1999–2000 Atlanta Thrashers season

The 1999–2000 Atlanta Thrashers season was the inaugural season of the franchise that would play in Atlanta for 11 seasons.

1999–2000 Atlanta Thrashers
Division	5th Southeast
Conference	15th Eastern
1999–2000 record	14–57–7–4
Home record	9-23-6-3
Road record	5-30-5-1
Goals for	170
Goals against	313
Team information
General Manager	Don Waddell
Coach	Curt Fraser
Captain	Kelly Buchberger (Oct-Mar) Vacant (Mar-Apr)
Arena	Philips Arena
Average attendance	TBD
Team leaders
Goals	Andrew Brunette (23)
Assists	Andrew Brunette (27)
Points	Andrew Brunette (50)
Penalty minutes	Denny Lambert (219)
Plus/minus	TBD
Wins	Damian Rhodes (5)
Goals against average	Scott Fankhouser (3.20)

The Thrashers managed only 14 wins during their first season in the National Hockey League. It was the worst season in the history of the franchise, and as of right now stands as the lowest full-season point total for any team since the beginning of the "three point" NHL standings system in 1999–2000; the Detroit Red Wings later tied the mark, but in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 NHL season.

Offseason

NHL draft

Atlanta's picks at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	1	Patrik Stefan	Center	Czech Republic	Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL)
2	30	Luke Sellars	Defense	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
3	68	Zdenek Blatny	Left Wing	Czech Republic	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
4	98	David Kaczowka	Left Wing	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
4	99	Rob Zepp	Goaltender	Canada	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
5	128	Derek MacKenzie	Center	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
6	159	Yuri Dobryshkin	Right Wing	Russia	Krylya Sovetov Moscow (Russia)
7	188	Stephen Baby	Right Wing	United States	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
8	217	Garnet Exelby	Defense	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
9	245	Tommi Santala	Center	Finland	Jokerit (Finland)
9	246	Ray DiLauro	Defense	United States	St. Lawrence University (ECAC)

Expansion draft

Main article: 1999 NHL Expansion Draft

These results are numbered 1–26 for aesthetic purposes, but the players were not necessarily chosen in this order. As the Thrashers were the only team participating in the draft, the order is inconsequential.

#	Player	Drafted from
1.	Trevor Kidd (G)	Carolina Hurricanes
2.	Norm Maracle (G)	Detroit Red Wings
3.	Corey Schwab (G)	Tampa Bay Lightning
4.	Petr Buzek (D)	Dallas Stars
5.	Brett Clark (D)	Montreal Canadiens
6.	Kevin Dean (D)	New Jersey Devils
7.	Maxim Galanov (D)	Pittsburgh Penguins
8.	David Harlock (D)	New York Islanders
9.	Jamie Pushor (D)	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
10.	Darryl Shannon (D)	Buffalo Sabres
11.	Chris Tamer (D)	New York Rangers
12.	Mark Tinordi (D)	Washington Capitals
13.	Yannick Tremblay (D)	Toronto Maple Leafs
14.	Kelly Buchberger (RW)	Edmonton Oilers
15.	Sylvain Cloutier (C)	Chicago Blackhawks
16.	Phil Crowe (RW)	Ottawa Senators
17.	Peter Ferraro (RW)	Boston Bruins
18.	Johan Garpenlov (LW)	Florida Panthers
19.	Jody Hull (RW)	Philadelphia Flyers
20.	Matt Johnson (LW)	Los Angeles Kings
21.	Tomi Kallio (LW)	Colorado Avalanche
22.	Steve Staios (RW/D)	Vancouver Canucks
23.	Mike Stapleton (C)	Phoenix Coyotes
24.	Ed Ward (RW)	Calgary Flames
25.	Terry Yake (C)	St. Louis Blues
26.	Alexei Yegorov (RW)	San Jose Sharks

Regular season

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.[1] The Thrashers would not get their first win until two weeks later. Damian Rhodes blanked the New York Islanders 2–0 on the road.[1] The Thrashers would not get their first victory in Atlanta until October 26 when they beat the Calgary Flames in their return to Atlanta 2–1.[2] Andrew Brunette led the team in scoring with 50 points as the Thrashers finished last in the Southeast Division with a NHL worst record of 14–57–7–4. Atlanta also won less games then any NBA team that season including the Los Angeles Clippers which they won 15 games.

In addition to being shut out a league-high 12 times, the Thrashers struggled offensively and defensively, scoring the fewest goals (170) and allowing the most goals (313) out of all 28 teams. They also tied the Chicago Blackhawks for most short-handed goals allowed, with 13.[3][4]

Final standings

Southeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
1	2	Washington Capitals	82	44	24	12	2	227	194	994	102
2	5	Florida Panthers	82	43	27	6	6	244	209	1329	98
3	9	Carolina Hurricanes	82	37	35	10	0	217	216	799	84
4	14	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	19	47	9	7	204	310	1733	54
5	15	Atlanta Thrashers	82	14	57	7	4	170	313	1422	39

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL=Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PIM=Penalties in Minutes; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference[5]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z – Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	45	22	12	3	237	179	105
2	Y – Washington Capitals	SE	82	44	24	12	2	227	194	102
3	Y – Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	27	7	3	246	222	100
4	X – New Jersey Devils	AT	82	45	24	8	5	251	203	103
5	X – Florida Panthers	SE	82	43	27	6	6	244	209	98
6	X – Ottawa Senators	NE	82	41	28	11	2	244	210	95
7	X– Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	37	31	8	6	241	236	88
8	X – Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	35	32	11	4	213	204	85
8.5
9	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	37	35	10	0	217	216	84
10	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	35	34	9	4	196	194	83
11	New York Rangers	AT	82	29	28	12	3	218	246	73
12	Boston Bruins	NE	82	24	33	19	6	210	248	73
13	New York Islanders	AT	82	24	48	9	1	194	275	58
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	19	47	9	7	204	310	54
15	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	14	57	7	4	170	313	39

