Atlanta Thrashers - Franchise History

Franchise History

Atlanta was awarded an NHL franchise on June 25, 1997, as part of a four-team tiered expansion, in which each new franchise would begin play as its respective new arena was completed. The Nashville Predators (which began play in the 1998–99 season), as well as the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild (which both began play in the 2000–01 season), were the other franchises granted in this round of expansion.

The birth of the new franchise marked a return to Atlanta by the NHL. The Atlanta Flames, established in 1972, departed for Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1980 to become the Calgary Flames. The Flames had been the league's first foray into the southern U.S., and their failure discouraged further efforts to bring NHL hockey to the region for another decade.

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" in the poll (as a homage to the old Atlanta Flames), and Philips Arena, the Thrashers' new home, was built on the site of the former Omni, which had been home to the Flames. By coincidence, the first encampment (circa 1839) which would later become Atlanta was called Thrasherville, and a historical marker of this is located just down from the arena in front of the State Bar of Georgia (the former home of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta).