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The Atlanta Thrashers are a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Atlanta was awarded an NHL franchise in 1997 to replace the Atlanta Flames, who departed for Calgary in 1980 and became the Calgary Flames.
The nickname "Thrashers", after Georgia's state bird, the brown thrasher, was selected from a fan poll. "Thrashers" had actually been runner-up to "Flames" for Atlanta's first NHL team, and Philips Arena, the Thrashers' new home, was built on the site of the former Omni, which had been home to the Flames.
The newly-formed Thrashers selected Patrik Stefan with the first overall selection in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. They played their first game on October 2, 1999, losing 4-1 to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the New Jersey Devils. Captain Kelly Buchberger scored the franchise's first goal in the loss.
On September 21, 2003, the team was sold to a group of executives by Time Warner, along with the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks. That same month brought tragedy as just five days later, star forward Dany Heatley crashed his Ferrari in a one-car accident that seriously injured him (broken jaw and arm, sprained wrist and gouged elbow among others) and killed Thrashers center Dan Snyder, who succumbed to a massive head injury after six days comatose, and was a passenger in the car. The Thrashers dedicated their 2003-04 NHL season in Snyder's memory. Heatley's blood alcohol content was far below the legal limit, but his combination of speeding (he was driving an estimated 80 miles per hour) and recklessness led to criminal charges (eventually settled with three years' probation and a penalty of community service).
Thrashers players wore black patches with Snyder's number, 37, on their jerseys. It greatly diminished the popularity of Heatley among Atlanta in general, and led to his request of a trade in August 2005. However, some say that Heatley had tremendous support after the accident, but rather it was his request for a trade that led to his diminished popularity.
The Thrashers have never made the playoffs in their short history. Their best complete season was in 2005-06, when they missed the playoffs by two points.
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