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

Regular season results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 2, 1999	1–4	New Jersey Devils (1999–2000)	0–1–0–0
2	L	October 7, 1999	1–7	Detroit Red Wings (1999–2000)	0–2–0–0
3	T	October 9, 1999	5–5 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1999–2000)	0–2–1–0
4	W	October 14, 1999	2–0	@ New York Islanders (1999–2000)	1–2–1–0
5	T	October 16, 1999	4–4 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1999–2000)	1–2–2–0
6	L	October 17, 1999	1–4	@ New York Rangers (1999–2000)	1–3–2–0
7	OTL	October 23, 1999	2–3 OT	Colorado Avalanche (1999–2000)	1–3–2–1
8	W	October 26, 1999	2–1	Calgary Flames (1999–2000)	2–3–2–1
9	L	October 27, 1999	0–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1999–2000)	2–4–2–1
10	L	October 31, 1999	4–6	Ottawa Senators (1999–2000)	2–5–2–1
11	W	November 3, 1999	4–1	Tampa Bay Lightning (1999–2000)	3–5–2–1
12	L	November 6, 1999	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (1999–2000)	3–6–2–1
13	L	November 10, 1999	1–4	@ Florida Panthers (1999–2000)	3–7–2–1
14	L	November 12, 1999	1–5	@ New Jersey Devils (1999–2000)	3–8–2–1
15	L	November 13, 1999	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1999–2000)	3–9–2–1
16	W	November 17, 1999	5–4	Tampa Bay Lightning (1999–2000)	4–9–2–1
17	L	November 19, 1999	0–4	Buffalo Sabres (1999–2000)	4–10–2–1
18	L	November 20, 1999	3–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1999–2000)	4–11–2–1
19	W	November 22, 1999	6–3	Vancouver Canucks (1999–2000)	5–11–2–1
20	L	November 25, 1999	3–6	Ottawa Senators (1999–2000)	5–12–2–1
21	L	November 27, 1999	0–3	@ Florida Panthers (1999–2000)	5–13–2–1
22	L	November 28, 1999	2–4	Dallas Stars (1999–2000)	5–14–2–1
23	W	December 3, 1999	2–1	Florida Panthers (1999–2000)	6–14–2–1
24	W	December 4, 1999	4–3	@ New York Islanders (1999–2000)	7–14–2–1
25	OTL	December 6, 1999	3–4 OT	Nashville Predators (1999–2000)	7–14–2–2
26	L	December 8, 1999	0–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1999–2000)	7–15–2–2
27	L	December 10, 1999	1–4	@ San Jose Sharks (1999–2000)	7–16–2–2
28	L	December 12, 1999	1–4	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1999–2000)	7–17–2–2
29	L	December 15, 1999	0–4	Washington Capitals (1999–2000)	7–18–2–2
30	L	December 17, 1999	1–3	Boston Bruins (1999–2000)	7–19–2–2
31	L	December 18, 1999	2–4	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1999–2000)	7–20–2–2
32	T	December 22, 1999	3–3 OT	@ Florida Panthers (1999–2000)	7–20–3–2
33	T	December 23, 1999	4–4 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1999–2000)	7–20–4–2
34	W	December 26, 1999	6–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (1999–2000)	8–20–4–2
35	OTL	December 27, 1999	2–3 OT	@ Detroit Red Wings (1999–2000)	8–20–4–3
36	L	December 30, 1999	0–6	@ Nashville Predators (1999–2000)	8–21–4–3
37	L	January 1, 2000	2–4	Carolina Hurricanes (1999–2000)	8–22–4–3
38	W	January 4, 2000	5–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1999–2000)	9–22–4–3
39	W	January 6, 2000	3–1	Washington Capitals (1999–2000)	10–22–4–3
40	L	January 8, 2000	0–3	@ Washington Capitals (1999–2000)	10–23–4–3
41	L	January 12, 2000	2–5	Washington Capitals (1999–2000)	10–24–4–3
42	W	January 14, 2000	1–0	Philadelphia Flyers (1999–2000)	11–24–4–3
43	L	January 16, 2000	3–6	@ New York Rangers (1999–2000)	11–25–4–3
44	T	January 17, 2000	3–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1999–2000)	11–25–5–3
45	L	January 19, 2000	3–4	Boston Bruins (1999–2000)	11–26–5–3
46	T	January 21, 2000	3–3 OT	Florida Panthers (1999–2000)	11–26–6–3
47	L	January 24, 2000	3–6	New York Rangers (1999–2000)	11–27–6–3
48	L	January 27, 2000	1–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1999–2000)	11–28–6–3
49	L	January 29, 2000	1–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1999–2000)	11–29–6–3
50	OTL	January 31, 2000	1–2 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1999–2000)	11–29–6–4
51	L	February 2, 2000	1–2	@ Dallas Stars (1999–2000)	11–30–6–4
52	L	February 3, 2000	3–6	New York Rangers (1999–2000)	11–31–6–4
53	L	February 9, 2000	2–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1999–2000)	11–32–6–4
54	L	February 11, 2000	0–3	San Jose Sharks (1999–2000)	11–33–6–4
55	L	February 12, 2000	3–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1999–2000)	11–34–6–4
56	L	February 15, 2000	1–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1999–2000)	11–35–6–4
57	L	February 16, 2000	1–5	Montreal Canadiens (1999–2000)	11–36–6–4
58	L	February 20, 2000	2–4	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1999–2000)	11–37–6–4
59	W	February 22, 2000	4–3	@ Colorado Avalanche (1999–2000)	12–37–6–4
60	L	February 25, 2000	4–5	@ Edmonton Oilers (1999–2000)	12–38–6–4
61	L	February 26, 2000	2–5	@ Calgary Flames (1999–2000)	12–39–6–4
62	L	February 29, 2000	0–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1999–2000)	12–40–6–4
63	L	March 2, 2000	2–5	St. Louis Blues (1999–2000)	12–41–6–4
64	L	March 4, 2000	2–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1999–2000)	12–42–6–4
65	L	March 6, 2000	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1999–2000)	12–43–6–4
66	L	March 10, 2000	0–9	New Jersey Devils (1999–2000)	12–44–6–4
67	L	March 12, 2000	1–5	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1999–2000)	12–45–6–4
68	L	March 13, 2000	0–3	Edmonton Oilers (1999–2000)	12–46–6–4
69	L	March 16, 2000	2–4	New York Islanders (1999–2000)	12–47–6–4
70	W	March 18, 2000	4–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1999–2000)	13–47–6–4
71	L	March 21, 2000	1–7	@ Ottawa Senators (1999–2000)	13–48–6–4
72	T	March 22, 2000	1–1 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1999–2000)	13–48–7–4
73	L	March 24, 2000	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1999–2000)	13–49–7–4
74	L	March 26, 2000	1–4	Los Angeles Kings (1999–2000)	13–50–7–4
75	L	March 28, 2000	2–5	@ Washington Capitals (1999–2000)	13–51–7–4
76	L	March 29, 2000	2–3	Phoenix Coyotes (1999–2000)	13–52–7–4
77	L	March 31, 2000	0–6	@ New Jersey Devils (1999–2000)	13–53–7–4
78	W	April 2, 2000	5–4	New York Islanders (1999–2000)	14–53–7–4
79	L	April 4, 2000	3–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1999–2000)	14–54–7–4
80	L	April 6, 2000	1–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1999–2000)	14–55–7–4
81	L	April 8, 2000	3–4	Carolina Hurricanes (1999–2000)	14–56–7–4
82	L	April 9, 2000	1–2	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1999–2000)	14–57–7–4

