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ALL TIME RECORD: 23-19-3-4 (W-L-T-OTL)
RECORD BY SEATING-
400 Section- 10-6-1-1
Upper End Zones- 8-12-2-2
Lower Level- 5-1-0-1
RECORD BY TEAM-
Southeast Division- 7-5-0-1
Rest of Eastern Conf- 9-12-2-3
Western Conf- 7-2-1-0
September: 0-2-0-0 /// October: 4-1-2-0 /// November: 2-2-0-2 /// December: 6-0-0-1 /// January: 4-4-1-0 /// February: 1-3-0-0 /// March: 6-5-0-1 /// April: 0-1-0-0
1. New Jersey 3/23/06. 6-5 (OT) Atlanta. The standard by which all sporting events shall be judged has been used. After more than six years, 1-0 over Philadelphia is dethroned by an amazing finish against the New Jersey Devils. Atlanta got off to a mediocre start in this game, and fell behind 1-0 as Patrik Elias scored with 5 minutes left in the first period. In the second, Jamie Langenbrunner added a goal to put the Devils up 2-0 before Marian Hossa struck for the Thrashers on the power play, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Shortly thereafter though, Brad Lukowich netted only his 2nd goal of the season, and restored New Jersey's 2 goal lead. The score stood there at 3-1 heading to the third, and it wasn't that the Thrashers never looked like they could score, they just weren't scoring. In the beginning of the 3rd, we started to look like we were skating better, and playing with a little bit more desire, but New Jersey again made a quick play and went up 4-1 after Zach Parise tapped in a rebound from a Scott Gomez drive. Play resumed, and for a few minutes, it looked pretty stale. I leaned back in my seat, and started looking up to watch the scoreboard that was displaying the other games around the league. Montreal was making Toronto look like an AHL team, and I leaned over to Chloe saying "Well, we'll be right back into 9th after tonight, and Montreal will be back in 8th". I was so frustrated... I couldn't even believe that just after we had climbed into the Eastern Conference's last playoff spot, we were going to have this horrible showing and slip right back out. Then, with 14 minutes left in the game, Bobby Holik took a pass from Jaro Modry, skated across the blue line on the right side, and blasted a slap shot past a standing Martin Brodeur and into the net to give Atlanta a surprise goal and a shortened hill to climb at 4-2. Now, looking up at the clock and seeing 13 minutes and change, I started to feel like it was somewhat possible to get a few more goals possibly tie the game up. It would be a long shot though, we'd have to play like crazy... with 13 minutes left, Ken Klee comitted a delay of game penalty, and as that power play expired with 11 minutes on the clock, Ilya Kovalchuk jumped on a loose rebound and slammed the puck home to record his 44th goal of the season and bring us within one!!! 16,000+ in Philips Arena went crazy, and all of a sudden we were within 1 goal with more than 10 minutes to get the equalizer... There was now new life in the arena, and most people were standing, and the "Let's GO Thrashers" chant had never spread so quickly... you could see the life that had been restored in the bodies of our team, and you could feel the confidence in the air... again, crashing the crease paid off for us, and in the middle of a crowd in front of Brodeur's crease, Slava Kozlov was just barely able to stick the puck into the net and bring the score dead even with 3:07 left to play. The horn was blaring, people were throwing things up in the air, I was jumping up and down like hell... looking all over the arena at everyone losing their minds... then, I looked down at the ice and saw that Patrik Elias was being taken to the penalty box for a misconduct call that followed Kozlov's goal. "Chloe!!! CHLOE!!! THEY'VE BEEN GIVEN A PENALTY!!! WE'RE GOING ON THE POWER PLAY!!! WE JUST TIED IT AND WE'RE GOING ON THE POWER PLAY WITH THREE MINUTES LEFT!!! OH MY GOD!!!!! OHHHHHHHHH MY GOD!!!!!!!" Philips was buzzing... it was madness... The puck was dropped, and you could see the panic in New Jersey with every stride they took. The energy got the best of the referees also, and they came down strictly on Marc Savard with a marginal interference call at the top of Brodeur's crease. Four-on-Four now, with 2 and a half minutes left. "Come on Thrashers... come on thrashers... COME ON!!!! LET'S GOOOO!!!!" With 2 minutes left in the game, Marian Hossa skated strong into the zone to the left of Brodeur, and waited to get the veteran goaltender out of position and then backhanded the puck towards the face of the net....... time stood still.... in my mind; "the puck is loose"....GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PATRIK STEFAN!!!!!!! Stefan pounced on the puck as it caromed off the right post, and sent it home to give us the lead that looked like an impossibility just less than 1 period earlier. The stands? Insanity. Absolute delirium. Let me say this right now- I've been to the Georgia Dome, Turner Field, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Bryant-Denny Stadium, Sanford Stadium, etc.... I have never heard an "eruption" like that. I was jumping up and down like I never have at a Thrashers game. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. Surely I was just dreaming this all... these are only the type of things you fantasize about your favorite team doing. The ensuing faceoff occurred, and the arena was in pandemonium. "PULL BRODEUR!!! PULL HIM!!! COME ON!!! PULL HIM!!!! AHHH THERE HE GOES!!!! SHOOT IT de VRIES!!! SHOOT IT!!!!".... the puck is loose behind the new jersey net... devils pick it up... "WOOOOOO!!!!!!! COME ON!!!!! LET'S GOOO!!!!".... New Jersey brings it back down ice... across our blue line.. Brian Gionta.. wind up... red light. "Dammit...." A hush fell over the crowd, but the energy didn't leave. After all of this madness, 1:02 seemed like plenty of time left for us to get another goal and take the lead back. After a few more passes here and there, and a few whistles, this game was headed to overtime. With everyone on their feet, the frustrated yet relieved Devils and the ecstatic yet relieved Thrashers took the ice and faced off for a new, sudden death game. During that overtime period though, it seemed as if time didn't even exist. It was just "get the goal, get the goal, GET THE GOAL!". As the overtime period approached a minute in age, Scott Gomez skated into our corner to collect the puck, and was accompanied by Andy Sutton and Nic Havelid. After some minor contact, Gomez went down, embellishing a facial injury, and Havelid collected and turned up ice.... Cross ice to Sutton... "wow, he's still down, are they going to blow the whistle??"... Sutton brings us into the offensive zone... "they're not going to blow the whistle!!!"... Sutton shoots... REBOUND!!!! BONDRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Goal Horn, yelling, jumping, plastic cups and programs in the air, the boards shaking at ice-level, the Thrashers mobbing Bondra next to the penalty box, the Devils BITCHING at the referees about the lack of a whistle... wow. The comeback win was complete, and all throughout the concourses at the arena, both Atlanta and New Jersey fans were in shock. Where were you when the Thrashers were down 4-1....
RECORD BY SEATING-
400 Section- 10-6-1-1
Upper End Zones- 8-12-2-2
Lower Level- 5-1-0-1
RECORD BY TEAM-
Southeast Division- 7-5-0-1
Rest of Eastern Conf- 9-12-2-3
Western Conf- 7-2-1-0
September: 0-2-0-0 /// October: 4-1-2-0 /// November: 2-2-0-2 /// December: 6-0-0-1 /// January: 4-4-1-0 /// February: 1-3-0-0 /// March: 6-5-0-1 /// April: 0-1-0-0
1. New Jersey 3/23/06. 6-5 (OT) Atlanta. The standard by which all sporting events shall be judged has been used. After more than six years, 1-0 over Philadelphia is dethroned by an amazing finish against the New Jersey Devils. Atlanta got off to a mediocre start in this game, and fell behind 1-0 as Patrik Elias scored with 5 minutes left in the first period. In the second, Jamie Langenbrunner added a goal to put the Devils up 2-0 before Marian Hossa struck for the Thrashers on the power play, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Shortly thereafter though, Brad Lukowich netted only his 2nd goal of the season, and restored New Jersey's 2 goal lead. The score stood there at 3-1 heading to the third, and it wasn't that the Thrashers never looked like they could score, they just weren't scoring. In the beginning of the 3rd, we started to look like we were skating better, and playing with a little bit more desire, but New Jersey again made a quick play and went up 4-1 after Zach Parise tapped in a rebound from a Scott Gomez drive. Play resumed, and for a few minutes, it looked pretty stale. I leaned back in my seat, and started looking up to watch the scoreboard that was displaying the other games around the league. Montreal was making Toronto look like an AHL team, and I leaned over to Chloe saying "Well, we'll be right back into 9th after tonight, and Montreal will be back in 8th". I was so frustrated... I couldn't even believe that just after we had climbed into the Eastern Conference's last playoff spot, we were going to have this horrible showing and slip right back out. Then, with 14 minutes left in the game, Bobby Holik took a pass from Jaro Modry, skated across the blue line on the right side, and blasted a slap shot past a standing Martin Brodeur and into the net to give Atlanta a surprise goal and a shortened hill to climb at 4-2. Now, looking up at the clock and seeing 13 minutes and change, I started to feel like it was somewhat possible to get a few