2001–02 Atlanta Thrashers season

The 2001–02 Atlanta Thrashers season was the 20th season of play for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 22, 1979, and 27th season for the organization overall. For the second time in three seasons, the team finished the season with the worst record in the whole NHL, and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

Off-season With Steve Staios departing to the Edmonton Oilers via free agency, Ray Ferraro was named the team’s new captain.

Regular season The Thrashers struggled defensively, finishing 30th overall in goaltending, with 288 goals allowed, and on the power play, with only 37 power-play goals scored. They also allowed the most-short-handed goals of all 30 teams, with 12.

Final standings

Schedule and results

|1||October, 4, 2001||2–1||align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (2001-02) ||1–0–0–0 ||

|2||October, 6, 2001||3–4 OT||align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (2001-02) ||1–0–0–1 ||

|3||October 13, 2001||5–2 || align="left"| Carolina Hurricanes (2001-02) ||1–1–0–1 ||

|4||October 16, 2001||3–3 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (2001-02) ||1–1–1–1 ||

|5||October 19, 2001||3–4 || align="left"| New York Rangers (2001–02) ||1–2–1–1 ||

|6||October 20, 2001||1–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02) ||1–2–1–2 ||

|7||October 23, 2001||2–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02) ||1–3–1–2 ||

|8||October 26, 2001||1–0 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (2001–02) ||2–3–1–2 ||

|9||October 27, 2001||4–3 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) ||3–3–1–2 ||

|10||October 30, 2001||3–6 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (2001–02) ||3–4–1–2 ||

|11||November 1, 2001||2–5 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (2001–02) ||3–5–1–2 ||

|12||November 3, 2001||1–4 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (2001–02) ||3–6–1–2 ||

|13||November 4, 2001||0–5 || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2001–02) ||3–7–1–2 ||

|14||November 7, 2001||2–3 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (2001–02) ||3–8–1–2 ||

|15||November 8, 2001||0–8 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (2001–02) ||3–9–1–2 ||

|16||November 10, 2001||0–3 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (2001–02) ||3–10–1–2 ||

|17||November 13, 2001||2–4 || align="left"| @ Minnesota Wild (2001–02) ||3–11–1–2 ||

|18||November 16, 2001||4–4 OT|| align="left"| Nashville Predators (2001–02) ||3–11–2–2 ||

|19||November 18, 2001||2–6 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (2001–02) ||3–12–2–2 ||

|20||November 19, 2001||3–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (2001–02) ||4–12–2–2 ||

|21||November 22, 2001||2–5 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (2001–02) ||4–13–2–2 ||

|22||November 24, 2001||6–3 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (2001–02) ||5–13–2–2 ||

|23||November 27, 2001||1–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (2001–02) ||5–14–2–2 ||

|24||November 29, 2001||2–5 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) ||5–15–2–2 ||

|25||December 1, 2001||5–2 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (2001–02) ||6–15–2–2 ||

|26||December 4, 2001||2–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (2001–02) ||6–16–2–2 ||

|27||December 6, 2001||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Washington Capitals (2001–02) ||6–16–3–2 ||

|28||December 8, 2001||3–6 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02) ||6–17–3–2 ||

|29||December 10, 2001||1–3 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02) ||6–18–3–2 ||

|30||December 12, 2001||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (2001–02) ||6–18–4–2 ||

|31||December 14, 2001||1–3 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (2001–02) ||6–19–4–2 ||

|32||December 15, 2001||2–5 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (2001–02) ||6–20–4–2 ||

|33||December 18, 2001||3–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (2001–02) ||7–20–4–2 ||

|34||December 19, 2001||2–4 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks (2001–02) ||7–21–4–2 ||

|35||December 21, 2001||4–5 OT|| align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02) ||7–21–4–3 ||

|36||December 23, 2001||1–4 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (2001–02) ||7–22–4–3 ||

|37||December 26, 2001||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Florida Panthers (2001–02) ||7–22–5–3 ||

|38||December 28, 2001||5–4 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02) ||8–22–5–3 ||

|39||December 31, 2001||3–4 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (2001–02) ||8–23–5–3 ||

|40||January 2, 2002||1–2 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (2001–02) ||8–24–5–3 ||