[6]

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Andrew Brunette	LW	81	23	27	50	30	-32	9	0	2
Ray Ferraro	C	81	19	25	44	88	-33	10	0	3
Nelson Emerson	RW	58	14	19	33	47	-24	4	0	0
Yannick Tremblay	D	75	10	21	31	22	-42	4	1	2
Dean Sylvester	RW	52	16	10	26	24	-14	1	0	2
Patrik Stefan	C	72	5	20	25	30	-20	1	0	0
Mike Stapleton	C	62	10	12	22	30	-29	4	0	1
Petr Buzek	D	63	5	14	19	41	-22	3	0	0
Darryl Shannon	D	49	5	13	18	65	-14	1	0	1
Kelly Buchberger	RW	68	5	12	17	139	-34	0	0	0
Johan Garpenlov	LW	73	2	14	16	31	-30	0	0	0
Hnat Domenichelli	LW	27	6	9	15	4	-21	0	0	0
Andreas Karlsson	C	51	5	9	14	14	-17	1	0	0
Steve Guolla	C	20	4	9	13	4	-13	2	0	0
Donald Audette	RW	14	7	4	11	12	-4	0	1	1
Denny Lambert	LW	73	5	6	11	219	-17	2	0	0
Shean Donovan	RW	33	4	7	11	18	-13	1	0	1
Gord Murphy	D	58	1	10	11	38	-26	0	0	0
Chris Tamer	D	69	2	8	10	91	-32	0	0	0
Maxim Galanov	D	40	4	3	7	20	-12	0	0	0
Per Svartvadet	C	38	3	4	7	6	-8	0	0	0
Matt Johnson	LW	64	2	5	7	144	-11	0	0	0
Frantisek Kaberle	D	14	1	6	7	6	-13	0	1	0
Ed Ward	RW	44	5	1	6	44	-5	0	2	0
David Harlock	D	44	0	6	6	36	-8	0	0	0
Steve Staios	D	27	2	3	5	66	-5	0	0	0
Jason Botterill	LW	25	1	4	5	17	-7	0	0	1
Sergei Vyshedkevich	D	7	1	3	4	2	-3	1	0	0
Kevin Dean	D	23	1	0	1	14	-5	0	1	0
Rumun Ndur	D	27	1	0	1	71	-17	0	0	0
Herbert Vasiljevs	RW	7	1	0	1	4	-3	0	0	0
Brett Clark	D	14	0	1	1	4	-12	0	0	0
Martin Prochazka	RW	3	0	1	1	0	-1	0	0	0
Bryan Adams	C	2	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Eric Bertrand	LW	8	0	0	0	4	-5	0	0	0
Scott Fankhouser	G	16	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Geordie Kinnear	D	4	0	0	0	13	-1	0	0	0
Scott Langkow	G	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Norm Maracle	G	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris McAlpine	D	3	0	0	0	2	-4	0	0	0
Damian Rhodes	G	28	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Rick Tabaracci	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vladimir Vujtek	LW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T/OT	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Damian Rhodes	1561	28	5	19	3	101	3.88	1	803	702	.874
Norm Maracle	1618	32	4	19	2	94	3.49	1	852	758	.890
Scott Langkow	765	15	3	11	0	55	4.31	0	395	340	.861
Scott Fankhouser	920	16	2	11	2	49	3.20	0	451	402	.891
Rick Tabaracci	59	1	0	1	0	4	4.07	0	32	28	.875
Team:	4923	82	14	61	7	303	3.69	2	2533	2230	.880

