW) U.S. National Team Development Program (NAHL) 5 124 Nicklas Lasu (LW) Frölunda HC (Sweden Jr.) 6 154 Chris Carrozzi (G) Mississauga St. Michael's Majors (OHL) 7 184 Zach Redmond (D) Ferris State University (CCHA) See also 2008–09 NHL season References Category:Atlanta Thrashers seasons A Atlanta Thrashers Atlanta Thrashers Category:2008 in Atlanta Category:2009 in Atlanta