more goals possibly tie the game up. It would be a long shot though, we'd have to play like crazy... with 13 minutes left, Ken Klee comitted a delay of game penalty, and as that power play expired with 11 minutes on the clock, Ilya Kovalchuk jumped on a loose rebound and slammed the puck home to record his 44th goal of the season and bring us within one!!! 16,000+ in Philips Arena went crazy, and all of a sudden we were within 1 goal with more than 10 minutes to get the equalizer... There was now new life in the arena, and most people were standing, and the "Let's GO Thrashers" chant had never spread so quickly... you could see the life that had been restored in the bodies of our team, and you could feel the confidence in the air... again, crashing the crease paid off for us, and in the middle of a crowd in front of Brodeur's crease, Slava Kozlov was just barely able to stick the puck into the net and bring the score dead even with 3:07 left to play. The horn was blaring, people were throwing things up in the air, I was jumping up and down like hell... looking all over the arena at everyone losing their minds... then, I looked down at the ice and saw that Patrik Elias was being taken to the penalty box for a misconduct call that followed Kozlov's goal. "Chloe!!! CHLOE!!! THEY'VE BEEN GIVEN A PENALTY!!! WE'RE GOING ON THE POWER PLAY!!! WE JUST TIED IT AND WE'RE GOING ON THE POWER PLAY WITH THREE MINUTES LEFT!!! OH MY GOD!!!!! OHHHHHHHHH MY GOD!!!!!!!" Philips was buzzing... it was madness... The puck was dropped, and you could see the panic in New Jersey with every stride they took. The energy got the best of the referees also, and they came down strictly on Marc Savard with a marginal interference call at the top of Brodeur's crease. Four-on-Four now, with 2 and a half minutes left. "Come on Thrashers... come on thrashers... COME ON!!!! LET'S GOOOO!!!!" With 2 minutes left in the game, Marian Hossa skated strong into the zone to the left of Brodeur, and waited to get the veteran goaltender out of position and then backhanded the puck towards the face of the net....... time stood still.... in my mind; "the puck is loose"....GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PATRIK STEFAN!!!!!!! Stefan pounced on the puck as it caromed off the right post, and sent it home to give us the lead that looked like an impossibility just less than 1 period earlier. The stands? Insanity. Absolute delirium. Let me say this right now- I've been to the Georgia Dome, Turner Field, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Bryant-Denny Stadium, Sanford Stadium, etc.... I have never heard an "eruption" like that. I was jumping up and down like I never have at a Thrashers game. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. Surely I was just dreaming this all... these are only the type of things you fantasize about your favorite team doing. The ensuing faceoff occurred, and the arena was in pandemonium. "PULL BRODEUR!!! PULL HIM!!! COME ON!!! PULL HIM!!!! AHHH THERE HE GOES!!!! SHOOT IT de VRIES!!! SHOOT IT!!!!".... the puck is loose behind the new jersey net... devils pick it up... "WOOOOOO!!!!!!! COME ON!!!!! LET'S GOOO!!!!".... New Jersey brings it back down ice... across our blue line.. Brian Gionta.. wind up... red light. "Dammit...." A hush fell over the crowd, but the energy didn't leave. After all of this madness, 1:02 seemed like plenty of time left for us to get another goal and take the lead back. After a few more passes here and there, and a few whistles, this game was headed to overtime. With everyone on their feet, the frustrated yet relieved Devils and the ecstatic yet relieved Thrashers took the ice and faced off for a new, sudden death game. During that overtime period though, it seemed as if time didn't even exist. It was just "get the goal, get the goal, GET THE GOAL!". As the overtime period approached a minute in age, Scott Gomez skated into our corner to collect the puck, and was accompanied by Andy Sutton and Nic Havelid. After some minor contact, Gomez went down, embellishing a facial injury, and Havelid collected and turned up ice.... Cross ice to Sutton... "wow, he's still down, are they going to blow the whistle??"... Sutton brings us into the offensive zone... "they're not going to blow the whistle!!!"... Sutton shoots... REBOUND!!!! BONDRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Goal Horn, yelling, jumping, plastic cups and programs in the air, the boards shaking at ice-level, the Thrashers mobbing Bondra next to the penalty box, the Devils BITCHING at the referees about the lack of a whistle... wow. The comeback win was complete, and all throughout the concourses at the arena, both Atlanta and New Jersey fans were in shock. Where were you when the Thrashers were down 4-1....