|41||January 3, 2002||1–2 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (2001–02) ||8–25–5–3 ||

|42||January 6, 2002||2–3 || align="left"| New York Islanders (2001–02) ||8–26–5–3 ||

|43||January 8, 2002||4–7 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02) ||8–27–5–3 ||

|44||January 9, 2002||4–3 OT|| align="left"| Ottawa Senators (2001–02) ||9–27–5–3 ||

|45||January 11, 2002||1–0 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (2001–02) ||10–27–5–3 ||

|46||January 13, 2002||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) ||10–27–6–3 ||

|47||January 15, 2002||3–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02) ||11–27–6–3 ||

|48||January 17, 2002||3–6 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02) ||11–28–6–3 ||

|49||January 19, 2002||6–1 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (2001–02) ||12–28–6–3 ||

|50||January 22, 2002||0–3 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (2001–02) ||12–29–6–3 ||

|51||January 24, 2002||4–2 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (2001–02) ||13–29–6–3 ||

|52||January 26, 2002||2–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02) ||13–29–6–4 ||

|53||January 28, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| Phoenix Coyotes (2001–02) ||13–30–6–4 ||

|54||January 30, 2002||0–6 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02) ||13–31–6–4 ||

|55||February 5, 2002||3–2 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (2001–02) ||14–31–6–4 ||

|56||February 7, 2002||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (2001–02) ||14–31–7–4 ||

|57||February 8, 2002||1–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (2001–02) ||14–32–7–4 ||

|58||February 11, 2002||4–5 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02) ||14–33–7–4 ||

|59||February 12, 2002||0–3 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (2001–02) ||14–34–7–4 ||

|60||February 26, 2002||2–1 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (2001–02) ||15–34–7–4 ||

|61||March 1, 2002||4–3 || align="left"| New York Islanders (2001–02) ||16–34–7–4 ||

|62||March 2, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (2001–02) ||16–35–7–4 ||

|63||March 4, 2002||3–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (2001–02) ||16–36–7–4 ||

|64||March 6, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2001–02) ||16–37–7–4 ||

|65||March 8, 2002||0–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (2001–02) ||16–38–7–4 ||

|66||March 10, 2002||1–6 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (2001–02) ||16–39–7–4 ||

|67||March 12, 2002||4–4 OT|| align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) ||16–39–8–4 ||

|68||March 14, 2002||2–0 || align="left"| Colorado Avalanche (2001–02) ||17–39–8–4 ||

|69||March 16, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (2001–02) ||17–40–8–4 ||

|70||March 18, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02) ||17–41–8–4 ||

|71||March 20, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) ||17–42–8–4 ||

|72||March 22, 2002||5–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (2001–02) ||18–42–8–4 ||

|73||March 23, 2002||3–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (2001–02) ||19–42–8–4 ||

|74||March 27, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| Minnesota Wild (2001–02) ||19–43–8–4 ||

|75||March 30, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (2001–02) ||19–44–8–4 ||

|76||April 2, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (2001–02) ||19–45–8–4 ||

|77||April 3, 2002||0–6 || align="left"| @ Colorado Avalanche (2001–02) ||19–46–8–4 ||

|78||April 5, 2002||1–3 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (2001–02) ||19–47–8–4 ||

|79||April 7, 2002||1–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02) ||19–47–9–4 ||

|80||April 10, 2002||4–4 OT|| align="left"| Florida Panthers (2001–02) ||19–47–10–4 ||

|81||April 12, 2002||4–5 OT|| align="left"| @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2001–02) ||19–47–10–5 ||

|82||April 14, 2002||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02) ||19–47–11–5 ||

Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Thrashers only. = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Thrashers only. Player Regular season 15 LW 82 26 41 67 −19 56 17 LW 65 29 22 51 −19 28 12 C 80 18 26 44 −12 12 18 LW 71 13 14 27 −15 30 21 C 61 8 19 27 −32 66 8 D 61 5 20 25 −11 24 38 D 66 9 15 24 −15 47 13 C 59 7 16 23 −4 22 14 LW 60 8 14 22 −8 12 26 C 42 11 9 20 −3 25 9 LW 40 8 11 19 −18 34 36 D 75 2 16 18 −22 14 39 C 78 3 12 15 −12 24 22 RW 48 6 6 12 −16 40 3 D 33 3 6 9 −19 22 20 RW 46 4 4 8 −3 135 28 D 65 3 5 8 −25 82 71 D 38 3 5 8 −21 51 24 C 42 1 7 8 −8 20 27 C 65 3 4 7 −30 16 4 D 78 3 3 6 −11 111 19 RW 20 2 4 6 −3 43 16 LW 38 4 1 5 −11 50 47 RW 15 4 1 5 −5 4 25 D 24 0 4 4 0 46 10 LW 8 2 0 2 1 4 29 LW 33 1 1 2 −5 127 37 C 11 1 1 2 −3 30 33 G 60 0 2 2 8 6 D 19 0 1 1 −2 18 22 C 8 0 1 1 −2 4 43 D 16 0 1 1 0 10 2 D 9 0 0 0 −4 13 35 G 6 0 0 0 0 23 D 2 0 0 0 −3 0 9 C 2 0 0 0 −2 2 6 RW 5 0 0 0 0 26 23 C 1 0 0 0 −1 2 34 G 1 0 0 0 0 31 G 9 0 0 0 0 1 G 15 0 0 0 0 29 D 2 0 0 0 −3 2 40 D 1 0 0 0 0 2 45 LW 6 0 0 0 1 6

Goaltending = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Thrashers only. Player Regular season 33 Milan Hnilicka 60 13 33 10 1956 179 3.19 .908 3 3367 35 Frederic Cassivi 6 2 3 0 207 17 3.32 .918 0 307 31 Pasi Nurminen 9 2 5 0 275 28 3.61 .898 0 465 1 Damian Rhodes 15 2 10 1 439 47 3.67 .893 0 769 34 Norm Maracle 1 0 1 0 20 3 3.00 .850 0 60

Awards and records

Awards TypeAward/honorRecipientRef League(annual) Calder Memorial Trophy Dany Heatley NHL All-Rookie Team Dany Heatley (Forward) Ilya Kovalchuk (Forward) League(in-season) NHL Rookie of the Month Dany Heatley & Ilya Kovalchuk (December) Ilya Kovalchuk (January) NHL YoungStars Game selection Dany Heatley Ilya Kovalchuk Team Community Service Award Jeff Odgers2014–15 Winnipeg Jets Media Guide, p.223 Players' Player Award Jeff Odgers Team MVP Dany Heatley Ilya Kovalchuk Three Stars of the Game Award Dany Heatley Milan Hnilicka

Milestones MilestonePlayerDateRef First game Dany Heatley October 4, 2001 Ilya Kovalchuk Kamil Piros Daniel Tjarnqvist Ben Simon November 10, 2001 Mike Weaver November 27, 2001 Pasi Nurminen January 30, 2002 Frederic Cassivi March 20, 2002 Luke Sellars March 23, 2002 Francis Lessard March 27, 2002 Mark Hartigan April 2, 2002 Derek MacKenzie April 12, 2002 400th goal scored Ray Ferraro December 28, 2001

Transactions The Thrashers were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2001, the day after the deciding game of the 2001 Stanley Cup Final, through June 13, 2002, the day of the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Final.

Trades Date Details Ref To Atlanta ThrashersTo New Jersey Devils To Atlanta ThrashersTo St. Louis BluesTo Atlanta ThrashersTo New York Rangers To Atlanta ThrashersTo Anaheim Mighty Ducks To Atlanta ThrashersTo Calgary Flames To Atlanta ThrashersTo Minnesota Wild To Atlanta ThrashersTo Colorado Avalanche To Atlanta ThrashersTo Philadelphia Flyers To Atlanta Thrashers To Philadelphia Flyers To Atlanta Thrashers To St. Louis Blues To Atlanta Thrashers To Buffalo Sabres To Atlanta Thrashers To Phoenix Coyotes To Atlanta Thrashers To Detroit Red Wings

Players acquired Date Player Former team Term Via Ref Bob Corkum New Jersey Devils Free agency Tony Hrkac Anaheim Mighty Ducks Free agency Todd Reirden St. Louis Blues Free agency Karl Stewart Plymouth Whalers (OHL) Free agency Pascal Rheaume Chicago Blackhawks Waivers Mark Hartigan St. Cloud State University (WCHA) Free agency

Players lost