[7]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

Regular season
Player	Milestone	Reached

Transactions

Trades

Date	Traded	Acquired	Acquired From
June 18	future considerations	Damian Rhodes	Ottawa Senators
June 21	2000 conditional pick	Andrew Brunette	Nashville Predators
June 25	Peter Ferraro	Randy Robitaille	Boston Bruins
June 25	1999 4th & 9th round picks	future considerations	Vancouver Canucks
June 25	1999 1st round pick & 2000 conditional 3rd round pick	1999 first round pick	Vancouver Canucks
June 25	future considerations	Scott Langkow	Phoenix Coyotes
June 25	future considerations	Sergei Vyshedkevich	New Jersey Devils
June 25	future considerations	Andreas Karlsson	Calgary Flames
June 25	Trevor Kidd	Gord Murphy, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Herbert Vasiljevs, 1999 6th round pick	Phoenix Coyotes
June 25	future considerations	Ulf Samuelsson	Detroit Red Wings
June 25	future considerations	Dean Sylvester	Buffalo Sabres
June 26	Phil Crowe	future considerations	Nashville Predators
June 26	1999 6th round pick	Per Svartvadet	Dallas Stars
July 15	2001 6th round pick	Martin Prochazka	Toronto Maple Leafs
July 15	Jamie Pushor	Jason Botterill	Dallas Stars
Aug 16	rights to Randy Robitaille	Denny Lambert	Nashville Predators
Sep 27	Ladislav Kohn	2000 8th round pick	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Oct 15	Jody Hull	future considerations	Philadelphia Flyers
Oct 29	Corey Schwab	2000 conditional pick	Vancouver Canucks
Dec 8	Rick Tabaracci	Shean Donovan	Colorado Avalanche
Dec 15	Kevin Dean	future considerations	Dallas Stars
Jan 25	future considerations	Bill Huard	Los Angeles Kings
Feb 11	Jason Botterill & Darryl Shannon	Hnat Domenichelli and rights to Dmitri Vlasenkov	Calgary Flames
Mar 11	Kelly Buchberger & Nelson Emerson	Donald Audette & Frantisek Kaberle	Los Angeles Kings
Mar 13	Kirby Law	2000 6th round pick & 2001 6th round pick	Philadelphia Flyers

Free agents

The Atlanta Thrashers signed the following free agents in the 1999-2000 season. Unrestricted free agents chosen in the expansion draft later signed by the Thrashers are included in the list.

Nelson Emerson (July 20), Dean Sylvester (July 21), Chris Tamer (July 21), Steve Staios (July 22), Sergei Vyshedkevich (July 28), Ray Ferraro (Aug 2), Herbert Vasilyev (Sept 9)

Claimed from waivers

Player Former team Date claimed off waivers

See also

• 1999–2000 NHL season

References

1. Atlanta Thrashers (1999-Present)
2. Atlanta Thrashers 1999-2000 Schedule & Results
3. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2000_games.html
4. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2000.html
5. "1999–2000 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
6. "1999–2000 Atlanta Thrashers Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
7. "1999–2000 Atlanta Thrashers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-02.

• Thrashers Official Web Site for 1999–2000 Stats
• Thrashers on Database Hockey